Blogiversary Q&A and Site Update
Hi everyone! Welcome to the new Living the Gray Life! Today I have a very special edition post. It’s Saturday, and I don’t normally post on Saturdays, but today is my ONE YEAR BLOGIVERSARY! That’s right, Living the Gray Life is officially a year old. I honestly can’t believe I’ve made it this far. Yesterday’s post was all about what I’ve learned after a year blogging, and today’s post is looking at the new Living the Gray Life and answering reader questions!
I really wanted to do something special for my one year blogiversary. I wanted to be able to give back to the readers because after all, they’re the ones that got me to where I am now. What better way to give back than answering reader questions! But first, let me show you what’s new on the site.
SITE UPDATE. WHAT’S NEW?
new URL
That’s right! Change those bookmarks because we’re now livingthegraylife.com. Living the Gray Life has it’s very own URL now. We’re no longer livingthegraylife.wordpress.com. I finally got up enough courage to splurge and spend money on the blog. A domain name and self-hosting is a pretty good place to start to invest in a hobby that I love so much!
SITE REDESIGN
Living the Gray Life now has:
- a new header/logo
- a new layout and theme
- new email addresses!
Things look a bit different around here, and there’s a good reason for that! With the purchase of a domain and host, I am able to fully customize my site. I can change the layout, fonts, colors, and design as a whole. I decided to stick with the WordPress twentysixteen theme and created a child theme to make all of the changes! There’ll be a post up about that soon! Check out the BLOG FAQs page for more info on all the fonts and colors.
Our e-mail has also changed from livingthegraylife@gmail.com to abigailgray@livingthegraylife.com.
updated pages
Take a quick glance at the menu above the header, and you’ll notice some new links! Blog FAQs is a resource for fellow bloggers and creators where I share all of the equipment (cameras, editing software, etc) I use and all of the design aspects of the blog. Beginner Blogger is a series that I’m releasing covering all of the aspects of blogging from the perspective of a beginner. It’s all the stuff I wish I would’ve known when I first started.
Q&A
*if you asked a question related to what I learned during my first year blogging, check out my Lessons from One Year Blogging post from yesterday!
What was your favorite memory from the year you have been blogging? -Simone
When someone I didn’t know personally commented on my blog. It meant that someone who wasn’t my family was reading!
What is the thing you love most about blogging? -Alyssa
That moment that you schedule a post to go live. It’s the anticipation of wanting to know how people will react and hoping there’s not some major typo, haha.
What advice would you give to incoming freshman? – Courtney
100% be yourself and don’t let people pressure you into doing things you don’t want to do. The drinking and partying culture is real, but if it’s not your thing, you definitely don’t have to participate.
Have you ever met a famous actor or actress and who was it?
Well she’s not a famous actress, but she is famous! Last summer I got the opportunity to meet Taylor Swift! For the full story, check out my post on meeting her at the 1989 World Tour.
What is your biggest regret about your first year of college and what advice would you give to not make that same mistake?
My biggest regret is waiting until the last month to go to events by myself. I’m super shy, and I do not like going to things on my own, but it came to a point where everyone wanted to spend all day watching Netflix and then go get wasted at night, and I said, “OK well if I want to be happy, I’m going to have to start doing things on my own.” So, go to events and functions by yourself!
What is your favorite part of being a college student?
Being able to do whatever I want whenever I want to. I don’t have to plan around other people. If I want to eat hummus at 2 AM I totally can, and I won’t get a lecture from my parents about it.
Do you have any blogging plans for the summer? – Hannah
Being self-hosted was the major plan for the summer! I’ve got a beginner blogger series coming out all throughout the summer. I’ve put a lot of hard work into that and I’m excited to see what people think of it!
Want do you want in life? (goals in your life) – Kristine
I want to be happy. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that happiness is the only really important thing. That can come through work, relationships, friends, family, hobbies, etc. But whatever I do, I want to be happy.
This is random…but what is your specific hummus recipe? Also, what’s your favorite color? Is it gray??? Lastly, what effect has blogging had on your life in terms of stress management, personal identity, creative development, or anything else? -Lauren
LOL Lauren of course you’d ask about hummus, haha. For those of you who don’t know, Lauren is a good friend of mine and we’re both slightly addicted to hummus. I’ll put down a hummus recipe post in my posts-to-write list. My favorite color is red, hence the glasses. Getting deep with that last question… Blogging has given me a place to delve into graphic design and web design which I really have a passion for. It’s also opened my eyes to all of the other introverted, creative people in the world. I’ve made such amazing friends through blogging, and I don’t know what I would do without that support system.
Best way to start blogging?
Just do it. Sit down, start a blog, and just start writing. None of us really had any clue what we were getting ourselves into when we started. We just had an idea, rolled with it, and now look where it’s taken us!
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me for the past year. I wouldn’t have been able to make it this far without the support of my amazing readers! You all are the best!
~abigail gray
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