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This year Trop50 is granting 50 fabulous wishes.
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I am new to this blogging thing.  I am counting down to month 8 and am still trying to navigate the ‘blogesphere’, as it is called.  I never had a Twitter account until I started and my Facebook page was simply a parking place for my frustrations and whining.  And I had so much of it, that it needed a blog!


So, here I am.  275ish posts in and thrilled that I am still here and people still come to see me every single day.  I am not lost on the fact that I would not be here without some serious support and amazing, more experienced bloggers to hold my hand along the way!


I define fabulous bloggers as people who not only provide wonderful content on their sites, but also as people who go above and beyond to help others with no care of competition, bias, or expectations.  This post is a tribute to the fabulous woman who took the time to help me out, most of them unasked, in the order of their appearance to me.  Please, take a moment to read about them and why I think they are fabulous!  And then go see them, let them know you saw this post, and let them know you appreciate them as well!


Married to a Geek – Written by Keri Schneider

Eat Sleep Married to a Geek!The very first person to reach out to me and help my limping, novice blogging self along the way is Keri from Married to a Geek.  She was the first blog to wear my first button that I created on a free site that did not even have an HTML code.  Really, it was sad!  Not only did she wear it first, she continued to wear it and also gave me valuable advice about getting my own domain, getting with a designer, and never giving up!  She even told me about one2onenetwork.com where I could win opportunities to post for prizes.  I still enjoy a wonderful relationship with them today!

Not only is she an amazing woman, her blog is fantastic!  She has a unique voice about parenthood and marriage and sees the humor in all of it.  From putting on her makeup in public to her struggle to keep running to just well… everything!  She is an excellent writer and I truly am happy to be a member of her site!  I extend a very grateful Thank You to Keri for supporting me in the very beginning!




Blogging Dangerously – Written by “Kit”

www.bloggingdangerously.com

“Kit” – in parenthesis because she blogs anonymously, is one of a kind!  Honest, racy, funny, and direct.  All qualities I love to see in woman and all qualities I’d like to think I possess.  She blogs about kids, motherhood, marriage and sex.  She holds nothing back and in that alone, is a fantastic blogger!


Kit changed my whole world with four little words.  I asked her once how she became so known in such a short time.  Her answer was direct, like she is, “You need more followers.”  For some reason, this never occurred to me before!  To actively seek out people and show them my blog?  I thought I’d give it a few years and maybe be up to 100 followers by then.  And then she went one step further and sent me step by step instructions on how to do it.  And now I have more followers, more friends, and more opportunities.  She continued to support me by introducing me to her very popular brain child on Twitter, #wineparty (Friday Nights!) and entangling me in a maze of wonderful people, blogs, and “wine”ers!


I thank her dearly for taking time out to show me the way!  You Rock!


Scary Mommy – Written by Jill Smokler

“Jill is a domestic satirist whose candor and wit about the underbelly of marriage and parenting has brought Erma Bombeck-style insights to a new generation of women.” 

www.scarymommy.com
This is Jill’s opening line on her “About” me page.  And I don’t think I could ever describe her better.  She is one of the most popular blogs on the web and has over 90,000 web hits a month. And she deserves every single one!  Her posts are entertaining, insightful, expertly written,very timely and in touch with the reality of motherhood and life.  I love reading her and am, apparently, not the only one.  

Jill put out a tweet asking for guest bloggers for her extremely popular site.  I responded, never in a million years expecting someone so well written and popular to ever get back to me.  Not because she wouldn’t want to, but because she probably had hundred’s of requests from better known bloggers!  She answered me and invited me to post on her site immediately.  She gave me a date, free reign on my topic, and a shot of a lifetime, I thought.   Sure enough, she posted it and my site went nuts!  Not only that, she left my post up for a week and sent me an email telling me how much she liked it!  I was on cloud 9 for weeks!  Here is my post!  

I thank you, Jill, for giving me the chance of a “blogtime” and always responding to my emails!  


The Animated Woman – Written – er – Drawn by JC Little

www.theanimatedwoman.com

I love JC!  And I love her blog!  I met her at #wineparty one night when she sent me a link to her wine glass that held an entire bottle of wine.  From the video, I saw her personality emerge and knew we would be friends.  And then I checked out her blog.  WOW!

She has got to be one of the most talented animators I have ever seen – see the picture to the left for just a sample of her expert work.  Her drawings, mixed with the catch phrases she creates, are funny, adorable, and one of  a kind.  I have her on my short list of favorite bloggers because I can always go to her site, get a dose of honesty and a laugh to boot.  Everyone should have JC Little and The Animated Woman on their radar!  Big things are ahead for her!


JC has been there for me.  With advice, respect, and ears.  She gives me honest opinions on ideas and I deeply appreciate her for that!  Thank you JC for being on the other side of the tweet!  


Raising Future Leaders – by Lisa Wible

 Lisa is amazing.  And her heartfelt consideration and care for all, as mothers, women, and inspriations to others is evident in her blog, Raising Future Leaders.  I found her during a blog hop.  Wanting to learn more about homeschooling and how people do it, I was immediately drawn in to her kind, honest, uplifting life in which she raises 6 children and provides stabilizing support to them all.  The day I joined her site, she sent me an email asking if she could send me a card for my birthday, which was that month.  A few days later I received the most beautiful, touching, personalized card I have ever seen.  She included pictures from my blog of my children, my posts, and my images.  I was deeply touched!  A few days later, I received another heart touching, personalized card thanking me for joining her site!  Thanking me for joining her site?  Yes.  She sends one out to everyone and I am amazed and in awe of that.  All 859 members and counting know the amazing talents of this woman!  


I was thrilled to learn about her and am always happy to see that she actively reads me and my Facebook page… and comments.  I was so excited to see she had opened up her own card business as she really has something unique to offer everyone!  Bless Others With Cards is her page about her cards.  Please visit her there as well as on her uplifting, inspiring blog!  


And Thank You Lisa, for showing me that unwavering kindness still exists in this world!


There are so many, many more.  Women and men who have guided, inspired, and helped me along the way.  I, literally, could type for a year and never thank everyone.  It has been a fun and eventful trip and I hope that I can continue to offer quality work to you, my appreciated and valued readers. As well as pay it forward to other bloggers!



Don’t forget to enter the 50 Fabulous Wishes contest for a chance to win $1,000 to support a friend’s wish. I was selected for this Tropicana Trop50 sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do. I received compensation to use and facilitate my post.