Happy Anniversary!

Day ***

It doesn't matter what day it is! I have officially finished my year-long blogging odyssey.

And I have mixed feelings about it. It seems so anti-climatic. One day I am working on it and suddenly the next day I am done. I think that is the biggest reason (aside from having the opportunity to eat out) why I want to have some sort of celebration.

I think I will miss the daily challenge to come up with something to write about. But after thinking about it, I think I am going to try to stick with a 5-day schedule. No Sundays (unless I really really want too) and I get one floating holiday per week that I can take off. I hope that I don't become lazy and cheat myself out of blogging.

Blogging for the year definitely presented some challenges but I honestly feel that I am a better person for doing it. Since I like lists so much I thought it would be fun to do a List-Mania on what I have learned this past year blogging.

In no particular order:

1) I Learned About Myself
That sounds so cliche' but it is true. One of the biggest benefits that I got out of blogging was posting my goals and New Year's Resolutions online and then being accountable for them. I didn't think I could motivate myself to exercise and run the way I did this past year. In the back of my mind I knew I had people reading my blog and I didn't want to disappoint them. I wanted to prove to them and myself that I can accomplish goals. I look forward to hitting my year mark with my resolutions/goals and then making new ones and blogging about how I am going about to conquer them.

I'll miss you Spaghetti Cat...

2) I Learned Things I Didn't Know About My Family
This was a big one. In preparing some of my blog posts I had to do a little research and found some interesting nuggets of information. But in reading my sister's and cousin's blogs I have been introduced to a bunch of stuff that I didn't know. Take my sister for instance; I had no idea that she was such a big reader. That was news to me! And I thought I knew my cousins before but apparently I don't know them as well as I thought I did. I had no idea how difficult breaking your femurs could be; I had not heard all the stabbing stories. I am happy that my sister and cousins have joined in with the blogging. I feel like I know them so much better and feel closer to them.

3) Meeting New People
The cool thing about meeting new people is being exposed to new ideas. I had met Andrea's family before but I didn't know them. And I was glad to have had the chance to get to know them. I learned to appreciate soccer for example. I also learned different writing styles, I think I changed the way I blogged because of their influence. I also saw a lot of good examples, I saw a lot of qualities that I would like to develop. Because I had other people aside from family taking the challenge, it motivated me to blog my best.

4) A Record of Important Things/Events
I took a quick glance at my blog the other night and found a ton of stuff that I had already forgotten. I am thankful that I took the time to blog about events while they were still fresh. The family get-togethers, the Church events, the little moments with my family. Now I see why it is important to have a diary/journal. Now I can look back on those things and remember them like it was just yesterday.

The Karma Police were integral to my blog.

5) It Surprised Me Who Was Reading My Blog
I knew most of the people that were reading my blog. But it did take me by surprise by some of the e-mails and comments my blog received. Some people in my neighborhood were reading my blog, some old classmates from even elementary school have contacted me. This was fantastic. Remember when I blogged about one of my biggest regrets in school? I have been absolved from that since she took the time to e-mail me after reading that blog. And that incident happened over twenty years ago!

I got much more out of blogging than I thought I would. I still have things that I want to record and I know that I will continue to have experiences that I want to record. So I will definitely continue to blog.

I do urge anyone that has not taken the challenge to get on the blogging bus and do it. It is a sacrifice and you will have to put in some hard work but it is well worth your effort. I hope that my fellow bloggers will continue to blog.

I also want to give a shout-out to my fellow bloggers for accomplishing this mighty goal. And for my fellow bloggers that are in the middle of doing it. I support you completely. Thanks to all those that supported me in blogging. I appreciate your effort.

To anyone that is reading these words... STOP reading and pat yourself on the back.

Thanks Folks!