1,500 Posts And Other Fabulous Milestones

When Matt and I are in the kitchen there is almost always feline supervision.  9/24/2022

This is my 1500th post on BLD-in-MT.  

One of the ornaments we made from a slice of our 2021 Christmas tree.  12/7/2022

The number staggers me a bit.  I mean, know I am a chatterbox.  I love to tell stories and talk about the gazillion things that interest me.  But still...1,500 posts?!  That's a lot of words and photos, days and years, a lotta life documented here!  

Matt out on the back patio with the brown-eyed susans.  He was modeling the shirt I made him for his birthday. 9/19/2022

Keeping a blog started out of a desire to share vegan recipes and my passion for voluntary simplicity with people.  I have always loved writing, plus discussing and sharing ideas that I'm passionate about.  Blogging has been that....and so much more over the past 12.5 years.  

Playing croquet with some pals before a Terrapin Flyer concert downtown.  I especially love how Lacee and Chelsey are hugging in the background.  4/26/2023

I think it is pretty amazing to have such a record of my life.  It is an invaluable reference guide/resource for myself and even occasionally others.  I am grateful for the sense of community and connection to my family and friends (new and old, near and far, digital and in-person).  It is awesome.  

There is something rather calming and beautiful about untrodden snow on a sunny day.  3/17/2023

Note:  I couldn't begin to count all the times that I use the search bar to find out when something or other happened.  Or to locate a photo to show someone or the title of a book I read.  It is so handy for me.  Like I can "google" my own life.

Matt sampling fresh-from-the-oven pretzels.  And looking mighty pleased about it.  9/18/2022

It seemed like I should do something special for my 1,500th post.  

Playing Battleship on the back patio next to a riot of flowers.  Quite a contrast to the snowy patio photo, eh?!  9/17/2022

So, I'm supremely tickled that it coincided with making the final mortgage payment on our house. Woooohoooooooooo!  Matt and I are officially "weird people."  We own our home outright and are now debt free.  We did it!  I don't mean to sound braggadocious, but I am so gosh darn proud of us.  We set a goal, worked at it consistently, and made it happen.  Ahead of schedule even!

Christmas lights on the fence illuminate the snowy front yard.  12/5/2022

I can hardly believe it.  It seemed like such a BIG task when we started.  I can't say enough about Matt's awesomeness here.  Matt is a wonderful idea man and he deserves loads of accolades for his financial vision.  Because he's so good with numbers, he is our budget master.  He's the one who took the lead on getting us to this debt-free point, starting with my paying off my student loan in 2017.  We work on it together, of course.  None of this would have been possible without teamwork and being on the same page.  With a sense of things coming full circle, I'll add that simple living is also what made it possible.

Matt cutting a Roman-style pizza with scissors as is the tradition with pizza al taglio.  That was an especially fine pizza--the crust was so chewy and light! 3/26/2023

So, hooray!  Owning our own home before I turn 40.  And hooray!  1,500 published blog posts!  Life can sure be a roller coaster, but I'm grateful for the ride.

My beloved Yellow Tree designating the northwest corner of our property.  10/13/2022