Epically Awesome Year One

Well, I’ve been blogging for a whole YEAR now and I am still loving it — hooray!  Hooray for me, sticking with it, and hooray for you, for being my blogging community!

I literally couldn’t do it without you.

Okay, I could.  But I would be lonely.  And nobody wants that, right?

I haven’t been keeping up with blogging awards and I’m thinking this is a sign that I should go awards-free.  But first, I wanted to take the opportunity to accept one last award, on the occasion of my one-year blogging anniversary.  And here it is!

Er, the award is up there, at the top. You already saw it, I guess. Pretend you just saw it now, though.   (Thanks.)

Isn’t this a great award?

Yes!  It is AWESOME!

I want to thank Millie Thom for presenting me with this award a long time ago — so long ago that I was less than halfway through my first year of blogging.  And she already thought I was awesome?  She is the sweetest person ever, clearly.

Millie writes the most amazing posts about travels and holidays, complete with excellent photos and weaving in fascinating historical details.  She also writes great stories, and has a couple fantasy books out that I bet you’d like.  In other words, her blog is AWESOME.   You should definitely go check it out, right… here.  But don’t forget to come back!

Click here for the post where she nominated me for the award, in case you want to see the actual rules.  I’m going to break the rules though.

What?  GASP!  Say it isn’t so!

Okay, I’m going to follow most of the rules, because I lean heavily toward Gygaxian Lawful Good and it’s literally painful to break rules.  But the rules on this one are pretty lax.  Like, thank the person who nominated you.  Done.  Be creative and let yourself run wild.  Er, stay tuned?

But here’s the kicker rule: “You are awesome, tell us why.”

I know that we — by which I mean all people, but women in particular — are raised not to brag.  Told not to push ourselves out there.  To keep quiet about our accomplishments.  To not even believe secretly in our own minds that we are awesome.

You know what? Screw that.

I am awesome.

When I started this blog, I had almost no idea what I was doing, but I figured I’d give it the old college try.  And it was shaky at first, it really was.  Most people quit posting on their blog after a few weeks or a few months. They run out of steam, lose their focus, get discouraged. I’ve lost a lot of my Blogging 101 friends along the way.  But not me, I’m going strong.  That is AWESOME.

Even more than that, I’m actually getting better.  My writing is improving.  I’m getting better about giving comments.  I’m learning more about the whole writing and blogging and publishing process.  I am getting MORE AWESOME every week.

(Okay, maybe not every week. There’s been some backsliding, I’ll admit it.  You’re very polite to pretend to not notice.)

And do you know why?  Well, because I try and I work hard.  That’s a big part of it.  We should never downplay our own efforts.

But do you know why ELSE?  Because of YOU!  Because you have been here to read my stories and like them and comment on them, and that is incredibly supportive.  Many of you also inspire me with your own stories and blog posts and wonderful ideas.

Are you still reading this post even though it’s already getting pretty dang long?

It’s because you are AWESOME!

Have you just started your blog and have no idea what you’re doing?

You are brave.  That is EXTRA AWESOME!

Have you had a blog for a year or so yourself?

It’s like we are AWESOME-TWINS!

Are you one of those longer-time bloggers who is actually successfully using your blog to network and market your stories and sell your books?

You BAFFLE me with your AWESOMENESS!

(No, honestly, I’m baffled by it.  But I’m learning, I hope.)

So I want to thank you for reading my blog, and for liking my posts, and for commenting, and for just plain being cool people to hang out with in the blogosphere.

I’m going to break the rule about nominating people for this award, because so many people I know don’t do awards and because frankly, it gets to be a pain to play favorites after a while.  What I’d like to do instead is treat it like a prompt challenge.  If you would like to write a post about what is awesome in your life, then do so, and take this badge and display it proudly.

Whether you write a post like that or not, I want everyone to think for a few minutes about how hard you’ve worked on your blog, and how much you’ve accomplished, and how much you’ve learned, and what great blogging buddies you’ve been.

Thanks for a great year, and let us toast to many more.   Because being here with you is:

EPICALLY AWESOME!

 

p.s. If you are not singing the “Everything is awesome” song from the Lego Movie by now, then something is seriously wrong, like maybe you need a big hug, or you forgot the words.  So imagine I’m giving you a big hug  –(((HUG)))– and I’ll put a few lyrics here, just to get you going:

Everything is awesome!
Everything is cool when you’re part of a team!
Everything is awesome when we’re living our dream!

Yeah, it is.

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