Thoughtful Thursday - All About the Blog

All About the Blog

1. How long have you been blogging? I’ve been blogging since August of 2008.  My boys were just about to turn 4 and 1.  Now they are 10 and 7.  My very first post was about the struggle of back to school shopping.  My second post was a random picture of my oldest at swimming lessons.

Evan was so little!

2. What do you like about being a blogger? I like recording the story of our lives.  I used to scrapbook, but that was sporadic and I always felt behind.  With the blog, I can write stories any time I want to capture what is happening in our household.

3. What do you dislike about being a blogger? I dislike the idea that it becomes something I "have to do."  This is the most consistent I have ever been at blogging in the seven years I've been writing here, but I am finding it more enjoyable than ever before.  I think that's because I've been planning posts ahead of time and linking up with other bloggers.  That definitely makes it more fun.  I am still sad about the fact that I skipped the blog for all of 2013.  I'm trying to go back and recapture bits and pieces of that year.

4. What are the top 5 topics that you write about most frequently? Has it changed since you started your blog? Family, self, school, sports, and dinner...I guess!  It's really just a hodgepodge of ideas.  I don't think I have a particular theme other than "Forcey Family." 

5. How often do you read other blogs? Are there any that you read regularly that we should be reading too? I read other blogs almost every day.  For a while I was reading so many blogs that I fell away from reading books...and I'm a teacher!  Had to rearrange that priority a bit!  Some of my favorites are: All The Weigh, Momfessionals, Hungry Runner Girl, J's Everyday Fashion, and Mix and Match Mama.  I check out a few more, but these seem to be the ones that I check any time I am online.

6. How do you define success when it comes to blogging? I guess success would be a wide readership.  However, I have never had that, but I keep writing.  In reality, I'm not blogging for that kind of success.  I'm blogging to record my family's journey through life.  Since I've mostly accomplished that, I've obtained success.  It is fun to see comments, and I just recently discovered that I can see stats that show page views.  (Yes, I'm that much of a dork that I had no real clue how my blog worked for seven years!)

7. Share something that you know now as a result of blogging that you didn’t know before. I am having a hard time answering this question.  I think I have always seen my blog as this little itty bitty corner of my world that no one else cares about.  I sort of feel like the new kid in the room in linking up and sharing my happenings, and it is a little scary!

8. Has blogging had an effect on your life? If so, share the details. Yes, it has affected my life.  I believe some of the best blogs share a lot of photos, so I try to include lots of pictures in every post.  But we aren't always that exciting, so I have to really stop and purposely take out the phone or camera to capture pictures to share.  Taking pictures all the time is not a natural thing for me even now.  I've been trying to be better about it this past month, and my kids are really not liking it!  They keep ducking when they see me with my phone aimed toward them!

9. How did you come up with your blog’s title? When my kids were little, their nicknames were Peanut and Chicken.  Since the blog mainly chronicles their life, I thought it was cute and fitting.  Neither kid goes by those nicknames anymore!  My oldest is the only white boy on an all Mexican soccer team, so the team gave him the nickname Guero, and it has stuck for over two years.  My littlest hasn't really developed a permanent nickname.  We call him all sorts of things!

10. What’s the coolest thing about blogging? Having a record of our day to day life. Case in point...

Hudson tripped and fell during a game of tag two days ago.  Second grade can be rough!