It's the end of a decade...

Tonight at midnight will be the start of another new year, and a whole new decade.  It's hard to believe the 2010s will be over.  So much happened in the past 10 years.  There were many ups and downs, but I'd say some of the best things have happened to me this decade.

In 2010, I discovered ABBA.  I didn't listen to a lot of music back then, and it was really rare that a band stood out to me as much as ABBA did.  I fell in love with their music, and if not for ABBA, I would be a totally different person today.  I never would have thought one band would change and have such an effect on my life.

I learned to draw (or more like get better at drawing, I've been drawing since I was a baby, lol), sew, and animate because of my obsession for ABBA, and I made friends for life.

I created both my blog and YouTube channel in 2012.  I never would have expected that my channel would have 7.38k subscribers 7 years later!

In October of 2013, I got Agnetha's autograph, and in 2016, I got Frida, Benny, and Bjorn's autographs.  These two simple postcards are some of my most treasure possessions, and I'm so honored that I was lucky enough to get them.  I'll always be thankful to Gorel Hanser for helping me to receive ABBA's autographs and for all the help she's given me in regards to my book, and I'm so bummed that I forgot to ask for Gorel's autograph at the same time.  Maybe someday I'll get to meet her!

And of course I mustn't forget my book.  When I was a kid, I'd always dreamed of publishing my crazy comics and stories, drawing all the illustrations myself, and I never would have thought that I'd actually be able to publish and illustrate something.  In 2013, I published the Story of ABBA v.1, and 3 years later I published the new and improved one.

I wish I could say the year 2019 was a good one for me.  Personally, a lot of weird stuff happened this year, and early on I had decided that it was pretty much the worst year of my life.  That's not saying there weren't positive things, and I am happy and thankful for all the nice things that have happened.

Anyways, I hope 2020 will be amazing and bring a happy, positive start to the new decade.

Happy new year everyone. :)
- Becky/ABBAFan456

Happy 73rd birthday, Benny!

Today's Benny's 73rd birthday!  Grattis på födelsedagen!  I hope he has an absolutely amazing day celebrating with his family and friends.

In honor of his birthday, I drew this picture of Benny and filmed this speedpaint as well. :)

Rest in peace, Marie Fredrikkson

Today, Swedish singer and member of the duo Roxette, Marie Fredrikkson passed away at 61.  I will admit, while I know of a few of Roxette's songs, I've never actually listened to any of their songs myself, but from what I've heard, I know that Marie Fredrikkson was an amazing singer with so much talent, she will be greatly missed by everyone.

On Frida's 1996 album Djupa Andetag, Marie sings a duet with Frida called "Alla Mina Basta Ar". Prior to that, the two of them collaborated on other projects, such as the Artister för Miljö gala in 1992.  

I feel like I should actually go and listen to some of Marie Fredrikkson and Roxette's work, so I hope to spend today doing that. 

Rest in peace, Marie.  <3

Happy 8th birthday, Benny Anderdoll!

8 years ago today, I added the final stitches on my Benny doll, thus completing my homemade ABBA doll collection.

It's really hard to believe that it's been 8 years.  Half of the time, my dolls had been so raggedy and worn, I barely touched them.  I've said this so many times, but I am so glad I made the decision the make new bodies.

Anyways, happy 8th birthday, Benny doll, and here's to many more. :)