Kas: I think maybe its time to bring this up.

So, there's been something on my mind lately, pertaining to the blog, and i think its probably time to say something...

Now, before you worry, I'm not leaving or anything. Haha. I could never leave, but when i re-read the first sentence of this, it did kind of sound like the start of a goodbye post, so i just wanted to make that clear now. Haha.

I think everyone has noticed lately that the number of posts here on SAAWAKM is steadily declining. And not only that, but the material in the posts is declining as well. Its seems like we're very much posting just to be posting, and not because we really want to.

I feel like everyone has been walking around on pins and needles ever since Sarah left. I may just be imagining things, but I feel like there is a bit of tension now. I know that Sarah was the first of our original members to ever leave the blog, I hope that shes the last, and that is a bit scary. I love all of you so much and you've become some of the best friends I've ever had, which is why the idea of anyone else leaving or the blog slowly getting abandoned terrifies me. Hopefully it does all of you too.

Now, the whole reason i decided to make this was to remind everyone what SAAWAKM is here for. In the beginning, when Maiah and I first decided to start the blog, it was just supposed to be a place to talk about writing and give advice/ reviews, etc. But, over the past year and a half its grown to be so much more than that. I've grown so close to all of you, and I know a lot of you better than I know some of my friends from my school. Which i think is amazing.

We've had our drama, and we've had people quit, but most of us have managed to pull through, and I think that if we hadn't had such an amazing first year, this tough second year may have been the end of SAAWAKM. I know that technically Maiah and I began SAAWAKM, but without all of you, it never would have been anything more than just us talking about writing, which we already did. Everyone who has been a part of this blog, whether they're still here or not, has added something of themselves to it. SAAWAKM doesn't belong to me, or to Maiah, it belongs to all of us.

I know all of you love SAAWAKM just as much as i do, and that you don't want it to end either. So, I think we really need to start making an effort to get it up and running the way it was before. And by that i don't just mean more posts, because more posts doesn't make it the same, the posts have to mean something. Right now, however, the posts don't mean anything anymore. I have noticed that almost every post on SAAWAKM now gets less than 2 comments, most don't get even one. I think that is a major contributing factor to why we haven't been posting. Why post if no one is going to contribute, why ask for advice when no one will answer? So, I think we really need to make a bigger effort not only to get the flow of posts going again, but to show interest and participate in what the others are posting.

So, the last thing I want to talk about in this super-long post, is that Cori has a friend she wants to have join SAAWAKM.

I know that the last time we added people it ended up getting very crazy and out of control on the blog, and then the majority of the people who joined ended up quitting... in the span of like, three days. Which is why i can see why everyone might be a bit skeptical about adding anyone new, as right now the blog isn't really up to par and our group now does mesh together pretty well. But, i think that maybe adding a few new fresh faces could be another way to get everyone participating again. Because, as you know, we all tend to be very welcoming people and I know that by adding a few newbies, we would probably strive a bit harder to make SAAWAKM as special for them as it was for us when we started.

So, my answer to Cori's friend joining is Yes.

Heather also said yes.

What does everyone else think. There are 8 of us now, so whenever 4 say yes, she can join.

Also, I think we should add at least one, maybe two more new people. But, other than Cori's friend, I think we should try to shoot for people none of us really know. In real life, I mean. Because I want these to be new people for everyone.

So, any ideas?

-Kas.