One Year Blogging Anniversary

Today is a very big day! Today marks one year of Patience and Pajamas. In one year I have been able to connect more with not only my fellow spoonies, but also the blogging world – which I didn’t even know existed.

The following I wrote shortly after I started Patience and Pajamas, and it’s something I would like to share with you as I celebrate this milestone.

I want my blog to be a resource to others with chronic illness, but especially teens. I created Patience and Pajamas because when I was diagnosed I searched and searched for some sort of resource for teens with chronic illness. Something to guide me and tell me how to get through, explain the ins and outs of being a sick chick and tell me that it wasn’t the end. What I ended up finding was mainly blogs from middle aged or older women who swore by certain methods, and shunned any others. They said do this, not that.

Of course there are general things one should avoid out of common sense: if you are out of shape and suffer from exercise intolerance because you have POTS or the likes, don’t go try to run a marathon. You most likely would end up wrecking yourself for at least a week. Isn’t that common sense?

I never want to come off as a voice that shouts down from above with a condescending tone, because we are all in this journey together. We can all learn from each other. Hopefully you can take a little something from each and every post – if I could just help one person I would be over the moon. I’m doing this for newly diagnosed me. Excited to finally have a diagnosis and know I wasn’t crazy, but scared of the future and unsure of what this diagnosis meant to me. I don’t want to ever lose that, and I hope you would tell me if I did.

Those with chronic illness, those starting their college search or college adventures, those interested in learning more about service dogs… or anything else I find myself writing about for that matter! You have a home here. If your life requires a lot of patience, or you spend most of your time in your pajamas; you have a home here.

So let’s be friends!

Have a Twitter? Let’s chat!

Have an Instagram? I want to hear from you!

Follow me on Pinterest for all the best articles from my college blogging buds!

Have none of the above or prefer email? You can reach me at peyton@patienceandpajamas.com!

I’d say you could fill out a contact form, but I’m gonna be transparent here and let you know that I cannot figure out how to find my responses I’ve gotten through contact forms for the life of me. Maybe I’ll figure it out in my second year of blogging!

Here are some stats from my first year blogging:

I had visitors from over 40 countries! Covering every continent except Antarctica. Anyone planning a trip to Antarctica sometime soon? Polar bears aren’t exactly my ideal audience…

I published 44 posts!

My top five posts this year are:

1. 10 Things Not to Do When You See a Service Dog
2. How I Got Myself Onto a Schedule, And You Can Too!
3. What I Brought to College Orientation + Five Must-Have’s
4. World Meet Peggy: A Service Dog Prospect
5. Questions You Need to Ask On Your College Visit

But numbers aside, what have I really gained and learned from this adventure thus far?

I have learned tons more than I expected to. Blogging is intense! Way, way more involved than most people would think. But guess what? I love it!

A year ago I had no idea what SEO is. I started this blog with some knowledge of basic programming, a design idea, and a list of 30 post ideas. I wouldn’t dare say I’m an SEO pro, but I’m definitely in a much better place with it as I write to you today.

Blogging takes time. A quick post can easily turn into three hours writing and re-writing to find the wording that’s juuuuuust right. There’s also the creation of graphics, photoshoots, promotion, and so much more!

An overall newfound respect for all sorts of bloggers. Full-time bloggers worked their butts off to get there, and I have a ridiculous amount of respect for fashion bloggers. Where do you guys find the time to have all of those photo shoots?! Seriously, I never gave fashion bloggers enough credit.

A platform to spread awareness of what makes me unique. Your everyday student isn’t a chronically ill, disabled, teenage service dog handler. Patience and Pajamas gives me the opportunity to share my experiences and perspective with the world.. and with my fellow chronically ill, disabled, teenage service dog handlers. I see you over there, you’re awesome.

I have made so many friends and connections in the blogging community. People who answer my questions, and people who ask me questions… I’ve met quite a few girls who I’m rather fond of, whose blogs I read religiously.

One of these fabulous blogger chicks is Julia of Julia Does. She came onto the blogging scene around 4 months before me and we’ve been taking on this journey together since we started chatting in September 2016! We would DM via Instagram every so often at first, and now we talk everyday. We have some big plans for this coming year, and you may be seeing her soon.

I guess you could say she’s my blogging bestie.

If you want to work on living a healthier or more sustainable lifestyle, you should definitely go check her out! She also blogs about all things school and college, and how to be your most confident and successful self.

What are my goals for year two?

All around growth.

I hope to post at least once a week this year. 52 posts. We can do it, right?

Master Pinterest. I’m working on it. This year I hope to learn more about the magic that is Pinterest.

I keep hearing about Tailwind Tribes and I think it’s time I look into it. This may be the key to the Pinterest game.

Dive into the college blogging community. I plan on sharing my favorite college blogs soon, so you can see how amazing these bloggers are!

Now before I go, I’m sure you’re wondering if I did anything to celebrate such a momentous occasion.

Of course I did! I am a huge fan of celebrating the small things in life. Perks of chronic illness?

As a lover of cake, naturally I had to make a cake. Dairy and gluten free yellow cake with vanilla icing, which may sound boring but hey! I can’t have chocolate! Don’t worry, I covered it in rainbow sprinkles and I had a piece with every meal.

I started working on some projects I’ve been thinking about for months now. The ball is rolling and we are moving forward! I can’t wait to share it with you all!

I ate sushi. Because it’s sushi and I love sushi. My order? A salmon roll. Simple, but delicious.

Here’s to a happy birthday to Patience and Pajamas, and many more years of blogging and adventures.