Happy Blogisversary to Me!

Today is Musings of a Vintage Junkie's 5 year blog anniversary!


Not being tech savvy at all, I can say that I am proud that I even got this thing off the ground. I remember my dear friend Michelle encouraged me to start a blog along with my then new Etsy shop, which will be celebrating five years on October 1st.


I started this blog to help promote my shop but once I started writing I found so much more to share.


My first blog post is hilarious....just all paragraphs of me babbling without one single picture. I got one comment on it. From my daughter!


So let's look back over the 5 years and see what was happening in my world that I felt the need to share!


My granddaughter Chloe was born a month earlier on August 11th, 4 days after my son turned 13.


This picture is Chloe in her ladybug outfit in December, 2011.

I managed to write 24 blog posts from September to December that first year!

That October I shared the pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bread recipes that I have been baking every year for 30 years here. My granddaughter Cassidy, then 6, helped decorate these. It was the beginning of sharing one of my passions, and my heart on my blog.

My picture quality was not so good then!

 

I joined a Blog team on Etsy and that became my incentive to write something every week because the other bloggers were the only ones commenting!

I wrote about thrifting and found treasures a lot over the years so I am not surprised to find that my most popular post of all time is called Thrifty Treasures and a Purple Cow, with 2181 views.



I shared my second hip replacement surgery in 2013 with a post called Getting Ready for the Big Day. The picture is of some of the tools I imagined my surgeon using.

I've posted a lot about my gardens over the years. One of my favorites called NaNa's Garden, is one that features my granddaughter Chloe when she was 3.

In September of last year we adopted two kittens. We named the black one Cyrus and the white calico is Sprite. They popped up in various posts throughout the past year.

It was the first year in forever that we did not have any Christmas trees in our home.





I had to be creative and come up with a solution for decorating because these were two
rambunctious kittens!

My grandchildren are a big part of my life so I have featured them in different posts throughout the years. Goin' to Grandma's is a post about my efforts to create for them the same kind of memories I have of going to my grandma's house.

This past year has been full of thrifting posts, recipes, and my garden. There was a post on my dining room dilemma and the reveal.....

 and on spreading my wings by renting a booth at a local gift shop.

The look of my blog has not changed much except for when I finally figured out how to clean up my sidebar and add media buttons. I like the turquoise and lime colors and every time I think I need to change it all, I just don't.


I just like to share things going on in my life in a way that may be fun or interesting to read.


You won't find any ads popping up here. No fancy fonts or elaborate picture boards. I never want to get so busy with the business of blogging that I can't reply to comments or visit all of your blogs.


Just everyday living with an occasional recipe, some found treasures, maybe a plug for my Etsy shop, or an out of town adventure.


If you are new to my blog I hope you will stop by again. To all of my followers over the years, I appreciate your time reading and commenting on my posts. I have made such lovely friends with so many lovely ladies from around the country and the world. I still can't get over the sweet connection there is to be found with other bloggers.


It is the best kind of reward for just sharing ME.


Thank you!


AnnMarie xoxo


I am linking up to these fun blog parties:
"Anything Goes" Pink Saturday
Dishing It & Digging It
Home Sweet Home

Getting Ready For The Big Day........

I wish I could say that my big day is a wedding, or the arrival of a new baby, or the opening of a new Etsy shop.

But I can't. It's just not as fun as that!

It is a Big Day though because it has been anticipated, postponed and anticipated again for over 4 months. And oh, the  pain and suffering in the meantime! : -)

On May 1st I am going to have my second total hip replacement surgery.  My first was February of 2011. And because of that I know what I am in for. In some ways that is good, in others, not so much.

On the good side, I know the tools I need to get through and I am ready.......

 

That's my "surgery" chair, from my husbands bachelor days, and my son-in-law is waiting anxiously for me to be done with it so he can have it! I need the walker and cane to get around, I need my Slanket and remote while I "rest" all day in front of  the TV, and I need the crackers to snack on because healing is hungry work. Last, but definitely not least, I need the bible for strength and encouragement!

 

Oh yeah, and I need this....UGH!!!! Unfortunately our bathroom is too small for a fit over kinda potty seat...UGH again!

 

 

On the not so good side, (meaning the fact that I know this) I know the tools the doctors are going to use to get their job done.....

Yes, this is a little bit of an exaggeration of what the doctors will actually use, but in my mind, that is exactly how they look! I know that the surgeon uses a scalpel (represented by the huge, blue Tomodachi knife), a saw (theirs is probably a little more petite than this), a hammer (probably looks just like this), some screws (they definitely look just like this...I saw them in the x-ray of my first hip surgery) and of course a clamp (I just keep hearing "clamp please"). I threw the ruler in because last time the surgeon said he noticed I was a little uneven in length and so he fixed it for me. Something about how far they bang the metal rod down into my leg with a chisel and mallet. Sorry, I didn't have either one of those to add to the picture!

So I won't be writing blog posts for a little bit. I will miss linking up with all the blog hop parties I have recently been joining in on, and I will miss all the comments and email replies.

My Etsy shop will be "on vacation" until I can get up and around and fill orders again.

I will definitely miss the garage sales and thrift shops and barn sales that are just now starting in my area. I try not to think about all the treasures I CAN'T grab!

So, I decided to spoil myself with a few small gifts for having to go through the surgery and the year after that it takes for a full recovery. I will be lounging in this brand new chair all Spring and Summer.....

 

while admiring how the sunshine makes my new ring sparkle on my hand.....

 

 

 

Till I blog again.....

 

AnnMarie :)