WordCount Blogathon Year Three - Here we go again!

When I saw that the 2013 Blogathon had been moved to June, my initial thought was, “Well, I won’t be participating this year.  I've got too much going on!”  But that’s my initial thought every year.

I first joined in the world of blogging when I more like, belly-flopped, into the Blogathon in 2011.  Completely by chance running across Michelle Rafter's WordCount blog and learning of the Blogathon, I literally made my first blog the week before the Blogathon began so that I could sign up and give it a try.  I struggled through all 30 days of posts that first year immersing every brain cell into learning how to use social media.  

I can’t begin to tell you how much I learned in 2011 which prompted me to jump right into the Blogathon in 2012  - even though my initial thoughts to year two were, “Are you nuts?  You’re remodeling two bathrooms AND going on vacation in May.”  But that didn’t stop me.  Nope.  I plowed ahead and posted all 30 days last year too.

This year we have vacation planned yet again during Blogathon 2013. In order to convince myself to push “submit” and sign up, I actually went through a "pro/con" list in my head.  The "con" list was pretty simple - making time for it.  The “pro” list was a bit longer:

1. I’m a news reporter by day where I have to remain completely unbiased.  At times my head feels like it will explode because I can’t write about my own thoughts on issues.  Therefore, I like having a blog as an avenue to express my opinions.  Whether or not I’ll do that, I don’t know, but I like knowing I have that outlet.
2. It’s a great place to learn – about technology, social media, and myself.  And you can never learn enough, I think.
3. It’s a great support system.  The people I’ve met through blogathon are incredible.
4.  It pushes me to “write short” which is important coming from a world where I’m encouraged to write long stories.

So, that’s my story.  I’ll be posting random ramblings here for the next 30 days.