Looking back...

Today's challenge from the SITS Girls is to share something we posted on Sept 28 in a previous year. I looked through my archives and couldn't find anything on 9/28 since 2006.

So, here are a few links to some previous posts from the last week of September.

9/24/2009 Do You Have the Time?
9/24/2009 Can sitting at your desk be harmful?
9/25/2007 Happiness...

Geez I wasn't very consistent over the years. :)

What have you posted about this week over the years?
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Three Things Thursday

1. I start my new job in four days! I'm super excited! I'm also a bit nervous. How will this affect my blogging? What if I don't wake up in time? What will I wear? What will I bring for lunch?  I haven't had a job since May, and I got rid of almost all my professional clothing when we set out on our adventure. I've gotten used to the stayinguplate-sleepingin-loungingallday-blogging-running-soakinginthehottub lifestyle. I'm excited for the opportunities that working will afford me, but I've gotta be honest, I'll miss this leisure time I've enjoyed these past few months.


2. I'm skipping my run today. I fully intended on going when I woke up, but my first few steps after crawling out of bed were too painful. Both knees are bothering, so I figure a rest from running for a couple days might do them some good. I plan to continue with some strength exercises today. If I can't run, I can strengthen, right?


3. I've been working diligently the past couple of days to sift through our photos from our travels in June. I've posted some videos and pictures to Facebook here and here. In case you missed out, you can read more about our time in Montana (here and here) and Idaho (here and here). My goal is to get through everything over the weekend before I start my new job. I'm sure there will be a bit of settling in time once I start.

What's going on with you today?

Anything fun planned for the weekend?

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Enjoying the Course

Today's challenge is to tell the story behind the name of our blogs. I thought I had explained it before on the blog, but looking back through some archives, I don't think I actually did.

So, what's in a name?

Well, a lot, I guess.

If you're new, you might not realize that this blog used to have a different name - All Things Clarinda. I didn't think it accurately captured the essence of what I wanted to blog, so I changed it to Enjoying the Course.

I knew I wanted to put a little more focus to my blog. I knew I wanted to try to focus more on exercise, fitness, and healthy living. I knew I wanted to become a running blog.

In general my running pace is about a 10:00min/mile. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that's a pretty average pace. I know a lot of people who run slower, and I know a lot of people who run faster.

I'd wanted to include average in my blog name, but nothing really sounded just right. I discussed it at length with my husband and even put it out to my readers.

I got a lot of push-back on the word average. You're not average. Don't sell yourself short. I'm actually happy being average. It doesn't mean that I don't push myself; it's more a recognition that there are others both better and worse than me.

Whoa. I think I went off on a little tangent there...

Being a not particularly fast runner, I don't really race or compete. Instead I try to just have fun with it. Push myself, of course, but also take my time and enjoy my surroundings and the beauty around me.

And ENJOYING THE COURSE was born.

I still kept the average part in the subtitle. I'm stubborn like that.
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The best thing ever. Well, this week, anyway.

Perhaps I was a little too boastful on Monday when I stated how pleased I was with myself for sticking to this month's writing challenge so well. Two days later, I missed posting. Again. Still, I'm going to take it as a win. With this post, I've posted nearly 70% of the days this month. Yay me!

Yesterday, I missed writing a letter to my former self, but I'm okay with that. I wasn't really sure what to say anyway. It seemed too similar to the What If post, and I didn't want to get at all negative.

Also, yesterday was a pretty crappy day all-around.

• Awoke to the knock of the repairman who came to fix our kitchen sink/dishwasher. Now at least I'll be able to wash dishes thereby making it easier to eat at home.
• Felt cheated out of sleep, so went back to bed after he left.
• Read with my husband for a couple hours.
• Felt sleepy and took yet another nap.

Since we both woke up at the same time due to the repairman coming, it threw off my whole schedule - which meant no exercising, no job searching, no me-time. I did clean the kitchen and make a delicious dinner, so I wasn't completely worthless all day.

But WAIT! This post is supposed to be about the best thing that happened this week.

