Example: when I’m not sure what to bake, the answer is magic bars, pure and simple. Because no matter how basic a magic bar is, different flavors and combinations abound. And when there are Girl Scout cookies in the world, attention must be paid.

This is my one-year blogiversary, everyone. You’d think I’d be celebrating by popping champagne and downing one of my decadent desserts, and perhaps that will happen, too. At the moment, though, I’m feeling more contemplative than celebratory.

You see, blogging is kind of hard, if you keep it up. I have a demanding full-time job as a high school teacher, and I also have three small kids. Any attention I give Just About Baked has to be stolen time. That happens early in the morning before anybody is awake, late at night after everyone is asleep, or on weekends, when the kitchen suddenly becomes a whirlwind of spilled flour and sugar.

Through this year, Just About Baked has become stronger and is shaping into something that I’m really proud of. There’s still so much I want to do, and I’m not sure when that will happen. But I’ve learned something really important in life, and it applies to my blog. Ready for this wisdom?

Forget perfect. Try good enough.

You see, I’m never going to be perfect, not in anything. I’ll never be the perfect wife, the perfect mom, the perfect teacher, the perfect person. And my blog won’t be, either. My pictures could use some improvement, I am guilty of the occasional typo, and I have left ingredients out of recipes. Sorry, folks.

Those transgressions alone are enough to shut down many a food blogger. But that’s not going to happen here. I can’t learn or grow if I quit, and unless I accept that my blog, as it stands, is good enough. I will keep working and trying, and that’s all I can do.

So on this one-year anniversary of Just About Baked, I’ve gotten pretty serious. But I also want to say thank you to all of you who read and support my blog, who write in lovely comments, and who compliment my crazy ideas, like this one. After all, why not make a Samoa more of a delight by adding it to a chocolate graham cracker crust topped with coconut, chocolate chips, Samoa pieces, and condensed milk?

See? Magic. Even magic doesn’t have to be perfect. So happy blogiversary to me, and here’s to being good enough. Let’s all raise a magic bar to that!