I’m up early, gearing up for the drive to Wilmington to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Four years ago, you never could’ve convinced me this is where I’d be today.

Back then, I thought I’d be blogging into the void forever—and I was fine with that. All I wanted was to share my love for the Old North State, even if just with my family. I had no clue what I was doing or that I was about to stumble into the adventure of a lifetime.

That might sound dramatic, but I mean it quite literally. The last few years have been nothing short of incredible. But this past year? This past year has been the best yet!

Let’s recap:

• We went to the Dogwood Festival and the Blueberry Festival
• Belle and I took a trip home to WNC
• The Northern Lights made an appearance in North Carolina
• We went to visit family friends in Georgia
• I explored Rockingham County
• Hurricane Helene turned my world upside down
• I met with Cucklebur & Co to discuss potential projects
• Where the Dogwood Blooms started producing video content on YouTube, Rumble, TikTok, and Instagram
• I starred in a pilot
• We tried American persimmons for the first time
• Bug turned the big 2-1
• Brandon whisked me away to the Uwharries for our anniversary
• I took the girls to Crabtree Mall for our after-Christmas shopping trip.
• We lost our sweet boy, Binx
• It snowed in the Sandhills!
• Belle and I spent a long weekend in Virginia’s Historic Triangle
• I finally got a proper workspace

Add in regular trips to Calabash and Wilmington, hosting X Spaces every Thursday, a Wednesday slot on WWNC with Starling, and a slew of radio gigs—and I still can’t believe that’s one year. Even wilder? Where the Dogwood Blooms kept growing like crazy through it all: 

• We made the 90 Best North Carolina Blogs & Websites list for the fourth year in a row.
• The podcast is still thriving.
• Impressions across platforms are still in the millions.
• Interactions are still in the hundreds of thousands.
• We picked up a new sponsor.

Seriously, y’all. Somebody pinch me—this cannot be my life!

I’m beyond humbled. Beyond grateful. And beyond motivated. So today, I’m not just celebrating four years of Where the Dogwood Blooms—I’m planning for the future, too.

Here are my goals for year five:

• Find balance. The pace hasn’t let up. And, honestly, I’m drowning a little. Juggling my schedule and still having time for the people I love is my number one priority.
• Get help. Things are getting wild. Between interviews and editing, the podcast alone is enough to keep me running in circles. A podcast producer would be a game-changer—I just need to figure out how to make that happen.
• Write more. The podcast and social media suck up a lot of my energy, and the blog takes a back seat. I miss writing. Time to get back to it.
• Monetize. I’m terrible at this part of being an influencer. But this passion project costs more than I ever dreamed. Finding steady funding to keep WTDB growing is a must.

Thanks for celebrating four years with me today, y’all! I’m pumped for what’s next, and I hope you’ll stick around for 2025. The sky’s the limit.