I've made the biggest blogging sin.. I fell out of love with social media.

And in the style of 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before' I've decided to write short letters to all my past online loves. I've recently come to the conclusion that one cannot blog without relying on social media, whether for interaction or content. I love blogging, it frees me from the realities of life and I adore sharing little tidbits of myself along the way. I suppose I treat it as a sort of diary. It gives me a purpose. So I will continue to try to rediscover my love for these platforms, I don't have the faintest clue as to how, but that's another blog post for another day.

Twitter, where to even start. You were the first platform that 12-year-old Anne discovered. You welcomed me into the Twilight fandom with glee, and no longer did I feel it unacceptable to class internet friends as real life BFF's. You aged with me, both in good ways and bad. Through my Twihard loving ways, you helped me discover roleplay and that inadvertently shaped me into the person that I am. You gave me my first online relationship of 5 years, and you were the cause of my first heartbreak. But I forgave you, because, well, you were my first. (I even forgave you when you changed the 'liking' logo from a star to a heart - and trust me, buddy, that was a tough adjustment to make. Let's not even mention when the layout went wacky.) You were the space of the internet that kept me company when I was in a constant spiral of all nighters, where else was I going to post every song that I was #NP.  You gave me my first taste of popularity (kind of), with gaining over 2,000 followers in just a few months through the magical world of roleplay which added to my confidence, which as silly as it may sound now, is exactly what I needed in 2010. But then I got older, and you kind of stayed back there. I tried to rekindle our spark by creating a new account for blogging purposes, but then you went and ruined it with a 'follower' suggestion that become a downhill slope. I now can't click on you without the constant fear of having to log out with another heartbreak under my belt. I guess you could say we changed.

Instagram, you're the popular kid who gives backhanded compliments. You're my whirlwind of confusion. You tell me to be myself, that it ought to be enough, only to then show me how untrue that is. Over and over you make me wish to be someone else. But that's okay because you're simultaneously giving me positive quotes about confidence, right? I rediscovered my love for photography and art through you, and that without a doubt added to my decision to start blogging again in '15. So I thank you for that, and I want to love you again. But I feel like you've become a really great book that has some major problematic areas that I'm expected to look past, which is difficult for someone who has a problem with forgetting anything that leaves a bad impact on her heart and/or memory. Maybe it's not you, it's me. All I know is, when I delve into your world, I tend to leave miserable.

Facebook, you replaced Twitter for me after the first heartbreak. You made me more comfortable in the roleplay world, and though my world shrunk when I moved over to you, I was happier.  At least for a little while. You helped me write more, and the people that I met through you helped me realise that I was more than just a character. You also hugely aided in my research as to whether my now husband was a psychopath when we met.. so, thanks for that! But now you've become an empty page that only seems to leave me feeling separated from loved ones, and well, alone. You also broke the news to me that people don't always just make reckless comments about strangers, that they can view people in their real lives with the same immoral attitude. In a way, you are the cause of my seeing people for what they really are. We live in a world of cruel comment sections, but it's always strangers commenting. When those people are people you may see everyday? It's really hard to see past that. You make me lose faith in the my world.

Tumblr, you were my secret lover. The place I fell back on to make me feel okay with being a bit gloomy sometimes. You made it safe to be myself as you were a world of strangers who never asked a question. You didn't beautify sadness,but you didn't make me feel like I was stupid for not doing the "obvious solutions". You didn't tell me to go outside, you merely gave me words that I could speak through. But then you became a place of possible heartbreak. I realised that not one person I know, whether online or in real life, knew about my account with you. And that was frightening as it reopened the forever question of "How little do we actually know about people?". If I'm able to hide in you, who else is? The unknown terrifies me, and you have become my trigger.

**This is in no way a reflection of any of the social medias, these are merely my experiences and an overly personal post.

What's your relationship with social media like? Have you recently had any change of hearts? Let me know down below. Or, you know, get in touch with me on social media. The irony, right?

We all love to fill our phones storage space with apps that add something to our valuable screen time. Whether it be Candy Crush, shopping, or that weird farm thing that people are now playing, apps can be a form of free entertainment so we hoard them like kids with candy. When I first got a smartphone, I didn't know what the heck to download. I looked on Google Play, got overwhelmed, and stuck to trying to figure out Instagram. Yup, I'm that uncool. Alas, over the years I have found my own personal favourites and I thought I'd share them to give you an insight on which make my blogger life easier.

