It's Monday! For some of you this is your first Monday of summer vacation. For others, like the teachers in my district, still have a few Mondays left. If you're just starting out your summer vacation, I hope you are off to a relaxing start! Those of you not quite done yet, stay strong the summer is almost here!!
Since it's Monday in the summer, that means I am linking up with Monica from I Heart Grade 3 for her Weekly Summer Link Up! Last week we talked about our Summer Goals! I have so many, but I chose four to talk about!
As you can see, this week we are linking up to talk about why we started blogging. I have had my little blog since July of 2013, so my blog is getting ready to celebrate its second birthday! In order to prep myself for this post, I went back and read the very first thing I ever posted on my blog. It brought back a lot of memories! Back then my blog looked a lot different! I wish I had a picture of how it used to look, but I can't find one. I know that everything on it was designed by myself after watching hours and hours of tutorial videos on YouTube and any other blogs I could find!
The summer I decided to start my blog was the summer before I began my third year as a kindergarten teacher. Two years before I was teaching fourth grade! Quite the jump, right?? I was just starting to feel comfortable as a kindergarten teacher. Instead of feeling like I was constantly drowning, I finally felt as if I was treading water with my head held high! I decided that would be a good time to venture into the world of blogging! I had started my TPT store not long before, and I wanted a way to get my name out there. I though that blogging would be a good way to do that.
Check out this old sale sign I made <no, it's not for a sale this year>. I remember that I made it in Notebook software, which is how I started out making my activities. When I moved over to using PowerPoint, I never looked back! Just goes to show how you live, learn, and make changes!
Thinking about starting my blog is bittersweet for me. I was so proud of myself for getting it off the ground and working so hard to make it something worth reading. I remember how proud my mom was of me, and how she was my very first follower. I also remember how a little over a month after I started my blog, my mom died unexpectedly. What an incredible blow that was. However, I know she is still proud of how far I have come since that hot summer day in July!
Click on the image above of my very first blog button and you'll be able to go back and read my very first blog post! So many life changing events have occurred since I started this blog, but I am so glad that I am on this journey!
Want to link up and talk about why you started blogging? Just click on the Weekly Summer Link Up schedule to head over to I Heart Grade 3 and read about why we started blogging!
P.S. - You can still come over and link up to my Spotlight Saturday linky party! Come read all about it and Spotlight something awesome for us!
I'm excited to be participating in this linky. It's so interesting to see how everyone's journey varies. I started out designing in Word before switching to PowerPoint too. I love PowerPoint! It is so much easier.
ReplyDelete✿April✿
✿Grade School Giggles✿
I agree, isn't this linky so much fun? :-) Word and I are not friends, I get so confused in Word! I've been using PowerPoint for years and I think it's so much easier too! :-) Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post and leave a comment! You rock!
DeleteI love the design of your blog, the dragon is absolutely adorable!! I am also now heading over to your Spotlight Saturday post to see what that's all about as i'd love to be able to participate in that!!
ReplyDeleteI too am guilty of looking back and thinking of how much i have progressed since using programmes that were nightmares! I moved to powerpoint same as you but since having a mac now use keynote and love it!! :)
So sorry to hear about your Mum. At least you can always look back and see that she was your first follower, she believed in you from the start and she was so proud of you! I loved reading your reasons.
Thank you so much for being so sweet! I'm a huge fan of dragons, even decorated my classroom with that theme! :-) I'm SO EXCITED for you to link up with Spotlight Saturday, thank you so much!
DeleteI have a MacBook Pro but have never heard of using Keynote. The only thing I don't like about Powerpoint/Word is that for some reason not all of my fonts show up in those programs. I'll have to check out Keynote to see if that's any better, thank you! :-)
Thanks so much for your kind words! I do miss my mom but I know she's resting peacefully and was proud of me before she left.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and respond with such sweet comments, you rock!
I am impressed with your blog and your journey. I am still working on how to make things look "cutesy," especially as I am not a cutesy person by nature!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, you're so sweet! I love scrapbooking and that just transferred easily to blogging! I'm sure you'll get a handle on the cutesy soon, at least now that the summer is here you can have more time to try! I started my blog in the summer and am SO GLAD I did, because I definitely needed the extra time! :-)
DeleteThank you so much for taking the time to read my post and leave comments, it really means a lot!
