It's May and we have survived the A to Z challenge! Yay!!!! Today is Reflection Day. Here are my thoughts...
Downs
- I didn't get to visit as many people as I hoped. I thought I'd find 2 or 3 new bloggers each day. But keeping up with the comments on my own blog and visiting my non-AtoZ friends was enough for me to handle
- I didn't write as much as I hoped
- I am pooped! :)
- I met a LOT of new bloggy friends with fabulous blogs I will continue to enjoy!
- I gained followers - I'm really not good at paying attention to numbers, but I gained at least 20 new friends
- it was a TON of fun! There were so many interesting themes and posts. Loved seeing a different side of my bloggy friends.
- I love completing a challenge :)
- I don't use blog badges and banners, but I really liked the ones that someone created - they were fun and fresh
- I liked the widget-thingy I found on Matt's blog (and a few more I can't remember) that popped me to a surprise blog. Found lots of fun people that way
- I'm SO impressed by the co-hosts and how many posts I saw them visit. WOW!!! Kudos all!
- a definite maybe! :) (I do have a spreadsheet started with possible topics for the letters...)
58 comments:
I do like challenges, but I knew I was going to be crazy busy in April this year, so I sat this one out.
Instead, I'm hunkered down with my new WIP!
Congrats on finishing! I hope you took a nap this weekend!
I like challenges and I did participate in the A to Z.
The best part was definitely meeting new people/finding new blogs.
I plan to do it again next year, it was fun.
Btw-mentioned you in my reflections post ;)
Hope you had a good weekend. :)
A-Z was hard work, but definitely a lot of fun!
Gosh, Jemi! You already have a spreadsheet for next year's challenge? That's impressive. I too was pooped. It seems to be a common condition among the A to Zers.
LOL! "Definitely maybe"! Love that!!
Good for you and your A-Zing! Take care
x
That widget sounds like a great idea. Congrats for finishing the challenge, Jemi!
Great points you made Jemi. I just loved the challenge atmoshere, to me the only two downers I do have and that was so many still had their verification codes on and some people clicked on to follow me yet never made a comment then or since.
Congrats for completing the challenge.
Yvonne.
I didn't do the challenge because it doesn't fit with my blog, but I did enjoy following some of you that I already follow. Great points on what worked and what could be better.
Stephanie - good for you! For me the only real downside of the challenge was that it cut into my writing time! :)
Kela - thanks! I'll be over in a bit to check it out :)
Kyra - agreed! I do think the plusses outweighed the minusses :)
Rosalind - I didn't want to lose the ideas! :) The challenge will be to see if I remember I have it next year!
Old Kitty - thanks :)
Elizabeth - it was a great widget - so easy! :)
Yvonne - I'd forgotten about the annoyance of word verification! Hate it!
Natalie - I agree - you wouldn't be able to do it with the focus of your blog - but it was fun! :)
Glad you had a good time with the Challenge! Jeremy made some killer badges, didn't he? Next year will rock as well.
Alex - he really did. I thought they were brilliant! :)
Jemi, thanks for stopping by my Blog recently. I have been away camping for a few days and haven't been near the internet! This was my first A-Z Challenge too, I also enjoyed it immensely! I will definately try to participate again next year!
I haven't done the A/Z challenge yet but I'm planning on doing it next year!
The A-Z is difficult to do, but I finished too and am so proud of myself.
It was a great experience.
T
Meeting new blogging friends--definitely the highlight. However, the sheer size was a bit overwhelming. I was unable to post every day, but I did manage every other day.
it was nice meeting you during the challenge! looking forward to your regular posts!
What an accomplishment! Glad you had fun and met a lot of new friends :)
Thank you for sharing - I had a blast reading your posts! :)
Hi Jemi! I participated in the challenge. It was a lot of work, but also a LOT of fun!
I haven't done it yet, but I've had a great time watching others do it. :)
oh i love this kind of challenge---great job!
My closest friend is spreadsheet happy and I feel like I should now introduce the two of you ;)
I'm glad you did it. I'm glad lots of bloggers did it. I found lots of fun, new blogs through it 8-D
Ditto to everything you said. Being a little more organized in terms of doing posts in advanced would have helped me, but I survived!
CM - sounds like you had fun! It's always good to get away from the internet for a bit! :)
Nicole - I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it - I bet you will too!
Teresa - you should be proud! Your posts were so entertaining - definitely one of my top faves for the challenge!
Liz - it has become HUGE! Hard to even imagine those people who visited most/all of the blogs!
Tara - same to you! Meeting new buddies is really the best part!
Julie - thanks! Meeting new friends is always the best :)
Amy - thanks! It was great getting to know you as well :)
Susanne - I agree! I enjoyed your posts throughout the month!
