Merry Christmas Steemians! ~ A Year In Review

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all! Today is Christmas 2017 and yes, I have a post. It is a short one in comparison to my others, but I wanted to put out a recap of my year on Steem. Not sure if this will be a yearly deal, but since I am fairly new here I thought it would be a good idea.

After hearing about Steem back in June of 2017, I checked out the platform. At that time I had blogged for thirteen or so years on various sites and even created several of my own. As most people come to find, blogging is a grind and it's not easy to make it a day job.

When I saw Steem my eyes lit up. A blogging platform that uses cryptocurrency! Of course the nerd in me had to check it out. Over the first month I made my introduction post and started making content. There was no real rhyme or reason to it back then. I was testing the waters, so to speak, not putting a lot of effort forward.

Then my desktop computer broke and I went on vacation. It took a month to get a replacement part from the company. Then I moved into my first home and every home owner knows how that goes. So much of my time seemed to vanish overnight, but as the next month or two progressed, I found some time to start a podcast.

Podcasting was easy and I spent time each day writing out notes to look over while discussing the topic. At some point around September I remembered Steem. So I started to upload my podcasts here for some possible exposure. After ten or so posts of just my podcast, I hated how my profile page looked.

At that point I chose to take the notes I was using for my podcast and turn them into actual posts. Then I would link the audio file to my podcast on the same topic. This shortly progressed into me writing the posts and then just using said posts as my podcasts.

Now I am behind on my podcast after missing about a week, and I'm left with a blog. The one thing I've always created online was reading material. It is wonderful that I get to share my love for helping new bloggers, technology, and poetry all in the same blog. That kind of jumping around never works well on any other platform.

Thank You

Since focusing on Steem and putting my knowledge to good use, my account has seen a steady increase in followers, up-votes, and rewards. I can't thank everyone enough for the support in such a short period of time. It has been a joy to meet so many wonderful people thanks to Steem.

Groups like P.A.L and @thewritersblock are the catalysts for this level of success. Without them, I would never have been nominated and selected to be a part of @sndbox. Sndbox is the number one source of income for this blog. The co-founders are encouraging, engaging, and transparent towards the group at large.

This crazy journey seems to only be getting off the launch pad. I am excited to continue to grow with you all both as a human and as a Steem blogger.

Special Thanks To:

@geke for giving me confidence in my poetry.
@tinypaleokitchen for supporting all my creative writing.
@gmuxx for creating The Writers Block.
@minnowsupport for creating PAL.
@heymattsokol for nominating me for sndbox membership.
@wandrnrose7 for always being a great role model to look up to.
@lenadr for proofreading and editing my work.
@rodeo670, @kristyyd, @negativer, and @tanglebranch for being great friends!

Steem, you have been a pleasure to blog for. Let's make 2018 even better!

<3 J. R.