おかげさまで！ － Thanks to you

おかげさまで！

Okagesama de is a Japanese phrase that translates to thanks to you, couldn’t have done it without you.

I’d just like to say おかげさまで！I am in my 6th month of blogging. Well, technically I started back in 2013 but promptly forgot that I had as I got tied up in settling back in to Japan and a new work place. Nihongojapango was kick started again in January 2015 thanks to an email that appeared in box saying I had a follower. おかげさまで Emily!

My blog has changed direction since its initial rebirth and, while I am still passionate about posting about all that I do and don’t know about Japan, there is also a parallel focus on my travels.

I have learnt by practice, misses and successes and am slowly but surely getting the blog to look and work as I want it to. There are numerous edits, deletes and add ons. It has quite a life of it own and can be rather a demanding baby!

One of the areas I have spent some time developing and changing are my categories in the hope it might help people and myself navigate my posts. I have just learnt how to make my 7 Challenges in to a Parent category with a nest of 7 individual sub – categories that recognise the challenges I am taking part in.  As one stand alone category it was getting rather large and I also really wanted to acknowledge and thank Cee and her Fun Foto Challenge and her Odd Bods Challenge, Ed from Sunday Stills and the Next Challenge, Jennifer and her One Word Photo Challenge, Ailsa and her Travel Theme Challenge and The Daily Post and their Weekly Photo Challenge. I felt each deserved their own category. These people put so much time into facilitating these challenges and do it so well. They provide great feedback and help build networks and camaraderie between other bloggers. Their ideas and prompts provide an excellent platform to start from and find inspiration. おかげさまで！

I would also like to recognise fellow bloggers who support other bloggers by acknowledging and sharing posts and links to blogs they follow and enjoy. Josh of My Friday Blog and a Momma’s View do great posts on what they are reading and their weekly picks. Thanks to them I have found some great reads and other people have found me. Here is a great example of how A Momma’s View creates  an opportunity for emerging bloggers to promote themselves. So generous and also takes the time to reply!   おかげさまで！

And finally  おかげさまで！to all my followers and visitors. Your visits and and comments are really heart warming and encouraging.

A big おかげさまで！to you all.

Yoroshiku Onegai shimasu

Leanne

Since initially posting this, I have completed a Blogging 101 course. I have to say おかげさまで！to The Daily Post, the marvelous tutors and my fellow classmates. It is an amazing online course. In 3 weeks I learnt so much. The  look of my blog has totally changed and I have gained so much insight into the blogging world. The constructive feedback and sharing of ideas has been inspiring and a massive learning curve. I wish everyone the best of luck in their blogging endeavours and hope they achieve what they set out to do. So once again I say…….

A big heartfelt おかげさまで！to you all.