As you have probably guessed from the title, this is my 100th post on RootingBranches. I'd lie and do the classic "what a trek it's been to get to this very moment" but, well, I only noticed my post count earlier today and am now flooded with both excitement and fear over how quickly the time has gone. It doesn't feel two minutes ago that I was writing up my first ever post "Germany Part 1: The One With All The Food " and squealing out of fear when I hit the publish button. Yeah, not much has changed.

I wanted to do a giveaway for this post as I have recently reached 1,000 followers on both Twitter and Instagram, though who knows how long the latter will last? (I see you mass unfollowers!). Regrettably not everything has come in the mail yet and I don't fully know how to go about it. Should I run the giveaway on social media? If so, which? Help would be appreciated. That should be up and running within the next week, but for now you'll have to settle on a sappy post written by a girl reminiscing about what she has gained from opening up her heart online.


When I first started this blog, I was 19 and lacking in seeing much of the world. I didn't ever envision myself travelling abroad or doing anything that resembled independence. But alas, I have come far and being able to document my journey on here has been lovely. From covering the last leg of my first ever trip abroad in Germany Part II: The Tourist Edition, to Glamping In Loch Ness, Edinburgh: Ghost Tours, National Museum Of Scotland and Serrano Manchego, Japan Town in San Francisco, my personal favourite Solvang, and the most recent return to Edinburgh with my mother. Though I merely did an Edinburgh Photo Diary for that one.

Speaking of photo diaries, this blog has given me the opportunity to explore so many of  my interests. Photography for a start, which I have mainly shared in A Drop In The Ocean, Glass Windows Of This World, and River Deep, Mountain High. My monthly series A Photo Per Day is also great for urging me to take more snapshots of my daily life. Writing is also a huge passion of mine (whaaaaaat? The blogger likes to write? Mind blowing) which I shared in both short stories that I uploaded Starhill and The Robin. And from stories we go to books, I really like books. And boy, do I show it with a wide range of hauls, reviews, wrap-ups and advice on where to get them. Search the entire category log HERE.

But most importantly, this blog has been an outlet for me to write about things that would otherwise be too difficult to bring up in everyday conversation. It's offered my thoughts an escape without the repercussions of reality, if that makes any sort of sense. Arguably You're My Sunshine has been the hardest one I have written and I still can't find the courage to reread it. Seeing as it was my first personal post, I think it did set the right tone for my overall blog. I started out heavy and didn't want to look back. Of course there are many types of personal. Take for example, the post I dedicated to my mother on Mother's Day To The Lorelai To My Rory, which is more of a happy personal. On a mere informative personal, I have Finding Myself With Online Roleplay.

To go alongside those, I have written many posts dedicated to health, both physical and mental. As a sufferer of Fibromyalgia I have covered the basis of my experience having it in Fibromyalgia And Me as well as advice on 5 Things Not To Say To Someone With A Chronic Illness. When it comes to discussing mental health, I've been more than an open book. In fact, it's as though I've ripped all the pages out and spread them across my blog for people to read. My post Living With Body Dysmorphia led me to the team at #MentalMovement and gave me to opportunity to write for them - both online and in their published work, which was beyond exciting. Since then, I've started my Bath Musings series, which acts as an online journal thing for my bad days. Most recently I uploaded a post covering my ongoing struggle with Social Media Anxiety.

Any regular readers that I have (Hi! Can we be friends?) will of seen building of my and @BilliamSWN's relationship. Our first trip together was documented in the Edinburgh/Loch Ness posts linked above, we discussed everything surrounding his podcast in Interview With A Podcaster and we announced our engagement in Life Update: I'm Engaged! We're actually thinking of starting up a blog together next year, so keep an eye out for that.

There have been so many other highlights from writing these past 100 posts, which really puts into perspective how important this blog is to me. How will I feel after 500? We'll see. After taking part in Blogtober, I do really want to keep a better schedule going with uploading. Sometimes we don't realise that we have something to say until you're forced into writing it, ya know?

So, yeah, here's to the next 100 posts and the soon-to-be giveaway. Whoop, whoop.

When I've told people that I'm thinking of joining in with the shenanigans that is Blogtober, the main response I've been getting is "Jesus, why?". Valid question. If you don't know, Blogtober is essentially a month of blog posts. You upload at least one blog post, every day in October. It is quite the undertaking, I know, and when you factor in my usual schedule of one post a week.. yeah, quite the change of pace. There are many factors why I wanted to join in with this torturous fun, so let's list my main three..