swimmermom3 Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Is anyone else interested in forming a social group around blogging and organizing digitally? I am at a major crossroad in my life where we are doing a bunch of work on the house and I am returning to work. I'd love to blog about the house projects, mostly to keep track of what we've done and when and to be able to look back at it. I am reading in the evenings and listening to Great Courses lectures and Audible books while I am painting walls and the new trim and doors. I want to keep track of those and what my thoughts are. I have a private blog, very basic, but don't know how to get it to be like I want it to be. I have so many to-do lists for the house, medical appoints and to-do lists for the family, and all of my job search stuff. The misc. notebooks and pieces of paper floating around the house are making me crazy, especially because we keep shifting rooms around to do work and I lose the notebooks and papers. I'd love to have a place to exchange ideas and to learn new technological skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted June 27, 2017 Author Share Posted June 27, 2017 You all are organized and experienced bloggers. Rats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonhawk Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 It sounds interesting to me. I've wanted to start a blog for a while about different aspects of what's going on around here. Mostly for my own sake, I'm not expecting uber readers and advertising ka-ching. There are so many projects that I have put together but have lost or I've forgotten parts of because I wasn't documenting it. My journals are mostly for business notes and motivations, I haven't successfully translated their use to personal or homeschool use. So, I'm interested, my main concern is I'd flame out after a couple weeks. But I'm game if you'd still have me with that knowledge. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Swimmermom, I am working on some digital organization right now. I'm doing pictures, my old poetry, and my ancestry. I had a blog, but it is basically defunct now. I tried for years to have a blog, but I just AM NOT INTUITIVE about site management. I did okay when I had a free site, but moving to a hosted site was a waste of money. I paid someone to do it for me because in this particular skill, I am an idiot, and then I had no idea how to update anything or reformat anything or any of those other types of things. I don't like to "fiddle around" on the computer. I don't want to have to figure how to fix my crashed site or install Jetpack V.289.69. Blah! I fail at blogging, it turns out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlgaLA Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I am not sure I qualify. We recently landscaped our yard and I started a garden. I would really like to blog about it, mostly to remember things, but I am not sure I have enough drive and discipline. Maybe such a group is exactly what I need 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 It sounds interesting to me. I've wanted to start a blog for a while about different aspects of what's going on around here. Mostly for my own sake, I'm not expecting uber readers and advertising ka-ching. There are so many projects that I have put together but have lost or I've forgotten parts of because I wasn't documenting it. My journals are mostly for business notes and motivations, I haven't successfully translated their use to personal or homeschool use. So, I'm interested, my main concern is I'd flame out after a couple weeks. But I'm game if you'd still have me with that knowledge. :) I've kept the blog I have with a grand total of four posts on private for the last four years. The first post from 2013 was about how I was done with homeschooling and at a new juncture in my life. I about died laughing when I read that because my son came back home for school and I didn't actually finish homeschooling until 2016 and of course, I am at a "juncture" again. So you could keep your blog private and play with it. If you fade, you fade. I think. :tongue_smilie: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I blog and I enjoy connecting with other bloggers. My blog is about homeschool stuff. I'm not great at site design either. Basically I have no idea what I'm doing! Ha!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Lisa, I would love to be part of your group, I especially need help with the organizing part. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonhawk Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 I've kept the blog I have with a grand total of four posts on private for the last four years. The first post from 2013 was about how I was done with homeschooling and at a new juncture in my life. I about died laughing when I read that because my son came back home for school and I didn't actually finish homeschooling until 2016 and of course, I am at a "juncture" again. So you could keep your blog private and play with it. If you fade, you fade. I think. :tongue_smilie: Sign me up then :) I actually enjoy web design and typography so it will be a fun distraction to set up. And I have a few blog names already floating around. And you're right, if it's just for me, no big deal if I miss a post one week. Or year, lol. Kind of like my twitter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 Sounds like a great idea to get back into blogging. I've been doing it for 10 years now and every so often you just have to reinvent yourself, change things up to keep it fresh, I needed to get back into writing after a hiatus and read Fierce on the Page which inspired me to redo my blog and challenge myself to post every single day. I'm taking it a month at a time and managed pretty successfully this past month. Also you may want to look into digital journaling. There's a national journaling writing month starting on the first. http://www.najowrimo.org/ Have fun! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted June 29, 2017 Author Share Posted June 29, 2017 Swimmermom, I am working on some digital organization right now. I'm doing pictures, my old poetry, and my ancestry. I had a blog, but it is basically defunct now. I tried for years to have a blog, but I just AM NOT INTUITIVE about site management. I did okay when I had a free site, but moving to a hosted site was a waste of money. I paid someone to do it for me because in this particular skill, I am an idiot, and then I had no idea how to update anything or reformat anything or any of those other types of things. I don't like to "fiddle around" on the computer. I don't want to have to figure how to fix my crashed site or install Jetpack V.289.69. Blah! I fail at blogging, it turns out. Quill, I would love to know what to do with my photos, among other things. Within hours of writing my original post, my 24 yo dd, who has struggled with depression for nearly a decade, called and asked if she could move home - that day! The house is completely torn up as I am painting the great room, the kitchen, and the main floor hallways. We had emptied out her old room and use it to paint our new trim. Our oldest son had already returned home two years ago due to depression as well. It almost take more organization and management skills than when they were little. I am drowning in paperwork along with the home improvement information. The exterior will be painted shortly, but some repair work needs to be done before then. I have phone numbers, contracts, and paint samples everywhere. I know there has to be a better way to do it. I keep hearing how simple blogging is, but it seems like when I follow someone's step-by-step instructions, MY Blogger dashboard seems to be "missing" that particular command they want me to follow. Argh! I get your frustration. I was kind of hoping that if we had a bunch of newbies and a few pros, we could all grow in our skills. