It's My 10th Blogiversary

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The title of this post is a lie. It was actually my 10th blogiversary back in August, but do I have time to write blog posts in summer? No. Like all summer holidays, my blogiversary has to be acknowledged late.

I didn't have time to write a post, and I also had no idea what to say in a post about 10 years of blogging. Luckily, Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight solved that problem for me. When her blog turned 10, she wrote a list of things that have changed in her life during the past 10 years. I'm completely stealing her idea. Make sure you visit her blog and thank her for being brilliant.

🎉  Ten Years Of Reading All The Things  🥳

Same recipe, but now with 76% more pretentiousness!

When I started this blog, the year was 2013, and I was still in college. I was enrolled in a publishing certificate program and applying to master's degree programs. I wanted to study children's literature because my ultimate life plan was to start a company that published nature books for kids and teens.

Master's degree achieved! I was accepted to a program at a university in Kentucky. I got a degree in children's literature and now put the letters MFA after my name whenever I'm feeling extra pretentious.

I was excessively dramatic about books

I wrote a book about cults. I actually started writing it several years before I started this blog. The book took 11 years to write because the amount of research I had to do was intense. The interviews were especially hard. Have you ever interviewed a survivor of childhood religious abuse? It's not as fun as a trip to Disney Land.

After writing the cult book, it spent 3 years on submission to publishers. It came close to being published 29 times. Twenty-nine different publishing professionals gave me extensive notes on how to improve this book. I attempted to do everything they asked. All roads led to "No."

I spent 14 years (and all my money) on this project, and I screwed up every opportunity I was given.

While I was failing at writing a book, I was also failing at finding a job. I had a pretentious master's degree! Why did everyone hate me? I applied for a ton of publishing jobs. They either rejected me, or they said I could have a job if I moved to a stupidly expensive city and accepted minimum wage. Renting a one-bedroom apartment for a year would take my whole salary.

Let's call 2016 to 2019 my "flop era." It led to severe depression, panic attacks, massive weight gain, suicide attempts (this was my flop era, so I didn't even die correctly), and expensive doctor visits.

My therapist wanted me to self-publish the cult book, but I'm not brave enough for that. I ditched my lifelong goals and started searching for something else to keep me occupied.

I considered deleting this blog. I don't remember why I didn't do it. So . . . I also failed at deleting the blog. Nice. We're really dedicated to the flop theme.

I turned old

I turned 30 during the flop era. I honestly have no memory of my 30th birthday. There was no party or anything. I most likely spent it sleeping, eating, filling out job applications, or rewriting the cult book.

Turning 30 is a milestone, even if you don't remember it. That's why I'm putting it on this list. (I bet a lot of people don't remember their 30th birthday . . .)

I acquired a human child

That ↑↑ is not my human child.

Okay, here's something I do remember! In February 2019, my younger sister had a baby. Since me and my sister live together, the baby became another roommate. Children are the most chaotic roommates. I love baby Brooklyn. She's currently 4 years old and hilarious. Her hobbies include zombie hunting, petting random dogs, begging for food which she then refuses to eat, and spreading contagious diseases. She's the best.

If you can be anything, be Smokey The Bear

I couldn't write books or work in publishing. I didn't have enough money to keep binge-eating in bed until I could apply for My 600-lb Life. I needed to do something with myself.

I decided to be a park ranger.

Shortly before Brooklyn was born, I applied for jobs at 3 parks within driving distance of my house. My first choice ghosted me. My second choice rejected me. In May 2019, I started working in the visitor services section of my third choice.

I still work at my third-choice park, but my role has shifted a lot over the years. I (mostly) like it. I get to see beautiful scenery and meet tourists from all over the world. I've learned that I can stay calm during life-and-death emergencies. My supervisors know that I have complicated feelings about law enforcement in the US, and they've never forced me to do something that makes me uncomfortable or goes against my morals. It's been good. And challenging. And stressful. And frustrating. And sweaty.

And then there were none

When I started this blog, I had three hyperactive dogs. I loved them so much. They were my best friends and hiking companions. The problem with dogs is that they don't live long enough. I currently have zero dogs. I never imagined myself as someone with zero dogs.

I'm really, really tempted to get another dog. Or several.

Am I a stack of book reviews in a trench coat?

In the last 10 years, I've written nearly 1,000 book reviews on this blog. I think the current count is 943 plus a few that haven't been published yet. You can find most of them in my Sunday Posts. That's a lot of reading and blogging.

In total, the blog has 1,532 published posts; 31,829 comments; and 1,303,078 pageviews. I can't believe that many people have viewed my nonsense. You guys must be bored.

I crown myself the pinterest queen!

When I started this blog, I loved social media and wanted to be on all the sites, all the time. Then Donald Trump became a thing, and social media started stressing me out. I quit a few sites and pulled back from others. Then I kept pulling back. And kept pulling back.

Pinterest was the exception. I didn't give up on Pinterest!

Actually, that's not true. In 2020, my Pinterest account was getting 3.5 million monthly views, and deleting spam comments on my pins was a fulltime job, so I had to chill. I post way less often than I used to.

I love Pinterest because it's aspirational. People (mostly) use it to plan their futures instead of tearing each other down. Pinterest has taught me everything: Graphic design, book reviewing, social media marketing, and how to blog in a way that's honest but still makes people happy.

Follow me on Pinterest . . . .

I exercise now?

If you would've told me 10 years ago that I would become a gym girlie, I wouldn't have believed you. I loathed PE class in school. That's where the worst bullying happened. I usually ditched PE to read Stephen King books in the stairwell. I only played sports under extreme duress.

In the last 10 years, I've run a half-marathon, did yoga every day for 2 years, and joined a boxing gym. I can't say I enjoy exercise, and I still look like a blimp compared to my coworkers, but I understand why exercise is beneficial. I can be athletic if I work at it.

All my friends live inside my computer

The best part of the journey is the friends we've made along the way.

Seriously, I'm grateful for all my blogger friends. I was terrified to comment on people's blogs back in 2013. I thought everybody would find me annoying. Luckily, the book blogging community is tolerant of weirdos. I've had very few negative interactions with book bloggers. You're all lovely. I hope we're still friends in another 10 years.

Thanks for reading! How has your life changed in the last 10 years?