Happy Birthday To Us!

A Post By Jonathan

Hold the phone everybody 'cause I've got an announcement to make. Drum roll please. More cowbell! Okay, okay, that'll do. Geesh, someone really likes their cowbell... Believe it or not, Across the Board turns a year old today! That's right, cue the confetti, put on your party hats, blow your kazoos (or whatever they call those little curly horn thingies) and celebrate good times, come on!

Technically our first post was on October 6th, 2014, so we're a little late to the party, but since this is my first and only post this month, and no one else has decided to point out this enormously momentous occasion, I wanted to take my time in the spotlight to say Happy Birthday "to us!"

And, like many an awkward office party before it, I thought I'd mark our anniversary by handing out some awards (to give me some more material to work with for October, 2016, I figured I'd recognize our four founding members this year).

The Dear Leader Award: Stephen Kozeniewski

From the outside looking in, Across the Board might seem like a well oiled machine, where our eight bloggers post every Monday and Thursday without the slightest hiccup. But it takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and more than a little coordination, to keep this spiffy little writing site chug-chug-chugging along. Though he likely won't admit it, but I know my fellow Boarders would agree, the glue holding this jalopy together is none other than our dear leader, Stephen Kozeniewski.

With encouraging, weekly emails that never falter, Stephen keeps us on task and on schedule so that we're always providing quality content to our dear readers. So dear readers, thank our dear leader... I know we do.

P.S. North Korea, if you're reading this, please don't threaten to shut us down for using Kim Jung Il-like imagery. Please!

 

The Longevity Award: Kimberly G. Giarratano

 
I don't know if you knew this, Kimberly, but you have been posting longer than anyone else on the blog! Your first post (and Across The Board's second post) was on October 13th, 2014, making you the oldest person here.

Congratulations! And nice downward-facing dog, or whatever that pose is...

The Content Queen Award: Carrie Beckort

Carrie, you have posted more words on Across The Board than any other blogger. That makes you a) awesome and b) the Content Queen! Congratulations! Keep calm and post on!

P.S. I have no idea what this image has to do with being the Content Queen (though I feel like there's an Alice in Wonderland reference in there somewhere), but I just had to give it to you. You know, awkward office party and all... Anyway, enjoy the cake!

The Book Worm Award: Brianna Lebrecht

This may seem like an obvious one for our resident reader, but what awkward office party would be complete without a visit from Captain Obvious? You've definitely posted more about books than anyone else on Across The Board, Brianna, but I'm pretty sure you've read more books than any of us too. If not, what kind of resident reader would you be, huh?

Congrats and way to devour those hardbacks!


Thanks for joining me in this celebration, all. Here's to another amazing year. Now back to your cubicles!

Beth: Get Well Soon!

Sometimes life is rough! Beth Ellyn, one of our wonderful members, knows that first hand lately. She's had a major round of sickness this winter (here's to a way better spring!) So we'd like to cheer our friend up. As a Queen of Gifs, it seems there'd be no other way to do this than with a few of her favorite things.

Beth,

While we are sad that you have to fight through some health issues, we know that you'll soon be good as new because you are one tough cookie! Or as Amy says, you are like William Wallace: As Rugged as the Highlands.

To help speed up your road to recovery, your fellow Boarders wanted to remind you of the critical elements for recovery.

1. Rest

We know that rest is important when overcoming any type of illness. Put in a movie, pop some popcorn, and relax. Your movie suggestion comes to you from Jonathan: You love Disney. He loves Sci-Fi. This!

2. Mindset

A positive mindset is important to keep from going crazy during recovery. Staying indoors and resting can make it difficult to remain positive, especially with the beautiful spring days that have finally started to arrive. So, Leandra is sending you a few of her friends bearing gifts that you can place beside you to brighten your day.

3. Nutrition

That's right. Your body needs proper fuel to heal, so Steve wanted to make sure you were eating properly. IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!  Peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly and a baseball bat! 

Wait...what were we doing again?  Something about Beth?  Well, there's nothing she'd like better than a dancing banana.

4. Exercise 

Now that Steve has effectively infested our brains with that annoying song (but the dancing banana is cute, so all is forgiven), we will move on. Being the fitness nut that you are, we know you will want to get back to exercising as soon as possible. Since Carrie has now joined the ranks of crazy-workout-people, she wanted to remind you to not push yourself too fast too soon! Start off with something that provides a great workout with minimal exertion.

5. Faith

Finally, it's important to have faith. You need to believe that you will overcome all that ails you, so Kimberly sends you hope - from one Jewish girl to another.

So Beth, we know you've had a rough time, but fear not! As Brianna says, "We're all in this together!"

~Your fellow Boarders: Amy, Jonathan, Leandra, Steve, Carrie, Kimberly, Brianna

Sixth Month Shout-Out

A Post By Jonathan

As I was preparing my blog post for today, I decided to take a look at all our past posts to make sure I was writing something fresh and new. It was then that I came to an earth-shattering realization. Across the Board is six months old, meaning it's high time for a shout-out!

Our ensemble of writers have stuck to their promised posting schedule of Mondays and Thursdays (well, except for last Monday...), bringing quality content to our readers for over half a year. That's a long freakin' time people! If you ask me, that day off was well deserved...

Over this span we've seen Amy's hunky romance novel, A Highland Knight's Desire, get nominated for Kindle Scout (I'm still waiting for my royalties for that front cover photo, btw...), we've celebrated the launch of Carrie's most recent book release, Shattered Angel, we've been to 30 Rock with Beth's favorite inspiration, visited the Indiana Writer's Workshop with Leandra, been to Germany with yours truly, gotten vandalized with Steve, had a Writer's Ground Hog Day with Kimberly, and learned about One More Chapter Syndrome with our resident reader, Brianna.

I for one have thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's posts and can't wait to see what the next six months bring. Dear readers, please join me in giving our bloggers a shout-out for all their hard work and dedication. Now, everyone, back to writing!