One Year Blogoversary + Survey + GIVEAWAY

Hey all! I'm four days late to my own blog's birthday party. Woops. Life got in the way, so instead of stressing over a self-imposed deadline to get this post put together, I postponed it till yesterday. Which . . . obviously didn't work out either, but I'm here today, right? Onwards!

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One year ago, I set forth on a digital adventure. Long had I roamed the Kingdom of Blogosphere, but never had I staked a claim on my own corner of the land. So it was on March 31st, 2015 that Adventure Awaits was born.


It's hard to believe a whole year has gone by since then! In some ways I feel like I've been blogging for ages, and in other ways I feel like a baby blogger, still wet around the ears and mostly clueless. It's been a super fun start to a wonderful adventure, though! I've met many fellow voyagers, crossed paths with many dear souls forging their way through this quest of life. Without all you who follow and read and comment, there'd be little reason for Adventure Awaits to exist--so THANK YOU.


Thank you for reading. Thank you for following. Thank you for taking a moment to tell me what you think, to discuss books or talk writing or delve into the delightful complexities of life. You guys make this incredibly fun.


Since this little place is now one year old, I've decided to throw a celebration! Just like mothers measure their children against the wall and pencil in their growing heights, I enjoy watching my blog's stats, so I'll share a few of those with you. After that, there's a fun little survey, and then a fun little giveaway to wrap things up. Because what's a birthday party without presents, I ask you?

Stats and Fun Facts

A few bits of trivia:

• Though I'd played around with Blogger casually for months, the thing that pushed me over the edge and forced me to actually make something of it was my first ever guest post going up on Bryan Davis's blog: Courage to save the Mockingbirds.
• I initially didn't have a specific name for the blog, but someone saw the tagline in the header and referred to the blog by that name, and so I ran with it. (I think it was you, Tori. ^_^)
• I've had two guest posts here so far: the first with my friend and artist, Kianna G., and the second with my brother Josiah.

And now for some stats. I currently have . . .

• 38 freakishly awesome followers across Google Friend Connect and Bloglovin'. (Unless some of you follow on both, in which case I have less. BUT there are always people that bookmark blogs and follow unofficially, so I figure it balances out.)
• 73 posts
• 12,190 pageviews
• 1,253 comments

The top ten countries from which my views come are:

1. United States
2. Canada
3. Russia
4. United Kingdom
5. Ukraine
6. Israel
7. Germany
8. France
9. Mexico
10. Australia

Some interesting (and some odd) search results that people have used to get to my blog:

• ted dekker (I do talk about his books a fair bit.)
• tracy dyck (Ah, you're so close . . . Just add an E!)
• once upon a time main cast (Yes, I suppose I do mention OUaT in most of my Subplots and Storylines posts, seeing as I'm going through all the seasons.)
• tracy dyck edmonton (I don't . . . live there. But okay.)
• adventure awaits (Bravo!)
• bryan davis dragons in our midst (Another author/series I can't stop talking about.)
• house frank peretti and ted dekker i . . . (Unfortunately, Blogger won't let me see the rest of this line. It just stops partway through a word.)
• ooh ahh winnie the pooh wallpaper (WHAT EVEN DO YOU MEAN?!)

My ten most popular posts, in order from most views to least:

1. Welcome! (also has the highest number of comments)
2. Lovely Books // covers & titles
3. Beautiful People - 2016 Plans
4. Lovely Books // couples
5. Four Elements of a Successful Villain - guest post by Josiah Dyck
6. Lovely Books // villains (I'm sensing a pattern here . . .)
7. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year - a Christmasy tag
8. Subplots and Storylines - February
9. Books of 2015
10. Philosophical Ramblings on the Subject of Time Travel

I wish Blogger did a cool stats report like Wordpress supposedly does, but alas and alack, it does not. Otherwise it'd be fun to mention top commenters and whatnot, but there's no way I have time to go through every post and manually tally everyone's comments! Just know that I appreciate EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU.

Survey

So much of blogging is guesswork, people! And some things I write about take off, and others may fall flat, and basically--confession time here--I can't read minds. So I would adore you forever if you would take a minute and answer some questions. I want to know what you think! And please be 100% honest, even if that means answering negatively. You'll help me grow and be a better blogger.

Online survey powered by Typeform

Thanks again, my friends!

Giveaway

Since this is my blog's first birthday, and since birthdays mean parties, and parties mean presents, tada! I'm hosting a giveaway! I'm being a generous dragon today by shelling out a few coins from my pile of gold in order to make this giveaway open to residents of Canada AND the United States. Aren't you thrilled?


Feast your eyes on the lovely little prize I put together.

a handmade notebook

3 handmade bookmarks

Not only will one lucky follower win the notebook and bookmarks, they'll also receive a printout of one of my poems (never posted on the blog before), and a personalized note from me. Just because I love you guys.


What are you waiting for?




a Rafflecopter giveaway
(I tried embedding the giveaway into this post, and all I got was a boring-looking link. Sorry 'bout that. Please click the link to enter.)


(Oh, and it runs until midnight on April 10, 2016, Central Time. Just FYI.)

That's it, that's all, folks.

Once again, I have to say a ginormous thank you! This first year of blogging has been a blast, and I'm looking forward to another year that's even better than the first.