My One-Year Steemiversary 🎀

My account was approved on 25-Sep-2017, so I have been here for one year today! Yay! Many thanks to @pixelfan for telling me about Steem on another site. I have enjoyed blogging here, have met many wonderful people, and never regretted my decision to become a Steemian. I have worked very hard since I have been here to be a kind, helpful, and valuable member.

In that time, I have accumulated 1118 followers. According to SteemAgency, however, 577 are "dead" followers who haven't been active on the blockchain in several months, so my net "active followers" is currently 541. (One can also use that site for weeding-out people you follow who no longer post, if you wish to pare-down your list.)

Also in that time, I have vested 821 SP. About 60 SP of that, if I remember correctly, was purchased by me awhile back when crypto prices were low. I have not cashed-out anything for myself, although I have given-away some Steem and SBD to charitable causes, as incentives in communities to which I belong, and as prizes in contests. My current Reputation Score according to SteemWorld is 58.737 — I had hoped to hit 60 by this time, but haven't yet attracted enough upvotes from Steemians with greater Rep than me to boost me higher (which is how that works, with the Reputation Score).

I have joined dozens of servers/communities on Discord, and have served as an Admin or Moderator in 10-12 of them. I left a few servers earlier this year, and my list stands around 40. Being a part of those Discord communities, which parallel projects and communities on the Steem blockchain, has been very rewarding!

The Steem blockchain is like a treasure chest, in several ways.

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• There is a treasure of wonderful people here. I've heard many folk say, "Come for the crypto, stay for the community" and I think that is a good testimony to the caliber of the majority of Steemians. I think those who are fake, abuse the system, or are pretentious are in the minority here, thankfully. I am grateful for the friendships I have made and the knowledge and support I have gained!
• There is a treasure of wonderful posts here that provide a ready source of interesting reading on a large variety of topics. If a subject can be imagined, it has likely been covered in a Steemit post in some way, including narwhals, quarks, and pancakes. Music ranging from classical masterpieces to Deep House raves to Trip Hop have been featured. Many live performances can be found in #steemitopenmic and Discord servers. There's talk of cryptocurrencies, health, spiritual matters, and zombies. There is art, poetry, and short stories. We have it all!
• There is a treasure of cryptocurrency for us to earn as we write posts. Not only can we currently earn Steem and anticipate Smart Media Tokens (SMTs), but we can learn of air-drops and ICOs and exchanges while we wait for it all to shoot to the Moon.

Many people do something special for their Steemiversary, such as a contest, but I wanted something unique. So, I put on my thinking cap 🤔 and came up with this idea: a multi-faceted contest akin to a Treasure Hunt! Here is how to participate:

• Solve the crossword puzzle below. All the words relate in some way to the Steem blockchain, so I hope it won't be too difficult (and hope I've worded the clues adequately).
• Five of the boxes in the crossword puzzle are marked specially. Once the puzzle is solved, unscramble those five letters to make the name of a Steemian.
• Go to that Steemian's blog and look for a certain post, which I will reveal to you, below. Read/Skim the post to answer the question that is also revealed below.
• Take the answer to the question and make your own post that contains a drawing, a photo, a poem, or a short freewrite using the answer as your prompt.

  NOTE: Because of all the problems with HF20, I will accept responses to this contest via DM on Discord instead of a post on the Steem blockchain! I am also thekittygirl on Discord! Let the contest continue!

• It is required that you tag me in your post with an at-mention; otherwise, I won't see it. An upvote of this post is appreciated, but not required. You can use steemiversary as one of your tags if you like, but that is also not required.
• The first twelve to complete the challenge will win a share of Steem Basic Income (SBI), one share for each month I've been here. If only one person completes the challenge, all 12 SBI goes to them. If two complete it, then each will win 6 SBI, and so forth.

I hope this contest will be fun for everyone!



Step 1.

Complete the following crossword puzzle:


^{_{• CROSSWORD PUZZLE DESIGNED & DRAWN BY ME •}}

Hints:

1-across = Transactions are stored in a  ____________
2-across = The best way to earn rewards on the platform?
3-across = How to mark posts so people can find them?
4-across = What provides network services to the blockchain?
5-across = What is a unit of measurement for SteemPower?

6-down = Who keeps the blockchain up-and-running?
7-down = The basic unit of currency on the Steem blockchain?
8-down = What was the first chain to fork off of Steem?
9-down = What keeps your account secure?

NOTE: You do not have to show me your answers to the crossword puzzle. Your answers will only be used by you for solving the next step!



Step 2.

Take the letters from the five specially-marked boxes in the crossword puzzle and unscramble them to form the name of a user on the Steem blockchain. (Hint: The name is also the name of a place on the earth.)



Step 3.

Take the unscrambled name of the Steemit user and go to their blog page. Scroll down the titles until you see the one talking about where old suitcases go to die. Read/Skim that post to find one of several things to which the butler speaks.

Make your own post that contains a drawing (stick figures are okay!), a photo, a poem, or a short freewrite about one of those things. The butler doesn't have to be included — only one of the items to which he was speaking. Be sure to mention @thekittygirl in the post so I will see it when you publish it!

NOTE: Because of all the problems with HF20, I will accept responses to this contest via DM on Discord instead of a post on the Steem blockchain! I am also thekittygirl on Discord! Let the contest continue!

⭐️ Winners will be announced when this post pays out, or when all 12 SBI have been claimed! THANKS FOR PLAYING and helping me celebrate my first Steemiversary!



To everyone who has befriended me, followed me, upvoted me, resteemed me, commented on my posts, delegated SP to me, or supported me in any other way: 🤗 THANK YOU!


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 😊


a big hug to @enginewitty for designing the following personal banner for me 🤗