Hitting the One Year Milestone

Well, today marks the one year anniversary of my humble little blog, which I created on March 7, 2011 with the encouragement of my wonderful daughter-in-law. My very first post titled "Ready, set, go!" was nothing to write home about (it was very short, without pictures); but at that point, I was just amazed and thrilled that I'd figured out how to get the ball rolling. If you knew how terrible my computer skills are, you'd be amazed, too.

In the past year, "String of Pearls" has amassed an enormous stable of loyal followers--18 in all! Thanks, family!--and I have published 352 posts (counting this one). I've tried to blog daily, but there have been times when I've been on the road, without Internet access and/or my trusty laptop, so I've missed a few days here and there. But because blogging has become such an enjoyable and satisfying activity for me (it's a little bit of brain exercise that makes my day feel complete), a day without blogging seems like a day without sunshine.

Not really, but I do enjoy it.

I don't know why blogging is so much fun, but it is. Most of us former English majors are closet would-be novelists, so there's nothing more empowering than being able to simply push a "Publish Post" button and see a professional-looking piece of writing--something that looks almost like a page from a book or a magazine--appear on the computer screen. I'm living out a fantasy here. But it's more than that. When I started this blog, I had the intention of putting down some family history and family memories in black and white for my children, as well as striving whenever possible to glorify God and the Catholic Faith--thereby using the Internet, so often a vehicle for spreading evil content, for good.

At the beginning, I set out to make my blog very eclectic (sort of like a women's magazine), touching on a variety of areas that interest me: I was going to post recipes and craft project ideas, reviews of books I'd read and movies I'd seen, tidbits about fashion and home decor, information about the lives of the saints and other subjects having to do with the Faith, and humorous or heart-warming family anecdotes. I have not been as eclectic as I'd planned, however; out of the 352 posts I've published so far, 97 can be found under the category of "family." The category that comes in second is "Faith," with 45 blog posts. Aside from the catch-all category "misc.," each of the other specific categories--on a list that includes everything from art to animals, sewing to sports, and travel to T.V. shows--has considerably fewer posts. So if you read this blog much, you know what my two favorite topics are.

And you may be getting sick of hearing about my family!

But I'll never get tired of talking about my handsome, heroic husband, my sweet, sensational sons, my darling, delightful daughter-in-law, and my gorgeous, gladsome granddaughters. (How's that for alliteration? I wasn't an English major for nothin'.) So if I make it through another year of blogging, there will probably be a hundred or so new opportunities for bragging about my peeps, my string of Pearls. Hopefully, though, I can increase the number of posts dedicated to matters pertaining to the Faith. And maybe I should throw in a few more recipes.

I'm going to celebrate this anniversary by attempting to set up my very own Facebook page. I've been sharing one with my husband, under his name--but I think it's about time I get into the social media pipeline like the rest of the known world. (I hope it's not a whole lot harder to get a Facebook account up and running than it was to set up this blog.)

To those of you who've been reading "String of Pearls" during the past year, thanks so much for your support!