It has been a long road…
This entry was posted on March 9, 2008
… getting from there to here. At least, that’s what the song says. In some ways, I agree. This time last year my site was only a few weeks old. I was blogging when I didn’t fully understand what ‘blogging’ meant. I’ve always been anal about my markup - that is something that hasn’t changed in all the time I’ve had my own website.
I was looking back at my site on my old host (which is still up if you’d like to have a look) and it’s strange to compare it to my site now. I can’t stand the layout, and I don’t like a lot of the way the site is presented. At the time, I thought my site was great. Now, though, I realise that it was far from it.
So what have I achieved in the last year-and-a-few-weeks? Well, I’ve made lots of e-friends (Aisling, Vera, Amelie, Ben, to name a few); I’ve even met one of them (Lilil). I’ve moved from a free host to a giant hosting company and I’ve even taken on a second domain to play with.
I’ve successfully installed a CMS and that’s going spiffingly. I don’t think I could go back to managing my pages manually, even if I do still love FanUpdate. I’ve gotten closer to my dream of being an employed front-end web developer, and I’ve even inspired people to start blogging.
I’ve always tried to be nice and helpful to people, and I think it has paid off. My traffic has steadily grown (not that traffic is an issue, but it’s always nice to know that about one hundred people a day visit my site), but more importantly the number of comments I receive on each entry has grown as well. At first I thought having a high number of comments was a good thing, and I still think that. I appreciate every single comment I receive, and even if I don’t return every comment, I always check out the person’s website. It’s really satisfying to see repeat commenters on my site - it’s always nice to know I’m doing something right.
What have I done to mark this momentous occasion? Well, I’ve uploaded some of my numerous photographs into a gallery, I’ve set up a page to show you how you can be part of the Calm Banana family, and I’m working on a couple of other little projects as well. Also, this is my 100th post!
27 lovely people have commented
I like that layout (and do remember when you first put it up). =P
Anyway, this reminds me when I e-mailed my old host to thank her for hosting me for 2 years, and she e-mailed back that it had been 3 years. I was gaping at the e-mail thinking: no way… where’d the time go.
So: I wish you many happy anniversaries to come.
Yay for being mentioned as second *puff out chest*
Reply: Awh, thanks Vera! *hugs*
YAY! E-FRIENDS! *cuddles* 
Ugh, I’ve been blogging since 1999. The magic is GONE. Lol. It’s like… just a part of me now, I guess. It’s hard to measure milestones for me at this point. 
I hope you’ll stick around for a long time! There aren’t many people that I still know from the dark ages- I would love to be still reading your blog 9 years from now!! <3
Reply: You want to still be reading my blog when I turn 30? Gosh, I don’t know if I’ll still be blogging then…
Yayy way to go, congratulations 
Reply: Thank you, Heidi.
Me too… a year ago, my layout involved imagemapping and 50px between the header and the content area, and not tastefully so. When I first bought my domain name, I was using purple iframes.
You’ve helped me a lot, too. Your more technical blogs are easy for me to understand, and they’ve definitely helped me understand semantics, among other things. Also, my stylesheet wouldn’t be pretty and organised without you.
I have a question, though. Is it bad for me to like that layout? Because I do.
Anyway, happy slightly late anniversary! Here’s to many more years of Rachaelness!
Reply: Indeed! *raises glass*
Aw, congrats :3
Sounds like it has been heck of a year. My site will be a year old soon, but I don’t feel that I’ve achieved much. I’ve been blogging for a long time, maybe for five or six years. Like Aisling said, the magic is kind of gone XD
I hope you have many exciting e-years to come 
Reply: You have achieved a constant stream of beautiful layouts. That’s more than me.
Hi Rachael,
What a great post. Congrats on all the things you have achieved so far. Judging on your posts on the Web Designer Forum, I think you could more than easily be an “employed front-end web developer”, if not self-employed. Thanks for the help you have given me on there, (and for inspiring me to start a blog - even though I haven’t been very regular with it)!
You are so young, very bright and motivated. I wish you the best of luck.
Richard. (benjamr)
Reply: Wow. Thank you so much for the vote of confidence, Richard. I really appreciate it.
Congratulations! One year is a huge accomplishment (i wouldn’t know, it seems my site is one year old, but I seem to have forgotten that its birthday was yesterday)!
Reply: Happy birthday to your site too!
Congrats! on your achievements, Rachael. I always knew there was a reason I keep coming back here, lol. Just think of the people that forget to comment (Me!!!!!) all the time and visit every other day at least.
Wah! *crys buckets of tears* I thought we were friends too. *goes and curls up in bed*
Reply: Oh Hev, don’t be silly. Of course we’re friends. We’re just not friends that talk for several hours every day, that’s all.
