Hello, Hive account@smooth! Hello, allpeoplereadingthis!

I really enjoy participating in This Contest. Even if I fail to get such a desired ticket for Steemfest - I can get to know someone by reading their competitive comment! Therefore, all readers please write! Communication is important))

Who am I?

My name is Alina and I'm from Russia. I'm married to a wonderful person whom I love. We have a little daughter (she is two years old), we help her to get used to in our big world without imposing our own opinion and dictatorship. But we try to give her the knowledge that will be needed. We take care of her, but we don’t give priority to her: she has equal rights and duties: she removes toys, throws rubbish into the trash can and helps sweep)))

In the field of work, I did not manage to take place as a professional. I am a master of engineering and technology in the direction of construction (this is exactly what is written in my diploma on education). I worked after the university only a few years on the profession of a design engineer and went on a maternity leave. Since the designer's work is responsible, there is no way to combine maternity and design calculations, because not only accuracy, but also responsibility is required. Mom will understand that the temperature of the water for bathing is much more important than some coefficient there that was accidentally missed (it's a joke, if suddenly it's not clear). And since maternity doesn’t take all of my time (thanks to the competent planning of the day I have a few hours for what I want to do myself), then I started my time planning: watching TV shows and reading books is nice, but we need growth over ourselves, self-improvement!

what gave me Steemit

And then I saw Steemit. What is it - I didn’t know, the language is not my native and it was difficult to understand for the first time. So I decided to register immediately. I didn’t know what’s the Steemit for, who all these people are and how to behave correctly (Of course, I did not break the boundaries, but tagging was very difficult at the beginning). So, I registered in September 2017. I didn't know what could I tell: I didn’t know anything about crypto-currencies, I didn’t write scientific articles or research, I didn’t sing songs, but sometimes I draw in my spare time, just because I had to apply my inner energy somewhere, and watercolor sketches were akin to meditation. So I decided that my blog will be dedicated to my pictures.

And one day everything has changed. I started to participate in drawing competitions on the platform, a couple of times I even won a small cash prize (several SBD). I continued to participate. I watched a lot of webinars, experimented with techniques and watercolor. I painted portraits of completely different people in my blog.

I tried to draw with markers and watercolors, from photos and live. Something I did better, something more like the plot. The most important thing is that I did not stand at one point. Even now I sometimes open a new tab and look at photos of strangers with the purpose of finding a picture that will inspire me for a new drawing. Thus, I discover wonderful artists, photographers and interesting people.

Steemfest in Lisbon

Once I took part in a drawing competition "Pleasure&Delicious". It was necessary to draw an association with these words (Pleasure & Delicious), and the prize was a trip to Lisbon for Steemfest. What is Steemit, what is Steemfest in general, I still don’t understand at this time (and now, to be honest, I have not yet learned everything and every day something new and interesting is happening). I just thought that to win a vacation in Lisbon - it's cool, well, and Steemfest - what's the difference, what is it)) How wrong I was!

I drew a picture, added a few accompanying words and sent to the contest, not even expecting to win. And how fortune surprised me when I won! Can you imagine? Won a ticket to Steemfest! I immediately “googled” in the Internet to see what it is. And, believe me, I wasn’t upset.

Of course, I met people there. From around the world! There were guys from Cyprus and America, Belarus and the Netherlands. There were several people from Russia, including us (I was not alone, because I am afraid to travel alone). Yes, I have some problems with English (I also can speak French and even practiced it during Steemfest) but these problems didn’t prevent me from communicating and being understood correctly. With someone, I even still keep in touch in the messengers or look at their posts. This summer we even met with friends from Belarus, whom we met last year.

what I have done

My blog is dedicated to drawing, so I plan to develop further in this direction. I prepare master classes for all willing to draw and these video and posts appear sometimes on my blog. I talk about the Steemit to friends and they are happy to register and make new friends. In a blog, everyone writes what he want. For me, it's the ability to express yourself.

Yes, I'm not a programmer, and I will never become one (although what is a node and how it works, I know, even somehow tried to raise the node of another project and I did it). But I have not written any applications for Steemit. I'm just going to be part of the community. I am in the community Steemitbloggers. We communicate with each other, support each other. We are all from different parts of the world, and introduced us Steemit. And I really hope that We will raise Steemit up)))))

why me

I will not tell you what my life is like. Heavy or light, good or bad, bright or faded. I just know that I really want to go to Steemfest this year. I plan to sketch the city and everything that I see in it)) I do not know if I can raise the right amount for the trip, but I will do my best to do it. And this competition is one of my chances of going to Steemfest, so I could not pass by!)

Cheers, Alina