Sunday, May 29, 2016

Seven Things I Never Told You

I have been blogging for several years now and but to be honest, I don’t feel like my blog is doing what I want it to, and honestly, I’ve changed what that is a couple times.  When I first started blogging, I had visions on monetizing in my head.  I was hearing stories about bloggers who did that for a full time job!

“Oh how fun!” I thought, “Write blog posts, get free clothes, and pepper affiliate links throughout posts and watch the dollars role in.  Good by cruddy job, hello blogging.”  (Okay, I may not have thought exactly that, but I think it was there in the back of my mind.)

But, it turns out monetizing a blog is not for everyone.  I have no problem including an affiliate here or there or giving a shot out to something I love, but it feels fakey-fakey for me, to be throwing affiliate links into every single post.  And most of my clothes come from thrift shops and the Kohl’s sale section.  Plus I live about half the time in scrubs so that doesn’t provide much in the way of monetary compensation.  I hate feeling like I’m encouraging people to buy things they don’t need.  And finally, it dawned on me- (first of all) I don’t want to be that type of blogger, and (second of all) that I didn’t have to be!

So, I want my blog to feel less like a Target and more like my living room.  I want you to feel like you can sit down, pull your feet up on the couch, drink some coffee, and discuss books or baking or sewing or traveling or something deep and abstract with me.  But, since I was initially all about the bling and had visions of dollar signs in my head and since I’m pretty introverted, I didn’t really tell you much about me at the start.  So we’re going to start over fresh okay?  Some of this information may have come up in blog posts offhandedly before, but I’m going to lay it all out as a getting to know me type thing, okay?  Okay!

  1. I'm 33 years old and married to Jim.  We’ve been married for nearly nine years now and I can honestly say I love him more now than I probably did in those first couple years.
  2. We have no kids.  I have no desire to have kids.  I do not hate kids.  I have friends with kids.  But neither one of us wants any kids of our own. 
  3. I have to cats that you probably have seen occasionally in pictures here on the blog.  Gargoyle is a ten year old diluted calico, and Honey Badger is a 4 year old long haired tabby.  They’re spoiled and I do talk to them in baby voices and act like they answer me back.
  4. I work full time, second shift, as a Health Unit Coordinator at the hospital here in town.  It sounds like a glamorous title, but really I’m the secretary for the med-surg unit.  This means if you come to visit a patient, I’m the one at the desk with the nurses that will tell you what room your mom is in.  Or if you call to talk to her nurse, I’ll probably be the one answering the phone once switchboard transfers you back.  I also do the order entry, supply order, running, and calling when I need lab to come draw some blood right away or if a lunch tray needs to be ordered.  Plus other duties as assigned.
  5. I was home schooled for all of high school and part of junior high.  This does not mean that I participated in the National Spelling Bee, or that I didn’t have any books and just had some hippie dippy education where life was my teacher.  I had books, I wrote reports, I took tests.  I also went on to college and did just fine.  I have the student loan bills to prove it. ;)   I did not go to prom or play extracurricular sports, but since I’ve always been an introvert, I didn’t really mind. 
  6. I’m from Wisconsin and love it here (most of the time).  I love Lake Superior and road trips and traveling and getting below the surface of things and finding out what makes people tick.  Even people I don’t especially like, I find myself wondering why they act the way they do. 
  7.  I dream about having a tiny house, and am in a constant quest to downsize my possessions.  I’m also in a never ending quest to visit every used bookstore I see and shop any fabric sales I come across, so obviously there’s some give and take.
And that’s about it for now.  I hope that helps you know a little more about me, and gets things into a more relaxed, laid back place.  So tell me about you, any fun facts?  Or interesting anecdotes you want to share?

4 comments:

  1. I think all blogs evolve into something different than what originally was planned. I would much rather learn more about you than read about advertisers. I'm glad I am just getting to your blog now instead of back then.

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    1. Oh- Thanks Wendy! Some blogs can stack in those affiliate links and write posts centered around pushing some product and a lot of blogs can even tuck those in every now and again without alienating readers, but I always felt stilted and fake trying to do it. Needless to say, I am not a natural saleswoman. :)

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  2. I love this post! It is so nice to get to know you even more. My blog is exactly that, just about my life, interest a place to share and hopefully chat with others. I love the way your blog has evolved. We plan to vacation in Wisconsin this Summer. Heading up through Green Bay to Door County some then on down to Chicago for a little while.

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    1. See, and I'm all about authenticity. In real life, I think I'm as real as it gets, so why would I want my blog to be any other way? And too bad you're not coming closer to my neighborhood or I would totally insist we meet IRL! But, Green Bay is on the other side of the state from me.

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