TBC's Birthday Blog Party!

Hello everybody,

So I am part of a blogging community called Teenage Blogger Central (TBC), and we just celebrated the community's anniversary on Oct. 20 (sorry for being a bit belated--midterms X_X)!

Yay!!

This is just a fun, quick little tag to do for the blog party. I enjoy doing tags because it's an easy way for me to connect with you guys by giving you glimpses of my history.

1. What made you decide to take up blogging, and what inspires you to write 'til today? As some of you may already know, I started blogging all the way back in the middle school days. I did it because I enjoyed writing and wanted to connect with other people over the Internet. Now, I continue to write because I want to make a difference in individual people's lives, feel inspired, and share inspiration. 
2. How did you find and register on TBC? Did you find it helpful and worth recommending to others? I found TBC about a year ago (can you believe it's been this long?) literally by Googling "Teenage Blogger Community" and registered because I wanted to be in a community for bloggers. I feel like teenage bloggers can at times have a bad reputation for being shallow, but I've found that a lot of TBC's members are inspiring, intellectual, and creative people--so, if you're a teenager and also happen to be a blogger, please join our community :)
3. What awesome blogs have you found through TBC? I really love Envy's blog and Catalina's blog. Envy is an awesome blogger, and I think that what she writes is so genuine that it touches my heart whenever I read her blog. Check out her beautiful words and story by visiting Picking up the Pieces. Catalina's blog is so cool too! She started a series a while ago where she writes letters every week to somebody (a person--in her life, history, or fiction--of her choice), which I think is a really cool idea. And I also love the way she can just say what she wants to say. She has a huge variety of things on there, so please check out her blog too at The Emo Wolverine Writes.
4. What do you like best about connecting with other bloggers that are your age? I love connecting with other bloggers that are in a similar age group because we're usually going through a lot of the same things. There's just kind of this bond of empathy when I read about others' trials and triumphs because I can often relate!
5. What do you hope to achieve through your blog? Honestly, I think that if my words are able to encourage and inspire at least one person who reads Smiles No Matter, this blog's purpose will have been fulfilled. 
6. How do you say "Happy Birthday Teenage Blogger Central!" in your language? Through virtual hugs everywhere! *hug* 

I also like giving my friends inspirational quotes for their birthdays, so here is one for you all today :)

designsurge.com

That's all for today! Hope you are having a great week! 

Smile on,

Riley XO

P.S. Who else has been loving Taylor Swift's new album??