First Blogiversary

This Wednesday (tomorrow) is the blogiversary of Next Stop Baby.  On February 8, 2011, I published the first post on Next Stop Baby.  It was aptly titled, First Post.  For the past year, I've continued to write and so many of you have continued to read (THANK YOU!!!) and even comment.  It was a year of growth and change and more change and more growth as I learned about blogs and about blogging.

Since the start, one thing that hasn't changed is the Next Stop Baby font/logo.  The informal cursive reminded me of the way I write on post-it notes.  The casual vibe was just right.  I almost went with, "Reminder - Get Pregnant".  Interesting side note, I wanted the webpage http://www.nextstopbaby.blogspot.com/ but that was already taken.  So I had to add the "-" (http://www.nextstop-baby.blogspot.com/).    

I never read blogs before I started writing Next Stop Baby.  And, I didn't really plan this project in advance.  Not at all.  I had no life long aspiration to become a blogger.  Rather, starting a blog was an extremely random and very impulsive decision.  The blog's theme was an obvious choice because on February 8, 2010 babies were everywhere in my life.  Now, a year later...they still are.  Since starting Next Stop Baby, three friends have had babies and four friends are currently pregnant!  (I suspect more may be making announcements in the coming months).  I can't even count how many Facebook friends have had babies and are pregnant...  

In honor and celebration of this one year milestone, I'm going to share a little about me that's never before been shared, a little bit about what I've learned about blogging, and a lot about the behind the scenes of Next Stop Baby.  You may have read the page "This Blogger" located on the homepage of Next Stop Baby.

If so, you discovered no very little personal information about me.  So, maybe you want to know a little more?  What you've probably learned by reading posts is that I live in New York, I have a day job that I commute to via subway (aka "the train") and I'm obsessed with The Hunger Games trilogy and Teen Mom.  Here are a few things that you probably don't know:  I'm in my 30s (don't now judge my obsessions with The Hunger Games and Teen Mom), I ran a marathon last year because it was on my baby bucket list and I would like a big family (read: lots of kids)...I know, I better get going on the latter.

Another image from Hunger Games, of course.  That's Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen.  How age inappropriate would it be if I went opening night at the movies (3/23/12)?

And now it's time for what may seem a little bit like an acceptance speech.  I owe a bunch of people big THANK YOUs for all the support they've given to Next Stop Baby this past year.  

Big Thank you to the following websites that have been down right amazing in driving traffic to Next Stop Baby over the past year, without my ever requesting that they do so:

www.adventuresinbaby.wordpress.com

www.thekennedyadventures.com

www.uncooked-meghan.blogspot.com
http://www.scarymommy.com/

Big Thank You to my #1 Commenter: WW - who I know and love.  Also thanks to commenters Jessica Morris, Chrissy, Mother of Pearl, Coll and Lia.  Your continued reading and commenting has often been the inspiration I needed to keep writing.

Big Thank You to all my guest bloggers who have included some incredibly talented friends and family members:

• Attorney by Day, Baby Dreamer by Night (Babies - Last On My to Do List?)
• Ella Mae (Motherhood)
• Alfie Toner (Trust Your Gut and Three Months Experience)
• W. Wilson (Nine Month Abs) *
• Lia Capri (I Did a Stupid Thing) *

*Notice how these guest bloggers have names similar to my biggest commenters...coincidence?

Big Thank You to Rosie Pope, who has by and far been THE biggest source of interest on Next Stop Baby.  More on this later in the week.

Next Stop Baby was not a premeditated plan.  But, I can now say that sometimes premeditation is overrated.  Sometimes the extremely random and very impulsive decisions in life work out.  This isn't a plug to give peyote a whirl or quit your job and become a belly dancer.  Rather, the lesson I've taken is that cultivating one's creativity is rarely harmful, so don't limit your aspirations to the same old.