Can I just say thank goodness it’s Saturday? I live for the weekend, especially when I get to relax a little bit!
Things have been really busy in my world, and now we’re entering the season of holiday parties and more shopping than one can handle. Hopefully your December isn’t too crazy yet!
I’m a week late, but I’m happy to join the Ultimate Coffee Date with Coco and Deborah! Join us as we catch up on life! Clearly, I’ve had a lto going on…
[bctt tweet=”Happy Saturday! Is it too late to catch up over coffee? What’s new? #ultimatecoffeedate” username=”Janelle_RWNR”]
Ultimate Coffee Date – Post-Thanksgiving Edition
If we were having coffee, I would tell you…that we are still trying to recover from Thanksgiving. We had an absolutely wonderful time and our families finally got to meet each other. My 6-year-old twin nephews definitely kept things interesting and very loud, haha. My mom lives in Buffalo and stayed with us for 2 weeks as it was her first time getting to see our new home. We all enjoyed ourselves as we watched football and ate really well, and it was a Thanksgiving miracle that we had enough sleeping accommodations for an additional 8 people! So with all that went on, we are still struggling to get back to normalcy.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you…that I’ve been thinking a lot about blogging. As we enter a new year, I’m shifting my priorities. I’ve found that over the past few months, I have been extremely overwhelmed with all of the blogging things that everyone keeps saying you’re supposed to do. I’ve enrolled in classes but I’m thinking about ending my membership because as each month passes, the pile of unfinished work grows. I also want to get back to the basics and really think about what types of posts I want to write that would be helpful for runners and aspiring runners. I’m less interested in sponsored posts now and really want to focus on quality writing. I need to get more organized and I want to do it on my terms. It’s just a lot to think about!
If we were having coffee, I would tell you…that I’ve also been thinking a lot about my ambassadorships. For 2017, I have committed to be a BibRave Pro Ambassador and a Love Run Half Marathon Ambassador. Being a BibRave Pro, I will be able to test a variety of products and run sponsored races, and share lots of discounts but I’ll be extremely limited in what other sponsorships I can have. I know that I will probably have to pass on some good opportunities, but I want to see how it goes. As for the Love Run, I’m super excited about that! CGI racing is a great organization and I’m glad they keep inviting me back! I’ve decided that I’m not going to apply to be a ZOOMA Ambassador again, but I have my fingers crossed that I’ll get to be a Rock ‘N Blogger in 2017. It was exciting to apply to ALL THE AMBASSADORSHIPS and get accepted to them all, but I’m looking forward to a change.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you…that we’re still working on our Christmas decorations! We bought a real tree from the local arboretum last week, but all we have on the tree are multicolored lights! I used to have an artificial 3-foot tree with blue and white lights, but now we need to get new ornaments to fit our new color scheme…which I still haven’t figured out. I also want to have outdoor lights, but I’m not sure what would work best. We still have our pumpkins out so it looks like we’re having a bit of a holiday identity crisis! Any decorating tips you’d like to share?
As you can see, I’ve got a bit of work to do!If we were having coffee, I would tell you…that I’ve been working on creating a home office for what feels like an eternity, and I’m finally making some progress! A couple of months ago I finally bought a new desk, but when my mom was in town, she helped me pick out bookcases and shelving to organize. Now I just need to build the darn things! This space will be my blogging office while also serving as a fitness room where I can lay out a yoga mat and also have space for my workout clothes. The goal is to have everything completed by Christmas…wish me luck!
Okay, I think I’ve shared enough of my life, haha! What would you share with me over coffee? How are you gearing up for the holidays?
I think you should follow your heart and write about what you want to write about. Blogging is supposed to be fun right?! So great that your families had the opportunity to meet up. Better late than never for coffee no worries!
Glad you had an awesome Thanksgiving! All that food looks amazing! *-*
Best of luck to you on the Rock ‘N Blogger ambassadorship! <3! I hope you get it!
Your Christmas tree looks awesome! I don't really have any decorations to speak of in my apartment…unless you count the pineapple string lights that I want to put up somewhere! 😛
Thanks, Farrah! We had a great time for Thanksgiving. Hopefully Rock ‘n Blog works out, fingers crossed!
