Hiking

Hiking near Lenoir, NC

Goals are important and that’s how I’ve succeeded in real life. But I never had a goal in my blogging. Enter Day 1, Blogging 201 assignment, which is building on Day 1, Blogging 101.

Hiking gives me clarity. It draws me closer to my creator! It satisfies my need to breathe. I tend to be an extrovert (according to a Professor who administered The MBTI, Myers & Briggs Personality Test, I’m an expressive introvert) but I need quiet time to recharge. Hiking recharges me. And it’s so good for my health!

Adversity creates success. I’ve had my share and it was always my springboard to achieve. I was losing my ability to walk. And look at me now! My one blog is floundering, so a goal is to see it soar!

Hiking near Lenoir, NC

I’m easily inspired and I want to be an inspiration. Some of my best ideas come from others. But I always believe the Lord is in on it. Enter my friend from July’s Blogging 101. His creative posts always get me going!

I read my Bible first thing every morning. I’ve done this for over 10 years. It used to inspire my writing, but now I’m in a desert. Just like I need a cup of Jo every day to get me going, I need my “dose” of the Lord. I can’t live without it….but has it gone stale?

I need to focus. I blog for clarity in my life. I’m getting older and more forgetful. I don’t want to forget the precious moments occurring daily in my life. Blogging helps.

I need social interaction. My husband is an extreme introvert (not with family.) But I don’t like small talk and that’s what I find in so many of our social interactions. For example, since we travel full time, we drive our home to new places relatively frequently. When we are setting up, I’m usually inside and Bill is outside. You’d never know he’s an introvert because he chats it up with our new neighbors. Not me, I have to find a way to connect. The blogosphere makes it painless to socialize!

I want feedback! I can’t grow without challenges. How great our August Blogging 101 decided to go on in its own “Alumni Commons” to continue to grow! It’s helping keep us all on target!

Now that I’ve rattled on, so here are my simplified Blogging 201 goals:

1) Increase the comments to my blog, seek more feedback. At least obtain three comments on each blog from here on out.

2) At least post three times a week. And that includes a post or two on our full-time travel blog, TheTumbleLees.me.

3) Link every post to the Bible or a spiritual truth.

From my Bible reading yesterday:

“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” Daniel 6:26-27 NIV

I, too have been rescued. Maybe not in such a dramatic fashion, but I know I am as grateful as Daniel was for his life to be spared!

UPDATE: thanks for all the feedback and input! I’m keeping things as is. Looking forward to Blogging 201 and more wifi!

Should I phase this blog out and move everything over to The TumbleLees, our travel blog? See poll below. If you have any solutions, please comment.

I started blogging in 2011. First as a way for my husband and I to share about our marriage as we have a story to telI. We tried to be very transparent about our trials and tribulations. As we began to rebuild our marriage and our family, we began to travel more, so some of our marriage stories include travels. Our favorite place in the USA became the Rockies in Colorado, so there are a few blogs about it. And we discovered we both loved to hike, so we began to incorporate our hiking adventures. We never dreamed we would sell everything and begin to travel full time and hike a lot. But that happened to us over the past two years. So that blog became about our full time travels, but was done in our voices. While we do nearly everything together, and we can complete each other’s sentences, I needed another outlet for my own personal journey. And this blog was born. But it has floundered.

blogging. helps!

Enter Blogging University hosted by WordPress. What a great experience this has become, but I have not been able to focus much time or energy on this blog. And it seems our travel blog interests more people. So now my dilemma. Shut this blog down and just focus on our travel blog and just make it more my voice? In reality, my husband doesn’t write at all, we just bounced ideas around and I never published until he proof read it and offered suggestions or improvements.

So I have been through a process of trying to brand this blog, but it seems I am splitting myself in two. Coupled with the fact that I don’t have unlimited wifi – as a full time travelers, we have to pay as we go.

I’ve wanted to create a blog to share about all the bloggers I am following. They have enriched my life and I have “borrowed” some ideas from many. And as the August Blogging 101 ends, I’ve sensed a closeness and something very unique. And then I learned a core group decided to make an Alumni Group. What a great idea and it is presently open so you can enter and decide to become part of the group. Here is our fabulous Blogging 101 Community blog roll by categories!

A few observations about what makes a really good blogger to me and the ones I follow fit that category:

A good sense of humor, to be able to write in a humorous way. What a gift! Sadly, I don’t seem to have that ability to share in my writings. So far…..
Blogs about real life journeys.
Sharing about spiritual matters. While I am a born again Christian, I want to know about others spiritual journeys. I am so excited about following blogs from others very passionate about their faith, but whose faith is very different from mine. In fact, i am sensing a key to world peace is if we just share our faith more and what is GOOD about our faith and how we have many similarities.
As a fitness buff, I do enjoy inclusion of any health tips, and especially other hikers.
And as a traveler, I also enjoy other travel blogs.

It’s amazing how many bloggers I have chosen to follow these past two months. I actually have spent more time reading their blogs and commenting than focusing on my own blogging. And I’ve learned so much!