It’s FlashBack Friday ~ A time of the month where you can republish an old post of yours that maybe didn’t get enough attention, or that you’re really proud of, or you think is still relevant etc. This Blog-Go-Round is hosted by Jemima Pett and originally introduced by Michael D’Agostino from A LIFE EXAMINED. That’s where you’ll find the rest of the participants or to join up yourself.
The post I’ve chosen for this month first appeared on ME IN THE MIDDLE on May 4th, 2016. Even though I was unable to participate in this years A to Z Challenge I was still able to visit some blogs and enjoy their posts. I updated the Dozen Brave Bloggers with the links to feature those who participated this year (2017). They did such a great job meeting the challenge! I hope you’ll visit their blogs and let them know where you heard about their great A to Z posts.
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Me In The Middle of #atozchallenge Reflections
![A-to-Z Reflection [2016]](https://meinthemiddlewrites.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/a-to-z-reflection-2016.jpg?w=558)
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When I saw Damyanti Biswas‘ post introducing me to the A to Z Challenge 2016, I thought ~ ‘Oh, another one of those challenges. Maybe I’ll try this one!’ One month’s commitment seemed like a doable time period to make this effort a challenging one. As time went on I began to realize the amount of organization and the scope behind this endeavor! My enthusiasm grew! This could be a very rewarding event for me! I was #100 on the Sign-Up List and I watched the number of sign-ups grow to an impressive number of 1,946 bloggers!
When the call came for us to Reveal A Theme, I had already been pre-scheduling my alphabet letters around the thought of sharing with my children and grandchildren some of the Lessons Learned through my life. This was becoming for me a moment in time where I would no longer just think about it. I was being inspired and motivated to get my thoughts on life down in writing. The Challenge provided a creative and inspiring vehicle.
Much thanks to Arlee Bird and his Ambassadors for providing this moment in time to what turned out to be the most rewarding (and intense) experience in my blogging so far. I look forward to 2017!!
My A to Z Challenge ~ Lessons Learned (Click Here)
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~ My A to Z Blogging Community ~
During the month of April, every morning was like Christmas morning! I would wake up with a sense of anticipation and log onto my laptop to see who stopped by and commented on that day’s post. I created my website/blog in September of 2015 and had met a lot of great bloggers. I was pleased with the initial reception of my blog ~ Me in the Middle ~ and was gaining confidence and experience as I went along. A to Z was something new!! The traffic to my blog shot up and I had 1,611 views, 548 visitors, 678 likes and 652 comments throughout the April A2Z Challenge. I used Facebook and Twitter to launch each day’s posts. Visitors came to my blog from Facebook, Twitter and WordPress Reader. Honestly, I’m now in A to Z Withdrawal and miss the stimulation of non-stop connecting and blogging with other bloggers. It’s nice though that my life has returned to a calmer, steady pace and, to be honest, I wouldn’t be able to maintain the effort for more than one month out of the year. So Bring It On 2017!
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~ A Dozen Brave Bloggers ~
(Updated for AtoZ 2017)
(There are so many more bloggers who came to visit Me in the Middle and I hope to return to everyone’s blogs and read all of their AtoZ posts. I decided to share a dozen of these bloggers because I got to know them through visiting their blogs and chatting in comments. Click on their links and see the amazing blogs they’ve created! ♥ )
Me In The Middle 
It was another great year of blogging. I have no idea this year how many bloggers participated since we had no list, but as always it was more than I could keep up with. There were some fascinating themes and outstanding posts–so much great blogging talent each year.
We’ll look for you next year and hopefully find ways to make A to Z even better.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
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I wasn’t able to follow as many as I’d have liked to either and I wasn’t an AtoZer this year. Best to plan and start way ahead of time. Great job, Lee!
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This looks so super. I am going to come back tomorrow morning and read through as many of them as I have time for. (It’s late Friday here now)
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There are some great themes on this years A to Z Challenge, Shirley. I’ve enjoyed following some of them. 🙂
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Thanks for the shout out! So happy to have connected with you…
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Your ‘U’niverse post was great!! Congrats on approaching the finish line. 🙂
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Thanks! I had just finished watching a Neil DeGrasse Tyson video and that inspired the Universe post 🙂 Glad you like it!
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