Happy Birthday to my blog! + 7 links, ProBlogger style

(‘scuse the poor quality of this picture…it’s the only 2-candle birthday picture I have! But please do enjoy the cuteness that is a 2-year old Zoe.)

Somehow, I sort of let my blog’s birthday slip by, but The Frugal Girl was born over at WordPress.com on July 3rd, 2008. 754 posts, 11,976 comments, and 1,320,000 hits later, it’s now over 2 years old. Goodness. It doesn’t seem like I’ve been blogging for that long!

I’m grateful for you, my dear readers, who help make this site what it is. Except for the rare rotten apple that stops by, you are a group of encouraging, helpful people, and I’m so thankful for that (especially when I see the tough audiences that some other bloggers have!).

So, thanks for reading, commenting, and sharing my blog with others. Mwah!

Now, that would be sort of short for a post, so I thought I’d add something else. Darren from Problogger invited all of us to join him in posting 7 links from our own sites, and though I don’t usually do this sort of thing, I thought it might be fun to participate!

1. Your first post

The first post I ever wrote on The Frugal Girl was about refashioning some khaki pants into skirts…one for me, and one for Lisey. The actual date on this post is now April of 2009 because I had to republish it after moving to a self-hosted blog (somehow in the move, the pictures had gotten lost).

2. A post you enjoyed writing the most

That’s hard to say! I have fun writing almost all of the posts I share here, but I’d probably say that I enjoy doing photo-heavy posts the most, especially posts where I just share a little peek into our lives, like How We Picnic, or the tour of my backyard.

3. A post which had a great discussion

My Why I Don’t Think Having 4 Kids is Un-Green post had a 160-comment lively discussion going. I think the second most-discussed post is the one I wrote about why I don’t shop at Wal-Mart.

4. A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written

I’m going to go with The NonConsumer Advocate’s Love Letter to Tap Water. I don’t talk about it a lot, but I think bottled water is an enormous and unnecessary waste of resources and money for all but a small portion of the population. Buy a Klean Kanteen and a Brita filter…your wallet and the earth will thank you. 🙂

5. A post with a title that you are proud of  

I don’t know. I don’t think I’m particularly fabulous at writing catchy post titles here (I’m more pleased with some of the titles I’ve put on some 365 posts, which is odd, because often they’re only one word!).

I suppose I’d go with Oh Kleenex! I am disappointed in you. if I had to choose one from this blog.

6. A post that you wish more people had read

I really can’t think of a post that fits this criteria…to be honest, I rarely have high expectations for my blog readership, and I’m just happy that anyone reads what I post!

But if you asked me which post I hope that people will read, I’d probably offer up It Doesn’t Have To Be Perfect To Bless Other People, My Thoughts on Mothering and Wifing, and my post about why I don’t think you have to make yogurt.

These posts are more theoretical than practical (which is sort of unusual for me!), but I like that they represent some of the thoughts and ideas that make this blog (and me) tick.

7. Your most visited post ever

When I posted my recipe for Ice Cream Crunch Cake, I never in a million years expected that it would become my most popular post ever, but it has! Close behind that is my How To Paint Wooden Furniture tutorial, which is more the type of post I thought would win the most popular award.

Now I’m curious to know something…what is your favorite type of post to read? Do you like baking posts? Picture posts? Sewing posts? Photography posts? What-Makes-Me-Tick posts? And if you care to share, I’d love to know which Frugal Girl post has been your favorite so far.