Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Top Posts of April Plus A New Challenge


As typical after each month I do a recap of the month before with my 365 project and a reflection of what I have learned about life/writing/blogging etc.  April was my A to Z Challenge adventure.  The cool thing is that this challenge also asks for reflections from participants so I am going to tie that into my own reflection in today's post.


First of I want to say that I am so glad that I followed a blogger that was doing this challenge that lives in another country.  She posted on her April 1st which was still my March 31st so I was able to learn more really quickly, sign up before the deadline was up, and post the very next day.  Because of that I didn't do anything with a theme...I just kind of made it up as I went along.  Some days that was helpful....especially being about to do "Ouch" and "Pain" when I suddenly had to go to the hospital.

I would totally do it again because it was fun to come up with something for each letter everyday.  I loved the letters that Jeremy made...I always try to do a picture with each blog post but that is so hard for me to figure out sometimes.  Having the pre-made, made it so much easier to blog because I just had to put it in. When I do it again next year though I want to come up with a plan and have a theme--I saw other people's themes as I was exploring other blogs and that looked like fun! My favorite was Stephanie Scott's influential women authors...I loved seeing what she came up with for each day.

One thing that was hard for me was going to other people's blogs on my own. I got a lot better about going to the people that commented on my blog and came by and visiting.  I gain so many new followers which is SO cool.  I sometimes struggled commenting on other people's blogs too.  I really wanted to respond not just leave some sort of random "Just visiting from A to Z Challenge".  Maybe next year I will get more brave...but other ideas of what to say would be helpful. And maybe I will get an opportunity to do more hopping around in the next few weeks to other participants that I didn't get a chance to see.

Bottom line...thank you to the A to Z Challenge group  We SURVIVED! :)

Sorry this post is going on for awhile...you are a trooper to keep reading. But I need to do the top three viewed posts really fast...as is tradition.

3. I had a three way tie for this one....F is for Five Favorite Front-Page Features, H is for House, and J is for Joel like Billy Joel....the J one is by far my favorite.

2. Q is for Quite a Week...all about the crazy anniversary that occurred on the same week as the Boston Marathon

1. P is for Pain...this is the most views ever on my blog...which makes sense because it tells the WHOLE story at that point.

And as I always kind of set a "goal" for the coming month....I was trying to figure out what to do now that I was done with A to Z Challenge.  I found out about Jenni's Blog Every Day in May  She has a new post topic for each day of the month.  What I love is that she is very fluid about it...you can catch up and just post when you can etc.  So I will do a combo post tomorrow...since this post is SO LONG!!! Brownie points to you if you read to the end :)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent reflection post and congrats on the completion and enjoying yourself into the bargain.

Yvonne.
A TO Z AMBASSADOR.

Nagzilla said...

Great reflections post! Glad you found the challenge in time to participate, and congrats on surviving your first year.

PS- I love your blog name

Anonymous said...

Just dropping in from the A to Z challenge. Congrats on surviving the A to Z Challenge, especially since you had less time than most to prepare!

Stephsco said...


Congrats on finishing! It really is a fun, unique blogging experience.

L.G. Keltner said...

Surviving the A-Z Challenge is an accomplishment! I was crazy and did the challenge on two blogs. I'm glad I did it though, because this challenge helped me network with more amazing bloggers!

Congratulations on jumping in at the last minute and emerging triumphant!

Printed Portal said...

Congrats on completing the challenge - I didn't come across your blog during the challenge - but I really enjoyed your reflections post and will have to catch up with the rest of it. :)

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Congratulations on completing the A-Z. This is my second, but I have to say, I'm not sure I'll do it again. However, my daughter says I always say that. :)

Unknown said...

Great reflection post! Congratulations on finishing the Challenge. I had a blast and I can't wait for next year.
Connie
Peanut Butter and Whine

Trisha said...

Next year don't be so shy - this blogging community is very open and friendly! :D

Congrats on your A to Z achievement!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Themes can be fun, but aren't a must. I've done the A-to-Z for three years, the first of which I signed up last minute like you and had no theme, and the last two which had themes. I've enjoyed all three! However, admittedly, the theme was a bit easier in certain ways. Congratulations on finishing!

Shannon at The Warrior Muse