Learning As I Blog Along

I’ve been lucky to have some time over the past few weeks to dedicate to blogging as if it were a full time job. While I’d love it if that were a reality, for now blogging is a hobby that I really enjoy and hope to continue with as much as I can. There’s so much to learn, about running a blog and a website, using social media, and developing whatever passion you blog about, which in my case is mostly running and recipes but has also become more about my life in general. And I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how most of the important tools, tips and tricks I’ve picked up are courtesy of other bloggers. 

 

 

 

 

When I first started blogging, I didn’t know anyone else who had a blog, except for a few friends who had used blogs to document their study abroad experiences. (Please note, I will use the word “blog” more in this post than I ever have before or will again.) I began this blog on a whim, wanting to write and share my thoughts on whatever was on my mind. Ten months later, here I am. 

 

 

 

 

For the first half of that time, I was finishing up my final year of law school. I began my first term as a Junior League volunteer. I found November Project and made a few great friends (and hopefully will become better friends with more people once I start going again next week!) I blogged about recipes I’d been whipping up for myself for awhile, like banana maple muffins and my oatmeal cakes. And one rather frosty April morning, I met my friend Kaitlin at a group run and we started chatting about blogging before I fell behind (and I mean way behind, this girl is speedy, and I am, shall we say, more gently paced.) 

 

 

 

 

Making a friend who was also a blogger was really fun for me. I enjoyed blogging and wanted to talk more about it. I was surprised when Kaitlin mentioned that I was the first blogger friend she had met in person before discovering that I had a blog – I didn’t realize that bloggers became friends THROUGH their blogs, or that there were in fact all sorts of blogging communities. But as I started to blog more, I also read more of other people’s blogs. I started actually following along with them and getting interested in what they were up to, and the idea of a blogger friend or ‘blend’ became more real to me.

 

 

 

 

For the past five months, I’ve been living in a kind of limbo. I graduated from law school in May, took the bar exam, turned 24, traveled to England, California, and Nashville, ran the Dumbo Double Dare and a local half marathon, and more. I was in my house studying for two months and then I was out and about, whether globetrotting or having fall fun in my hometown. Blogging has been a constant in my life during this time. I’ve checked out fully a few times, like when I was hiking in the Lake District, but for the most part I’ve found reading blogs is the best way to pass the time while sitting in an airport 🙂 I’ve become a lot more invested in my own blog and eager to learn more.

 

 

 

 

I’ve been…

Starting to figure out the mysterious concept of SEO.

 

Focusing more on photography, which I love but had no idea how best to approach when it comes to a blog and especially recipes.

 

Updating many of my recipes, like this Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Tea Cake.

 

Learning how to use BeFunky and PicMonkey and Canva, which are the reason I’ve made my Paleo Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies and Pumpkin Apple Spice Loaf look as good as they taste.

 

Joining my first blogger Facebook group (courtesy of Georgie), which is full of lovely, wonderful, creative and supportive people, none of whom I know in person but all of whom are eager to help out when I have a question.

 

Getting on Pinterest, which I still can’t fully grasp but hope to master a little more day by day, and just yesterday I created my first Instagram account (I’m a Luddite, or I was before this blog!)

 

 

First Instagram shared for National Dessert Day

 

 

 

On Monday I start my new job – my first real, permanent “big girl” job – at a big law firm in New York City. I plan to keep running, reading, writing, baking, blogging, volunteering, and having an active social life – with absolutely no idea how I’m going to fit it all in. I do know one thing. I’ll have a place to share the journey, and it’s right here.

 

 

 

 

[Tweet “Lessons Learned From Blogging “]

 

 

 

 

What has blogging taught you?

 

Have you made friends from blogging?

 

 

 

 

 

 

© 2015 Renaissance Runner Girl. All rights reserved.

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