Top Ten {Tuesday}

A little Top Ten {Tuesday} history for you. And a little bit of it’s future…

1. The Beginning

I went to the first Blissdom Conference four years ago. I sat with Mandi Ehman in an affiliate marketing class and we joked that we were going to start a gift guide blog so we could make big money off of Amazon affiliate links.

From that conversation I started Top Ten {Tuesday}. She started Jungle Deals & Steals. Now you know which one of us is the bloggy genius! (Clue: Her.)

 2. The First

For a few months only about 5 people linked up. I read every single post, commented on each and tweeted about their posts. Pretty soon 17 people linked up. Then 25. And one day, after a post about blogging, I had 55 people link up! I couldn’t believe it!

 3. Now

Every week between 50 and 75 people link up with Top Ten {Tuesday}. We tweet, stumble and pin other’s posts. And I feel like it’s been a really fun and successful carnival.

 4. Let’s stop for a minute and talk about the difference between a carnival and a meme.

I’m sorry, this has nothing to do with anything, but I have to get it off my chest. A carnival is when a group of bloggers write about the same topic (or in our case, the same format!). A meme is when you answer questions like one of those old school emails where they ask you what kind of color crayon you’d be.

Top Ten {Tuesday}, Works for Me Wednesday and Made By You Monday are carnivals. This is a meme. Now, go in peace.

Where was I? Oh yeah…

 5. My Blogginess

If you’ve been around here awhile, you know I’ve gone through some changes on my blog in the last year. First I stopped posting 6 times a week. (What a relief!) Then I took the whole month of August off.

Since Truth in the Tinsel happened, I’ve felt more and more that I have to devote significant, thoughtful time to my Impress Your Kids blog.

But one thing kept hanging over my head: Top Ten {Tuesday}. It seems silly but I really try to bring quality posts to you every Tuesday.

I see Top Ten {Tuesday} as a day guests are coming to my house. I want my bloggy home gussied up and ready for you. And you know I like entertaining!

But it’s stressful, too because sometimes I feel like I have nothing more to say. Like I’ve said it all before and can’t think of anything else to give you.

 6. The Point

Top Ten {Tuesday} is moving. It’s not leaving. It’s just getting a new home. I thought and thought about somewhere Top Ten {Tuesday} could go. Maybe make it’s own website? Let it be up for grabs to the first person to link up next week?

Nah. I needed to give it to someone who loved it like I do!

 7. The Person

I sent an email to my friend Angie from Many Little Blessings a few weeks ago and asked her if she’d take over Top Ten {Tuesday}. She said she was so surprised she almost spit her pita sandwich out of her mouth. (See? Don’t you love her already?)

Angie is a long-time Top Ten {Tuesday} linker-upper. She consistently writes fun, insightful posts. She actually guest-posted Top Ten {Tuesday} back in August and her post got over 600 shares! (To compare, my last normal Top Ten {Tuesday} got 20. Ahem.)

Angie also runs 2 other blogs: The Homeschool Classroom and Catholic Mothers Online. Plus, she has an etsy shop AND a web design business called Tiny Owl. SERIOUSLY?! She’s magic.

Plus, she likes Disney. Yeah.

 8. The Plan

This week I’m introducing Angie and her fabu blog to you. Next Tuesday, I’ll host Top Ten {Tuesday}’s linky here AND Angie will host it at her blog, too. So, if you link up here, it will show up on Angie’s blog. If you go over to Angie’s and link up, it will show up here, too.

Then the first Tuesday of March, Top Ten {Tuesday} will be at it’s own new little home at Many Little Blessings. And I know it (and you) will be very happy, welcomed and comfortable there!

 9. The Button

We’ve already got a new button for you! So grab it here, use it on your posts and start making the trek to Angie & Many Little Blessings on Tuesdays.

{If this doesn’t work for you–try looking at the HTML on your blog: make sure the ” are not curly or backwards. Just go in and switch them. It should work. If not, you’ll have to save it to your computer, upload it and link it yourself. These scrolling HTML boxes will be the death of me!!}

 10. The Same

All the fabulous things you love about Top Ten {Tuesday} will be the same—the camaraderie, the hashtag (#toptentues) and the excuse to use a list for a blog post! I’m sure Angie has some fabulous ideas for making Top Ten {Tuesday} even better, so please give her all your love and devotion.

Thank you so much for making Top Ten {Tuesday} an outstanding place in the blogosphere. I love reading all your posts and seeing you interact in the comments and on twitter. Thank you for loving it with me! Next week I’m going to write an entire list devoted to the awesomeness of Top Ten {Tuesday}.

(Yes, I realize this is only an invisible carnival on an invisible website, but I still kinda have feelings for it! My little baby carnival!)

Can’t wait to see you for Top Ten {Tuesday}: The Finale. Now, get on over to Many Little Blessings and say hello to Angie!

:: :: ::

You know what to do: WRITE a fabulous Top Ten list on your blog. LINK to me somewhere in it. PASTE the direct url to your post on the linky below. Start LOVIN’ on the rest of the participants with visits, comments, stumbles, pins, likes and tweets (#toptentues).