I have been thinking about this for a while now. I am contemplating whether I want to buy my own domain. It is only $10 a year so I think it would be worth it, but it has me thinking... Why?
Why do we blog? What is the point of it all?
I have spent probably 10 hours total working on my blog this last week. I have been updating it, adding labels, cleaning up the design, adding in HTML for new widgets...but why? Why am I spending all this time and energy on a web page that does nothing? Obviously I value my blog or I wouldn't bother. Sure, I added Ad Sense and earned a whole .02! I might have $1 by the end of the year lol. But why post day after day?
I have had two thoughts weighing on my mind about all this...
1) Why do others blog/why do I want to read their blogs?
and
2) What do I want my blog to be about?
Why do others blog? Why do I enjoy reading their blogs?
I began looking at the blogs I like the best and read most often and picked out the things I liked and examined why I enjoy reading them. What makes their blog appealing and unique?
The Girl Next Door Grows Up - This is by far my favorite blog to read. DO NOT drink anything while reading one of her posts. {There, that is my fair warning.} She is another mom blogger but her's has a unique spin on it. It helps that her kids give her tons of fodder. My Little Bit only offers up cuteness and milestones right now. No "out of the mouths of babes" material yet. Her posts read like a conversation and you can really feel as though you are sitting next to her, drinking a cup of coffee, and listening to her story. One of my favorites is this one. Remember, PUT YOUR COFFEE DOWN NOW! Her layout is simple but the rainbow theme really draws me in. I don't always scroll to the bottom of people's blogs but this one kept pulling me from one sidebar widget to another. It isn't an eye sore like mine was a few weeks back.
Household 6 Diva - This is another mom/army wife blogger. Her blog is mostly photographs. She does amazing work. The thing I like about her blog though is that she tells a story with her photos. They are sequential or otherwise fit together and are placed strategically in her blog post. They tell the story of her blog post. Her blog has a definite theme. One post she wrote that wasn't punctuated with pictures and really spoke to me was this one: SAHM - Stay at home mom or Stuck at home mom?
Trying Our Best - This mom and Marine wife {Hooah!} keeps it real. She blogs about her life as a mom to her dashes {sons} and wife to "Flyboy". She also blogs about things she sees around her. One of my favorite posts is her take on childhood obesity and how overweight kids are "not okay". She doesn't pull punches or shy away from the important things....but she keeps them light hearted and a lot of her posts have me laughing.
House of Hepworths - This is a new crafty blog I started following. I love how her posts are creative, funny, and conversational. They read as if she were talking to you... although she lets you in on her thoughts as well. One of my favorites is about her putting a flower in a vase. Simple enough right? Yes, but she made it entertaining as well.
Vintage Apron Strings - This blog is an inspiration to me to be a better wife and mother. She finds the best vintage articles to post for her readers. She also posts her own ideas on being a wife and mother. I like that she has one central theme for her blog. She doesn't write often, but I love every piece she does. This one is bookmarked so I can read it any time I need a reminder. The Modern Retro Housewife - Who is she?
Dear Dave - Although I don't have the time to read all his blog entries I really like this one's concept. It is two dads writing letters back and forth about life at home with the kids. It is not only insightful, but the way it is written is ingenious. This is not a blog I will forget about soon.
What do I want my blog to be about?
I don't know if you have noticed on my sidebar, but I have three other blogs.
The Crafty Hippo is my review/giveaway blog. I blog about my crafts and strive to get them completed in my busy and whimsical, sometimes plain flippant, life. I also promote my etsy shop there.
Musings of a Classic Housewife is exactly what it sounds like. I strive to be as much like the 1950's housewife as I can. I cook dinner nightly and bake fresh bread and sweets at least twice a week. I am up before my family {well not my husband lately since he is up at 0430 to shave} and go to bed after they have long slipped into dream land. I keep the house clean, decorate our house to make it a home, and lately... unpack boxes from our recent move.
Welcome to the Army Ma'am is a saying that is almost universally recognized by military wives. Most all of them know about the wedding saber arch. For those who are not familiar with it, at a lot of military weddings you will find a detail of uniformed service members {this is especially popular with Marines}. They stand to either side of the aisle and either after you have said your "I do's" or before you get in your car for the honeymoon they will raise their sabers {long ceremonial swords} in an arch over your heads. You walk {or run} through and the tradition is that the last two service members drop their sabers in front of the couple, blocking their path, to demand a kiss. Then as they allow you to continue through, one of those members will swat the bride on the butt with his saber and say "Welcome to the {insert service name here}, Ma'am!" This blog is used to chronicle parts of my life specific to the Army and the special joys and heartaches that come with it.
