Hi everyone! It's my birthday today, woohoo! I'm eighteen! I'm legal! I can fill out my health forms for JHU! I can technically register for NetGalley (oops...)! I can go enter that one contest for Jay Kristoff's Kinslayer!
(I'm not one for gifs. But there you go. I will not use any again until my blogoversary)
Last year, on my birthday, I didn't have you all. I didn't have a blog that I actively updated, a ton of people that I talked to about books, a crazy, focused passion. I didn't have dedicated followers, commenters, page-viewers, readers... I didn't have you all.
I've had a website for six years, but I officially switched to Blogger on December 29, 2012. Craziest time to officially start blogging - it was the middle of winter break of my senior year. I had two college applications due two days from then. Also, I had three days until the New Year. Why not wait, right? I have no idea. It was a Saturday, and I was impatient.
Anyway, you all know my obsession with mathematics, statistics, numbers, etc., right? No? Well, now you do. Every day, I've been watching my stats - whether they climb or stay steady. Here the current stats:
705 GFC followers
269 Linky followers
442 Bloglovin followers
217 Google Plus followers
212 Email/RSS subscribers
38 Pinterest followers
33 Tumblr followers
372 Goodreads fans/friends
878 Twitter followers
50,317 total pageviews
10,449 pageviews last month
21,869 tweets
All of those numbers up there are somehow blog-related, so I can't thank you all enough for sticking with me. I know that there are a million other book blogs that you all could follow, and yet, you chose mine to be one of them. THANK YOU.
But seriously. THANK YOU ALL! Every single one of you that supported my blog in some way... you all rock. I'm never going to stop saying that. I never thought my blog would get off the ground, because there are so many book blogs. HUGS FOR EVERYONE!
Anyway! What kind of celebration would this be without presents?! Have one on me! No, have TWO! Yesterday was Independence Day for the United States, and today is my birthday.
Win a paperback copy of Pretty Dark Nothing by Heather L. Reid, and a paperback copy of How To Date An Alien by Magan Vernon!
Pretty Dark Nothing got five stars from me (review HERE), and I have an extra copy of How To Date An Alien.
***Please note that this giveaway is for USA residents only! I'm sorry, but I'm still a poor teenager who is going to a $63k school in the fall. And who has no job.***
Good luck!
Happy birthday girl!!!! I turned 18 just last week :) I remember when I turned 6 and got a kitten that I named Angel. BEST. BIRTHDAY. EVER.
ReplyDeleteChloe @ Coco's Bookish Adventures
For my sweet 16 I had a luau at my uncles "mansion" with a DJ and everything. My crush showed up and slow danced with me (my first slow dance ever!). It was pretty amazing. Happy birthday! :D I hope it's amazing!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!! 18 is such a fun age.. Even though Im not that old I still miss being 18 sometime! Live life to the fullest and don't forget to store all your moments so you have the memories! My birthday is this month too and I remember having my parent celebrate the whole month for my birthday :) yeah that's how much I loved myself lol I deserved a whole month about me :) although now I still love myself I do not celebrate the whole month anymore.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway! I hope you have wonderful birthday!
Happy birthday!!!!! My favorite birthday memory is actually my sons 13th birthday. We picked up him and six of his friends with a limo and took them to an indoor water park for a night. It was great and the smile on his face when the limo showed up was priceless.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! May all your book dreams come true. Getting older is the realization it's worth it to spend money on quality cake, last one was milk chocolate cake with fudge filling and cookies n creme frosting.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! One of my favorite memories is when I got my first digital SLR camera from my husband and mother. It started my photography career later on! Thanks!
ReplyDeletehappy birthday alyssa!! have a good one :D
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!! I hope you have a great day and receive books! ;)
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to you. Wishing you many more!!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite birthday memory is receiving the David Tennant Doctor Who box set!
Welcome to legality! Happy birthday, hun!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Alyssa!! My favorite memories, since it's a tie, are my 13th when I got my orange tabby as my birthday present and my sweet sixteenth when I had a birthday bash. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! I have nothing exciting to say. If Ace was to wish you a happy birthday it would be a lot sweeter :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!!! I think one of my favorite birthday moments was when i was 10 yrs old. and i wanted my baby cousin to be born on my birthday and he was!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday Alyssa! :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!!
ReplyDeleteAny of my Birthdays when I was little are my favorite memories.
Thanks for the chance to win!
Happy Birthday!! Mine is tomorrow (July 8th), and I'll be 32.
ReplyDeleteThe one birthday memory that sticks out for me is when we got me a white cake with red edge icing and a balloon design off the Kroger "Oops!" rack, and took it downtown to by the courthouse to eat. The Slugburger Festival was going on all around us. We couldn't afford to participate in the festivities that year, but it was nice just being there together, eating cake together.
