Anniversary Post – Fourteen Years of Blogging

It’s my 14th anniversary of being a blogger! Happy Blog-i-versary to me!

As I set out to write this annual post, I had to pause for a moment. Fourteen years of blogging? How did THAT happen?

I started my blog (originally on the Blogger platform) when my son was three years old. He’s now seventeen and heading to college in the Fall! We’ve both come a long way…

Every year in my anniversary post, I talk about the goals I had set for the blog the previous year and I create new ones for the next twelve months. When I opened WordPress to start this blog post, I took a look at how many posts I had written from November 2022-October 2023. I was surprised to see that it was only three.

Three blog posts? That’s it? Really? I could swear I had written more than that this past year.

Sheesh.

To be honest, I did have a lot going on personally this past year–major life cycle events for both of my kids that I had to put my time and energy into but, really–only three blog posts? *Sigh*

My blog goals for 2022-2023 were:

• Create a second Ted Talk blog post
• Continue to create downloadable printables for my popular blog posts
• Only have two goals for my blog this year.

Yes, that third goal was an actual goal. In the past, I have created too many goals for my blog to keep up with so I made a goal to have fewer goals. #thatsagoodthing

Here’s the one goal I WAS able to accomplish…

A few years ago, I started creating downloadable printables to compliment some of my blog posts. The first one I designed was for a post called, Organizing Quick Tip: Make a Decision. The printable is a one-page sheet with the words ‘Keep,’ Toss,’ and ‘Donate’ on it. Each word can be cut out, attached to a bin/wall/chair, and used during the decluttering process to define a space for a category of items.

This year, I decided to embark on a printable project of a larger scale. This newest one is eight pages long! It is a printable to support my book, The Organized Bride’s Thank You Note Handbook. In the back of my book, I provide the reader with lined pages to write and track their gift-giver’s names, addresses, and gifts given. Although it’s a handy place to keep all that information, I thought that some readers might not find it easy to use and would benefit from a larger space to write.

Click the link and scroll down to see the printable: The Organized Bride’s Thank You Note Handbook Gift Tracker Printable

OK–about that Ted Talk blog post…

In reviewing past Anniversary posts, I discovered that I have repeatedly set a goal to create a “Ted Talk Two” blog post–more times than I’d like to admit. And, it didn’t happen. Again.

Why?

I got quiet with myself and thought about it. My first Ted Talk blog post was very popular–especially on Pinterest. Why couldn’t I get my act together to create a second one?

After giving it some thought, I had to laugh. I discovered that much of the issue had to do with my treadmill.

My treadmill?

From 2016-2019, I had an exercise habit of walking on my treadmill a few mornings a week. I found that Ted Talks were the perfect compliment to my treadmill use. Each video was approximately eighteen minutes long and my workout was about twenty minutes. A perfect match!

Then came the pandemic in March of 2020. By then, our treadmill was fourteen years old and had barely survived our home renovation five years previous. Now, it wasn’t just me walking on it–it was my husband and two sons using it as well. Due to old age, the treadmill could not withstand the extra weight and usage and was pronounced dead at the end of April. I started walking outside and listening to podcasts (which I am now totally hooked on) or exercising to YouTube videos when the weather was inclement. There went most of my Ted Talk watching time.

But, I did not give up hope on writing “Ted Talk Two.”

I created a home (a ‘new note’ in Evernote) for all Ted Talks that I wanted to review for the blog post. If I saw a Ted Talk video in my Facebook newsfeed, in a Google search, or recommended by a colleague and I thought it might be appropriate for “Ted Talk Two,” I copied and pasted its URL into that note in Evernote.

I did this for a few months and one day, I set aside time in my calendar to view the videos. After watching five or six, I decided that none of them were as “Ted Talk Two-worthy” as the ones I had chosen for my first Ted Talk post. I also think that perhaps due to the pandemic, not as many Ted Talks were filmed. It was a challenge to find many new ones on the topic of organizing produced in the past few years.

Then I got busy again. Listened to more podcasts. I can’t remember the last time I watched a whole Ted Talk.

My blog goals for 2023-2024:

I’ve got a good feeling about that “Ted Talk Two” video. You see, my husband and I are considering replacing our treadmill. We’ve started doing research and we’re looking to buy one this winter. Once I’m back on a treadmill, I’ll be back to watching Ted Talks with more regularity. And, when that happens, I’ll be keeping my eyes open for Ted Talks that would be perfect for the blog post I’ve been thinking about writing for years.

I’m calling it right now: Ted Talk Two in 2024. That’s my ONE goal for the next twelve months. And who knows, I just may trim my waistline in the process!

 

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Categories: Anniversary Post, Clutter, Free Download, The Organized Bride's Thank You Note Handbook