7th Blogoversary Celebration Day 2: A Thank You Letter and Part Two of the Q&A Vlog

HELLO AGAIN!!! It is day two of Musings of an Elf’s two-day 7th Blogoversary Celebration (say that 5 times fast) and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

(If you  missed it, don’t forget to check out yesterday’s post where I showed you guys my first ever blog post (and hid in a hole from embarrassment afterwards) and shared part 1 of the Q&A vlog.)

Today, March 14th, is Musings of an Elf’s official birthday. On this day 7 years ago, I hit publish on that first post and entered the great, wide, crazy, AMAZING world of blogging. And I’ve never looked back!

Yesterday I talked about how creating this blog really shaped me as a writer and brought out my passion for writing even more. But it’s not just the writing aspect of the blog that has helped me grow. It is also the community.

It is…YOU!

There aren’t enough words in the world to fully express my gratitude for each and every one of you. But you better believe I’m gonna try anyway!

For Musings of an Elf’s official birthday, I want to share a letter. A letter to you, my dear, treasured blog followers. My friends.

 

A THANK YOU LETTER

Dear Friends,

When I first started this little blog simply for a way to stretch my writing muscles and start growing an author’s platform, I had no idea…no clue of the joys that were to follow.

It started with the blog comments that put a smile on my face every time one appeared. It took some time, but as I wrote more posts, more began to pop up. Then I ventured out to those blogs, I discovered linkups, more blogs, writers and like-minded people. It amazed me how many people out there shared my interests. How many people loved the same books I did, how many wrote the same types of stories I wrote, how many understood the ups and downs of being an aspiring writer or merely just loving stories.

I soon discovered the blogging world was full of kind, passionate, beautiful people. And over time, these people became my people, my friends.

For years, I struggled with confidence, with thinking I was alone. I rarely showed my true self because I feared no one would understand, or just think I was plain weird.

But then, one by one, you each entered my life. Slowly but surely, I grew less fearful of sharing my passions. I learned that if I turned on my “fangirl mode”, you wouldn’t raise an eyebrow and judge, instead, you fangirl/boy-ed right along with me! I could talk excitedly about my beloved books, movies, and TV shows—embrace my full geekiness—and be welcomed for it.

Then, as I met more and more people like me, I decided to attempt sharing things about my writing—something that had before made me want to go hide under my bed forever. I started out talking about writing-related things, then I…*gulp* began to post snippets. I opened up about what my stories were about, introduced my characters to you, wrote more writing posts.

And do you know what you did for me? You encouraged me.

Every single one of you rained encouragement over this self-conscious writer. You took away my fear and shame, and instead motivated me, inspired me.

As time went on, I formed closer bonds, joined a beta group, actually had people read my entire stories and I got to read theirs. Before I knew it, I was a full-fledged writer. It wasn’t a hobby, it was a lifestyle, and one that brought me joy every single day.

My little blog morphed into a writing blog with the greatest support group I have ever had: YOU.

Because of you, I went from a self-conscious teenager who had dreams of being a writer but never did much about it and always felt alone in that aspect of my life, to someone with solid plans of pursuing my greatest passion and the most amazing writer friends cheering me on all the way.

And all I can say is…THANK YOU! Thank you for the endless encouragement, the accountability, the interest in my stories and drive to continue pursuing publishing them. Thank you for all the enthusiastic comments and sweet emails. Thank you for your posts and stories that bless me and make me smile and inspire me every single day.

The impact each and every one of you makes on my life has been phenomenal. It puts me in awe to think that, out of the billions of people in the world, God brought me to each of you. He truly is a loving God!

Thank you for being the beautiful human beings that you are. I love you all!

Sincerely,
Christine

NOW THEN. We aren’t quite done with the celebrations yet. It is time for part 2 of the Q&A vlog! (And, don’t worry, this one’s a bit shorter than yesterday’s. Heh.)

 

THE Q&A VLOG
(Part 2)

This starts right where I cut off the first part, but I apologize for the weird lighting. Filming took muuuch longer than I thought it would and I started losing sunlight. So things get a bit yellow as the video progresses. Sorry ‘bout that! Maybe one of these days I’ll learn how to actually make a professional video. (But I wouldn’t count on it…)

(Also, at the end I call my blog Musings of the Elf instead of Musings of an Elf because I’m a potato and apparently don’t know the name of my own blog???)

This video features what my favorite season is, the great mystery of why I’m nicknamed Lauriloth/Lauri, my favorite mythical creature (betcha can’t gueeeess *grins*), my thoughts on standalones vs. series, which five books I would save in a disaster, what my favorite The Legend of Zelda game is, and moooore! Lots of fun stuff! (Seriously, I love everyone’s questions!)

You can view the video on YouTube HERE if the embedded version isn’t working.

Before I go, I have one more exciting thing to share with you…

I AM OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR
REALM MAKERS 2018!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Yesterday I registered and…just. I can’t believe this is happening. Excitement doesn’t even cover what I’m feeling. If you’re going, TELL ME, because I want to meet you all!

 

Alrighty! That wraps it up. This has been so much fun!

Once more I have to mention what a blessing you all are to me. I do this blog because of YOU! You are all the best! *GROUP HUG*

Can’t wait for all the more blogging years to come!

 

TALK WITH ME!

Let’s chat blogging. What is your favorite thing about blogging? Do you have a special blogging memory? And, since this is a party, the question must be asked: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CAKE???

Thank you all for celebrating with me!