[[!meta title="Blogging for 7 Years"]]
[[!meta date="2023-06-24"]]

My [first public article](/aui) was posted on June 28th 2016. That was *seven* years ago.

In that time, quite a lot has changed in my life both personally and professionally. So, I figured it would be interesting to reflect on these years and document it for my own personal records. My hope is that this is something I could start doing every 5 or 10 years (if I can keep going that long!). This way, my blog also serves as a "time capsule" or museum of the past...

## Fun Facts

**This Blog**:

I originally started blogging on `bradleytaunt.com` using WordPress, but since then I have changed both my main domain and blog infrastructure multiple times. At a glance I have used:

- Jekyll
- Hugo
- Blot
- Static HTML/CSS
- [PHPetite](https://phpetite.bt.ht)
- [Shinobi](https://shinobi.bt.ht)
- [pblog](https://pblog.bt.ht)
- [barf](https://barf.bt.ht) *Currently using!*


**Personal:**

As with anyone over time, the personal side of my life has seen the biggest *updates*:

- Married the love of my life (after knowing each other for ~14 years!)
- Moved out into rural Ontario for some peace and quiet
- Had three wonderful kids with said wife (two boys and a girl)
- Started noticing grey sprinkles in my stubble (I guess I can officially call myself a "grey beard"?)

**Professionally:**

- Pivoted heavily into UX research and design for a handful of years (after working mostly with web front-ends)
- Recently switched back into a more fullstack development role to challenge myself and learn more

## Nothing Special

This post isn't anything ground-breaking but for me it's nice to reflect on the time passed and remember how much can change in such little time. Hopefully I'll be right back here in another 7 years and maybe you'll still be reading along with me!