I’ve been on a bit of an unannounced hiatus for the past few weeks. Wedding planning while working full time and trying to keep the blog running caused me to crash and burn, so much so that I completely missed my own blogiversary. I drove myself crazy over not being able to get any posts written but ultimately decided that I needed to just give myself a break. There are so many times that other bloggers have asked for advice when this happens and I’ve always told them to take all of the time they need. The blog and their readers will still be there when they are ready to go back. Why was I any different?
On October 6th, 2010 I wrote and posted my very first blog post. At twenty-four, I was just beginning my journey with tea. I was already writing reviews for Teaviews.com so the first year or so was largely just reposting my content from there. My intentions were for it to be more a log for myself but then it dawned on me that other people were actually reading what I wrote. Isn’t it crazy how the internet works? Through the blog, I’ve learned so many skills that I never thought I would have. HTML code, graphic design, social media marketing, and so much more are all things that I had no idea how to do before. These MS Paint created logos are surely evidence of that. 🙂
Since then I have reviewed over 1,000 different teas. People often ask me if it gets boring after a while and I am happy to say that it does not. There is always something new and interesting to explore. It is hard to believe that I have been doing this for ten years. Time flies when you are having fun! Through the blog, I’ve had some incredible experiences and forged friendships with fellow tea lovers around the world. I am also blessed with an incredibly supportive and encouraging community of readers. Although I had to take a break I don’t see myself stopping the blog any time soon. It will continue to change and evolve with me, just as it always has.
My wedding gift to myself was a refurbished Canon T7i so hopefully, the future will hold improved photography and more video content. I do have some thinking to do about my mailing list as the quarterly journals are not something I think I can do anymore. Is there something that you all would like to see sent out to subscribers instead?
I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. Thank you all for hanging in there with me! I’ll leave you all with a few shots from the wedding. You might be surprised that tea didn’t play a major role in the day, but I did gift my guests with a delicious Yue Guang Bai from Yunnan Sourcing.
Congratulations Nicole! So many good wishes for you! Keep it up!