10 Year Anniversary!

Guess what today is?!** 10 years – a whole entire decade – of blogging. That breaks down into 6,844 posts, over 365,000 comments, and a gazillon photos.

Girl Kath from 2008!

I think at most I have missed a handful of days of posts all these years. Some of you guys have been reading since the very beginning, and some of you remember more details about my own life than I do! Some of you might be new! If you are, this is how it all began:

I started blogging in March of 2006 at Calorie King as I set out to lose 30 pounds. A year and a half later, at the request of family and friends, I decided to start a photo blog of my recipes and meals. I began writing at Blogspot in September 2007 under the title Sweat, Eat, Sleep, Repeat, which then was rebranded and moved to WordPress less than a year later, and finally to my own domain, KathEats.com. You can visit the original blog, which is still live in all its blurry, dark photo glory.

After working in public relations for a few years, I went back to school to become a Registered Dietitian in 2008. Read some of my nutrition-focused posts on this page! For five years, I blogged three times a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can see highlights of years of blogging this page. In addition to food, recipes and life recaps, I have pages on oatmeal, blogger events, travel across the world, races, home organization, photography, blogging and groceries.

After my son was born, I slipped back to blogging once a day, and then in January 2013 I switched my format from diary style to topics with slices of life here and there.

A lot has changed over the past decade, and in many ways I feel like a totally different person. I look back at old posts and barely remember what it felt like to be the girl behind the screen. When I read old posts it’s almost as if I’m reading about someone else’s life. You can read a post I wrote about comparing old and new me here.

I thought in honor of 10 years, I would pick 10 posts that were notable, memorable or otherwise favorites of mine throughout the years. When I set out to choose 10, many more posts came to mind, but a narrowed them down to 13 – half of 26 – which if you have been a follower for a hot minute you know is very significant. I have all but one year covered too, which seems fitting!

My first brand trip with Quaker // November 2008

This trip was the first time I brand had invited me to travel – expenses paid – to learn more about them. How fitting that it was Quaker?! Jokingly known as the Queen of Oatmeal on those days, I was thrilled to get to go behind the scenes of my favorite food. I still love partnering with Quaker 10 years later!

A trip to Kenya with Lipton Tea // March 2009

I think this trip remains “the coolest opportunity I have ever gotten” through KERF. I spent six days traveling during my spring break to Kericho, Kenya to tour some of Lipton’s tea estates. I was chosen by Foodbuzz for the trip and had three weeks to prepare. It was an incredible experience that I will never forgot! While there, I planted a tree. I wonder what it’s doing now!? Other notable travel posts are on this page : ) I always think about how much I loved this day in wine country with blogger friends, and our trip to St. Lucia was one of my favorites to share!

The Healthy Living Summit // August 2009

Way back when, a group of fellow blog friends and I started talking about how cool it would be to gather in person. And what if we had 100 blog readers join us for a fun weekend in a big city? The Healthy Living Summit was born, and we spent hours and hours planning a fun weekend for 100 digital friends. We did a second annual summit the following year and then passed the torch on to another group. Those were the days!

My One And Only Half Marathon // April 2010

This was definitely my favorite race of the dozen or so I did back in the early days, mostly because it was the longest and took the most training and planning! I had hoped to run a marathon next, but my foot issues had me benched for the weeks to come and I realized that 26.2 was just not ever going to be in my cards. So I switched to other forms of foot torture – like soccer ; )

Passing the RD Exam // August 2010

Obviously this was a big moment in time for me!! I spent the 2.5 years prior working towards passing this test. Funny how none of my nutrition school posts made it on as favorites ; ) That internship was grueling, and I was SO HAPPY to have reached my goal! My life as an RD looks a lot different than I thought it would when I set out to go back to school in 2008, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Being published in Oprah Magazine // February 2011

While there is nothing particularly dramatic about that post, this accomplishment always comes to mind when people ask me about the cool opportunities I’ve gotten through the blog. While going ON the Oprah Show would certainly have been a lot more exciting, the show had already gone off the air, so I was very happy to have my oatmeal recipe published in Oprah’s magazine. It was my favorite freelance project to date!

Great Harvest Opening Day // June 2011

I remember what an exciting day it was to actually have an open bakery store front! We had lines out the door, and we sold out of most of our products that day. It was an exhausting, emotional time, but also one filled with celebration because our bakery had been such a long time coming.

Mazen’s Birth Announcement + Birth Story // September 2012

This ranks as the most exciting post I have ever put up! Of course my life dramatically changed when he was born, and I couldn’t wait to share the news with you all. Mazen’s birth month marked my highest ever pageviews and traffic. I think many of you were refreshing the blog every minute for a week to see if he had been born! Those newborn days are some of the most precious posts I have too because I wrote them as much for me to re-read as I did to share with you all.

The Squiggly Line Effect // March 2013

While this wasn’t the first time I had brought up this concept, when I think back on all of my nutrition posts this one comes to mind as the most memorable. It’s my nutrition catch phrase! I should have it on a t-shirt. What goes up must come down!

Crate and Barrel Brunch // December 2015

I wanted to include a brand partnership in the bunch, and when I think back on all of my sponsored posts, this one with Crate and Barrel always comes to mind as the one I am most proud of because of the the time and planning that went into creating the whole post, including the video. Videos are HARD, and while it’s by no means professional looking, I thought it turned out really cute. Also: a Crate and Barrel shopping spree was involved, and that was just plain fun!

Visiting the White House // March 2016

I almost forgot about this but I think it deserves a spot in this list! Getting a personal invitation to the White House alone was exciting, but to hear Michelle Obama speak was something I’ll never forget.

Things I’m Afraid To Tell You // January 2017

This post comes to mind as one that was particularly memorable to me because I was in such a vulnerable state when I write it. I loved the prompt from The Lively Show, and when I listened to her podcast I knew I had to be more open with you guys. Thomas and I had been dating for a while, but I didn’t feel comfortable writing about him for the longest time. I was starting to feel like I was hiding such a big part of my life, and I knew I had to share more. The post received so many lovely comments, and I was so glad to have written it! It was one of my most emotional posts to date. Announcing our engagement was also a really noteworthy post for me, and I hope sharing some wedding pics will be too!

I want to say thank you to all of you, because without you there would be no KERF! I am humbled that anyone is still reading this blog a decade later, but also so very, very thankful. Here’s to 10 more years!

**You made it to the end! Actually my real blogiversary is August 29, but I decided in this post to make it September 1 for the future! 

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