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Nine years ago I wrote my first unsophisticated little post on Kalyn's Kitchen, and now each year when this anniversary date comes around, I realize again how I never dreamed all the ways this little blog would change my life. I'll always be grateful to my brother Rand for starting me down the path to a second career as a full-time blogger, and to the fellow food bloggers who have shared their knowledge and helped me expand my skills.  I also want to send thanks to my long-time web designer Jennette who keeps my blogs running smoothly and makes me look good despite my limited technological knowledge!

One thing I've enjoyed greatly over the past nine years is how blogging has brought so many interesting, thoughtful, and creative people into my life.  Nowdays Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest make it easier to connect with readers and fellow bloggers than in the early days, but things can also get lost in the noise of social media and I always appreciate people who make the extra effort to leave a comment on the blog or send me an e-mail.  And blogging wouldn't be much fun at all if no one was reading and interacting, so let me say a big thank you to all my readers, family members, and friends for your support through the years!

When I sat down at the computer and wrote this post eight years ago, I couldn't imagine what an adventure I was starting with this little food blog.  Since then I've retired after 30 years of teaching, met a lot of fellow food bloggers and become real-life friends with some of them, been inspired by the amazing women at BlogHer, been a speaker at a few food blogging conferences, remodeled my 100 year old house in Salt Lake City, got an amazing stove, built a raised-bed garden,  and started a second blog focused on Slow Cooker from Scratch recipes.

I've written 1,958 posts on Kalyn's Kitchen in eight years (!) and I'm grateful I now have a fabulous web designer as well as my nephew/cooking assistant Jake, who helps me test recipes to make sure they work when you try them in your own kitchen!   I also appreciate the ongoing design help from my brother Rand, who originally suggested I start a blog (and how can I ever thank him for that?)  Rand has created all the headers and other graphics you've seen on the blog through the years. 

Eight years have brought a lot of changes, and this year I decided on another big change and bought a bigger house in the town where I grew up north of Salt Lake.  As hard as it was to leave the house and garden I had lovingly refurbished and a neighborhood filled with nice people, from the time my father died in early 2011, I wanted a house big enough for my whole extended family to gather.  I found a wonderful house that's perfect for having family and friends over, and since I've been promising to share kitchen photos, that seems like a fun way to celebrate eight years of food blogging.  

But before I get to the photos, I want to give a big Thank You to my readers.  Without readers and your encouragement and comments there would be no incentive to keep blogging, and I'm tremendously grateful for the support you've given my humble little blog.  In last year's anniversary post on Seven Things I Know About Food Blogging, I mentioned my goal of staying focused on things that are useful for readers, and I'm hoping I can continue doing that for many more years to come!