Confirmed: AmP readers cover my 2009 cell phone bill!

True to their word, the fine folks at Cell Phones.org have indeed begun to cover my cell phone bill for 2009, after AmP readers voted American Papist their favorite blog by a significant margin in the 2009 Blogger Appreciation Awards.

Once again my sincere thanks to all of those who voted for me, tweeted support, and told their Facebook friends. I use a blackberry, and frankly spend more time doing "AmP-related" things on it then making calls to friends. Conversly, this solution means I have more time to spend with my friends and keep up on the steady stream of Catholic news and tips.

Please consider Cell Phones.org for your cell phone solutions. They're nice to papists, and people who are nice to papists are good people in my book!

AmP wins 2009 Blogger Appreciation Contest!

Go Papists!

As the winner, I'll receive one year of my cellphone bill paid! Thanks to everyone who voted for AmP!

Vote for AmP in this year's Blogger Appreciation Awards

Please take two seconds and vote for me ("Thomas Peters") in the 2009 Blogger Appreciation Awards. No registration required. So go vote!

AmP is one of only 30 blogs out of over 2,000 nominees which made it to the final voting round.

The first prize is 1 year of my cell phone bill paid for - up to $1000. And honestly, that's about how my charges will run this year. If I knew my minutes were free, well, I'd just have plenty more time to call people and track down those AmP scoops!

I think AmP has an excellent chance to win this contest.

Your loyal support, after all, has earned me Second Runner Up in the 2008 Blogging Scholarship Award (with 3,000+ votes!), Second in the 2009 Blogger's Choice Awards, First in Political/Social Commentary in the 2008 Catholic Blog Awards, to name a notable few.

Please spread the word far and wide! Post this on Facebook, email it to your friends, tell your students - be creative. I jump at this and any opportunity to represent the online Catholic community in an open venue.

Thanks, Papists!

I seeeee you, Dwight!

Aha! Foiled!

Father Dwight Longenecker, you see, is trying to sneak up on me "real quiet like" to win a coveted 2008 Blogger's Choice Award in the Religion Blog category.

Well, we simply can't stand for that....

"Papists - come to my aid! VOTE FOR AMP!"

-> Registering to vote only takes a few seconds.

-> The feeling of accomplishment should last hours.

"2009 Pro-Life Instigator" Awarded to AmP

As I announced the day the award was made public. The actual award has a prominent place in my room.

It has a permanent place on the AmP sidebar. My humble thanks to everyone at American Life League.

Okay papists - go out and be instigators for the culture of life!

What's wrong with this picture?

... nothing you can't fix! ;)

update: thanks to your efforts - AmP jumped to 102 votes!! Now do the same here, please. :)

AmP nominated for Best Political Blog

Well, this is frankly a surprise - AmP is already on the first page of this Blogger's Choice Award.

If you are already registered on the site, it's a quick click to vote for AmP. I'd appreciate it!

Vote for a Catholic Blog in the '08 Weblog awards

You can vote here, once every 24 hours, until January 13th.

My vote will be for Fr. Z's incomparable What Does The Prayer Really Say?

2009 Pro-Life Blog Awards have begun

Hosted by the American Life League.

Hop on over if you're a pro-life blogger!

Thanks, folks!

A big AmP Shout Out to everyone who voted for me in this year's Student Blogging Scholarship! And thanks to the judges who first chose me as a finalist.

Evidently "second runner up" is the new way to describe 3rd place! I couldn't be happier with a "show" in this stiff competition. Almost 4,800 votes is nothing to sneeze at!

Okay, back to the blog beat....

16 away! {update - made it!}

The official AmP Facebook fanpage is a mere 16 members from the new goal of 750. As I've said, AmP posts are fed into the Facebook page - so you can keep up to date on the news without ever having to leave Facebook (the designers must love me for that).

And a big thank you to everyone who has voted for AmP in the 2008 Blogger's Choice Awards this week!

update: bingo! 751 as of 12:35EST. Thanks to those of you who dipped into their friends list! =)

Got a minute?

If you do, please consider voting for me in the 2008 Blogger's Choice Awards. Thanks!

... made it!

AmP has made it into the top 3 for the 2008 Blogger's Choice Awards in the Religion category.

~ With your help! ~

Also in the top 3 - Fr. Z's fine blog "What Does The Prayer Really Say?"

Final voting numbers are hidden until it wraps up, but please go vote for me (and Fr. Z) - it counts!

September was the most popular month for AmP ever, by a significant margin (~25%). Again, thank you!

If all goes according to plan, October will feature the most exciting development in AmP's history.

So stay tuned!

AmP nominated for a "Love! This Site" award

I don't know too much about this contest, but there's no such thing as a bad award, right?

Needles to say, thank you to whomever nominated me!

It does appear to be one of those ploys to get you to register for their site. Still, a mere 33 votes (that's about 1-in-200 AmP visits per day) would put us in 3rd place and maybe gain some new readers.

Registration/voting took about thirty seconds for me from start to finish (no annoying personal questions, thankfully). I have a secondary email address I use for these sorts of things. Let them spam away.