If this post was yesterday, I'd say the best thing was receiving an email from a company on Monday requesting an interview.

Much to my surprise, the interview far exceeded receiving the email.

Yeah. You read that right.

This is probably the first ever interview that I walked away from actually excited and confident. I'll find out on Monday if they want me to come in for a 2nd interview with the owners, but I'd be really surprised if they didn't though I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high.

Knowing I'll get some kind of word on Monday, makes me free to enjoy the weekend. I don't have any plans really, but at least I won't have to worry and wait by the phone.

What's the best thing to happen to you this week?

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Why blog?

I have family scattered all around the country, and I've gone through spurts of trying to keep us connected through various outlets (newsletters, etc). Shortly after getting married, I attempted to create a family website. It never really took off for a variety of reasons.

When we were living in NYC in 2006 and neglecting said website, some friends of ours started a family blog for them to keep in contact with their far-away families. What's a blog? we asked.

They told us a little about it, and the Dodson Journal was born. We (read: I) updated it a few times a month with our adventures and experiences, but I wanted a space of my own to share my thoughts on cooking, reading, and whatever else came to mind.

A few months later, I started All Things Clarinda as my home on the web. Over the next several years, I sporadically posted here and there. There wasn't a ton of focus - more a mishmash of a lot of different things.

I thought I needed to find a niche. How about cooking? Well in Oct 2009, I started Tale of Two Sisters and Their Kitchens with one of my sisters. It didn't fill all my needs, so I kept rather inconsistently blogging at all three blogs.

Still, something was missing.

At the end of last year, I decided I needed further focus on my personal blog, so I decided to re-vamp it and focus more on running and fitness. I'd recently started running again, and I really wanted to become healthier and more fit. I thought focusing my blog in this manner would help motivate me to continue with my fitness goals, so I rolled into 2012 with a blog make-over - include a name change: Enjoying the Course - An Average Girl's Journey Through Life.

Life got a little crazy earlier this year, with student teaching and everything, and the ol' blog got a bit neglected again, but so far, I've already blogged more in 2012 than any previous year! Yay!

So, there's the long and short of the answer to today's challenge question: Why did you start blogging? :-)

Now, it's your turn.

Why did you start blogging (your own or reading others)?
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Readers v. Comments

Since I couldn't really come up with my own topic this morning, but wanted to get something out before heading to school, I decided, for the first time, to go with today's NaBloPoMo Writing Prompt:

Would you rather have more blog readers or more blog comments?
Ooh. This is a tough one. 

At first, I'm really inclined to say comments, because I love the interaction that comes with comments and have made some bloggy friends because of reciprocal comments.

But, when I really think about it, readers are a little more important to me. Just knowing that my blog is out there and getting read is very satisfying, and without readers, there would be no comments, right?

Then, again, I rarely check my stats, mostly because my readership is quite low and I sometimes I find that depressing.

I guess that brings me back to comments. Those truly make me smile! Even if I only got one comment on every post, I would be elated.

Of course, I'm not always the best at leaving comments, so I suppose I shouldn't expect that from my readers, either. Sometimes I'm just too busy or I'm reading the post days weeks after it was published or I don't think I could add anything that hasn't already been said.

I am definitely more inclined to leave a comment on a post that has less than 10 or so comments than one that has more than that.

Ok, ok. IF I have to choose, I choose comments! :)

Since I'm not a stats checker, comments let me know someone is reading enjoying what I have to say.

Which do you prefer - more blog readers or more blog comments?

Comment Interaction

I ♥ Comments. (What blogger doesn't?)

I also love the interaction that comments can bring. I love getting a response to a comment I've left, and I love responding to comments I've received.

But not every person that leaves me a comment has an email address attached to their comments, so I can't always send them a personal response via email. :(

Today, I noticed that Blogger made some changes to the embedded comments. Replies can now be posted to a comment! I've longed (a little dramatic, huh?) for this moment for a long time. Now, I can easily to respond to every comment AND I can reply to other comments on other blogs.

Thank you folks at Blogger!