Happy Blogviersary to Me!!!

It's my Blogiversary! My 1st ever blogiversary!! It is official... as of today, I have been blogging for exactly one year! I thought long and hard about how to celebrate this event. I know some people do giveaways for their blogiversary, or re-cap your favorite posts from the year. However, when I think about when and why I started blogging, and the fact that it's been a whole year, there are a lot of things to reflect on! I have definitely come a long way from my first post! In some ways, everything has changed, but in some ways nothing has changed at all. It really has been one of the most life changing years so far, I think, which is why it was the perfect time to start my blog a year ago! I started this blog in hopes of journaling the transition from high school to college, and all the changes that come with that. While I have been able to do that, it quickly became so much more than that. This is not only my journal, but my creative outlet, a place to just be completely honest, a place where I'm funny (well, at least I am sometimes & I have said it before, but I really don't think I'm funny IRL), and best of all, this is a community of friends! A year ago today, did I ever think I would utter the words "my blog friends" or "my twitter friends" (which in some cases are the same people, but you get the point!)? Never! But I have, and I do! I find myself thinking about all of you, my blog friends, all the time & wondering how you're doing & looking forward to reading what you're up to! So, thank you, thank you, thank you, to those of you that come here & read my ramblings & leave comments & support me! It has been a crazy year... a year ago today, I had no idea what the future held for me, and a year later, while a lot of what was unknown then is known now, there is still so much unknown! But no matter what happens, I will be here, chronicling it! Just for fun... here are some random facts about my blog over the past year: (Via Google Analytics)

• I have posted 149 posts (not including this one) with a total of 1,249 comments and 13,409 visits.
• My first post was (obviously) a year ago today, and Jen E was my very 1st commenter!
• My biggest traffic day was November 25 (which I find very odd because why were people reading my blog on Thanksgiving and not with their families? I didn't even post that day!)
• My "most viewed" post is this Top 5 Tuesday post (again, weird, but ok!)
• 76% of my traffic comes from referring sites, so thank you to my blog friends who link up to me! :)
• The number one keyword people google and get to my blog? Beer pong dangers! One of my favorite posts!
• The majority of people that come to my blog are from the U.S., the second most people are from Canada!

So, for my blogiversary present (What?! I can't get presents for my blogiversary!? Well, let's pretend!), all I ask is this if you read my blog... I want to know why, and I know there are some of you out there that I don't know... I try to keep up with my "followers" but I haven't been doing a great job lately, so if you follow me or are just a lurker & haven't said hello, for my blogiversary will you say hi!? I want to be friends! :) So here's to a year of big changes, most of which are chronicled here, and to at least another year of friend making, blogging & more changes!

I am humbled and grateful...

I am so grateful && so humbled by how many of you left such thoughtful comments this week. I honestly don't know what I would do if I didn't have this bloggy world of support... it's therapeutic just writing it down but when you guys leave comments with such thoughtful and helpful words, it is really unbelievable. So, I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is definitely a hard time for me, but this bloggy world has honestly made it so much better! I've been busy getting ready for college and spending time with those friends I still have left that aren't complete !@#$%^S.. haha, but I will respond to everyone's comments and I promise I will try my hardest not to post all complaining posts this week because I feel like that's all I've done lately. Yes, I am still hurt. And I wish the situation was better, but unfortunately, its not despite my best efforts... I am really at a loss as to what to do and I suppose I will just have to let it go which is even harder for me than just fighting. I really could write another 10 posts about this (at least) but it wouldn't make me feel better, and I am trying not to dwell... So thank you again. I can't tell you how much it means to me to have support from so many different people. I will be back after the weekend is over and it's not so crazy around here!