Following a two week sabbatical from STEEM while on a much needed and anticipated va-cay - I realize just how much a part of my life that my STEEM friends have become! I missed my daily dose of talking to my peeps, reading posts, upvoting and just plain old checking in with everyone.

I've not met any of you in person yet - note I say YET because I do indeed have plans to make acquaintance through upcoming STEEM functions - but I do feel like some of my best world-wide friends are the ones I've made right here on the blockchain.

I ran across this post from @theycallmedan because several of my friends have responded to it - and I was even mentioned in one of them (thank you @jaynie!) - and it made me stop to think about all the wonderful people here on STEEM.

Dan's post asks for you to select three or more people that you follow and tell why. I love these kinds of challenges because they really can make you think. And I love to read other people's responses as well. One of my favorite accounts to follow is @phctop3 because they sponsor great contests all year asking for your Top 3 in all kinds of categories. And they are run by some of the finest people you'll find on STEEM such as @nickyhavey, @cheese4ead, and @plantstoplanks - all of whom I follow and enjoy.

But narrowing the list down - whew! - my profile says I'm following 1,264 accounts and while I don't interact with all of those daily, there is quite a list that I'm really fond of!

If I go back to people who really encouraged me and made a difference in my
STEEM experience, I have to mention @mariannewest and her FREERWRITE group. Writing for her daily freewrites and contests got me started on fiction writing and her support got me rolling on what a fun thing it is to be creative and feel like someone actually read and appreciated what I wrote.

Along that same line, in the beginning, I met @jayna, who was running a writing contest and we got even further acquainted through some writing workshops that she led/participated in. I learned some really useful tips from her and I hope to actually meet her this summer at The Alliance Block Party, along with more of The Alliance Family! I'm following several of The Alliance family members such @enginewitty, @cOff33a, @saffisara and many of them of are also fellow poker players on my favorite BroSinoPoker such as @snook, @thehive, @inthenow and @penderis.

One of my favorites to follow and read every day is our fearless Power House Creatives leader @jaynie. If you are looking for a quality writer on a variety of subjects, someone who's not afraid to tell it like it is, yet will have your back when you need her - I suggest you get acquainted with @jaynie!

And I could practically name everyone in the PCH family as favorite people to follow and who have given me support and encouragement and make daily life on STEEM such a fun place to be. To name a few, and I wish I could name them all! - @brittandjosie, @thekittygirl, @dswigle, @papilloncharity - just a sampling!

I also want to mention @Felt.Buzz because I think you will do yourself a BIG favor of making his acquaintance if you already haven't. We collaborated on a couple of book-writing adventures for @steemfiction and we had a great time bringing our stories to completion and publication. And @jayna was in on this as well. This was an example of purely STEEM writers coming together as complete strangers and managing to get a couple of books published to promote STEEM to the outside world. The same kind of thing that @theycallmedan is always working toward in getting the word out about the great people that make STEEM the place to be.