Hey Steemies!!!

Wow 2 years already, how time flies! That is 1,051,200 minutes or 63,072,000 seconds, sounds like an eternity doesn't it! If somebody told me 2 years ago I would still be here, I probably would have laughed them out the door but yet here I am, still here, still posting. It has been quite the learning opportunity. Until steemit ,I knew next to nothing about crypto currency and blockchain, well I can't say I'm all that knowledgeable in the subject today but I'm still slowly learning. Considering I grew up in a time before the internet or computers, I suppose I'm still a bit more advanced on the topic than my peers...yeah I'm kinda old, I know...still trying to keep up with technology, except smart phones...that's where I draw the line, my phone should not be smarter than me. I still remember when telephones were a big wheel and if you got the last number wrong, you had to start all over, that was way before the time of caller ID and pocket sized computers. Tech advances really fast!

Elbow Pass, Kananaskis, Ab.

Back on track, I came across steemit by accident because I play steam games and it showed up in my internet search. For some reason I decided to click on it and see what it was. I wasn't too sure WTF I was looking at but a little annoying voice inside of me said I should investigate further. I came across the white paper and took the time to read it all. Did I even know what a white paper even was? That's a big fat NOOOO nonetheless it sounded like an interesting concept for social media and decided to join. After all , what did I have to loose by trying?

Elk mother and child, taken in Jasper National Park.

For a long time, I was trying to figure out how to start exposing my photography to a world outside of my facebook friends, expose it to strangers. At first it was slow, I felt like I was posting for myself and @silvergingerman. I often thought, what's the point of even being here? I almost left a few times out of frustration feeling like I was wasting my time, maybe this blockchain thing wasn't for me, maybe I'm too old for this shit (I'm sure we have all been thru that difficult stage). I changed my strategy and slowly followers started to join up and made some friendships along the way, honestly, the great people I met here is what made me stay, I wont name names because there is too many and I don't want to forget anyone by mistake but know everyone of you hold a special place in my heart even if we never met in person. I came for the opportunity but stayed for the great peeps of steemit.

Taken in my Auntie's backyard garden.

I used to try to post everyday and be consistent but it became a chore that I wasn't really enjoying, I then changed it to posting when I felt like it and when I have something I wanted to scream from the rooftops. I'm still a bit shy about my photography and writing but I certainly gained more confidence thanks to all of my supporters and the great curation teams out there. As soon a I stopped caring as to how well my blog performed, it started to become more successful. I even made it to the trending page a time or two without the use of bidbots! I'm no superstar but it still felt good and encouraging to continue. Sure not all my posts are winners but it still gives me a way too look back and how far I have come both in photography and writing, wouldn't of happened if I had quit!

This picture is from a sad moment but still very much
cherished. This was my old girl the day I put her down to
rest because of old age and her quality of life was
deteriorating fast, having been my best bud for almost
20 years, since I was 15 years old. I had one last and painful
photo-shoot with my Snuggles.

For a while before steemit, I stopped or at least slowed down on my photography, it didn't excite me anymore. I loved it at first but it lost it's novelty after a while. Joining steemit revived my desire to get out behind the camera and explore my beautiful province and all the little simple pleasures it has to offer. It brought new life and new purpose when I forgot to stop and enjoy the little moments. Thank you for that steemit and all it's population! 💜💜 What else did steemit do for me? It helped me improved my self taught English skills, obviously I could read and speak it way before then but the written part was pretty shady. Obviously, this platform turned out to be more good than bad, even if some moments were pretty frustrating. I hope this is a project that catches on and becomes mainstream someday, I hope it outperforms facebook and all those shallow social media we now have one day. I often hear people say it's dying and nobody cares about the platform, that sorta talks scare me a little and I hope it isn't so but you never know, maybe it's just the crypto slump that makes it appear that way.

Endless Chain on the Icefield Parkway, Jasper National Park.

Looking back in the last year of posting, I have been to different places and experienced a few things. Here are a few of my favorite moments and posts from my time here, not necessarily in order of preference or chronological in anyway.

https://steemit.com/travel/@czechglobalhosts/price-of-20-sbd-20-usd-7-world-s-continents-photo-challenge-weekly-winner-announcement-89

First on the list, not necessarily my post but today on my 2nd anniversary, I woke up to find out I won a prize and the weekly favorite image aka the second round of @czechglobalhosts daily continents landscape photo competition with one of my latest Banff picture. Now my picture will enter the third round for the monthly favorite. I have been participating for quite some time now, it's filled with other great photographers and landscape to discover. What a nice surprise to wake up to this morning of my 2nd anniversary! almost like the universe planned it. If you want to help me in the third round, help by up-voting the link above.

https://steemit.com/food/@ladybug146/fried-chicken-and-onion-waffle

Of course my first time making and tasting chicken and waffles is definitely one of my memorable moments of the year. I used to cringe at the thought but the curious side of me had to try it. Having food allergies, I can't just go anywhere and try it, I have to make most of my food myself. Certainly happy I got to taste this. As strange of a combination it may sound to the average Canadian, it was so delicious! I should make that again soon.

https://steemit.com/steemsilvergold/@ladybug146/the-beast-of-christmas-booze-and-silver-holidays-fit-for-a-pirate

I can't forget my favorite community #steemsilvergold! I always enjoy looking at all your post and doing my Christmas celebration silverporn staging and collection. It brings me countless hours of behind the lens entertainment and fun. I know I have been quiet in the community right now but I have personal reasons I don't want to disclose yet, don't worry It has nothing to do with the community. I will be posting more when I feel it's safe to do so.

https://steemit.com/travel/@ladybug146/canadian-rockies-the-mount-robson-of-my-dreams

Clearly, one of my favorite moments has to include on of my countless Rockies travel! On the top of my list of destinations out of so many places I have seen, Mount Robson Provincial Park and the hike to Kinney lake is forever carved in my memory. Such a peaceful hike with some of the most beautiful views. I can't wait to get back on the Berg Lake trail and make it to Berg Lake for the first time but it will be an overnight hiking trip.

This brings another year of steemit to a close, thank you to the steemit community for all your great support and sticking with my ramblings for another year! Now begins a new one. 😃😍😆

Cheers! X🐞X