And thanks to everyone who has already been voting/will vote for me in the 2008 Blogger's Choice Awards!

update: thanks for all the support! AmP is already in 6th place! 16 more votes to 3rd plaec!

AmP Featured on BlogAwards.com

Pretty cool:

In honor of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the good ol’ USA, we bring you the blog American Papist: Not Your Average Catholic. For those not in the know, a Papist is a Catholic who is a strong advocate of the papacy. The blog is written by Thomas Peters, a young lay Catholic currently studying and working in Washington D.C., who has been blogging about life as a Catholic American since 2005. Brimming with images of the Pope’s visit thus far (he only arrived yesterday in D.C.) and extended coverage of his every move, American Papist is a must-read for Catholics and non-Catholics alike who are interested in the Holy Father.

Thanks for the nod!

It couldn't hurt to ask, right?

AmP has slipped to 3rd place in the religion category of the 2008 Blogger's Choice Awards.

Ya know, if you have a couple minutes to spare this weekend. There are many fine entries.

In related news, the 2008 Catholic Blog Awards - which are far closer to my heart - begin on the 15th.

Oh happy occasion! Blogging does pay off!

I'm very happy to share with AmP readers that as a result of their industrious and dedicated efforts on my behalf and on behalf of the vibrant St. Blog's community, my placement in the 2007 Blogging Scholarship Awards indeed merited a fiduciary disbursement:

Hello!

Please contact your financial aid office and ask where I should send your funds. Also, ask for a specific person where I can send the letter to their attention. This will make the process much faster. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you!

-- Sincerely,

Daniel Kovach

President

Daniel Kovach Scholarship Foundation

http://www.collegescholarships.org/

I believe the scholarship might be up to $1,000. [Update: It's a consolation prize of $100. Hey, every little bit helps!] Of course, it is going directly to paying off my tuition loans. AmP supporters registered over 2,400 votes in the two-week voting period. And the related Facebook support group topped-out at over 500 members.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to vote for me! AmP readership has noticed a significant net increase since the awards, so I think it's safe to assume that many new readers were introduced to this blog (and therefore the wider St. Blog's community) through it. Praise God!

The blogging scholarship will take place again next year, and I'll be sure to promote it so that other worthy bloggers get their chance to receive some due recognition and encouragement. I'll also try to hunt down my initial application essay to see if it is worth publishing here.

Finally, I might as well mention that AmP is currently holding at second place in the 2008 blogger's choice awards. But honestly, I think you've all merited a well-earned reprieve from my constant heckling, so I'll earnestly try to keep my pleadings at a minimum .... for now. ;)

Has the 2008 BCA already begun?

If so, I guess it couldn't hurt to post a vote if you're already registered (or don't mind registering).

Today is the *last* day of the 2007 BCA

Do also note that today is the last day to vote for this blog in the 2007 Blogger's Choice Awards. AmericanPapist currently has a little over 250 votes and is in 13th place. There are many fine Catholic blogs nominated in these awards. So, if you're burning time before your weekend starts and are looking for something to do, please consider voting. Thanks much!

500+ Votes in the First Two Days - Thank You!

A big ol' AmP Thank You to everyone who has already voted for me in the 2007 Blogging Scholarship awards!

I'm thrilled to be a witness to Catholic and religious blogging in this contest. Hopefully, more folks will get introduced to St. Blogs this way. Remember, it you have five seconds to spare, you have time to vote!, no registration or information required! So spread the word!

I am currently in 7th place. But I could easily crack the top 5 tomorrow. Other blogs may have more readers, but this blog is part of a much wider community, and I think that will tell in the long run.

Thanks especially to Mark Shea for the shout-out, as well as Gerald Augustinus for the kind mention. Thanks also to the folks who have asked their friends to vote, posted on message boards, and sent out emails!

More information posted about the contest here.

I've been nominated for the '07 Blogging Scholarship - Come Vote!

I received some exciting news this morning - I've been nominated as a top 20 finalist in the 2007 Blogging Scholarship contest, out of a pool of hundreds of applicants! Voting will end in 20 days (October 28th). Looking at the list, I believe I'm the *only* Catholic blogger nominated.

Voting takes only a few seconds. Just first visit this page -->

http://www.collegescholarships.org/blog/2007/10/08/vote-for-the-winner-of-the-2007-blogging-scholarship/

... and then vote for my name (Thomas Peters) - I'm second from the bottom. No registration required! Feel free to leave a nice comment below explaining your vote. The first-place winner receives $10k, and I believe they have other awards as well. Here's the entire list of nominees.

The top-voted finalists receive a scholarship to put towards their education. Needless to say, every little bit helps. And this could be more than a bit. I'm studying moral and biblical theology in Washington DC here.

So please, go vote, and tell your friends!

If AmP wins, Catholic blogging - and especially Catholic Youth blogging - will receive greater attention and be able to reach more people. And that's an awesome goal. I'd like to post more on this subject soon, but for now I figured I'd just give everyone a head's up about this opportunity. If the St. Blog's community gets behind this I think we have a really good chance!

Thank you!! Back to blogging...