Last Updated on 3 April 2020 by Colette
I’ve just realised that today marks 5 years since I first sat down and googled “blog” before setting myself up on Blogger and starting to write. . .
I was conscious that I wanted to record the things I didn’t want to forget if that makes sense . . . the funny things that Ben had said which at the time I thought I would always remember but soon realised would be lost quicker than I had thought. Â I had looked at writing them a diary each but despite buying them with the best of intentions I realised that I just didn’t seem to be able to find the time to write properly and it dawned on me that I could type far faster than I could write. Â Starting an “online diary” meant I would be able to open my blog, write a quick post and even add a picture to illustrate it. Â Surely this would be faster than trying to write by hand?
I never wrote for anyone to read it.  I wrote purely to record our family life.  My blog was called something like “Ben and Chloe take on the world” . . . catchy no?  Dave & I had got married the month before and I had only just returned to work after my maternity leave with Chloe.  Big changes were afoot as I was about to leave the school I had worked in for the previous eight years and make the move to supply teaching.  I didn’t write regularly, just a handful of posts throughout the course of the year.  They didn’t always have photos and often they were only a paragraph or so long.  Just notes and memories written down.
It wasn’t until around August 2013 that I really started to write. Â I bought my vanity URL and “We’re going on an adventure” was born. Â In the last five years I’ve published just short of 1400 blog posts, been a finalist in the MADs twice and even won one of them, I’ve created a brand, a business. . . one which now contributes to around two thirds of my annual income and made new friends. Â So many new friends.
I’ve learned to make and edit videos, I’ve learned how to take decent photos (though of course there’s always room for improvement) and I know far more about online marketing & Google than I ever would have expected to need to know when I was teaching full time! Â What started as a means of just writing down memories for the kids has grown to far beyond anything I could have ever imagined and I love it. Â I love working for myself, I love writing (who knew?!) and I love taking photos and creating videos that I know I will cherish when I’m old and grey and my babies are all grown up.
The experiences and opportunities my blog brings to our door are amazing and I will be forever grateful for the incredible memories it helps us to make.  But more than that, I’m grateful to my blog for allowing me to work from home and to be there for my children, to do the school run, to not have used up all my patience on other people’s children or to spend my evenings planning and marking.
Not for one second when I first began to write could I have envisaged my life where it is now but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Congratultions Colette! Reading this makes me realise what a newbie I am, I’m just over a year old and am about to publish my 100th blog post tomorrow. 1400 is EPIC! Well done you
Thank you! I’ve slowed down a bit of late but still 1400 posts . . . it’s a few haha.
Well done my darling!
Isn’t it crazy how quickly the time flies,
Gorgeous accompanying images x
Congratulations! I haven’t been blogging even a year yet. I really hope it can grow like yours has!
Congratulations and happy 5th birthday to your blog! You’re totally right, it’s amazing what opportunities a blog can bring ?
Wow! Congratulations on keeping it going for 5 years! That’s really darn impressive
Congrats and happy blog birthday. It’s crazy how fast the years go, mine is 2 years old now.
This post really made me smile, blogging is pretty crazy and pretty amazing 🙂
Stevie x
Congratulations! I have been blogging for three years and just love it too. Kaz 🙂
Congratulations! It’s fantastic how much you have achieved in that time! I officially created a blogger account 7 years ago. But only really used it properly for the last two!
wow 5 years is a long time. So proud of you and how you have been doing better and better every day
Congratulations on 5 years. My first posts (similarly just over 5 years) were very similar. Just a brain dump and no pictures. Very odd comparing them vs today’s posts which tend to have masses of photos in!
Congratulations, 5 years and 1400 posts is such an achievement! I’ve only been blogging a year so I hope one day I’ll be writing a post like this 🙂
And what a blog you’ve built! I’m only 18 months into my blogging journey but the fact that I’m still doing it this far in and still loving it is a massive thing – I usually have a hobby for about a month before switching to something else. Absolutely LOVE your photography and Instagram feed. This will always be something to be proud of – for you, for Dave and your lovely children too!
This is such a lovely post. You are so right though we learn so many new skills through blogging, learning to take better photographs is definitely one of mine too.
Way to go! You’re such an inspiration to new bloggers like me.
Happy 5 Years! You are doing a great job, here’s to the next 5 ?
Congratulations on your fifth blogaversary! It’s wonderful to see what your blog has blossomed to. xx