Blogging Thoughts..

Tomorrow is my little ol' blog's first birthday! I can't believe it's already been a year, yet I feel like I've grown a lot from being 20 to being 21 now. I can see my growth as a person and a blogger through my posts. 

I've been reflecting a little bit on all of it for the past couple of weeks.. 

When I started Rays of Purple, I started it for me. A place that was my space. I never had the aspirations to have thousands of followers and make a living blogging. For those of you who want that, and do that, I applaud you. I really do. It's just something I personally never wanted. Maybe it sounds counter productive, but I just wanted something for me, I wanted to be a part of this community. And I am. Having over 400 followers is amazing, and I adore each of you! I never would have imagined I would have made it this far. 

I want active readers, people to communicate with, not just a number on a page. Get what I'm saying?

I love being part of this community, and I feel as if I have made so many wonderful blog friends. But with that being said, there are some things in "blog land" that I'm just so over right now. The biggest one probably being the HUGE giveaways with 20 people in them, putting money towards a HUGE prize. I understand the reason behind it, and of course people want to win those, it's great exposure for your blog! I am not trying to bash anybody who participates in them in any kind of way, I get it. But it's not something I participate in. I've contemplated it, don't get me wrong, but I always turn to my husband and say, "I just feel like I'm buying followers, and that's not what I want." And I mean it.. I'm not here for that huge number, I'm really not.

I love meeting new blog ladies, but at this point, I am also kind of over Passionfruit Ads. They are super easy and convenient, but I don't feel as connected anymore.. So after this month, I'm taking a little while off from button swapping until I can figure out a way to use Passionfruit Ads but make it more meaningful. 

Throughout this blogging journey I've managed to stay true to myself, and I want to keep it that way. I've grown as a person, and my direction for this blog has changed and evolved too. When I first started Rays of Purple, I was going to try the lifestyle thing. As I moved along, I found it becoming more of a DIY and recipe blog. Most of my traffic now days comes from Pinterest, and honestly, I love it that way. 

As I continue this blogging journey, I really want to focus on posting our travels. It's the perfect way to look back on them, and the thoughts we had after them. I want to keep focusing on DIYs and new recipes. This blog is truly me. I blog when I feel like it, I don't have a set schedule, and I'm okay with that. I know maybe that will lose me some followers along the road, but I'm here to please me. I've learned that I don't need to post every day, I'm lucky if I even get 2-3 posts a week, but I'm okay with that too. 

I really didn't mean for this to be so long.. I need to learn to ramble less.. Sorry about that ;) 

Anyway little blog of mine, Happy 1st Birthday! Here's to many more to come. 

Surprise!

I am beyond excited to be able to finally share with you my awesome new blog design! 

I cannot even describe how grateful I am to Katie from Priceless Design Studio. 

This turned out to be so much more wonderful than I ever could have expected! 

And I am completely in love with the final product. 

When I started my blog just three months ago, she was one of my first blog swap sponsors! And since then she’s helped me with little hints about blogging, and working with blogger.  So when I wanted to take my blog to the next level, and get a great design, I knew exactly where to go! She’s such a great person, and obviously an amazing designer! I feel like a giddy kid on Christmas morning, I really do. She incorporated everything that meant something to me, from the purple, to the whales, and even sunglasses and umbrellas! And somehow she just made it fit together so perfectly. Do me a favor, and take a second to hover over my little whale friends on the left will ya? Did ya see that?! Ahh, I just get so excited every time I see the whole design!

Katie does so many things, from full design packages, to facebook blog page covers. She is a coding GENIUS. So if you need anything design wise, I would go to her! I promise, you will love working with her!

Words just cannot even describe how much I love this design, and all the little details, like the hearts coming from the dandelion. Katie, you are amazing, and I can’t say it enough, but thank you!