I love the dragon. So very much. It's just the cutest thing!
ReplyDeleteWhat you wrote about your mom really spoke to me, because I'm brand new at TpT, and my mom has been bragging about me, cheering me on! Never know how much time we have. I think I'll call her now. :)
Hugs!
Maren @ MalimoMode
Aww, thank you so much for your super kind words! My mom was always the first one I called whenever I had something to brag about, and she was always my biggest cheer leader. Losing her was so very unexpected and such a big blow. I still talk to her, but it's just not the same.
DeleteYou're so right at never knowing how much time we have! One moment in time can change your life forever! I hope you got a chance to call your mom! :-)
Thanks so much for stopping by to read my blog and leave such wonderful comments, you rock!
Hi Erin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up again! That's awesome!
Isn't it amazing how our blogs have grown throughout the years? I started with a free theme from Wordpress and made the leap to self-hosted professionally designed blog after attending the TpT conference last summer.
Your blog is super cute and that little dragon is adorable! I particularly like the globe - I am redecorating my son's room with retro maps and globes!
Thanks again!
Monica
www.iheartgrade3.com
www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/I-Heart-Grade-3
It's crazy to think about the growth! I started off with Blogger because I didn't even know Weebly or anything else was out there! I designed my own blog and kept that for the first few months, and by then had saved enough money to get it professionally done by Designs by Kassie and I think she did an AMAZING job! I don't know anything about self-hosted professionally designed blog, I'll have to look into that!
DeleteThanks so much for the sweet words about my blog, I do love the dragon! He is a creation of Scrappin Doodles and is probably my most favorite dragon clipart! I love the idea of decorating your little one's room with retro maps and globes, how fun is that?? Every time he goes to his room he can plan out another worldly adventure, awesome!
Thanks so much for stopping by to read my post and for leaving such awesome comments! I'm so glad you're hosting this super-fun link up!!
Erin, now we can chat on Instagram and our blogs! It's great to hear how you got into blogging! I had to look back at my first post to see when I officially started too! It's good that I did because I'm pretty sure my story would have been a lot different otherwise! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteKristin from Teaching In A Nutshell
Isn't it amazing how far the technology has come?? :-) Isn't funny how everything has changed since then? Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and leave such a great comment! You rock! :-)
DeleteWarmest Wishes,
Erin
www.kinderdragons.blogspot.com
I love the dragon you have in your logo. So cute! I still use Blogger but I like Weebly ,too! I am in this link-up, too and you can read my post at www.twinkleteaches.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteHappy blogging!
Tina :)
Thank you so much, I do so love this little dragon! :-) I have to use Weebly for my class website, and have been a bit too timid to start with it yet! :-) Thanks so much for stopping by and reading the post then leaving such sweet feedback, I really appreciate it!
DeleteWarmest Wishes,
Erin
www.kinderdragons.blogspot.com
I absolutely love your blog design! I'm usually not a big dragon fan, but that little guy is adorable!! The part about your mom really hit home with me. My mom is my biggest cheerleader in all of my random journeys. Although she doesn't know the first thing about blogging, TPTing, instagramming or any of those other techie things, she always wants to hear about how my adventures are going and what people are thinking about my ideas. You definitely helped me realize just how much I take that for granted!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to read more from you this summer!
Jen
www.primarytweets.blogspot.com
Oh my goodness, thank you so very much for such sweet words! I love this little dragon so much my entire classroom is designed around him! :-) My mom was also my biggest cheerleader, and she was the only one who ever asked me how my first day of school went! That first day of school without her was so hard, nobody even asked how my first day was. Love your mom as much as you can for as long as you can, and make sure the very last thing you say to her is 'I Love You' because you never know when you won't get that chance again! :-)
DeleteI'm so glad to have 'met' you through this linky! I love how cute and colorful your blog is, those little birdies everywhere totally make me smile! Can't wait to see what else you share with us this summer! I'm off to look you up on Facebook and Instagram! :-) Thank you so very much for taking the time to come over and read my post and then leave such incredibly wonderful feedback. It is so very much appreciated!!