lifesize paperdoll

dear YOU,

when i started blogging, i had no idea who i was going to meet, the friendships i would make, the blogs i'd become obsessed and inspired by, nor the overwhelming amount of support, feedback, and love you'd all send my way.

all of you are truly beautiful.


i've blogged since i was 16/17 and just a little high school student who didn't really know how to act around her peers (...okay, that hasn't gotten all that much better), was half infatuated with my best friend who didn't know i existed (...okay, he did, i'm not nearly as transparent as i like to think i am), had no idea where i wanted to go to college nor what to study (... remarkably, a select few of you were around when I was going back and forth between my choices), and really didn't know why i was blogging or what i wanted to do with it (...except just blog).

in all honesty, i started blogging for myself as a means of creating a sort of digital journal. it made sense to record all of my adventures and memories with pictures into a blog post. i never intended for *real* people in my life to read it or to attract readers. in fact, for the longest time, i didn't even have a title nor a layout. it just existed with my own private pictures and such.

then one day something crazy happened. a stranger commented on my blog. and i responded with an enthusiastic thank you comment that in return, gained another reply. another stranger commented and then another until i had a few frequente visitors and bloggers i started to get to know. it was crazy! i leapt out of my chair every time someone new commented on my blog and was interested in something i had to say that was never meant for an audience.

eventually, my audience grew a little bigger and at that point, i feel the need to be truthful. my blog is my own and something i'll always stand behind 100%, but it became what it was because of you. i never would have continued posting pictures if you hadn't liked them. i never would have kept going without your always kind words and amazing support. in retrospect, 500 readers is really not as impressive as the largely popular blogs around, but considering i never intended to have one reader i'm truly thankful to each and every one of you. i feel blessed to be 19 now and still blogging, sharing tid bits of life, and creating an amazing little time capsule i'll always be able to look back on.

thank you <3<3<3
love,
maggie