One Year

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

I can hardly believe a year has already passed since hitting "publish" for the first time.  When I started my blog, I really didn't think I would make it this far. With homeschooling, homesteading, and ten youngsters keeping me on my toes, I didn't think I would actually be able to keep up with the rigors of blogging. I hoped that I would and was willing to give it my best shot, but I didn't have a lot of faith that I would actually be able to do it, but here we are exactly one year later, and I'm still snapping pictures and typing away.  It has been interesting browsing past posts and seeing how Front Forty Farm has evolved and is still in the process of becoming something that feels like home, something that gives my readers the feeling of a shared cup of tea with me.

I'm a shy person and actually quite private, so I think it was surprising to Hubby when I made the decision to publish that first post.  He had said to me many times before, "You should write a blog...you should blog about this...what a great blog post this would make..."  I always kind of laughed it off and said, "Me?  Blog? I don't think so.  I could never share publicly like that." I am, however, so glad I that I took Hubby's advice and started sharing in my little corner of the great, worldwide Internet. The process has been slow, and for some time very few came to visit, and nobody commented. I kept at it, but there were days when I wondered if the time I spent blogging was worth it...if maybe my time would be better spent doing something else, but then I slowly started receiving comments, and each one would be that motivation I needed to keep writing. I'm still very much a novice, but I am so grateful to the faithful readers that come back each day and leave their encouraging notes.  I'm glad I kept up with it and look forward to continuing.  I now have a neat little journal of the year's events...mostly of the small things, things that would so easily be forgotten.  I can look back through my archives and see a snapshot of a particular day, a week, a month, look at the items I created, and see the changes in my home and yard. I noticed that last year on this date the apple trees were full of leaves and blossoms, but this year the trees are bare except for their swollen buds.  I take pleasure in the small things and like remembering the tiny details of our lives, and blogging has helped me keep those memories close at hand. 

I have also had the wonderful opportunity of connecting with some lovely people through this blogging experience and have made friends that I look forward to getting to know better as time goes by.  I want to thank all those that have come to visit and have made my blogging experience, in my eyes, a success.