A Belated Happy Birthday to The Fishbowl

So apparently in my oh-so-busy life (ha!) I failed to remember that Friday was the blog's "birthday."

A blog's birthday...also known as the Blogiversary - is defined by the Urban Dictionary as 'the yearly anniversary of someone's (web) blog.'

The 'birth day' of this blog was September 6, 2005. If you want to go way, way back to my very first post...you can. Right here. My first post happened after I sat glued to the television watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

I had been blogging at my "other" blog - which was originally called Toddler Timeouts and was all about life with my then toddler, Olivia. After Emma was born I changed the name to The Olivia and Emma Show. And I haven't blogged over there since 2011. Oh, and I also have a blog called Travels with Kids...which I also haven't take care of since 2011. Although I think that blog might be seeing its resurrection VERY soon. I have lots of travel posts I can add over there.

Anywho....the reason I started The Fishbowl was because I wanted to write. I've always loved writing. I am a writer (at least that's why my LinkedIn profile says). Writing makes me happy. It makes me feel whole. It makes me who I am.

When I started this blog I wasn't writing for anyone but me. Hell, for a while I didn't even tell anyone I had a blog. Then I shared the link with my family. And then I connected with other bloggers. And then Twitter and Facebook happened. And then BOOM. The Fishbowl got its own Facebook page. And well, the rest is history.

OK. Not really. I like to think of this blog as "the little blog that could." I don't have big sponsors, I don't make money off the blog. But every now and then I get to do something really cool, like visit Put-in-Bay or write about a cool event or stay at an awesome vacation home or become part of a great group because of connections I've made thanks to this little ol' blog. I've also met some amazing women because I blog.

For me, it's never been about the numbers or the stats or my page rank. It's not about how many Facebook fans I have or how many people follow me on Twitter.

I write this blog because I love to write. I love sharing stories, and every now and then sharing a great giveaway with my readers. If I get invited to "the" social media event of the year, great. If I don't, it's not the end of the world. I'm not writing this blog with the thought that I'm ever going to be one of the "big blogs." The Fishbowl is just my little window on the world.

I'm heading to a blogging conference next weekend and I'm hoping to come away from it with some valuable knowledge and insight. But in the end, I'm selfish about my blog. I'm still writing for me. I'm writing about what I want to ... not what I think might bring in the most readers. If you're still visiting every now and then to read my ramblings, I thank you.

So, happy blogiversary to The Fishbowl. After 1,162 posts I'm still happy that I started this little blog that could. Here's to another great year.