Happy One Year Blog-Anniversary

One year, 68 blog posts, a multitude of support flowing in and a BIG thank you to YOU. As you can tell from the title of this blog post, today marks the one year anniversary day of lil’ thoughts with jen. I can’t believe how fast time has flown by and how much this blog has grown. None of this would have been possible without your constant support and encouragement. The past year has been a whirlwind of a rollercoaster — one that I actually enjoyed riding. To celebrate this day, I wanted to share the background of this blog, some the best memories and lessons and other thoughts I’ve had thus far!

A Lil’ Background

I’ve always wanted to start a blog. The idea first came to me when I was a freshman in college, but I was too nervous to start one and didn’t know where to begin. As time went on, I felt so restricted by the courses I was taking in college. My educational career path led me to take classes focusing on theories and policies that already exist. Don’t get me wrong, I love studying economics and politics with a passion; the learning curve ever ends. It was just hard for me to find a creativity outlet. My passion always resided in writing (I used to want to be an author!) so creating a blog was the perfects solution. It can be a creative and writing outlet as well as a platform for similar minded people to connect.

As the reasons of why I should start a blog started stacking up against the reasons of why I shouldn’t, I ran out of legitimate excuses to not begin. I made it my 2017 goal to embark on this journey, to push all “what-if’s” out the window. I worked on this site for 3 months, teaching myself how WordPress, web hosting and blogging worked. The initial steps of learning how WordPress and HTML worked was so daunting! Thank goodness Alex got me a WordPress how-to book for Christmas that year haha.

I also had to come up with a blog name that resided with me. After brainstorming with so many people, lil’ thoughts with jen rose to the top. Growing up, all the people in my life who were close to me called me jen and I thought it was important I had that closeness with my readers. And this place is a compilation of my lil’ thoughts. So the name stuck and a year ago today, I sat down at my desk with the support of my family, Alex and my best friend, Jules, and pressed “publish” to my first blog post.

lil’ thoughts with jen was created with the idea that I can explore life wherever it leads me, without any restrictions. I try to incorporate as much of my life as possible because it’s all of my lil’ thoughts. It has somehow transformed into my passion project. To see its constant growth is so motivating to continue. Thank you all for transforming lil’ thoughts with jen into my lil’ safe haven on the internet.

Lil’ Lessons & Memories

I’ve learned so many lessons after starting lil’ thoughts with jen. The first and most important is to push any and all doubts out of your mind. I doubted my own ability to start and I had people who doubted me. But you truly never know if you don’t do it. It’s cliche, but so true. I knew who in my life supported my ideas and believed in me enough to push me to go after my dreams. But I also had people who came up with every single possible reason of why I can’t. In the end, I had to learn how to push those voices out and to let the positive ones in.

Second, I had to work really hard to stop comparing myself with others. In the beginning, growth was slow. It was also hard to see other bloggers in my position growing 10x as fast. There were constant lessons that everyone’s growth is different and that hard work is necessary. Instead of focusing on what other were doing, I started focusing on me. I created better content, was more consistent and never lost the site of who I was. I want to always be true to who I am and to write about topics that I 100% believe in.

I’ve loved making new connections with fellow bloggers who are just as passionate as I am. To be part of a community that builds each other up with words of support and encouragement is so inspirational. I’ve realized how many talented people exist out in the world and how there is a space on the internet for everyone. As long as you have a dream, you can go after it and succeed. I’ve hit so many milestones this year and every one of them holds a special place in my heart.

Some Other Lil’ Thoughts

It goes without saying that you need people in your life who will support you no matter how big your dreams are. I got so lucky with my family who pushes me to go after every crazy adventure I think of, a boyfriend who never stops offering his endless support, and friends who are my personal cheerleaders. I truly wouldn’t be where I am without a single one of them in my life. These are the people who never miss a post, who tell me I can without hesitation and never think I’m crazy for all the nonsense I want to do with my life. From taking my blog pics (hi Alex, Jody & Jason), selecting the best pictures to post (hi Jules), advertising (Hi Dad/Mom & Sundy), to offering words of encouragement and advice (you know who you are), I am so eternally grateful for you all.

I am so glad I bit the bullet and just did what I wanted to do. I want to thank every single one of you who have visited my site. The past year of opportunities, relationships and memories would have been impossible without YOU. I am forever grateful for the messages, emails and love flowing in every day.  I saw a vision in what I wanted to do, and the people around me believed in me enough to support me, and there’s nothing more valuable in that. So thank you to my family, friends, Alex and my readers for continuously coming back, for dealing with my random mood swings and content and for always supporting my vision.

I can’t wait to see what the next year of blogging will hold. I will now go into a corner and cry my eyeballs out because I am so emotional!! Focus on yourself, put 110% into whatever you do and believe that you can — because if I can do it, you can do it! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT!

Thanks a million for reading — until my next lil’ thought then!

jen❣

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