You guys!  Today is my 10 YEAR BLOGIVERSARY!!

10 years…A decade…A total of 1, 756 published posts!!  Wha?!

That blows my mind!!

I had absolutely NO IDEA when I hit “publish” on my very first post ten years ago today what an amazing adventure the Lord had in store for me and my family!

What I thought was going to be a little online journal of the things that matter most to me in my life…faith, family, and home, has turned into an amazing full time career for me!

It was my mom who introduced me to blogs and encouraged me to start my own. 

Little did she know that she was giving me and her grandchildren the best give she could ever have given us!

Jonathan was 9, Luke was 7, Adam was 5, and Eli was almost 2 years old when I first started blogging.  I was a stay-at-home mom at the time with plans of going back to full-time teaching once the boys were all in school.   However, the Lord had something else in mind!

Oh my!  Looking at these pictures is making me all weepy!  Where does the time go, y’all?  I need just one day to go back in time to these moments so I can squeeze their little cheeks and hug their little necks.  Those days were so hard sometimes, but man, I wouldn’t take anything for them!  

My precious boys…

 

Now my boys are 19, 17, 15, and almost 12,  plus we have a precious little girl in the mix!

(recent movie night with the fam)

When I started my blog, we were living in a different home.  It was a two story fixer upper on 4 acres. 

Everything in that house was hand-me-downs and thrift store finds, but we made the best of what we had.  We were so broke, but so happy.

My style has definitely changed over the years…

I remember making over my bedroom for less than $700.  I painted the thrifted bed and dresser black and sewed a brown burlap bedskirt.   

You can see a house tour of our previous home and more of the DIY projects from this bedroom by click HERE.

We also built a two car detached garage with a “guest house” above it, and we created this space completely out of sweat equity and thrifty finds!  CLICK HERE to tour our last guest house.

The first year of blogging was my hardest because we found out my mom had cancer in August of 2009, and she passed away 7 weeks later on September 22nd.  It rocked my world.  My mom was my best friend and the best grandmother ever.  I knew that my kids would have a hard time remembering her, so I started writing weekly posts for a year called, Wednesdays with Wanda.  They are some of my most favorite posts on my blog.  

My sweet mama.

You can read them HERE.

 

In 2010, I switched from blogspot to my own domain and  got a new blog design.  I found this little button of my old design.  Isn’t that hilarious?

At this point, I wasn’t really making money from my blog except for a few small ads in my sidebar.  But I was loving the community aspect of blogging.  I was getting to know so many amazing people from around the world through my little blog.  It blessed my heart in so many ways. 

I attended blog conferences like Blissdom and Relevant (now Allume,) that helped me learn more about the business side of blogging and. how to make money.  It was at the Blissdom conference that I meant some of my life long blog buddies from the Home DIY niche, and my blog went to a whole other level. 

It was with some of those blog friends that I helped to found the Haven Conference.  For the past 7 years, Haven has been a huge part of my life, and I am so grateful to be a part of it. 

 

In 2011, we moved into our current home.  A small 1400 sq ft ranch that we have slowly been renovating over the past 8 years.  It has been quite the adventure in this house!

You can read more about some of the transformations to this home in THIS POST.

Over the past 10 years, my dad has remarried, Jonathan was on The Voice and now lives in Nashville,

 

 

and we adopted our precious Sania.  WOW!  

I’ve also had the chance to spend two weeks in Boston working with Wayfair, fly to Lowe’s Corporate for a blogger’s event, travel the World’s Largest Yardsale with GMC, hang out with bloggers at  Ballard Design’s headquarters, work with Habitat for Humanity and Lowe’s at the Kobalt 400 in Vegas, stayed at Duke Mansion with Rustoleum, designed a sofa and competed in the LaZboy design challenge, and to top it off….

Created a SIZZLE REEL WITH HGTV!!!

 

It’s crazy the opportunities that have come out of this little blog!

I’ve had the time of my life, and I look forward to many more adventures!

Your love and support through every phase of my life these past 10 years has been so amazing.  I appreciate YOU more than you will ever know!  Of all the things to have come out of this blog, the number one thing that I have loved the most is YOU!!  The relationships that I have built with my readers and other bloggers is hands down the biggest blessing I have ever received!!!

SO THANK YOU!!  From the beneath my heart…..

THANK YOU!!

To celebrate my 10 year blogiversary, I am giving away a $100 Target gift card on my Instagram account!  Be sure to jump over there and enter to win!

CLICK HERE!

 

Comment on the picture with the cupcake!