Reflection

Hello friends.
This little blog of mine is turning one soon. It's kind of hard for me to remember what it was like before this. What did I do with all that extra time?? It's funny that I started this around the time I had my little boy. Who knew this would turn into another of my 'babies', so to speak. I love this space, it makes me happy. It is not only a stress release, it has become a place where I have so many fun new friends.

I thought I would share some of my thoughts about this blog, and what I have learned over the past year.

When I started out, I had no idea what I was doing. I would post here & there, not with any sort of structure. Then I decided to try my first link party, and that's when it all happened. I received my first feature, someone out in the blogging world actually thought my stuff was good enough to share with their readers. It was a huge boost of confidence. So I continued to link up at different parties. It was fun. I enjoyed stopping by other blogs and leaving comments.

One experience sticks out to me about visiting other sites. I got this comment on my blog saying, 'I'm your newest follower, please follow me back'. So I did, and a week later I got the same comment from the same blogger. Obviously that person was just trying to gain more followers, and didn't really care about the content on my blog. So I made a decision, I was not going to be that person. Someone who writes something on a blog just to gain a reader. I am not a fake person, so why would I start being one online. I honestly try to leave comments when I feel like they are deserving of one AND I make them sincere, or at least I try.

It's hard not to want to compare yourself to other bloggers. But in all reality, you just can't. No two blogs are the same, some have been around a lot longer than yours, and there is no reason to get hung up on a number. I have to not worry about how many readers I have. I was surprised when people I didn't know actually started reading this. I truly strive to put the best content that I can on here.

And my absolute favorite thing about this blog of mine, is all the amazing friends I have met along the way. I feel like I know a lot of you, since you have become apart of my daily life. I love having the different relationships I have with you. It's great to have friends from various parts of the world. And the wonderful comments & emails I receive, completely make my day. Such a huge boost when I need it most.

So, to end this post of reflection, I want to say thanks.
Thanks to all of you who have reached out to me, I appreciate my readers so much.
I hope year two of Southern Lovely will be just as great!

Oh, and by the way, because I adore you all so much, I am throwing a celebration here starting March 12th. There are some amazing giveaways scheduled from some very generous sponsors. You guys are definitely going to get hooked up. :)