finish line.

You guys… today is the day.

I’ve officially crossed the finish line for my abbreviated NaNoWriMo – 100 words, 100 days challenge!!  Cue the popping corks, ammiright?

If any of my followers check in daily, you know that I have been less than perfect.  Life happens.  But, I made it and only missed a post when I absolutely could not.  For those of you catching up, check out my original NaNoWriMo post here.

When I started the journey on January 6th, I marked April 14th on the calendar immediately.  And then time started flying, life moved forward… and writing became a habit.  A beautiful, soul saving habit.

My celebratory post today has been writing itself in my head the last 100 days, keeping a list of things I’ve learned. And of course, I want to share!  So, here we go…

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Organization = Sanity.

You will read this over and over on blog advice posts and it could not be more true.  Planning ahead and knowing what you’re going to write about saves time, brain power and emotional sanity.  Many of my 100 days started without a plan and it only lead to more writers block and stress.  From now on, the blogging calendar will stay structured.

 

The world is small.  Like, really small.

Finding a blog or post you relate to and then discovering that person lives half a world away is amazing.  Simply amazing.  The connections we make through blogging is by far the best benefit.

It’s worth the struggle.

Writer’s block is a real thing. Even posting a simple recipe can feel like the end of the world when you can’t remember the word “stir”.  But, fighting through it and finally hitting “publish” on something wonderful brings satisfaction every time.  #blogaddict

BloggingU changes everything.

I’ve only enrolled in one course – “Commenting Bootcamp” – but it left me stalking the U page to see when the next course takes place.  The instructors are great and it’s another place to discover and connect to other blogs while getting nudged out of your comfort zone.

Blogs are addicting.

They say it takes 21 days to create a new habit and I gave myself 100. I’m not able to pin-point the exact day my blog became second nature, but somewhere in the last 3.5 months, my brain clicked it in alongside breathing, talking and brushing my teeth.  And I’m not complaining.

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Thank you to everyone who has stopped by to read my ramblings during the last 100 days.  I truly appreciate all the followers and all the support and would recommend the challenge to anyone.  And don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere!
Always stay tuned for more.

Now, as if on cue, the wine cork is popped.  Thanks, hubby.
xoxo.  a