Year Eight. (& a Giveaway!) {CLOSED}
{Thank you all so much for entering the giveaway! The winner is commenter Beth Cook who said “I think the most memorable moment was my father moving into an assisted living home with hospice services. You just think your parents will be around for a long time to enjoy their retirement years and their grandchildren. It’s hard on my mom going back and forth despite him not really knowing when she’s been there or the last time she came. It’s hard emotionally and financially. This is NOT what they wanted to spend their retirement money on. My guilt is living three hours away. Close enough to visit, but far enough away to have to balance family life/plans.” Congrats Beth!}
This week marks my eighth year of blogging.
Which is totally insane. EIGHT YEARS?!
That’s almost ten years. Ten years is a decade. I still feel like I’m 17 so how on earth this has happened… I have no idea.
I wish that I had the words to tell you just how much I appreciate you being here and visiting the site. I know what it is like to read the same blog for eight years. You are only reading one voice. It gets repetitive and sometimes boring and it is a lot of the same thing, because it’s written by one person. I’ve come and gone and come back and re-fell in love with many of my favorite bloggers over the years. I can’t really offer you anything other than myself (okay and maybe a plethora of trashed up recipes) who might occasionally change or stay the same or repeat herself or still think that she’s 17 years old inside.
So it means the WORLD to me that you have stuck around, read these rambles, been so kind and wonderful and shared your own thoughts in our little community here. Means seriously everything to me. I actually think of you all as friends, my invisible but real BFFs.
I hope you can see that I (still!) do this because I 100% OMGloveitsomuch and even though it became my job a really long time ago, I do it as authentically as I can and because I love it and so I can share things with you in this wacky internet world.
To celebrate these eight years and frankly, to celebrate YOU who has given me the chance to do this for so long, I’m giving away a $1000 amazon gift card to one lucky reader. This giveaway is not sponsored and given by me to show my appreciation for you. Giveaway is open to everyone and anyone!
To ENTER:
- Leave a comment on this post telling me a memorable moment you’ve had so far in 2017.
- For an extra entry, I would love if you’d preorder a copy of The Pretty Dish and leave a second comment saying you did so. You can preorder the book on amazon, barnes and noble, indiebound or books a million! I cannot thank you guys enough for giving me the chance to write another book. If you’ve already preordered, THANK YOU SO MUCH and be sure to leave a comment telling me you did so. If you decide to preorder, this is just the first of many exciting things we’re giving away!
And who knows, maybe if the internet is around, I’ll be here in another eight years! xoxoxo
2,292 Comments on “Year Eight. (& a Giveaway!) {CLOSED}”
I pre-ordered your new book the day it was available! Can’t wait to add this one to my collection :-)
Welcoming our third son into the world!
My most memorable moment of 2017 is getting to celebrate my daughter’s first birthday. I got married later in life and so didn’t have her until I was 39. I really thought I wasn’t going to get to have a child so just being able to make a cake for her birthday is a special moment to me. Love your blog as I have been reading for a long time.
8 years, wow! Biggest highlight has to be selling my boyfriend’s house and only having one mortgage payment now!
Most memorable moment of 2017 is sending my youngest off to kindergarten!
My most memorable moment was a trip to Mexico!
Having my now first grader jump out the car the first day of school ready to go was a huge deal to me, last year was really a struggle for him and I’m so glad to see he’s adapting and growing.
Aw, so sweet! Especially since I’m pretty sure I read your first blog post. I still remember when you used to post workouts, too!
Most memorable moment so far is for sure giving birth to our daughter. We checked into the hospital at 4:12, and she was here at 4:32! We almost didn’t make it! 😂 Hoping things are a little less crazy for you and baby #2!
Already pre ordered your book!!!!
It might seem silly but as a huge Rocky Horror fan, getting to meet Tim Curry, Patricia Quinn, and Nell Campbell at a convention has been the most memorable moment of my 2017!
Congratulations on 8 years! You have accomplished so much in that time. I can see your first book sitting on my shelf from where I type and here you are releasing another!
My most memorable moment was graduating with my Masters. Some days I still can’t believe that I did it!
Best wishes for the many magical moments and years to come!
My third and last baby – a girl, after 2 boys! – was born in june. I am on day #2 back to work!
My oldest boy started kindergarten last Wednesday.
My MIL moved from across the country to across town, the day before my daughter was born.
It’s been an eventful year.
My most memorable moment in 2017 was getting married in Aspen in June! Then traveling to Greece and Italy for the honeymoon. I pre-ordered the new book the day you announced it!
My sweet baby girl being born in May 2017
My most memorable 2017 moment came early in this year – baby boy #2 (Everett Ray) came into this world on 2/8/17! Good luck to you w/your baby #2!!
My 2017 memorable moment was watching my baby boy graduate from college. How is that even possible?!
Best day in 2017 was having my family come to visit us on their vacation! Haven’t seen them for two years and we cooked lots of great food together. It was a great time for all.
Most memorable moment is the birth of my granddaughter
Most memorable moment = vacations with family! We did Disney World with my in-laws and NC beaches with my family. Precious summer memories!