These blogs were easy to name, design, and blog in. They are individual parts of my life and have their own unique purposes. This main blog has proven to be much, much harder. How do I condense the whole rest of who I am into one blog name, design, and theme?! I have been struggling with this question for a while. Here is a list of things I write about on this blog:
- My weekly memes
- My husband and son
- My photography {normally within my memes}
- Poetry and short stories {coming soon}
- My day to day life
- My weight loss goal
- Share others' giveaways with my readers
Obviously I am doing something right... I mean, I have several followers. A hand full of you comment on my posts consistently. I imagine the rest are here as a way to boost my numbers and are hoping I will boost theirs, which I normally do by the way. But do y'all actually follow my blog? It's okay if you don't. There are some blogs that truthfully I only follow for their awesome giveaways {although most of those only do giveaways so I guess they don't mind}, some I read occasionally if I see a post that interests me, and some {I am embarrassed to admit} I follow only because I saw they were just starting out with a few followers and I wanted to help them out. But, as I mentioned above, there are several blogs of which I read every single post. I want my blog to be like that. Sure, it is a journal of sorts for me, but I could just as easily write in the paper one next to my bed. This "journal" is for you, the readers. How do I make it fun to read? What will make my blog different from all the other "SAHM's, my kid did this today" blogs?
Why Do I Blog Anyways?
I have to admit... the main reason is pretty selfish. I am lonely. I just moved from Texas to Alaska and I have very few friends here. The two women I consider my friends are both officers' wives. This means we can't hang out as couples. I can see them but they can't come to the house for coffee, dinner, or movie night. It is unacceptable {at least on this post} for our husbands to hang out together. DH joined the Army after having gone through college so our peers are all Majors or Senior NCOs whereas DH is junior enlisted. The blogs I read and the people who read and comment on mine are my friends. You are my adult interaction in an otherwise diaper and spit up filled world. I blog so I can make connections and not be alone.
I like to write. I am currently working on about 6 books. I say "about" because I don't seriously write in any of them. Some are still in the "this would make a great book" stage. I enjoy writing and want to get better at it. I can write fiction really well but as you can see... I have problems making non-fiction worth the read.
I enjoy photography and want to share it with people who can give me feedback. Practice makes perfect but my mom wouldn't care if the picture of Little Bit was framed correctly, taken with minimal background clutter, or heck, even in focus!
I need to keep busy. I have tons of things I need to do that would take up all my time...but I need something fun, just for me. I need something away from my wifely and motherly duties. I need to do something to keep my sanity and blogging allows me the freedom of time to work on it between feedings, changes, naps, baths, and playtime.
Some Ideas About Where my Blog is Heading
I need to decide on a URL for my blog. I would like to touch on the fact that I am a bit scatter brained, whimsical, and even flippant. I write about all kinds of crap stuff. I change my mind constantly... it's obvious to those who have been watching my blog for more than 2 weeks... My design changes, my interests come and go, my motivation wavers. I checked out "Jane of All Trades" which apparently has been bought but not put into use. I was thinking maybe something about wearing different hats as moms tend to do but something like "Hat Collector" or "The Hats We Wear"wouldn't get the point of my blog across. "Blogging on a Whim" is available but I can't really figure out what theme to go with on that one. I like the thought of the buttons on the top of my blog being different hats that link you to different aspects of my blogging life...but what kind of buttons would go with a whim? It also doesn't convey anything about being a wife or mother. Any ideas?
I have also decided to link up all my individual blogs to this main one via the links at the top of the page. Blogger Pages was too limiting. I wanted to have links that I could personalize and move around. I would also like to be able to blog like normal on my pages but as it is you have to write one page as one giant blog entry. The page featuring my family pictures would be one HELL of a page if I did it that way!
I have a post coming up that will give you a tour of my new blog, but I would love to hear your advice and ideas before then. Anything that would help me to narrow down my blog and make it more enjoyable to read would be great. Not posting HUGE entries like this one is probably a good start... but I kinda had a lot to work through here... as you can tell. Thanks for reading and for any comments you might have to share.
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