Reader Appreciation

Kisha, at In Through The Out Door, is having an amazing giveaway to thank her followers/readers. She asked bloggers to write a post about how they feel about their readers, how blogging has changed their life, and why do you appreciate your readers.

I'm going to start with how blogging has changed my life. Wow. It is a huge change. It's become my favorite hobby. I spend hours of enjoyable time on my computer. I started when a friend recommended it. She pushed me to start a personal blog. That was hmmm, a long time ago - 3 years maybe? As I starting looking at other people's blogs, I got more and more interested in different types of blogs. I entered my first blog giveaway in March, 2009. Wow. A whole new world. It has been an amazing ride. It has given my family so many things that we wouldn't otherwise spend the money on. Tons of luxury items (well, luxury for us anyway, we have simple tastes). Things like a designer coat for my daughter, a Kitchen Aid mixer, a Keurig, a Dyson.... and on. Then I realized I could host giveaways. Wow. Now I do that on another blog - the "entering" me and the "giving away" me are separate. Blogging led to tweeting, that's amazing too! Then I went BlogHer and Disney Social Media Moms. Wow. Blog travel ROCKS!
Blogging has opened so many doors that I would otherwise not have found.

Now for the best thing that blogging has done to change my life and why I love my readers. Blogging is a community. It's friendships - so strong that sometimes I think it really good replace IRL (in real life) friendships. It's amazing the friends I have made online. That is why I love and appreciate my readers because they are my community.

This post was inspired by The Follower Appreciation Extravaganza over at In Through The Out Door.