Happy Blogiversary to Our GRAND Lives!
- Our Grand Lives
- 35 minutes ago
- 10 min read
Thursday, November 13, 2025
This week we are taking a trip down memory lane because…
This week marks a BIG anniversary for us!
(Well, at least to us it’s a big deal!)
Three years ago this week we published our first blog post!
Which was quickly followed by
And, to add another layer to this week’s celebration,
today is even more special to us!
It’s the 200th post of Our Grand Lives!
WOW!
Now, we know in the GRAND scheme of things, we’re only in the toddler stage of blogging! Even after three years, we still feel like newcomers in this wonderful world of blogging. There’s so much to learn, and we’re continually inspired by those who have been sharing their thoughts, words and wisdom far longer than we have.
Yet, It’s amazing to look back on those very first posts and realize how far our little blog has come. What started as an idea that first brewed during a happenstance meeting on the street has grown into a creative outlet and a space that brings us so much joy.
We have had SUCH FUN and LEARNED SO MUCH
during these past three years of blogging about
the activities, adventures and celebrations
shared with our families and loved ones…
most notably our precious Littles!
In honor of this blogiversary, we’re devoting today’s post to us…
Laurie and Laura (also known as L & L)
as we look back on this adventure of our very own!
It’s hard to believe it’s been three years since our little space on the internet first began! What started as a place to share our stories, snapshots, and reflections has grown into something so much more meaningful. Along the way, we’ve learned, laughed, and connected in ways we never expected but ones we are so grateful for!
Today, as we look back on this blogging journey, we’re reflecting on how our blog has changed since it first began, we'll revisit a few of your (and our) favorite posts and we'll celebrate the lessons we’ve learned along the way!
Who knew when we ran into each other in the fall of 2021 that it would spark something so GRAND in our lives? We believe that it was a “God Moment” in our lives and that He knew that we both needed this outlet as retired kindergarten teachers and brand new grandmas! We are both so grateful that God put us back into each other’s lives and that we took this leap of faith together!
Soon after, we were connecting on a regular basis and had hours of fun sharing our GRAND moments as well as our newfound hopes and dreams for this stage of life with each other.
And, that’s how our vision for Our Grand Lives began!
Laurie had become a Grammy in the summer of 2021
with the arrival of Little D.
Six months later, Laura became a GRAND
when her Little L made her entrance!
At first, Laura thought she’d be a Gramma and that’s what she called herself for the first year. However, Little L had a different idea and soon after began calling her Bacco one day. Now Laura is simply known as Bacco and she cherishes her name!
Being the good teachers we are, we spent lots of time researching and learning about grandparenting blogs that were out there and determining what our niche would be. We learned about technology and platforms and SEO’s (which we still don’t understand) and, boy oh boy, it’s been a learning curve! When our blog launched in November 2022, we were ready (or so we thought)! If you’d like to read more about our backstory, this recent post describes in detail how it all began!
What do you think about our very first attempt at a homepage?
It didn’t take long before we added a few additional graphics to the above!
We began with our “Launch Week” with three posts followed by six weeks of “Sneak Peeks” where we explored topics like “It’s Turkey Time” and “Fun Family Traditions”. Each week we delved into sharing activities, adventures, celebrations, moments and reflections that inspired us. Our posts were looooooonnnnngggg (mostly due to Laura and her need to overshare - Laurie, meanwhile, does her best to edit her friend)! To our longtime readers - we’re so sorry!!! It’s something Laura continues to work on but hopefully you’ve noticed somewhat (???) of an improvement over 200 posts! It continues to be a work in progress!
🩷 Look at how we’ve grown! 🩷
Those first homepages (above) were quickly replaced with this one!
Then came this one!
As our families grew, our center photo kept up with the times!
Which brings us to our current homepage!
As our Littles have grown, so have we.
But, through all the changes, our overriding vision has remained constant!
This quote is purposely positioned front and center on the Our Grand Lives site as it perfectly reflects our vision! We love sharing hands-on experiences and real life activities that you can easily do with your own grandchildren or to celebrate the gift of family! Along the way, we do our best to throw in occasional words of wisdom, to share family adventures, celebrations and traditions and even offer a lesson or two learned during this next phase of life!
And, while we are relative newbies to this world of blogging, one of our favorite things about it has been creating a community of readers who share our vision! You are all a blessing to us!
One of the really cool things about the world of blogging
is how it gives us the opportunity
to connect with people we normally would not come in contact with.
We’ve been looking at our analytics recently and it’s so fun to see
where our readers come from and which posts have been top favorites!
Of course, we’re thrilled that our readership continues to grow!
Special thanks to our subscribers and regular readers!
Our main goal in writing this blog is to share and learn from each other!
We were also thrilled to learn that we’ve had readers from 23 countries around the world drop by including places like Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, Spain and more! It’s a big world, isn’t it?
We also discovered which posts have been the top favorites among readers since we first began blogging!