My memorable moment was my son starting middle school and my daughter starting intermediate school.
Congrats on eight years!! Your blog is one of my absolute favorites and I honestly can’t even imagine life without it (is that weird? sorry!). My most memorable moment in 2017 was moving to Seattle on Jan.1!
My husband and I celebrated our 30 year anniversary this year in Scotland and had an amazing time! But, seriously, I’d have an amazing time w/him anywhere:)
Most Memorable Moment of 2017 thus far is a tie between Disneyland with my husband and 4 year old and jumping in the waves with my son in the Pacific Ocean. Love your blog especially your lifestyle posts.
Congratulations! It’s been fun reading your blog–hope you keep it up! The fact that you had a kiddo and didn’t miss a beat is impressive. xoxo! I’m guessing my favorite moment of 2017 is one that’s not yet happened. My husband is so close to quitting his job without a step to move this way or that and so with him in limbo I can’t wait to see what God has for him and for him to finally be free and happy in a place he wants to be. <3
2017 has been a hard year. My son turning one earlier this year and now staying safe through a catastrophic storm has kept things in perspective.
So many memorable moments this year -if I had to pick one, I’d say celebrating my one year anniversary by watching the eclipse in the mountains.
Most memorable moment for me was watching my one year old play in the ocean for the first time with complete and utter delight. He is named after the ocean and this moment is etched into my memory as being so pure and joyful. I know it is such a little thing but it really made heart feel so full.
My memorable moment was watching my 2 year old’s language explode over the past year.
Most memorable moment was the solar eclipse.
Congratulations on your blog anniversary! I’ve been reading since 2010 and have made many of your recipes, read pretty much all of your posts and have tried a bunch of stuff from your “favorites” posts. Thank you for sharing yourself with us. My most memorable moment of 2017 was getting engaged to my wonderful fiance Ben in April while in Munich, Germany!
This year I finally moved out of my parents house into my old place. I also have kept up my love of cooking and baking, so that has been exciting as well! Those were some pretty good moments of 2017!
My son’s first Birthday in August!
I also preordered Pretty Dish right when you put out the announcement! I can’t wait! :)
Love your recipes! Thanks for throwing a fun giveaway. My most memorable moment was attending the Women’s March in Washington in January. I am energized and active like I’d never been before. It was an amazing experience.
Oh dear. If I’m being truthful, my most memorable moment revolves around the breakup of my 25 year marriage and all the horrifying revelations that lead to that. (Let’s just say Lifetime movie and leave it at that!) The positive moments have included verification that yes, my friends and family are fabulous, and that casual friends have turned into more with their love and support of me through this time. Also, EVERYONE knows a story like this! Their sister, themselves, their cousin, their best friend–it helps to know I’m not alone.
One of my most memorable moments of 2017 has been flying to Vegas with my boyfriend to see him perform magic live at the Rio Hotel with Penn & Teller. I am so proud of him and the hard work that he’s put in to accomplish so much in his field, and at the same time support me– I hate flying, and he held my hand and told me everything was going to be okay the whole time :)
My most memorable event this year was our first camping trip as a family. It included some early wake up times (darn birds chirping at 4 am woke our toddler), but we made some mighty good memories :)
My most memorable moment of 2017 so far has been getting engaged! <3
I had a memorable vacation this spring to celebrate our anniversary, and a particularly fun time exploring new spices and flavors in Morocco with my husband. Congrats on eight years!
my most memorable moment of 2017 was buying a house !!!
The most memorable moment so far is my first ultrasound and listening to my baby’s heartbeat for the first time!
I preordered your book last week! Can’t wait for it to arrive!
Congratulations!! My favorite part of 2017 so far was a trip to Chicago with my husband (baby free!) to celebrate our 6th anniversary.
Just pre-ordered your book on Amazon! Can’t wait!
My most memorable moment was the surprise trip to New Orleans my hubby planned for us and our best friends for my 35th birthday. I have always wanted to go and never gotten a chance to.
Congratulations on 8 years of the blog, it’s been a great read!! My most memorable moment of 2017 was my first trip to New York, New York! I cannot believe it’s taken me 27 years to visit.
One memorable moment this year was a family vacation to Disney World!
most memorable of 2017… we spent several day at the beach celebrating my mom’s 60th birthday. it was amazing to be with my extended family and my sisters (I have three!), who I don’t get to see as often as I would like. It was so fun to celebrate my mom, a little heartbreaking to see how my grandparents’ health has declined, and joyous to love on my sweet nephews, who are still tiny and precious and changing so quickly. thanks for the opportunity to reminisce :)
additionally – i’ve been reading just about every day since 2011. it’s been a joy; thank you for your light hearted take and wonderful recipes!
Most memorable moment was getting engaged in March …. to the guy I went to Prom with in 1988 ‘as a friend’ #SlowLearner
Love this blog. Cannot wait for the book. (*even my daughter is excited for the Pretty Dish because it has beauty stuff and she’s all about that as a tweenager)
The most memorable event of 2017 has been adopting our son!