Osiyo~ Cherokee for “Hello”

Another year has passed. Really?! Where did it go, I ask you? I’m sitting here wondering where in the world it went. That old adage Time Flies is so true for me this year! 😆

Some of you may remember I posted a contest last year, that you can review here:

https://calisarhose.com/2014/01/01/2013-in-review-and-a-fun-new-contest2013-in-review-or-how-i-roll/

Basically the contest rules stated that I will award gifts for the most commented on post in 2014 and the five top commenters on posts for the year, all winners determined according to the following WordPress annual report. Unexpectedly, it was my own Writing Plan For 2014-15 post the first week of January (here: https://calisarhose.com/2014/01/07/my-writing-plan-for-2014-2015-by-calisa-rhose/ ) that got the most comments this year…and I can give myself anything, any time–so it won’t count in the contest. LOL Because of this, I will gift the most commented on guest post author instead. 😀

Read on to see who WP monkeys and I have chosen for the winners’ circle in 2014!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,900 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

The most comments on a blog award goes to my guest and her post on January 23. This post follows several of my own with higher numbers, but which also don’t count. You can view her great post here: https://calisarhose.com/2014/01/23/calisa-rhose-presents-jm-stewart-with-her-knight-in-shining-leather

†With 19 total comments, JM Stewart’s talent for being an exemplary guest and an awesome comment responder is what made her my 2014 guest post winner.

The five super supporters for over all comments, chosen by WP monkeys this year are:

†1. Mae Clair – Rockin’ it with 23 comments

†2. Gemma Brocato – 15

†3. Alicia Dean – 13

†4. Jessi Gage – 12

†5. Cd Brennan – 10

Congratulations to all six of my winners!!! Here’s your rose wreath!

If you ladies will email me from here https://calisarhose.com/say-hey with your snail mail addresses I’ll get your prizes out to you by the end of February.

I have to admit the low numbers on all posts and lack of guest or personal posts is my fault this year.  Many of you know I was forced to take three months off from anything writing related, which affected my blog, as well, unfortunately. I had also said I would post reminders throughout the year, which I failed to remember myself to do. 😦 My apologies for slipping.

This all just goes to prove a point though. We all know we can’t control how many views or comments any given post will get, or we’d top the charts each and every time we blogged. Right? Or can we?

We have to blog (whether personally or by inviting guests) to keep our names out there constantly. We have to visit other blogs as guests or commenters to keep our names/faces in those bloggers’ and commenters views so they will in turn visit our blog, and therefore, hopefully, comment. We HAVE to respond to commenters on our own/guests posts and interact with all who take even a nano second to say ‘hi’ to us, or our guests. If we don’t have time for visitors and other bloggers, how can we expect that same turn around for ourselves?

I guess, in a way, this year was a good, if unplanned, experiment. I involuntarily dropped my own activity on my and others’ blogs when I suffered a short burnout this summer, and look how the numbers dropped from last year. Take special notice of the “Attractions in 2013” and “Who Were They” sections comment numbers (the winners) compared to this year (the winners above).

https://calisarhose.com/2013/annual-report

So I want to thank these six for sticking by me the most during the low times and the high ones. Two of my winners were also on last year’s list! Congrats to Mae and Alicia aka Ally Robertson for your awesome support! I love and appreciate you all!!!!!! 😀

And now- we begin again for 2015! Who will be my winners next year? All you have to do is comment your fingers off all through the year so WordPress’s helper monkeys will notice you! Start with a comment today, this week, this year on this post! On past posts too, on any or ALL posts!!!!!!!!

JUST COMMENT TO WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck to everyone who chooses to play the 2015 Comment Contest! 🙂

Click image to visit the Timberlake Rose Rock Museum where I get my rocks. While there you can learn more about the rocks and the husband-wife sculptors who create these beauties. Beware- the store link doesn’t work, but I will go by and let the owners know as soon as I can.

I expect to keep up better myself this year and to actually post reminders at least quarterly throughout 2015. Later, maybe midyear, I’ll post a picture of the goodies I’ll offer this year’s winners’. They will include, among other items, my author-brand Oklahoma Rose Rock like this one (r) from my personal collection. They stand no more than two inches tall and are positively gorgeous!

**How did I do with my writing goals in 2014? What will I do different this next year? Look for my new “2015 Writing Goals” post coming soon!

Dodadagohvi~ Cherokee for “Until we meet again”

†Frame of Roses image around winners’ pics courtesy of Teeratas at FreeDigitalPhotos.net