I’m Back, Peasants!

good morning, cyberspace!

Well, well, well. What have we here? ’tis I! The Kenzie Bean! Returning from a long, prosperous hiatus that may or may not have been far more exhausting than if I hadn’t taken any hiatus at all.

^^ this is literally me. always.

Can I just point out that doing five billion things in one single month is not, as a matter of fact, a very good idea. It’s actually rather exhausting. 10/10 do not recommend.

But today is not a day for me to rant about all of the many things I’ve been trying and failing to get accomplished. Today is a day for announcing. Because hoo boy, do I have some big announcements for you all today!

Two big announcements, actually, and the one we’re starting with is the one that is most exciting for you.

. . . ANNOUNCEMENT #1 . . .

As some of you may know, next month is August (#shocking), which means that my third ever blogoversary is just around the corner! On August 17th–a.k.a. exactly one month and one day away from now–Smudged Thoughts will be celebrating three years of existing. And while this whole blogging experience has been a long, sometimes tedious, mostly fun experience, I must say that I am very proud of how far this little corner of cyberspace has come after all this time, and I wouldn’t change a single step of the journey for anything.

(although there is the matter of the whole first NaNoWriMo Dare Squad that I wish I could undo, but you know. potato potahto.)

I have met SO MANY amazing friends and fellow writers through this platform, and I honestly cannot ever pay you guys back for all the joy and support each and every one of you have given me. Your constant friendship and readership means the world to me, whether you’ve been here from the very first post, or you’re new to the realm of Smudged Thoughts and decided to stick around. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Smudged Thoughts would be nothing without you (or rather, it would be a very small, unknown lump of pixels floating in the cyberwebs, but you know.), so in honor of these three long, glorious years of friendship and laughter and the occasional missed post and hair-ripping experience, I wanted to do something special.

Something fun.

Something kind of like a super duper special giveaway!!!

Now, full disclosure, here: I’ve never done a giveaway before. (which is kind of an obvious fact, but I digress.) Giveaways are something that super big, super cool bloggers do, and since I am most definitely not either of those things, I literally have NO clue what on earth I’m doing right now. But–as with everything else we do around here–we’re just gonna wing it and pretend like I’ve got everything under control and that I’m totally not panicking as I’m typing this.

*insert totally-not-panicked laughter*

Now, I’m sure you’re all dying to know what I’m going to be . . . you know . . . giving away for this giveaway, but unfortunately for you (and for me. ahahahaha. I’M FINE, GUYS, I SWEAR.) I still don’t have all the nitty gritty details pinned down. I know what I want to give away, of course, but I’m still working on getting all that straightened out and . . . ahem . . . actually bringing it forth into existence. So you’re just gonna have to wait for a future post for the prize to finally be revealed!

(I WILL say, however, that this is a prize that I would absolutely love to have myself, so take from that what you will. . . Mwahahahahaha!)

More information on the giveaway and how to win (HINT: there might be some writing involved) will be announced in August, and hopefully by then I’ll have more details–a.k.a. PICTURES!!!–for the grand prize, but until then, just keep your eyes and ears peeled for any little hints that might be dropping here on Smudged Thoughts in the weeks to come. . .

And for our last announcement. . .

. . . ANNOUNCEMENT #2 . . .

This second announcement is more of an exciting thing for me, and will probably not impact you in any way, whatsoever. But, since I am a very excited–and slightly nervous–bean, I’m gonna share it anyway.

Drum roll, please!

. . .

. . .

. . .

I GOT A JOB, PEASANTS!!!! My first ever job, to be more precise, and I start later this week.

. . .so . . . yeah. I am both very much excited about this, and very much sick to my stomach just thinking about it. But a LOT of prayer went into it, so I’m about 92% certain that this is where I’m supposed to be for the next stage of my life’s adventure.

the other 8% of my certainty was thrown up and flushed down the toilet*, but you know. we’re fine, guys.

Now, I realize that I literally JUST got off hiatus here on the blogosphere, but I’m really not sure how this new job/responsibility is going to affect my blogging schedule, so the next few weeks are going to be a bit of a trial run ’round here. If you find that I’m not posting as frequently as I normally do when I’m not on Hiatus–or you realize that I’ve mysteriously disappeared after shaving my head bald and frolicking off to the mountains to become a crumb on the local hermit’s floorboards–then just know it’s probably because I’m suffering from immense stress and the occasional hallucination. Don’t worry too much about it. I’m sure I’ll figure out this whole balancing act eventually.

*this is, of course, false, and I am 100% perfectly fine. really. #believeme

And that, my friends, is literally all I’ve got for today. I know I’m still not caught up completely on bloggerly stuff, but it would seem as though my hiatus was somehow even MORE stressful than if I hadn’t taken a break at all, so . . . yeah. Hopefully you won’t judge me too much. XD

Also, since this post was basically the epitome of boring, I’m going to be sending out a SECOND post this Friday! It’s a review for Abbie Emmons’ new book, 100 Days of Sunlight, and I 10/10 recommend checking out both the book and my review of it. Because A) it’s a great book, and B) I wrote a review and you should read it. So. Make sure to do that.

I’ll see you all next Tuesday, my peasants. *hugs*

 

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TALK TO ME, PEASANTS!

What new and exciting things have you been doing this summer? Are you excited for the super special Smudged Thoughts giveaway, and if so, what do you think the giveaway prize is going to be? How many days do you think it will take for The Kenzie to get to the top of her blogging to-do list? Let’s talk about all of these things and more down in the comments below! And as always, until next time. . .

Featured Photo by Anders Jildén on Unsplash