Nine years of blogging

Nine years ago this month I sat at my boyfriend's dads house bored as he watched Man Utd on the telly. I'd been reading blogs for a few months after a lecturer on my journalism course encouraged us to read them and perhaps start one of our own. I was trawling though my favourite ones on my laptop and just decided there and then to bite to bullet. I clicked on Blogger, created one and wrote my first post. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I was going to still be writing on this little piece of the internet nine years later.

Blogging has evolved into a monster and it's something I hardly recognise now. It's been a wild ride for everyone involved. I never quite kept up to speed with my peers and got left behind in the blogging world. But my passion for it has never diminished. I may not wrote as many posts as I used to and I may not read that many blogs at all but there's something quite special and therapeutic about writing down your thoughts. I love having a visual diary I access at any time. I love having something that is all mine. I don't have to follow any rules and I don't have to please anyone. This URL is mine to do what I want with.

I have made some of my best friends because of this blog. I speak to them every day and feel like I can tell them absolutely anything without any judgement. I have been able to do some incredible opportunities that even now I still have to pinch myself. My life certainly would have been a lot duller! I have been very kindly been gifted some amazing products over the years and it's been amazing to be able to take my loved ones to events, to show them how the 'other half' live.

If I'm honest I can't quite imagine my life without this blog. As life gets busier my blog suffers. I don't have the time to invest in my blog anymore and it does make me sad. Gone are the days of writing 15-20 posts a month. Now I'm lucky if I manage one a week. But even though I neglect this space sometimes, I don't think I'll ever be able to pull the plug on it. It's become part of me as cheesy as it sounds. It's probably one of the things I'm most proud of in my life.

Thank you all so much for reading. It wouldn't be what it is without you! Here's to the next nine years.