Shannon - being a cheerleader is fun too! I've done that role for the previous 2 years as well :)
Lynn - thanks! I enjoy challenges too! At least, most of the time :)
Johanna - too funny! I do like my spreadsheets!! :)
Jack - it was great getting to so know many new bloggers!
JL - and survival is key! I didn't even sign up until I had more than half of the posts written. I needed to see if I could do it! :)
I did the challenge and found a lot of new blogger friends. It certainly was a challenge. I'm hopeful to do a better job next year.
Kathi - it really was! Just surviving it is good enough! I did have a LOT of fun though :)
Congrats on finishing. I enjoyed your theme and posts.
Yvonne - thanks so much! It was a lot of fun to do :)
I totally agree with your pros and cons list. But I won't do this again next year. Too tiring!
Congrats on finishing! :)
I know how exhausting it can be, but meeting new people is well worth it.
You've already started a spreadsheet for next year? I'm impressed. I'm still popping aspirin and taking weak tea!
I seriously admire you for doing it. I couldn't keep up with the reading.
I think I would die with this challenge, which is why I didn't take it on this year. I did a bit of blogging in April, and it was fun seeing everyone's posts... So yeah. I like the challenge, and maybe one day I'll take it on!
Congrats to you for finishing!
Theresa - I'm not sure myself ... but I'll probably get talked into it again!
Talli - I agree - people are priceless & I met a ton of gems! :)
Lee - that too! It`s that OCD part of my brain that made me do it!! :)
Lisa - that was by far the hardest part! The posting isn`t an issue really, but the reading & commenting was tough!
Elana - that`s what I thought about this year. I really had no intentions of joining up, but somehow... things just happen! :)
I enjoyed reading all the posts of the A-Z!
RBH - the challenge sure produced a lot of fascinating posts! :)
I loved seeing the variety of topics in posts. That was number one for me.
The challenge ended awhile ago, but I'm still tired. I'm back to blogging, though.
Medeia - I agree - there were so many creative posts out there. Lots of fun. I'm still a little pooped too! :)
Congrats on surviving!!!!
I didn't do it and I doubt I'll do it next year. It's too much of a time commitment. Posting three days a week is time consuming enough. Five days would do me in--unless I wasn't working on a novel at the time. Hmmm. Maybe I can time it so next year I could send my WIP on vacation at the same time as the challenge. ROFL!!!! Just like each year I've been able to stop (not) editing my WIP at the time to participate in NaNoMo. ;)
I am so blown away by the work people put in for this blogfest! I don't have the stamina, myself!
Stina - I know! It's impossible to get everything done. I'll have to see where I'm at next year before I decide. I did spend too much time blogging and not enough writing!
Lydia - it was tiring! I'm not sure I'll do it again - but we'll see :)
The best part for me is always meeting some new bloggers. I'm glad you gave it a shot, Jemi.
Pat - I agree! New buddies are worth a lot of hard work! :)
I'm pretty much with you on all of those points. Especially the one about being pooped. I barely scratched the surface on visiting the list.
Glad you joined in the fun this year, Jemi.
Lee
A Faraway View
An A to Z Co-host blog
Lee - I thought you and the other cohosts were amazing. You folks were everywhere! :)
Like you, I thought I'd get around to thousands of blogs. I didn't. The heart was willing but the flesh . . . well, you know.
You did good. Congratulations.
Congrats Jemi :-)
Lee - indeed I do know! Those 24 hours just aren't elastic enough. :)
Agnes - thanks! It was fun :)
Hooray for crossing the finish line. I really enjoyed your posts. I have to admit that I was "blogged out" for the week afterwards. I'm just getting back into the swing of my blogging routine.
Leslie - thank you! I loved yours too! It was exhausting - I'm almost feeling recovered now. Almost!
So glad you got something out of it! Sounds like a cool idea ;o) Have a great weekend!
Congratulations! Sounds like you got the best out of your A-Z challenge! The spreadsheet of ideas is a good one, I think I might "borrow" it if I join in next year!
Judy, South Africa
Erica - it is a fun challenge - just not sure I have the energy for next year :)
Judy - go right ahead and borrow away! Anything that makes life easier and more organized works for me :)
Congratulation on finishing the challenge. I didn't visit all blogs during the challenge but, cross my heart, I'm visiting every single one with reflection post! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Evalina, This and that...
Evalina - wow - I'm impressed! Not a chance I'm getting through that many!! :)
Stopping thru to let ya know that I am sharing the blogging love of a blog award to you. Stop by http://1dayiwll.blogspot.com/ to collect. :)
GG - awwww! Thanks so much! :) Sadly, your comment got stuck in the spam filter, so I just got it! Popping over now :)
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