Happy 18th Birthday, Alyssa!!! *hugs*
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, darlin'!!!! Wow, you're another one of those sweet book bloggers I follow who I'm convinced must be AT LEAST in college, for cripe's sake....but NO, you're a mere babe compared to this old lady!!!! (Hey, I just have to embrace it, especially since my 5yo son calls me "ol' laday" in the cutest possible way ;)) Well, I know what a big deal 18 is, it's a heady feeling, right?! So happy for you reaching the age of majority-but-not-quite -- you know, where you could go to war for us but absolutely NOT buy an alcoholic beverage!!! Woohoo! :D (and, inquiring minds want to know: where are you going to college in a few months?? With that price tag, it sounds like where I went...many moons ago...)
ReplyDeleteAs to your question, I don't have a really vivid favorite birthday memory...hey, when you've lived as long as I have, you start to wish you could forget that you get a year older every year on that day! But I do have a not-so-favorite memory that does remain forever etched into my brain, even now more than 30 years later! It was my birthday party when I was turning either 3 or 4, not 100% sure which, and we were having a party at my house. There weren't a ton of folks, of course, but I remember our neighbors came over because their 2 sons we're close in age to me, my sister, and my brother. Well, when the two boys came over- empty-handed - I promptly asked, "where's my present?!" Well let me tell you, my mother lit in to me, and I was so embarrassed once she told me how rude it was and how disappointed she was (because let's be honest, the absolute worst is when mom or dad says they're *disappointed* in us, right?!). And I have NEVER forgotten that feeling. It's a memory I share with my son each year on his birthday so that he understands it's not the presents that matter!!
I hope you had a WONDERFUL birthday, and remember it doesn't have to stop with just that one day!! You should celebrate yourself every single day! Thanks a million for the giveaway, I've really been looking forward to reading Heather's book. And now I'm out, as I just realized that I am, in fact, (more than) old enough to be your MOTHER.
Oh, Holly, I'm not trying to play favorites or anything, but this comment is so nice! You are NOT old! But I call my mom "old lady" sometimes as well. I call my dad "old man"! So it's only fair.
DeleteTo answer your question, I subtly slipped it into the third line of the post... ;)
(Johns Hopkins University)
Thank you so much for the kind and thoughtful words! This is seriously one of the nicest things anyone's told me in general! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Oh, you're so sweet. I appreciate that :) So I apparently just glossed over that "JHU" there at the beginning the first time I read it -- but WOW and CONGRATULATIONS!!! Super excited for you! I honestly wish sometimes that I could experience that whole college thing all over again, especially the excitement and anticipation of the very beginning! You are going to have a BLAST and learn more than you ever thought could be crammed into your brain!! Best part? I. Read. CONSTANTLY. During college!!! :-)
DeleteWhat a celebratory summer you're having!! We should be showering YOU with gifts, but here you are doing a giveaway for US! You're so sweet, mmwah!
Happy Birthday!! No birthday memories. Thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Alyssa! I'm so jealous that you are just now starting your university adventures! I've always loved first days of school, especially something as significant as university! I've been fortunate to have great birthdays every year, but none stands out as my favourite because, well, my family and I are always celebrating together ... even when we have nothing to celebrate but each other!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful first day of school. Take a deep breath, enjoy it, and remember that wonderful feeling of being on the cusp of greatness! (This'll help you when you're ready to tear your hair out while prepping for exams.) Happy birthday again!
*sings* Happy a birthday!! Hope you have a gr8 one! And what a nice way to celebrate! By sharing your fav books! Awesome :)
ReplyDeleteI had fun talking to you @ the twitter party today! I realized I was following your blog already! Crazy how that happens lol.
Dee @ <a href="http://diamondlovestoread.blogspot.com>Dee's Reads</a>
Happy Birthday! Most of my memories of birthdays just involve friends and family, though last year I had a Hunger Games party which was really fun. We had prizes and winners and such like the real Hunger Games.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a great birthday! :D
Happy, happy birthday! I hope you had a great one! My favorite is probably a while back when I'd been married about two years. My husband totally surprised me! He took me to some friend's house to show me their puppies. Then while I was telling him which one I liked the most, he said: "I'm glad that's the one you like because it's the one I picked." I was a little confused because I didn't know he'd already seen them and asked him, "What?" And then he told me that I was getting to take the little puppy home. Best birthday ever!
ReplyDeleteTressa @ Tressa's Wishful Endings
I hope your birthday was wonderful!
ReplyDeleteHappy late Birthday.
ReplyDeleteThe fist birthday present I can remember getting is after I was married and fir my birthday my wife bough me my first suit ever. It was a great & totally unexpected surprise.
Happy Happy Birthday and congrats on having a really fun blog! I enjoy getting your emails:)
ReplyDeleteOne of my fave bdays was right after my divorce. I was turning 30 and had two small kids. I felt like my life was over. My HUGE family rented a room at a local steakhouse and we partied!! I got flowers, a printer, gift cards, clothes, but mostly the incredible support of my family:)
cc_clubbs at yahoo dot com
mommasez...
ccclubbs.com
Well then, happy (belated) birthday to you!! Or should I say happy unbirthday? ;)I hope you had a great day though!
ReplyDeleteAs for my favorite birthday memory..mhh I'm not quite sure. My family and I often go on vacation around that time because my birthday is around the end of July. So I would have to say when I celebrated my birthday in California. I love that place!