My Second Year Blogging!

This post is two weeks late, but if you can believe it (I can't!) I recently celebrated my two-year blogging anniversary. To be honest, "celebrated" sounds so much more exciting than what really happened. What really happened is that I realized it had been two years since I started blogging and that I needed to write a post about it. As a result, I worried when I didn't post it on time. (January 20th, to be exact.) And I'm sure you were making "tsk tsk" noises as each day passed by and didn't produce a blog post about my anniversary. 🙄Yes, that's how I am, and I suspect I'm not alone.

Anyway, several things stand out to me as I look back over my last couple blogging years.

First of all, I realize how inexperienced/young I was when I started. Unavoidably, some of my articles were not very good. I had never written weekly posts before, but of course the only way to get better at something is constant practice. I have practiced pretty faithfully, if I do say so myself, and the result is pleasing. Don't take me the wrong way. I'm very proud of my first posts, and I will always respect them because they were the foundation of my blogging skills. (And not to say I've arrived in any way. After all, that's just the thing that makes considering your old work so awful! You compare your old work with your work now, assuming you have "arrived." It's not a very mature practice. 😶)

Back to the subject of how young I was: I am also very thankful to my parents for letting me start a blog...and not letting me start one when I wanted to. For two years before I even started my blog, I wanted to start one. But just because I wanted it doesn't mean I was ready to have it. Not only was I too young to have a presence on the internet, but I was also given the time I needed to hone my writing instead of running a website. There is a lot more than just writing involved in running a blog, and the responsibility of it would have carried away my 13-year-old time to who knows where.

A second epiphany I had as I thought about my second year of blogging is the wonderful opportunity I have to witness for my King and my God. For someone who doesn't go to school and rarely interacts with anyone outside of my family, this is a huge deal to me. One day, I hope that my books will sit on the shelves of people who need to hear the Gospel, but until then, I am so thankful for my little corner of the web. I hope that my blog will continue to be a light in a dark world. It always makes my day when someone tells me that I wrote what they needed to hear. Encouraging others to keep running the race for Christ makes blogging well worth the effort. Thank you for sticking with me and letting us build each other up.

A third thing I realized this past year is how beneficial breaks are! I took most of the summer off and was almost considering dropping my blog because I had lost and a desire to keep it up. However, thanks to my mom who said she enjoyed my blog and hoped I wouldn't stop, I started it back up again. Since then, I have published something almost every week. Interestingly enough, my posts since August have been some of my favourites! Grasping how beneficial breaks are was an important thing for me. One thing that plagued me at the end of last year was the fact that I had missed a couple weeks of blogging in 2024. At the time, I had just read a couple "My Blogging Anniversary" posts where happy bloggers were able to share that they hadn't missed a single week of posting in their whole first year. I was not one of those happy bloggers, but I think implementing breaks was a better character-builder for me than posting every week. I don't have much trouble with consistency. I have more trouble realizing when it's ok to let go for a week.

So, with each post that's come out this past year, this is what your friend has been learning. I do appreciate you being along on my journey with me. And as farewell-y as those words sound, they are not supposed to be. I have no intention of stopping my blog anytime soon. I love writing posts and replying to your comments. All of you are such a blessing to me.

Now, for a few of my favourites over the past year.

Favourite blog posts...

Being a Christian Artist

Snow White: "Old" doesn't mean "Unimportant"

Beowulf in The Lord of the Rings

"I could never do that": What I hate about "talent"

Should you like your past work?

My Top Ten Movies of 2025

Favourite comments...

"I don't think I've ever enjoyed reading a post as I have this one. This was an absolute blast to read!!! It's so true, it's heartwarming how fondly it's written, and well done. Great job!"

-Eliza Grace on "Snow White: 'Old' doesn't mean 'Unimportant'"

Ha, well, I'm officially jealous now ;P Did you take all the pictures yourself?

-Lizzie Hexam on "Spring on my Mountain"

I'm very glad you're not dead 😌 Voted!

Emma Runyan on "Where have I been? (An explanation, apology and poll)"

"Well, this is a late reply. This is not the character I wanted because I am a Goldern freak, but this is really good! hehe" (Goldern is a character of mine that did not get chosen for a character q&a)

-Emma Song on "Q & A with Elaine"

"That was HILARIOUS - I was giggling so hard... I loved all your thoughts as well! It was so funny how there was a random guy and Uncle Tom suddenly appeared, then Eliza suddenly had a hula hoop. So fun - thanks for sharing!"

-Abigail on "A Pioneer Story: By an 8-Year-Old Me"

Thank you all for always sharing your thoughts! I love, love love getting them all. :) And thank you for reading this post. I really appreciate you.