3rd BLOGIVERSARY: Exciting announcement + international giveaway!

Come and help me celebrate THREE YEARS since I first launched this website and introduced Rebecca Alasdair to the world! To commemorate this occasion, I share my key achievements, make a very exciting announcement, and am hosting an international giveaway!! →

Today marks exactly three years since I published my very first post on this website / blog and introduced Rebecca Alasdair to the world! Somehow, the last 1,096 days feel like both a lifetime and the blink of an eye, but regardless of how I look at it, I’ve learned so much from this experience. I don’t place a great deal of importance on statistics, but to celebrate my 3rd blogiversary, here’s a snapshop of what I’ve managed to achieve…

Since at least the beginning of the year, I’ve had a few niggling thoughts rattling around in my brain of what the future of this website/blog might look like. Ideas come and go, as ideas tend to do, but my vision has been consistent for some time now, and I know deep down that I won’t be able to implement it with the way I currently have things set up. With 2020 being what 2020 is, I’ve been hesitant to make any drastic changes.

Then, last month, disaster struck. Okay, perhaps I’m exaggerating, but you may have noticed me having a bit of a whinge over the last few weeks because there seem to be some random formatting issues with my website theme that I can’t seem to resolve. They’re probably not particularly noticeable to you all, but my obsessive brain is fixated on them to the point it’s driving me nuts. Which is why, today I would like to make an announcement:

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Rebecca Alasdair will be moving to a self-hosted site!!

No, your eyes do not deceive you. I looked into this when I first started researching website set-up 3 years ago, but as a newbie, self-hosting felt like too much at the time. While the prospect still fills me with terror, the excitement is now far greater, and I think I’m ready for the challenge. I’m certainly ready for the extra flexibility and customisation options that self-hosting will give me without having to pay and arm and a leg to upgrade my current plan.

This isn’t going to happen overnight. I thought about setting myself a deadline, but that freaked me out too much since I still have some research to do and want to make sure I do things right. Keep checking back here over the next few weeks as I get the ball rolling, and I’ll definitely talk more about the migration in my regular update at the end of the month. In the meantime, I’d love to hear any advice from those who currently self-host their website or blog, and please…send me encouraging thoughts and wish me luck!! 😀

Finally, to get to what I imagine you’ve all been waiting for: to celebrate my 3rd blogiversary and spread some love in these very trying times, I’m holding a GIVEAWAY on my Instagram. The prize? A book of your choice worth up to $30 AUD! The giveaway is open internationally so long as Book Depository ships to you, and closes at 5pm AEST on Monday 31 August 2020. For details on how to enter, visit the post below!

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🎉 INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY 🎉⠀⠀ Today marks exactly 3 years since I published my very first post on my blog and introduced Rebecca Alasdair to the world! To celebrate, I've made a very exciting announcement on my website (link in bio), and am hosting a #giveaway here on Insta to share the love around. I invite you all to help me commemorate the occasion!! 😀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ THE PRIZE:⠀⠀ 🎉 1 x book of your choice, worth up to $30 AUD and available on @bookdepository⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ TO ENTER:⠀⠀ 🎉 follow me⠀⠀ 🎉 like this post⠀⠀ 🎉 tag 2x friends who'd be interested⠀⠀ 🎉 in the same comment, tell me what book you'd choose if you won (note: this does not lock you in if you do win!)⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ EXTRA ENTRIES:⠀⠀ 🎉 like some of my recent posts⠀⠀ 🎉 share in your story for 24h + tag me⠀⠀ 🎉 tag another friend in a different comment (up to 5x times)⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ T&C:⠀⠀ 🎉 giveaway closes 5pm AEST on Monday 31st August 2020⠀⠀ 🎉 winner will be announced at the top of this post and in my stories⠀⠀ 🎉 open internationally (so long as Book Depository ships to you)⠀⠀ 🎉 all entrants must be 18+ or else have parental consent to enter⠀⠀ 🎉 this giveaway is not affiliated with Instagram or Book Depository past the fact the prize will be purchased from there⠀ __________⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #bookworm #booknerd #bibliophile #chalkboard #tapercandles #stringlights #laptop #blogger #blogging #freebook #bookishgiveaway #bookgiveaway #competition #readersofinstagram #bookcommunity⠀⠀ __________

A post shared by Rebecca Alasdair (@rebeccaalasdair) on Aug 13, 2020 at 10:33pm PDT

How long have you been blogging? What are your greatest online achievements? Is your site self-hosted and do you have any tips or advice for me?