YOUR Top 5 Favorite Posts!
#5 Viewer Post
Our weekly summer posts these past three years are always favorites
and this 4th of July version, especially so!
#4 Viewer Post
A very special post to mark a very special anniversary for Laura!!
#3 Viewer Post
Looking for a way to use those extra bags of Halloween candy?
Check out these funny family games, perfect for the upcoming holiday season!
#2 Viewer Post
YUM! Simple, festive and delicious!
and the #1 viewer post…
The message behind this snack mix gives it extra meaning
for you and your Littles!
OUR Top 3 Favorite Posts!
We’ve shared so many activities, adventures and celebrations
since we started posting three years ago.
Two hundred of them, remember?!?
Art activities, science experiments, family celebrations and teachable moments
are only a few of the topics we’ve covered!
While we have a huge affection for all our posts,
we each have our Top 3 favorites
and we’re excited to share them below!
What a treat it’s been to scroll through all 200 of our posts
and be reminded of all we’ve covered and shared!
It was a challenge to narrow it down to three favorite posts,
but I’m happy to say, I did it!
I gave this Nativity set to Little D on her baptism day right before her first Christmas and even as a 4-year-old she still loves to pull it out and play with it. Little D loves the story of Baby Jesus. Could I ask for anything more?
Laura and I laugh about this post all the time and it brings such a smile to my face every time I see it. I love this post because we were such newbies in the blogging world and really didn’t know what we were doing. It is so raw and brimming with excitement for a new chapter in our lives! And it definitely shows us how much we have grown!
This day is special to me and I was so happy to share it with our readers. It was the summer of Covid, right after I retired, and I missed planning parties for family and friends. I poured my heart into this event so my family could enjoy a fun day outside safely. I hope our readers enjoyed it as much!
It was SO hard to choose only three
and, as you’ll see, I didn’t quite meet the challenge!
We’ve shared a lot of celebrations over the past three years, including holiday gatherings, bridal and baby showers, birthday parties and fun get-togethers with friends! Little P’s baptism holds a special place in my heart!
I love to bake and any opportunity I get to introduce Littles to it, I take! Little L and I have had such fun over the past years cooking and baking together and we’ve documented many of our creations in this post!
#1 - It’s a Tie!!!
You know me! I just couldn’t narrow it down!
MY FIRST FAVE…
As you may imagine, this post is very dear to my heart, so I wholeheartedly agree with our readers’ ranking of this one!
AND MY OTHER TOP FAVE…
In many of our posts, we’ve been able to highlight teachable moments we’ve experienced with our Littles. Through simple, intentional and often impromptu moments we’ve shared with them how we live out our faith and our beliefs each day. It’s a gift we don’t take for granted! We also know that our primary role as GRANDS is to support our grown children as they navigate parenthood and we strive to do all we can in a loving way! In this specific post, we shared ways we can “plant seeds” by showing our Littles how deliberate acts of kindness make a huge difference in our lives and the lives around us! The phrase, “The children are watching…” always rings true and so how we treat others truly matters! In today’s world it’s one of the greatest lessons we can offer the Littles we love!
After retiring from our careers as kindergarten teachers,
Our Grand Lives has given us both a wonderful outlet these past three years.
We've been able to share our love of family and children,
for learning and creating
and for celebrating and making memories!
We are so grateful for our friendship and the adventures
we continue to have together
as we've learned to navigate technology, the blogging world,
photography, graphics and more!
We can’t wait to see what we’ll come up with next!
The ideas keep coming… Imagine that!
We are grateful to our husbands, our families and our friends
for taking this journey with us
(and for often being our very own guinea pigs)!
And, of course, THE BIGGEST THANK YOU goes to ALL OF YOU!
THANK YOU for taking the time to stop by and to read our posts here
❤ We love our blogging community! ❤
As always, if you have any thoughts, ideas or insights to share,
we’d love to hear more!
If you have a favorite post from our site or a favorite reason for visiting,
OR it you have any suggestions for ways we can better support other GRANDS
please share by commenting at the end of this post
You can always reach out to us directly at ourgrandlives@gmail.com!
We love how we can learn so much from each other!
Please come back tomorrow, too!
Laura will be back with her follow up post from last Thursday…
The North Shore of Lake Superior!
A GRAND Getaway, Part 2!
If you know of anyone you think might enjoy our content,
we THANK YOU in advance for sharing our site with them!
We love connecting with others - especially other GRANDS -
who love spending time with their own Littles!
We invite you to sign up to subscribe to our blog,
(Please know - we never share your address
and we only contact you when we publish a new post!)
As we think back over these past three years,
we’ve realized that blogging has taught us more than we ever imagined…
Not just about writing or technology,
but about ourselves and the legacy we hope to leave for those we love!
Each post, each photo, and each story has revealed something new
and we look forward to continuing to grow, to learn
and to celebrate life’s simple joys… together!
💗 We are delighted to join the following link up parties and blog hops! 💗
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