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So, today is the day! It is officially my one year blogoversary! *does a happy dance* I cannot believe it's already been a year and I'm so insanely happy to have made it this far. I was planning on doing a bigger build up but life got in the way. So, instead, I wanted to talk about my favorite part of this crazy blogging experience: you.
Yup, you read that right. YOU are my favorite thing about blogging. You guys who are reading this post right now, be it your first time at my blog or your tenth. You awesome, supportive, and fantastic group of people make all the fist-shaking, head-desking frustration of reviewing worth it. Even one comment makes my day just a little bit brighter. And when I get those really heart-felt ones, well, I want to get all teary. I never expected blogging to bring me this much joy and I'm really thankful for it.
I had a plan for my blogoversary, and although I scrapped it because I was simply not ready I wanted to say this. I'm really grateful for blogging and for everyone that's ever supported me in it. I really needed this, and every time I thought it wasn't very good, I would get messages of encouragement that pushed me to keep going. So, thank you for that.
A little thank-you to my good friends who are such a supportive bunch. Lots of my friends don't read, but they've checked out my blog and sent me things like "it's so cool you're doing this!" and which make me smile. You guys rock. *sends out squishy huggles*
One thing I've really loved about blogging was meeting tons of AH-MAZING bloggers out there. Seriously, you guys are just simply some of the best people I've ever met. Avery, Giselle, Ardo, Jen, Christa, Andrea, Michele, Ashley (and lots more!) you guys have absolutely rocked my socks and I'm so glad to get to chat with you all. To my fellow Team Tod For Afterlife members and Gansey lovers Chandra and Liz. I have loved all our excited, gushing talks about our favourite Reaper and that crazy Raven Boy. You two make blogging and Twitter so much fun, and I cannot wait until we get to meet up and chat in person this March. Thanks to Lucy for all the enthusiastic messages, constant support, and being one crazy awesome person. And to every single one of you that I've ever chatted with: thank you. Every single tweet, comment, or email makes me want to hug my laptop.
Also, to all the authors out there who commented, followed, responded, and retweeted anything I sent out: you have no idea how much that means to me. Your books have inspired me and brought me more joy than I could ever express. And truly THANK YOU for doing what you do, and for being so kind to a little blogger like me. It would take me ages to talk about all the authors I love, but seriously you guys are fantabulous. I do want to thank a couple though. Thanks to Jeri Smith-Ready for creating the amazing Shade series, and being such a dedicated author. I'm so proud to be a part of Team Kilt and to have had many of chats with you. I also want to thank Lesley Livingston for pointing at me and saying "Trinity College sweater!" and giving me a hug. I was seriously petrified there and you made me feel a million times better. To Jodi Meadows and Kiersten White for the crazy twitter conversations (and for writing insanely amazing books) and to Nova Ren Suma for being so enthused about being on my blog! In particular, I want to thank Courtney Summers. Your books are honest to goodness beautiful and have had a huge impact on me (more than I can probably ever say). So thank you for being an awesome writer, for being so insanely kind (and for recognizing me!) when we met, and for being really responsive to all my crazy tweets. It means so so much to me.
To the awesome Ottawa Bloggers: thanks for being so welcoming to this newbie blogger (guess I can't call myself that anymore, huh?) To Emilie for inviting me to meet up and borrow Fever this time last year and all those times we gushed about Logan Quinn and Adrian. To Katie because we hardly agree on anything (especially music) but we always manage to have awesome chats. To Meaghan for all our funny texts including those, shall we say, not entirely coherent ones and being so much fun to be around. And to Kathy for all your enthusiasm and knowledge and for all the awesome books you've lent me haha!
And, saving the long-winded one for the end: to my bestest bestie Crimson. Can you believe it's over four years since we started talking? I was trying to figure out an exact date but couldn't find it (although, I did find that we 283 pages of notes on the Chapters community o.O). Since then, we've discovered our twin-ness, our love of swooning horses, our hatred of poor grammar (and our amusement at calling each other out on it), our confused feeling when we don't talk for more than a day, "the face", and how amusing it is to type in ALL CAPS LOCK at each other (side note: LOTR is still better than HP). But, one of the things I want to thank you for most is being your "pocket Crimson" self all those times I really needed it. For listening when we barely knew each other and for telling me I would be okay all those times when I didn't think I would be. I will forever be grateful for that. Even though we've only met in person that one time (and we both were insanely awkward turtles) I consider you to be one of my very best friends. And I'm super proud that I got to be your very first reader (and stake my claim on Miles from the get go). So yup, thank you. And to make this a little bit lighter: have you sent out a query today, Crimson? :D
And finally, to every single person that has ever clicked on my blog: thank you. I really truly appreciate it. *HUGGLES FOR YOU ALL*
P.S. I'm really lucky to get to share my blogoversary with the release date of one of my favorite books MIND GAMES by Kiersten White! You guys neeeeeed to pick this book up. It's spectacular! Read why here!
- Ciara (Lost at Midnight)
