Hey friends! Happy after Christmas day! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones, eating delicious food and relishing in one another’s company. Today is a big day on the blog – my 3rd year blog anniversary. I know, right?!
It’s wild to me that somehow this little corner of the internet I created when I was a first year in college is 3 years old and I’m in the middle of my last year of college. I’ve been pondering a little bit about whether the name of the blog should change when I enter my next stage of life. As far as I know, the strict studying of my academic life is over. But the reason that this blog is named Studying Life with Gigi is that although I started off as a college student, it is the aim of this blog to study life in all of its grand stages. Especially post-grad life which is coming up next!
Now to reflect on the blog this year!
The blog has definitely slowed in traffic, but that’s okay. It’s easy to believe that things are only worth doing if you’re getting a lot of attention and recognition, and though it’s lovely to receive recognition, I know that this blog is worth it, even if it doesn’t become a big corner of the web. And that’s why I’m celebrating this blog anniversary!
Popular posts of the year –Â
When Love is Worth Keeping Around | quote series
Apparently people love HIMYM as much as I do! Just a reminder to fight for the people you want in your life.
Change, Consistency & the 1% Rule | quote series
The most enduring change in our lives will happen gradually. That’s just how habits are made. It’s hard but it’s worth it.
Books & songs at the beginning of spring 2021
These are one of my favorite posts to write, and so I’m glad they got a tad bit popular.
The life update posts are always interesting because I feel like I write them for my future self instead of others, but this one got a bit of traction, which is nice.
The beauty of beach retreat + accepting stagnation
I loved this post!!! One of my favorites on the blog by far. I wanted to do a post that was a sort of special days in my life capturing this weekend but I also wanted it to be reflective. I loved writing this one!
My favorite blog posts this year!
Simple college morning routine + night routine + all my musings
This post is gorgeous and was super fun to finally do a blog post that I’d been dreaming of. It’s reflective and sweet and it’ll be one of the perfect posts to look back on when it comes to my post-grad days.
Sharing stories at a 24 hour retreat
This was more similar to a day in my life kind of post but I still loved writing this and reflecting on this wonderful experience. It was super reflective with some notes I took on the retreat and it’s definitely a post worth reading if you’re interested in vocation
What I’ve Learned This Summer
I absolutely needed to write this post. Sometimes things bubble up in you and you have to get it out. That’s what this post was.
Fighting for faith on a winding path | quote series
I’ve been writing about faith a little more on the blog. It’s a big part of my life, and this post is about one of my favorite books on faith. Plus, I really love the thumbnail I made for this blog post! Undeniably one of my favorite posts of the year.
Stained Glass Reminds us of the broken parts
If there’s any post worth reading this year, I think it’s this one. It’s a lot of musing and captures my state of mind during the mid-year pretty well, but I like it a lot and I hope you like it too.
Questions about blogging
Any fun plans for the new year after your blog anniversary?
Definitely got some exciting blog ideas for 2022. Stay tuned to see what’s coming to the blog! As for the rest of 2021, you’ll see my 4th year 1st semester reflection and what I’ve learned in 2021.
What do you see the future of this blog as?
As a space where I continually reflect about my life and I invite others in to consider new ideas as well as old ones. It’ll definitely have a new feeling once post-grad life comes along.
What have you gained from blogging?
A sense that my voice matters. A gift of looking back on my past posts and being grateful for the memories I’ve captured but also the lessons I took to heart.
Who are your favorite bloggers to read?
Something I want to improve on is checking out others’ blogs more consistently. But I do love Annaliese from Southern Belle in Training. I think I found her looking for bloggers in Charlottesville and she just recently moved to Virginia Beach, but she’s wonderful and I love her cat Delilah!
And of course, Carly Riordan. Been following Carly for a hot minute and loving her early motherhood content even though I am nowhere near that stage of life.Â
I really want to follow more college/post-grad bloggers but I’m not sure where to find them.
Well, that’s a wrap for the 3rd blog anniversary. I hope you all enjoyed and will check out some of the posts to reflect on the blog.
Signing off,
Gigi
