10 whole years
10 years ago, I hit “publish” on my very first blog post. I had no idea what I was doing, as technology has never been my friend. I sat there on the couch in pajamas, in our first real apartment, hoping that maybe this little project would connect me to people who shared similar interests. We were in a new town (Valdosta!), I hadn’t met many friends in the area, and was working as a personal trainer. When quite a few online purchases arrived on the doorstep, the Pilot urged me to do ANYTHING besides online shopping. He said, “Get a hobby.” haha. I had recently fallen in love with reading blogs, so I figured I’d give it a whirl.
I chipped at the blog a little bit each day, and somehow, here we are. A whole decade later!
Since my very first blog post, too much has happened to recap in less than 3,000 words.
But, here are some of the most notable moments:
-the Pilot deployed, and deployed again
-I met some incredible military wife friends
-We moved to Tucson, bought our first house, and Livi was born
-We traveled to some incredible places
-We hosted quite a few parties 😉
-I expanded my teaching horizons
-and created some pretty fun projects (+ a book!)
-We moved back to Valdosta
In 10 years, our family changed from this this:
to this.
(+ the pups, of course!)
And during all of the moving and changes, this blog was one of the few constants in my life. (Bella was another significant one!)
What started as a fun little hobby turned into a serious blessing, and enabled me to make friends and connect with so many incredible people all over the world.
When I read your comments, I feel like I *know* so many of you. I recognize email addresses and first names instantly, and I consider you all my virtual BFFs. I’m so thankful to those of you who have checked out the blog, and the OG readers who have been here the whole time.
When I started the blog, I had zero expectations or official goals for the future. It’s something that enabled me to share fitness knowledge while getting glimpses into all of your personal stories. Within a couple of years, the blog became my full-time job, and I feel beyond thankful to be able to work while staying home with our babies. While a LOT has changed over the past decade, the core mission has remained the same: the share everything I know and learn about fitness, nutrition, and wellness, + chat and connect with all of you lovely people.
It’s been fun to see how the blog has changed and evolved over the years. I’ll continue to work on providing solid content for you, launching the podcast (stay tuned for that! It’s ready to roll!), and dive back into video (especially follow-along workouts) since we’ll be back in Tucson for a while. (<— more on all of that to come, since this post is beefy already.)
To celebrate my 10 year blogiversary, I want to give you some presents. We have fantastic giveaways from some of my very favorite companies on the way to surprise some lucky winners! Be sure to check back each day for the next 2 weeks to enter for some seriously sweet prizes from bose, Suja, Vital Proteins, LaCroix, Betsy’s Best, Four Sigmatic, and yours truly.
Thank you so much for reading and for being here! Here’s to 10 more. 😉
xo
Gina
Blast from the past: what’s your favorite blog post ever? Anything in particular you’d like to see?
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Happy Anniversary! I’ve been with you since Liv was born and love your blogs. The “Livisms” are by far the most entertaining but really the way you mix up the blogs with different topics is why I keep coming back. Here’s to the next 10!
Congrats! I’ve been reading your blog for years. I can’t wait for the next 10 years!
Happy Anniversary!! My favorite blog post ugh I pick two when your precious girls were born!!! I have been reading since 2010. You were the first blog I read daily. I don’t often comment but I’m always reading.
LOVE your blog and LOVE YOU! So grateful blogging allowed us to connect so many years ago!!! <3 Congrats on 10 years, friend!!!!
Happy blogiversary! I stumbled across your blog looking for some fun workouts probably about 8 years ago, and have loved it ever since! I even referenced back to your pregnancies when I was pregnant myself, and actually just found your baby led weaning article and baby puree recipes when we started my daughter on solids! Thank you so much for sharing with us over the years!
Happy anniversary! I’ve been reading since 2009, had my first daughter 2 months before you had Livi so I felt like I experienced motherhood for the first time with you (and had many of the same challenges, so it made me feel less alone), and your huge library of workouts has changed the way I exercise. Thanks for letting us follow along for so long! You are awesome!
Happy blog birthday!! I’m so grateful you started yours, inspired me on mine, and have been such a wonderful friend all these years! Love you friend!
Congrats! 10 years is no small feat!
Congrats!! Wow I can’t believe it’s been 10 years!! I can’t remember what year I started reading your blog but I think it was about 1 year before Olivia was born. I discovered it somehow through Carrots n Cake. Anyways, I love reading your blog and other social media posts. It provides so much motivation and encouragement to me for multiple areas of life. I always joke with my bf that if I ever saw you at the airport or something it would be like I saw Kim Kardashian or some other celeb haha. Your blog is so inspiring and thanks so much for being such a positive motivating factor in all of your blog readers’ lives.
