It’s been a year! My first From The Core post appeared July 28, 2014. I was scared and unsure: Would people like what I wrote and how I wrote it?  Was I ready for the world of social media?  What if I made a grammatical mistake? Well, I did make errors. Some I was able to fix, others I wasn’t. And remarkably, I survived. Reader comments kept me going. Some of you responded directly on the blog site, some on Facebook, some on Instagram, some by private text message and many in person: at the grocery store, at parties and on the street. (You’d be surprised how many people are hesitant to comment through social media. I was happy to learn, I wasn’t the only inhibited one.) Tuesdays became my favorite day of the week as I woke to other bloggers liking my post and tracking how many people had read. I heard from people I hadn’t talked to in 20 years, from people all over the country and yes, even an old boyfriend. My work was read in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Spain, France, Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Israel, Lebanon, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and more. A special thanks goes to my friends and family who let me write about them, their outrageous stories and vulnerable moments. All year, friends teased that they had to watch what they said in front of me for fear they’d end up in a post. I heard everything from, “Shhh, she’s going to write about you” to “It’s good Corie’s not here.” (Yes, people repeat these things to me.) Looking for material or attempting to drum up good conversation, this blog has been the impetus for many a dinner table debate. Over the course of this year, I wrote about topics that mattered to me. Equal rights- Gay Marriage Empathy- Still Alice Marriage- Why Are So Many Marriage Essays Going Viral? Parenting- Parenting Gone Well Friendship- Friendship Matters Sex- Masters of Sex Education- Doodle Power Addiction- Monkey See, Monkey Do Writing- Writing: It Could Come Back to Bite You. The Environment- Earth Day 2015. I wrote about topics that peturbed me slightly- Pouting Face Emoji And things that annoyed me greatly- A Tip for My Uber Driver. I wrote about what I found comical- Braces: The New Chastity Belt and Are You A Control Freak Parent? And things I feared- Fear: The Good The Bad and The Ugly. Writing about these topics made me focus on them, and in writing Gone Girl No More, I faced my apprehension, put myself out there, and finally got headshots! Daring greatly (I'm a Brene Brown lover) I'm posting them here. Help me choose the new From The Core photograph so I can get rid of the blurry one on my About Page. HEADSHOT #1 HEADSHOT #2   Tomorrow is the anniversary of the night my husband asked me to marry him so this is kind of a double anniversary for me. And it’s appropriate that my blog about relationships and my marriage share an anniversary because as long as I’m married to my husband, I’ll always have plenty to write about! P.S. Thanks for reading!! And don’t forget to pick a headshot favorite!!