Blogerific Birthday #2

Man, time flies when you’re having fun. Today marks two years since my very first post on Spillingthebeans. What started as a small side project has become a big part of my life, and something tells me we’re still just getting started. “A website is a very hungry pony,” my first boss warned me back in 1999. He was right, though I think a blog is more like a very hungry elephant. Sometimes I wish that my to-do list began and ended here, but it doesn’t. Some nights I have the energy to sit here for hours, and some nights I opt to get some rest. More than once I’ve accomplished both by literally falling asleep on my keyboard. I’ve learned that I can type even when I’m not fully awake, but there’s no guarantee the result will be coherent. Through it all you’ve been very patient with me, and I appreciate that.

I’m constantly astonished when I look at the stats each month. Our readership continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and after many months of relatively few comments, suddenly you’re all starting to speak up. Keep it up, I love it. Come back often, tell your friends and keep me in the loop if there’s anything I’m missing.

Last year, we gave away a Skip Hop Pronto to celebrate the blog birthday. And while that’s still one of my all-time favorite products, I wanted to do something different this year. So I’m actually doing two giveaways. First, one of my absolute favorite toys of the year, Magna Tiles. They’re not new, but they are simply excellent. We are giving away a 32-piece Clear set. Second, a gear item, the Kaboost. This was easily among the most innovative and well-executed ideas from this past year. To win either one of these, just comment on this post and let me know if you’d like to be entered to win one or both of these great prizes. I will draw a name on October 30th.

It is worth mentioning that we have a strict editorial policy, and we do not accept any sort of payment in exchange for our reviews (these giveaways aren’t sponsored either). We also don’t have any sort of advertising on this site. The editorial integrity of the blog is very important to me, but the lack of advertising is as much of an aesthetic issue as anything else. I’m curious to hear if any of you have opinions about this – would you be in favor of incorporating carefully selected advertising partners, or would you prefer to see us stay ad-free? I’m thinking about attending the BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas in early November, so any feedback would be great.

Again, thanks for reading. Here’s to another great year.

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