Happy blogiversary! 10 years shows amazing dedication and we all love & appreciate it!
Happy blogiversary!!! I think my favorite post was the “eating everything” post. I used to read a ton of healthy living blogs, and eventually stopped because in my mid to late 20s I struggled with the idea of perfection, and found myself comparing myself to women online. That post was so interesting because it was so close to my own journey, and how I started to chill the f out about what I ate, which oddly enough helped me become even healthier than I was before. Thanks for always keeping it real!
Yay! Happy blogiversary! Wow 10 years. You may be on the other side of an ocean, but manage to motivate me daily! Thank you 🙂
Happy Blogiversary! I have been reading since almost the beginning. Thanks for creating a fun and interesting blog!!!
Congratulations, Gina! I found you, Tina and Julie at the same time and have been reading just a little less than 10 years now! I do not comment often but I am here with you daily 🙂 Thank you for all of your hard work, dedication and varied posts…love them all!
Happy Blogiversary from another OG reader. 🙂 I love how you’ve allowed us blogfans to be a part of your life, even if some of us (like me!) are sans kids and a few years older than you. xo
Congratulations! 10 years is quite the accomplishment in the blogging industry.
CONGRATS!!!! I really enjoy your blog.
Congratulations on TEN years! It’s been so fun and inspiring to follow you along through many of those years <3
ah! Happy blog birthday! I adore your blog. Even though I don’t comment much any more- know I read every post :). I love your Friday posts the most- seeing what you’re loving/into lately and what y’all are up to is the best!
Love your blog! I started listening the year before you got pregnant with Livi. Perfect mix of giving great content and sharing your story and life with us. Inspiring and real. I listen to podcasts constantly, so looking forward to that, too!
Thanks for all you do Gina! Happy Blog Birthday! I love the family/kids posts, the birth stories, how you continue to incorporate fitness (WSU/SSU!!) in your health while being a Momma.
I found your blog when I was looking for confidence in my first move for my pilot in 2014! Thanks for giving me something I so totally needed at that time!
Congrats Gina! I love reading your blog and just how relatable you are 🙂 I love the family posts, fashion, and how you always post such great workouts with cues.
I found your blog when I was pregnant the first time and read through your pregnancy with Liv. I have been so thankful for your blog! It has inspired me to become healthier and uplifted me during miscarriages and scares during my 2 healthy pregnancies. I’m constantly telling my friends different workouts and info I find on here and always start with “you know that blogger I follow?”. They all know bc I only follow one religiously. Thanks for all of your hard work and congratulations on the anniversary! Please keep it up!!
Happy 10 years! I’ve been reading since right before Livi was born and remember how excited I was to hear she was born. I’ve so loved following along ever since.
Congrats on 10 years of blogging! That’s quite the accomplishment. I read somewhere that most blogs only last a few months, so going strong for a decade is incredible!
Happy 10 year anniversary! I love all your content and have really enjoyed your blog. While I wish I was an OG reader, I will admit to “joining” the party right before Liv was born. My favorite posts are your workouts and I also really enjoy your “Livism’s posts”. Congrats on your achievements and so excited to hear that you are back in AZ with your family.
Congratulations on 10 years!!! That’s amazing! I’ve been reading for about 8 years now, I think – and I look forward to each new post 🙂 I’m really excited for your podcast and more follow-along workout videos – those are my faves! I always love your “day in the life” type of posts and workout videos – keep ’em coming 🙂
Congrats Gina! What an accomplishment.
Congratulations! I’ve been reading your blog for a few years now and love it so much.
I’ve been reading 9 years, I think. That’s just crazy. I once got a little bored and quit reading and then one day a few weeks into that I stopped in thinking, “nothing will be new”, and it was your explant post! And I’ve been sucked back in since! LOL Your life is just interesting and your writing style is engaging and your personality is sweet.
You’ve changed a lot, too. I remember you using words like seksi, valdizzy and cray cray a lot. LOL Remember you used to have something about loving shrimp in the side bar? Now that seems so random. I sometimes wonder if the issue with your Orlando relatives ever blew over, when similar things happen in my life.
I also used to have you as one of my sites on Chrome Nanny to keep me from spending too much time at, which seems crazy now since it just takes a minute a day to catch up, but you used to seem to post a LOT. Didn’t you used to put up like 2-3 super long posts a day, way back when?