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted June 29, 2017 Author Share Posted June 29, 2017 I am not sure I qualify. We recently landscaped our yard and I started a garden. I would really like to blog about it, mostly to remember things, but I am not sure I have enough drive and discipline. Maybe such a group is exactly what I need Given yours, mine, and Quill's posts, we may have to call the group "The Undisciplined Bloggers." You should write down your experience somewhere. Sometimes when I am working on the house, there can be a long pause in the project. I always forget to write down the small, but important things like, "prime the pre-primed trim anyway, paint one coat before installation. Paint two coats after installation - nails holes disappear." Or "it's really okay to add a few drops of water to trim paint, when it 's 70 degrees or higher to keep brush from dragging." Also, I feel like if I don't incorporate the before and after photos into the story, they'll just be lost in my digital storage somewhere. Did you guys do the work yourselves on your yard? I love reading those kinds of blogs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted June 29, 2017 Author Share Posted June 29, 2017 I blog and I enjoy connecting with other bloggers. My blog is about homeschool stuff. I'm not great at site design either. Basically I have no idea what I'm doing! Ha!! Your blogs look great! They are clean, simple, and not graphically overwhelming and your Baby Bee is adorable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted June 29, 2017 Author Share Posted June 29, 2017 Sounds like a great idea to get back into blogging. I've been doing it for 10 years now and every so often you just have to reinvent yourself, change things up to keep it fresh, I needed to get back into writing after a hiatus and read Fierce on the Page which inspired me to redo my blog and challenge myself to post every single day. I'm taking it a month at a time and managed pretty successfully this past month. Also you may want to look into digital journaling. There's a national journaling writing month starting on the first. http://www.najowrimo.org/ Have fun! That looks cool. When I was pregnant with my youngest, I was stir-crazy and joined a book club at our local Barnes and Noble for Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way. It was an amazing experience and a joyful time for personal growth. Cameron has you do "morning pages." If I remember right, you spit out about 3 pages or so first thing in the morning. It was hard at first, but journaling every day got easier. I had beautiful colored gel pens for my notebooks. I wonder if digital journaling is as rewarding. It could be fun to try. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 Quill, I would love to know what to do with my photos, among other things. Within hours of writing my original post, my 24 yo dd, who has struggled with depression for nearly a decade, called and asked if she could move home - that day! The house is completely torn up as I am painting the great room, the kitchen, and the main floor hallways. We had emptied out her old room and use it to paint our new trim. Our oldest son had already returned home two years ago due to depression as well. It almost take more organization and management skills than when they were little. I am drowning in paperwork along with the home improvement information. The exterior will be painted shortly, but some repair work needs to be done before then. I have phone numbers, contracts, and paint samples everywhere. I know there has to be a better way to do it. I keep hearing how simple blogging is, but it seems like when I follow someone's step-by-step instructions, MY Blogger dashboard seems to be "missing" that particular command they want me to follow. Argh! I get your frustration. I was kind of hoping that if we had a bunch of newbies and a few pros, we could all grow in our skills. Are your photos digital, physical, or a mix of both? I can tell you what I'm doing, but I have not found any secret way to make massive photo organization "easy" or "fast." I'm also working with a lot of my mother's very old photos, for the ancestry stuff, and that takes a LOT of time. Your last paragraph describes perfectly what happens to me when I just sit myself down to figure out this set-up-your-Wordpress-Blog thing. I get to step 3 or 4 and then something does not match the "easy 10-step guide" and I am screwed again. I even took a physical, in-person class at the college on "Setting Up Your Wordpress Blog" and they spent 8 of 9 hours showing us how to use the free site. I *know* how to do *that*! I'm paying for the part I *don't* know! I even went directly to the teacher, imploring him to show me how to work on my existing site. He ended up begging off because it was not backed up or updated. Well, hell, if I knew how to back it up and update it, I wouldn't be in the dang class! 😡 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 That looks cool. When I was pregnant with my youngest, I was stir-crazy and joined a book club at our local Barnes and Noble for Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way. It was an amazing experience and a joyful time for personal growth. Cameron has you do "morning pages." If I remember right, you spit out about 3 pages or so first thing in the morning. It was hard at first, but journaling every day got easier. I had beautiful colored gel pens for my notebooks. I wonder if digital journaling is as rewarding. It could be fun to try. Yes, I love Julia Cameron. I've worked through Artist Way twice and considering giving it another round. I call morning pages my morning grumbles. And when I get tired of grumbling, use it to talk to characters in my stories, journal or do prompts. Whether doing morning pages or freewrite, works great as a warm up. All my color pens just ran out. Now I remember why I wanted to go to Target today. :lol: My two cents about wordpress. I hate it. Blogger is so much easier to use. Plus I learned the hard way about backing up after blowing it up twice and losing all my setting in my early years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 I'd like to join. I blogged for like 10 years and then just ran out of steam, with all the hard things going on in my life. I had moved my blog from blogger, to wordpress self-hosted - and then, because I got so sick and tired of how hard it was to design my site, I moved it to squarespace...which also is a learning curve. I like squarespace now that I know how to navigate it, but I am paying for a site I'm not using. I think overall, blogger was the easiest blog to figure out. I'm thinking of moving my blog back to blogger to archive it there and thinking of re-branding my squarespace site to something different, since I am now a retired homeschooler. Which, means...more work..ugh. Not sure what to do. I think a good thing now is the trend for simple, white layouts, which means less complicated to put together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 Your blogs look great! They are clean, simple, and not graphically overwhelming and your Baby Bee is adorable. Thanks!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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