10 Year Blogging Anniversary and My Favourite Posts

by Jen @ RamblingRenovators - Sunday, April 23, 2017

Today is my 10 year blogging anniversary. Unbelievable!

I remember writing that first post, sitting in the small den in my old condo. Sean and I were soon to be married. We were house hunting and I thought documenting our search would be fun. And so, this crazy inspiring, tiring, fulfilling, frustrating, and joyful journey began.

How Blogging Has Changed

So much has changed since then. I recently had to re-categorize all my blog posts (worst.job.ever.) because of the blog redesign and it was a nostalgic trip down memory lane to see not only how my content had changed but my writing too. In the beginning, I was timid, wary of sharing photos and even my real name. Posts were only a few sentences long, focusing on sharing inspiration and ideas I found online. The most mundane posts would generate dozens of comments and chances are I knew everyone commenting. It was a small world. A friendly one where quality of photographs didn't matter, SEO wasn't a thing, and no one was focused on making money.

I've thought many times over the years that I should stop. That I should just call it a day because, well, by certain standards I don't seem to do "blogging" well anymore. It's taken on a different meaning, hasn't it? Blogging is now a job and social media a job requirement.

But it keeps calling me back. There's just days when I need to put idea to keyboard and share.

As I was going through old posts, there were so many of them I debated deleting. They were brief and pithy, lacking in usefulness. Just commentaries on ordinary days. These days, blogs need to be useful and helpful and oriented towards keeping the reader coming back for more. But in those early days... I wrote for me.

I still wonder how long I'll keep at this blogging thing. But in the end, once the readers have faded away and the posts become not so frequent, I'll be glad to have done it. A decade and more's worth of memories of my life, captured in details and small moments I would have otherwise forgotten.

Thank you for joining me on this journey thus far. You dear readers have changed my life in the most beautiful of ways. Without you, I wouldn't have found my design style, been so confident to start my own businesses and be my own boss, nor found a community that makes me feel at home.

Here's a look back at my favourite posts and projects over the years: