30 Today...

...30,000 page views that is!

 

Is that a lot or not? We're not sure, but after 15 months of blogging, it's nice to see much more interest than we ever thought there would be in our little ol' blog. We accidentally missed writing a '12 months of  blogging' anniversary post because our blog-iversary fell right at the time we were selling the previous house and moving here. So we figured that as the new financial year (in Australia) commences and we achieve a nice round figure, that we could take a quick look back at the previous year. So here's a mish-mash of pics and stats for you the reader, the interested observer, that looks back on the year that was...

 

Where are our readers based? Not surprisingly, the majority are based in the three main countries where our friends and family are; based largely around our numerous travels around Australia, our stint in the USA during my previous career, and Kate's UK background. 

 

 

Which post has seen our smallest number of page views? Not surprisingly, that would be our very first post 'And so it begins'...

 

 

Which  post has seen our largest number of page views? That is Kate's personal piece 'A very personal and different blog post today'... where she speaks about our experiences when Sasha was diagnosed with P.A.N.D.A.S. when we were based in the USA.

 

 

I think it is a special post because it fills a void - being a lack of information - for parents who are going through the same experience as we did for the first time. The number of ongoing hits it gets is evidence it is appreciated.

 

Which post did we enjoyed writing the most? For me it was 'A Cabin By the Sea'... because it marked the real start of something that we have been working towards for years, buying a home near the ocean, and then being able to transform it into our dream home.

 

 

 

Our biggest surprise? Arriving at the new house for a one night sleep over with the girls before Kate commenced the bathroom renovation, and finding the street awash with tradesmen and television crews, filming the Queensland house featured in House Rules. When all was said and done we were very lucky to get a personal tour of Maddi and Lloyd's house with Maddi, which Kate wrote about here...

 

 

 

Our biggest change? That would be me leaving the Army after 21 years to pursue a long held ambition for a career in finance. It was fun putting together a 21 year long photo slideshow in 'Targets down, Patch out'...

 

 

 

Our best project? I think it would have to be the kitchen renovation, which Kate wrote about in 'Our Kitchen Rules'... definitely the biggest visual impact out of all the projects...

 

 

Strangest post? That would have to be 'Tragedy... under the kitchen sink' !

 

 

What will we miss the most? The pool in the old house, thankfully there is a pool in the new house too, but we loved how big it was.

 

 

Best renovation inspiration? Believe it or not, we found this from going around most of the new build display homes, but we were very inspired after visiting the Innovation House, which Kate wrote about in 'Be Brave, Take Risks'...

 

 

Other renovation inspiration? Two key blogs have helped guide us on both the blogging and renovation front's - 'Fun and VJs' and 'West End Cottage'. In all though, we have found the renovation blogging community to be a great forum, if for no other reason than to find that there are like-minded people going through the same frustrations and successes with their own projects.

 

So, that's a brief sum up of the journey so far, thanks for following us, and we hope you enjoy the next part of our adventure as we continue with our current home renovation. At the very least, we know it won't be boring ;-)

 

Cheers, Col

 

PS. If you want to know what the least favourite part of the last renovation was, it is a no-brainer - cutting in around all the 'D' molding on the walls and of course painting the ceilings!