Anyway, thanks for the hours and hours of content and inviting us random women (mostly) in to watch! Good job making a hobby into a career and here’s to another 10 more!
A whole decade of amazing blogs!!! Congrats again friend!! There’s so many blogs I love that you have written. One that always sticks out in my head is your Breakfast cookie! that has definitely contributed to my healthy eating!! All the best and keep up the great work!! I’ll be right here reading for the next 10!
Oh my gosh, congratulations! I’ve been reading the blog daily since 2011. I found it one day when I was reading glamour magazine online – they had an article that said “if you like larabars, you’ll love this DIY version”, and it was a link to your amazeballs. I clicked, and I’ve been reading ever since! So much has changed in my life too, including graduating from college and grad school, getting married, moving many times and having my first baby, but your blog had been one of my constants. I feel like I know you too! Here’s to 10 more years!
Oh and my favorite blog post has to be your “things that helped me get pregnant” post, haha. I used just about all your tips 🙂
Congrats on 10 years!!! It has been so fun reading alongside you. I feel like you’ve done some really important things with your blog and am grateful to know you 🙂
Congratulations! Such a great accomplishment! I found your blog through another blog (Peanut Butter Fingers) a few years ago and I’ve loved it from my first read! I’ve been incorporating your workouts into my daily routine and hope to sign up for your program after my baby is born in the fall!
Congratulations! I’ve been reading for more than 2 years now and look forward to your posts every day!
I loved all of the San Diego posts…it is one of my favorite places and I discovered some great finds thanks to you! (Bo-Beau Kitchen!!)
Congratulations! I have been reading for just about 9 of those years!? Where did the time go?!
Congrats! I started reading your blog when I was preparing to start a family (2 years) and have continued ever since! I enjoyed your PBB program and look forward to reading your blog every day!
Happy Anniversary!!
Happy 10 lady! Such a great accomplishment!
Wow, congratulations! Yours is one of the only blogs that I have stuck with over the years, and that I really look forward to reading.
Thanks for sharing your life with us and for being a voice of kindness, authenticity, and humor!
Can’t believe you’ve been around 10 years, or that I’ve been reading for nearly as long! I was thinking about when I started following, and it’s probably been since 2009, at least, which is crazy to think about. Even my husband knows “The Fitnessista.” Cheers to 10 more!
Congratulations!! This is EPIC.
I’ve been following along since my last year in college (8 years ago now… yikes lol) after I discovered you on a Popsugar article. I was immediately drawn to your novel healthy eating tips (you were the first person to introduce me to kombucha and dehydrated kale chips) and how sweet you and the Pilot seemed to be (I specifically remembered it was the post where he carved a rose for you out of a chunk of watermelon haha). You also just seemed like a homegirl haha:)
I read your blog religiously then. I will admit that life has changed quite a bit for myself as it has for you, so I can’t always read the latest blog after you’ve published a post. However, I know when I catch up on your posts a week (or sometimes a month…) later, I enjoy EVERY post and appreciate how much you’ve shared with us. Your blog is one that I have kept reading all these years.
Cheers to you!! Thank you for keeping at it and coming up with interesting content every day!
Gina
Congratulations Gina! You’ve truly created something wonderful. I’ve been reading for years and you’ve been such an inspiration in my life. I love you’re workout calendars, which remind me to go back and redo old fitness posts.
Happy 10 years! Been reading since the beginning! Woah- time flies!! I love love love all your “personal”/ vulnerable posts <3 <3
I can’t even describe the feeling I get when I check your blog (first thing EVERY morning) and hold my breath waiting for a new workout. I LOVE your workouts and do every single winter/summer challenge you do. It was last year’s winter challenge that introduced me more to your you-tube videos and therefore your barre workouts….so far your strength and toning are my favorites.
Omg happy 10 years!!! I’ve been reading your blog since almost the beginning, it’s cool to see how it’s evolved. I feel like I know you!
I love your military life and family posts, but if I had to choose my favorite of all time, it’s your “you can do hard things” post. It was right around the time I started going through a hard time in my life—separation and divorce, finding myself, etc—and that blog post was one of the things that kept me going. While our struggles have been different, it’s a good reminder that we’re all in this together.
Thank you for doing what you do <3
Happy Blogiversary! Yours is the only blog I read consistently and will continue to read as long as you’ll keep blogging!
I’d have to say I have two favorite posts! The breakfast cookie is what allowed me to make my way to you! I guess that was in 2010! I also find myself referring back to your sweet potato black bean chili recipe several times a year.
Happy 10 year anniversary! I look forward to reading your blog everyday!!