Following up on this blog survey I did a few months ago, and a post about five songs I was loving this spring, I’m here with another round of favorites, five recent reads I’m loving this Friday. All five of these blog posts made an impact on me in recent weeks, whether related to running, relaxation, or recipes. Those are the real three R’s we all need!
My blog is a wonderful outlet for sharing my running journey and new recipes, but can’t totally reflect my reality. I love running, and I am so excited to be kicking off my five months of training for the New York City Marathon in November. I enjoy creating new allergy free recipes, and only hope that I have time this summer to spend some time experimenting in the kitchen. Yet running and cooking together take only a couple of hours out of my day, and as for the rest of what I’m doing, I’m doing it as Alyssa, not as Renaissance Runner Girl. So where does that leave me and my blog? Right now, it has me thinking about where I personally leave off and the blogger begins, where the two overlap, and what I want the focus of this blog to be.
When I first started blogging, I knew absolutely nothing about blog photography, or really any photography, for that matter. I’ve always enjoyed taking pictures, and I took a course one semester in high school to fulfill my fine arts credit, but the few really good shots I’ve managed have always been due to luck and light. I’ve learned a few lessons over the past year as I blog along, and some of the tips I’ve picked up that have prettied up Renaissance Runner Girl the most have to do with the quality of my photographs. The three tools I’ve found most useful? Posts by other bloggers, taking the time to focus on the pictures as much as the words when I’m creating content, and using photo editing tools like BeFunky.
On the last day of the year, I’m thinking about and sharing my reflections on 2015. It’s been a year of major milestones, as documented in my post on my one year blog anniversary. Yet what’s mattered even more than the big events is how each moment helped to change my life as a whole. Being able to look back on how it happened through this blog is pretty special.
This Thursday, I’m thinking out loud about the awesome blogging community I’ve discovered since I began Renaissance Runner Girl a year ago. I’ve discussed this before, but this week brings some special attention because the amazing Bloggers Gonna Blog community started by Georgie and Christina organized a blogger Secret Santa exchange, and I’m here to share both what I gave to my buddy and what I received from my Santa.
renaissancerunnergirl 