Hitting a Milestone (Post #1000)

It's hard for me to believe it, but the post you are currently reading is number 1000 for my humble little blog.  For all of my faults, perhaps it is my inherent stubbornness that can be most blamed for me reaching that particular milestone.  You see, I'm not one to give up easily - especially when I'm not one of the best at what I'm trying to do.  I'll never possess the eloquence of Night Owl's posts, the creativity and earnestness of Dinged Corners, or the blatant, raw emotion of Sports Cards Uncensored but I hope that I'll eventually be able to settle nicely into a comfortable spot that is a combination of all three.  Until I'm satisfied with my output, I'll continue to craft my little blog on a daily basis!

That said, while I don't exactly think my blog is perfect, there are many things about it that I'm proud of.  First, I'm proud of the great group of people out there that I've traded with.  For the most part, trading has been an absolute joy with only one or two people playing the role of "bad apple."  In fact, I've enjoyed trading so much that I'm quickly nearing 100 trades sent out this year alone (I'm at 95 at last count - you can see my counter on the side of my blog).  Without the network of traders, I would have no shot at completing all the sets that I'm working on (and many that I've already completed).  I also would have no one to dump all my Red Sox, Dodgers, and Marlins on!

Second, I'm proud of how (relatively) quickly my blog has grown.  It was last October when I hit 500 posts. This past July I cracked 100,000 page views.  And now, I'm within 700 visits from the 70,000 visit threshold.  I'm also happy to report that I've begun getting some legitimate blog sponsorship offers.  I'm hoping to parlay some of the sponsorships into cards and/or other products for both myself and as giveaways or prizes for my loyal blog readers!

Finally, I'm most proud of all of you - my loyal readers.  Many of you visit my blog on a daily or weekly basis, a whole bunch of you send me emails and/or leave comments on my blog articles, and heck, some of you even talk a little smack before I end up laying down the lumber on you (Beardy, I'm looking at you).

Let me end this self-congratutory post with the following:  To all of you, whether long time reader or first time visitor, Thank You.

-Nachos Grande