Some Of My Favorite Things

Last night I received a pleasant surprise from Melissa Mead and I'm sure she didn't even realize what she had done.  When Melissa decided to become a follower of my blog last night, she became my ONE HUNDREDTH FOLLOWER since I started this blog back on December 6th of last year!  As I have mentioned before, I quite literally stumbled upon Blogger one day when I accidently hit some random button and suddenly I had a blog account I didn't know what to do with.  I decided to do what I do best and began writing little posts to help encourage and lift the spirits of beginner writers like myself who might be feeling moments of overwhelming stress as they try to figure out the rules of this writing game. Just as suddenly I began to have followers and it really touches my heart to realize someone thinks my words have value.  It also made me think about some of my other favorite things.

I'm thinking most people dream of owning their own car when they are growing up.  Not that they actually got to buy that car of their dreams, but the thought of the freedom that came with it was intoxicating.  One of my favorite things is a nice car with someone to drive me around.  Not that it happens often, but when it does I feel like a celebrity.

Who wouldn't like a hot drink on a cold morning? My favorite winter drink is hot cocoa with marshmallows in the morning and hot tea at night.  There is something reminiscent about wrapping my chilled fingers around a hot mug that floods my mind with memories of dry towels and homemade cocoa waiting for me when I got home from elementary school on a rainy day.  These days I can grab a mug and invite that child of my youth to sit by my side as we create new stories together.

How true that some of the best things in life are the friends and family we gather close to us.  My family has seen the best and worst  of me over the years and sometimes I am surprised they are still in my corner,  cheering me on as I try to fulfill a life long goal of writing children's stories.  My friends are loved ones of my own choosing and for that reason they are incredibly precious to me.  They have come into my life to challenge me to become a better person, a stronger spirit, and to repay their friendship by spreading the love around and paying it forward every day by offering the gift of friendship to those around me.

YOU are one of my favorite things.  I want to thank each and every one of my one hundred followers.  Thank you for stopping by my blog.  Thank you for every comment you have posted telling me how you find my daily posts inspirational.  Thank you for your own encouraging words when I find myself stumbling along this path to publication.  And thank you, Melissa Mead, for symbolizing the collective spirit of this writing community.  We wrap our arms around each other and form a loving bond that strengthens us all.  I can't imagine a better place to be than among friends today.