Ten on Tuesday: Anniversary Edition

It's my anniversary week!!  I've been blogging for almost six years!  In case you missed it, I've got a great giveaway going on here: Night on the Town Giveaway.  I've also got a BOGO deal going on for sidebar ads.  If you sign up during this anniversary week special, you can get two months for the price of one!

Now, on to the Ten on Tuesday post for today! Since it's my anniversary week and I am posting all about my love of blogging, I thought today would be a good time to make a list of the ten things I love about blogging.  I honestly thought I had done a post like that before, but when I searched my site I couldn't find it. Even if I did make a list like this in the past, it's time to update it anyway!!

1. The primary reason I started blogging in the first place was so that I could have a place to record memories.  That's what this blog has become for me.  A virtual diary that I don't have to worry about misplacing or losing. I can get to it any time from any where.
2. Perspective--I mentioned this last Friday: sometimes I'll write out a whole post about something that is upsetting me or bothering me.  By the time I get to the end, I have figured out the best course of action for myself.  That usually means deleting everything I just wrote, but that's fine with me because the writing served its purpose.
3. I have made so many friends through blogging!  I am afraid to name people because I don't want people to feel left out.  I used to participate in a meme called "Friday Fill Ins."  I'm not sure what happened to the moderator, but I got to know some fun people from that and I still try and visit them regularly.  I really got to know a lot of awesome women through...
4. Our book: The Mother of all Meltdowns!  I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not sure what made Crystal pick me, but I am so glad she did!  The friendships we've made as well as the awesome satisfaction of having a book for sale at Amazon is just incredible!!
5. A lesson in persistence: Having this blog has really taught me a lot, and one thing that has been especially obvious lately is persistence.  I made a commitment at the beginning of this year to blog every day Monday through Friday.  Here we are 16 days from the end of the year and I am proud to say that I've only missed a handful of days.  
6. I have had fun guest posting at other websites.  I've had a post featured over at Margarita Mommies, I've posted for my friend Lydia.  It's been fun getting my words out to a slightly different audience and getting to know new people/
7. Reviews and Giveaways--I used to see other bloggers do product reviews and wonder how to get into that.  I've been using a website called Tomoson.com to sign up for reviews as well as getting involved with Influenster to try out some new stuff.  I'll be honest, it's fun having someone send you free stuff in the mail.
8. Making a bit of extra money is never a bad thing, right?  I've been seeing some money come in through Google Ads on my site as well as getting sponsors for my sidebar.  I haven't yet made enough money to quit my day job, but having a hobby that gives back is a good thing!
9. Besides being a place to keep my memories, this blog has turned out to be a good way to keep track of other things going on in my life.  When the boys were little I used it as a place to keep track of how many words they knew. Now I can use it as a way to remind myself which pumpkin patches we went to or when the kids wore for school pictures.
10. Getting involved in partnerships!  This is something especially exciting to me because it hasn't quite happened yet!  Lisa at the Golden Spoons is someone I met through our book.  She has been doing a list of ten things every Tuesday for a while now too.  She and I have gotten together to make an official link up called Tuesday Ten.  It's going live Tuesday, January 7, 2014, so be sure to keep an eye out for it.  If you typically write a list of Resolutions, we will have a great place for you to link up!