Hey everybody! Just a short post today to say THANK YOU for your support over the last year.

It was a year ago last November when I took the plunge, bought my own domain name and officially started the Party of Five Blog.

It’s been quite a journey. As any blogger will tell you, there is so much to learn about blogging and there are many things that my previous career as a journalist could not have prepared me for. Many bloggers struggle with writing, but for me, it’s the technical stuff. Getting things to load and look right, understanding analytics and SEO, dealing with website “code” – these are the things that keep me up at night! Grrr…

I’ve talked about this before, but putting yourself and your writing “out there” has also been challenging, at times. Yes, there will be people who judge you, your parenting or your kids…and they may even make stupid comments. Guess what? You don’t need to listen to them. That is just a part of blogging, and there’s no way you’re going to please everyone.

I have met many other great supportive bloggers over the last year and I really love the women in our Party of Five Facebook group. We are building an awesome community of smart and spunky moms who love to help each other, offer advice and most importantly, just listen and empathize with each other. None of us have this parenting thing all figured out, so it is fun to go through it together.

People have asked me if I’m making money blogging? And the answer is no, not  yet. Right now blogging is still a hobby, and I continue to do freelance writing and video hosting as well. I would love to make a passive income from my blog some day, but that would require a larger time and money investment than I’m ready for right now.

So…I had a lovely blog birthday celebration with some of my best gal pals the other night. But now I want to celebrate with all of YOU!

I’m launching my first ever giveaway – a 3-month sock subscription with Calgary’s own Friday Sock Company. This is a great local company that I just discovered this fall. They make the cutest socks that are “mismatched by design” and they will send you (or the gift recipient you choose) a pair of socks once a month for three months.

I’ll be running this contest via Rafflecopter…it starts Nov. 28th at 12 am and closes Dec. 5 at 12 am. It’s open to residents of Canada and the U.S. only. The winner will be randomly selected on Tuesday, Dec. 6th. To enter, you must:

• follow my blog via e-mail
• be a member of the Party of Five Facebook Group
• leave a comment on one of my blog posts

Disclaimer: This contest is sponsored by Party of Five. The gift subscription will be ordered by me on your behalf. No guarantees for Christmas arrival.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!