Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Bubble turns one today!

I can hardly believe that the Bubble is one year old today! I posted my first message on April 3, 2010. It was Holy Saturday.

Now, 223 posts, 9,220 comments and over 170,000 page views later, I am shocked and thrilled at how the Bubble has evolved. Its interactive nature is the very best part, as the comments are often more compelling than the posts!

I cannot thank you all enough for reading and contributing. Your willingness to jump right into a contentious discussion inspires me to keep writing, and I am especially grateful to those commenters who disagree with me yet keep on (respectfully) commenting. We are all enriched by the dialogue.

On this first anniversary, I invite your suggestions, your comments, and your criticisms (remember, I allow anonymous comments). If you want to introduce yourself, I'd love that, too.

Thanks again for making this year so amazing.... I think I may have found something I really like to do!

47 comments:

  1. Happy Blogoversary! I always enjoy reading :)

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  2. Happy blogging anniversary, Leila! I know it's what God has called you to do!

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  3. Happy Blogbirthday, thanks for all the wisdom and teaching of the Catholic Church, you are an ispiration to me and many :)

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  4. Happy blogging birthday/anniversary to you!! Very glad to have meetcha during the year ;-) Your blog is a place of inspiration, and the I also find food for thought (and sorrow) reading thru the comments!! Don't forget your blog when you write your book one k ;P

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  5. ack, last sentence in my first comment I forgot the word day after one!! Pass my coffee please.....

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  6. Happy anniversary!! I want to be just like you when I grow up!! I'm not kidding either!! :). Sew. ( too lazy to log in!)

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  7. Happy 1st Birthday Bubble!! We love your blog!

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  8. Happy 1st birthday, Bubble!!!! We're so glad you're here!! Love ya, Leila!

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  9. Happy Blogoversary, Bubble! It's nice to have another resource to turn to where I know that the author has a vibrant, SOLID Catholic faith and shares it so eloquently. I also agree w/ theresa EH... awesome food for thought! I hope that the wonderful commenters (both those who agree and disagree) keep the dialogue going. Sadly, it seems like there are not many formats that have such open (and respectful) dialogue. The world is a much poorer place for its absence. Here the opposite is true. Thank you for that! God bless you, Leila, and God bless "the Bubble!!"

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  10. Here I thought you had been blogging for years before I found you late last summer!!

    Happy Day!!

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  11. You've only been blogging for a year?!?! You look like a pro!

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  12. Happy One Year!! I love your blog and learn something new everytime I read it. Its my continuing Catholic education I so desperately need. :)

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  13. Thanks so much, guys! I remember my biggest reason for not wanting to blog was that "I have nothing to say"... ha ha ha. But I truly thought that. :)

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  14. Happy Birthday! Little Catholic Bubble is a gift. Thank you Leila! You are a pro in so many ways and you give me something to aspire to be.

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  15. I remember when you were just a profile.... SO glad it's evolved into this!

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  16. Happy bloggy birthday, Leila! So happy to have found your blog. I so enjoy the discussions here, and am so inspired by your consistent and much-needed pursuit and proclamation of truth. Keep up the good work! :)

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  17. Happy blogiversary Leila! I really have enjoyed reading since I discovered you via Jen.

    Random idea: how bout a series on the 7 themes of Catholic Social Teaching?
    Or "how busy moms make time for prayer" ? This one really mystifies me; as a single girl, I really have to make an effort to be disciplined about prayer. I can't imagine how you ladies with multiple kids do it! What's the secret?

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  18. Happy Birthday to the Bubble! :) I had no idea the Bubble was so new when I started reading last year! Good, I didn't miss much. haha.
    Please don't ever stop writing! :)

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  19. Happy birthday Bubble! I didn't know our blogoversaries were so close together--mine is 4/5!! :)

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  20. Happy Birthday Bubble! I loved going back and reading how you got your start.

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  21. Dear Leila,

    I can't believe your blog is only a year old!!! I love Little Catholic Bubble and I really think the Holy Spirit had something to do with you starting your blog!

    @Maggie, it really IS a struggle to find time to pray but watching the power of prayer keeps us busy moms coming back for more! I am in the process of creating a "prayer room" in the back of my house...a place where you can close the door and be alone with God.

    A

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  22. Happy Bubble-versary! I'm so glad I found this blog!

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  23. Congratulations! Wow...so much in so little time! I want to know the secret :)

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  24. Happy Bubble-versary - or what JoAnna said! You a great source of wisdom and truth, and I like your humor! ;)

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  25. You've only been blogging for a year? It seems like much more. Actually it would be interesting to see you do a post giving tips for blogging. The reason I ask is I have had a blog for about two and a half years that I sporadically post on. I'd like to turn it into a real Catholic blog like some of the other great ones I've found online such as this one and Jen Fulwiler's. The main topic is poetry but sometimes I use the poems to launch into a post on other religion and art related topics.