Happy belated-by-a-few-weeks one year anniversary to Calm Banana. Even though, you can’t stand your first layout now - I like it and its bright pink-ness. I hope that you stay motivated and that Calm Banana and all of your other web projects grow more over the next year. 
Reply: Thank you muchly, Chantelle.
Congratulations and welcome to your second year of blogging. I remember that layout and my comments are still there too I feel like a Calm Banana veteran.
I’ve been blogging for just over five years. I’ve never really thought about it but blimey - that’s a fourth of my lifetime. Doesn’t compare to Aisling - since 1999?!?!
Reply: A fourth? What’s the difference between that and a quarter?
@ Lil: Yeah, my grade 6 teacher was the local tech nerd, must have realized that I was similar in my nerdy tendencies, and got me started blogging on EXPAGE, of all things, when I was 11 years old! So… yes. It’s been a while.
I’ve only been following your site for just over a week now, but I absolutely love it. The way you write your posts is great, and the topics you write about are very interesting.
It’s so weird when you come across an old layout for your website, I just wish mine looked as good as yours!
Keep up the great work, and heres for another year and few weeks of blogging!
Reply: Awh Rob, thank you muchly. One day I will be as uber-leet as you.
Congrats on year one!
I’ve been blogging for about 3-4 years (although I still feel like I’m in my first few weeks )but I lost all my archives from back then when I switched from blogger to wordpress. I am glad I did though as I my first set of entries were awful until I got into the swing of it.
I agree about the commenting thing, it’s really nice when you build up a community of great people who often provide more humour for me than I could even hope to put into my posts
Reply: Absolutely. My commenters = awesome.
Whohh… your website is stunning! Thanks for all the help you have given me. It’s amazing.
Reply: You are most welcome.
Oh wow, I actually love your layout at your old host. That pink splatter is cool! I hope you keep getting better and better.
Reply: You can have it if you want.
Well, congrats on the development and getting steps closer to your dream over the last year.
I gotta be honest though, I much prefer your ‘old’ pink layout to this one!
Reply: Oh no! What’s wrong with orange, green, yellow, and red?
Congrats on your 100th post! The last year seemed like a good one for you
Reply: It was indeed. Thank you very much.
I was coming to visit your site, as I do about thirty thousand times I day, and also I was watching Radio-Canada, which is one of the French channels. And I typed http://www.calmebanane.co.uk. Which is so wrong. But yeah. I felt like sharing this story. I think you should register CalmeBanane as well, for those of use who are linguistically challenged, and can’t keep our languages straight.
Reply: If that’s the case, I should also register Clam Banana as well, because I’m constantly making that typo.
Congratulations on one year plus a few weeks!
I actually like the old layout, and I rarely like anything that has pink on it. o_O
On a random note, the dinosaur on the Calm Banana family page is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. It just screams “Hug me!”
Reply: I’m glad you like the dinosaur. I saw a list of free icons and there was a link to some dinosaur ones. I just had to have them.
Congratulations on 100 posts! You’re putting them out at quite a rate if this site has been online only a year I’m getting close to my 1,000th (another 29 to go) but I’ve had a lot longer to do that in. I’d like to have my new website up by then, that’d be fitting.
It’s good looking back and seeing how much you have improved isn’t it? It’s a process that never stops, and I hope you have many more of those moments
Reply: 1000 posts? Gosh, I can see I’ve got a long way to go if I want to catch up with you then!
Hooray for e-milestones! Congrats on your 100th post too! It’s always fun to look back on one’s achievements, good on for working so hard on your sites. I’m glad your results paid off!
Reply: Thanks Belinda! I agree, it’s always fun to look back… and laugh.
I don’t drink but here’s a toast… To you, Rachael. Long may your site continue :). *Clinks glass*.
Reply: I don’t drink either! *clinks glass of orange juice*
Congrats on all of your accomplishments Rachael. Your site has definitely come a long way for sure. I hope you continue to improve your skills.
Reply: Awh, thanks Ashley! I hope that too.
Loving the new layout, I don’t know how long it’s been up because I haven’t been here in a while, lol.
Reply: Shocking! That’s okay, you don’t have to visit my site every day. Every other day is fine with me.
Thumbs up, Rachael
Reply: Wahay. Thanks Jemmie.
I am now officially a CalmBanana convert… its great what you have achieved, I just wish I had that amount of creativity and drive and ambition when I was at the age you are at.
I tried my hand at “web stuff” when I was about 23, unfortunately that was about 10 years ago now, and well, I don’t think people were ready to embrace the web like they are now.. Bizarrely, fate has meant I have ended up working back in the industry and I feel such a newbie, its unbelievable. Being able to take inspiration from your blog and all the other people blogging is really helping me. Not sure I am ready to blog myself, but who knows what is round the corner.
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Hanna said:
Well congratulations
I hope you’ll be here still next year 
Reply: Thank you, Hanna. So do I.