Me and My Blog

My friend Emily posted this on her blog and I thought it looked like fun.

Why did you start a blog?

Originally I had a couple of photo sites, but my biggest problem is that I wanted to say more than I was allowed per picture. We have family all over the country so it was a great way for them to keep up with us. My friend April told me about her blog and suggested I start one. I checked hers out, I was impressed, and here I am. I'm a blog addict now. Thanks April. ;)

How did you come up with your blog name?

Well, I didn't want to put too much information "out there" in case some serial child kidnapper read my blog and decided to make a visit so I chose not to include our name. Plus I think it's cool to have a last name that starts with an O, like Jackie O. And the blog is about what is going on in our lives and house...so there you have it. Exciting stuff, no?

Do your friends and family know about your blog?

I think most people do. Sometimes I am hesitant to tell people about it because I think people must think I have waaayyyy too much time on my hands since I post frequently. (Which I do.) And that maybe it comes across that I am a little bit too crazy about my kid because I take so many flippin pictures. (Which I am.) But it's fun. Plus I don't have to actually "talk" to my friends anymore, they know what's going on in our lives because they keep updated on the blog. Kidding about that. No, it is funny though when a friend will mention something that I wrote about in my blog, and I ask, "Oh, did I tell you about that?" No, they read it on here. hehe.

How do you write your posts?

I am the same as Emily, and actually probably most bloggers. I think about what I am going to write about when something happens, or actually take pictures to specifically blog about it. I have it visualized in my head, what I am going to write, then I just write it and realize later-that post could have been a bit more thought out-it sounded better in my head. Oh well, I do have some time on my hands but not enough time to write, edit and re-write my posts. Especially since I post many of the posts late at night and my brain hurts. Like now.

Have you ever had a troll or had to delete unkind comments?

Nope, but maybe because I don't have my blog listed on blogger.com or on google. I prefer not to put my blog out there and to keep it amongst my family and friends, and probably their friends.

Do you check your stats? Do you care how many people read your blog? If you do care, how do you increase traffic?

I actually have a really cool tracker, thanks to April, and it tells me, among other things, the city of the person reading my blog. Although I don't think it's 100% accurate because I know people who read the blog and their city isn't listed. And not even close either. (I think if you live within 50 miles of Everett it just says Everett.) Sometimes I have 10 readers a day and sometimes 50. I had someone in Malaysia read my blog once, but I figured they must have gotten here by mistake. And no I don't care to increase traffic. Traffic's already congested enough in Seattle, thank you very much. Oh, you mean internet traffic?

What kind of blogs/posts interest you?

I love reading blogs. My faves are mainly mommy blogs, I get a lot of great ideas from other moms, and it's nice to read about other moms going through the same thing you are. I also keep up with the happenings of celebs from a blog or two. How else am I going to know what is really going on with the show, "The Hills?" I also read a couple fitness ones, just in case I ever get interested in fitness.

What do you like and dislike about blogging?

I love it. I love that my in-laws in California can keep up with Sydney and what we are doing up here. I enjoy rambling on, and it's a fun way to do that. (I was once told I had a "chatty" writing style from a college professor.) He'd be so proud now. It also gives my friends who work something to do to pass the time. I enjoyed keeping up with my blogs back in my working days. Err, I mean my lunch break Kate, I only did that on my lunch break, yeah. Oh heck, who am I kidding? You probably knew. In fact you were probably reading blogs of your own. ;)
I also LOVE that this blog can be made into a book, and a nice one at that. Check out Blurb, it's so cool and I think I am slowly giving up scrapbooking. Yeah, I'll still do a book here and there, but I really like that I can make this into a beautiful hardcover book that Sydney will love to look at one day. I know I would have loved to read something like this from my parents back in the day. How cool to see the everyday life of my parents and activities my mom did with my brother and I!
What I dislike is that more of my friends don't blog. Especially when one say...maybe is pregnant and it'd be a great way to keep her parents, who live in Arizona, updated on how the pregnancy is going? And maybe another one has two kids now and I think she probably just tells her family and friends to read my blog to keep updated on the family happenings since she never does anything with her pictures. Okay kidding girls, but I do really think you should give in to peer pressure and start blogging. And nice work to my friends who have started. I love your blogs. :)