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  26. Happy Blogoversary! Thank you so much for all you do. I have learned so much from you and your Little Catholic Bubble. You are one of the most genuine and caring people I know...and I've never even met you! :)

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  27. From one Catholic mom to another: "I'm so proud of you!"

    Keep it up! You and your posts, are nothing but a gift. (I know, I know: you are just God's agent. !)

    Nina

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  28. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE CATHOLIC BUBBLE! Your blog, Leila, has been a life-line for me. I've learned so much from it! Thank you for being there.

    DD

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  29. Happy belated birthday, Little Catholic Bubble! I love the honesty and willingness to engage difficult topics here! :)

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  30. Happy Blog Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love reading!

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  31. What would we do without you!!! We are all so very thankful for the gift of you and your blog in our lives. Sounds so cheesy that a blog and blogger could mean so much but it's true. LOVE YOU FRIEND!

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  32. The Bubble has changed my life!!! :)

    Thanks for being here!

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  33. I second that! The Bubble has also changed my life, and thank you for being here!!

    -From a lukewarm Catholic that became hot under the collar at first, and then enflamed for the Truth.

    Keep it coming!!

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  34. Anonymous, whoa! That just made my day! Thank you! And thanks to everyone else!!! :)

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  35. You welcome everyone here with open arms. I love you, Leila.

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  36. Happy Bloggy Birthday...ahhhh I remember when it was born, so tiny, so new, my how it has grown!

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  37. Happy Birthday, Bubble!

    Like everyone else who has commented, I really like this blog. You stick to Catholic teaching and nearly always have very clear explanations of things.

    The one comment I have is that it seems like you can be rather confrontational in some of your responses. I understand that most of the dissenting commenters tend to avoid your questions. Unfortunately, that is an all-too-common habit for those who disagree with Catholics or conservatives.

    However, it seems me your responses, read by someone who doesn't know you (like me), can be seen as too confrontational - as "demands" for answers to the questions you asked. If the commenters won't answer your questions, perhaps you should respond to the things they said, not the things they didn't say.

    Just some thoughts.

    God bless you and your work,
    ~Ut Christus Regnet

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  38. wingtips and moth, where have you been all my life, ha ha! :)

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  39. Congrats, Leila! I'm another one who would have thought you'd been doing this for years! I'm trying to learn from your example of patient discussion with people who disagree with you. We have such a great faith and you get the details across beautifully!

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  40. Ut Christus Regnet, thanks! I will take that into consideration! And I'm not being sarcastic when I say that if you could give me an actual example of that, I would love it! It would help me see what you mean.

    I often must press people on thoughts and consequences of thoughts, or else we will be all over the place. It's hard to be the moderator sometimes, but I do have to set the boundaries. A lot of times, what commenters don't say says volumes, so I use the (semi) Socratic Method to challenge them to think it through further.

    Another thing that is hard for people to see is that my mind really does work a certain way... it needs clarity in order to be able to make sense of things. So, I push and push for clarity not to play "gotcha", but so that I fully understand what someone is saying. Sometimes I do that to my children and husband, too, not just liberals. :)

    This might help for those who are new:
    http://littlecatholicbubble.blogspot.com/p/purpose-of-my-blog.html

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  41. Leila, I am so stunned to realize it's only been a year! I guess it's obvious over there in your archive list, but the Bubble is such a 'feast' to me that it seems impossible! I guess I hadn't really thought about it, but I assumed you started blogging, you know, in 1982 or something. ;) I've only barely dipped into your archives (without a link in another post or one of the headers) because I'm afraid once I do in I'll insist on reading the whole thing, and I don't have that kind of free time right now! =)

    Goodness, look at all you've covered in a year... and look at all the people you've reached. Can you IMAGINE 2012? Woo whoo! =) So Happy "Bubble-versary" (thanks for that giggle JoAnna!) and GOD BLESS YOU for sharing the faith so eloquently and passionately!

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  42. Ceeb, that is so sweet!! You know what is really funny? If I had had enough time, I wanted to put up some of my favorite past links, for those who only started reading recently! I am still planning on doing that at some points, highlighting some of my favorites. :)

    Your support and encouragement makes me look forward to a great second year of Bubble fun! :) :)

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  43. Dear Leila,

    I was so happy to discover the Bubble a while back and have referred back to your blog many times, especially when it comes to abortion issues. In fact, I felt so much more comfortable discussing abortion with classmates (I am in college) on this controversial topic. I realized that if I understood little about what really goes on out there where abortion is concerned, I could never actually begin to fight with confidence this malady we rightly call the culture of death. Thank-you so much for being out there, and keep up the good work!
    God bless you!!!
    Camilla

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  44. Camilla, thank you so much!! :) That means a lot to me! Keep fighting the good fight!

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