I love pineapple lights…I should get some for my office! 🙂
Blogging stuff can be so overwhelming! I try to only add in something new every few months otherwise it becomes too much. I have been in my house for a year and half and we still don’t have our office set up. I think that may be our next project after the holidays!
My hope is that my blogging will get more organized again once I have my office set up…I think I Just get pulled in too many different directions and just need to get stuff done!
Good luck on your office project!
Wow…that’s a house full of people! It certainly sounds like a great time, though. Maybe go with a single color of ornaments…silver? I have had both of my trees up since Thanksgiving weekend. Both have lights and big bows at the top (with streamers)…but the ornaments are still in the storage space in the basement (oops).I need to get that final detail(s) dealt with LOL
That sounds really pretty! I ended up going with a focus on gold ornaments! I went to a fancy place that had some really nice pieces so I picked up some of those as well.
I love your thoughts on blogging. I feel the same way. I”m still planning on 3 posts per week but I’m all about my posts, my voice. It’s kind of freeing, isn’t it?
I think I’ve been a bit out of sorts for the past few months on my blogging, not getting to write about the things that I want to. Maybe marathon training got too much in the way, I’m not sure….but I’m looking forward to starting fresh and getting back to writing in a way that I really enjoy! You do a great job of writing in your voice!
We generally have almost no holiday parties, and being Jewish, I get to sit back & watch everyone else run around like little rats. I’m pretty wiped out from my year in general, so I’m happy to be doing a whole lot of resting!
People will always tell you what you “have” to do when it comes to blogging. I think when you do what feeds your soul, people can tell. Or at least I hope so!
Well I’m glad that you’re getting that time to rest now! I should be running around, but I’m still way behind on everything I need to do. I kept denying that Christmas is so close, and I have no clue what to get anyone!
I like that: “do what feeds your soul”…totally agree with you on that!
It sounds like you had a great Thanksgiving! It’s great that your families finally got to meet!
There are so many opinions out there on the “shoulds” of blogging – in the end you’ve got to do what works best for you.
Thanks! Yes, we had a really great time!
And you’re right…it’s time to do what works for me as a blogger.
The new ambassadorships sound exciting! It took a while for me to shift from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
Hopefully I’ll feel like things are a little less hectic by just focusing on a few, instead of so many different obligations!
I’ll have to take a picture of how we ended up decorating for Xmas…I’m so proud of how it’s turned out!
I’ve never done sponsored posts because what if I don’t like it? I’m very up front about my opinions, and unless I really like something, reviewing products isn’t my thing.
We just had a tree trimming party Saturday and that was a really fun way to get some new ornaments and have fun decorating the tree! As far as blogging, I think it’s only natural for our blogs to grow and change as we do. I took myself off a strict posting schedule and that was the best decision I made – I love writing but my blog is a hobby, not a job 🙂
I like the idea of a tree trimming party! We ended up having a very productive weekend shopping for ornaments and I think we have a nice mix of traditional and more “whimsical” ornaments on the tree!
It’s so funny, I feel like I need a more strict schedule because I get overwhelmed with havings random posts here and there. Hopefully I find a nice groove so that I can do more blog posts in advance. And YES, this is a HOBBY, not a job! I want to keep blogging as an enjoyable activity, not a chore!
I am so with you on the blogging! I too need to make some changes and see what is working for me and what is not. I have a few ideas but really need to dedicate some time (something that is the reason I’m in this boat in the first place) to find out! Glad to see you’ve got the site back up and running Janelle!
Thanks, Tricia! It was frustrating to have those technical issues but I think everything is up to par now!
If I can lock myself in a room for a few hours, I think a lot of my blogging problems would be solved!
I’ve done a few blogging classes and used the nudge to clean some things up but also remember that it’s a hobby for me and I can’t let it take over my life. It’s hard to do good sponsored posts, but I do like learning about new products.
The blogging world can get SO overwhelming, but I have to learn what my limits are and stick to them! I think I tried to do too much this year and ended up not succeeding the way I would’ve liked :/
Wow, you sounds busy !
I have been doing a lot of travelling for personal and Professional reasons since the beginning of November, which means only half my Christmas shopping is done. It actually really freaks me out because I am always finished November 15. Ugh.
One of our sons is home from college, which is very nice — but will also add more food and laundry to the current equation. I admit I’ve gotten a little lazy around the house. I completely understand the blogging woes. I’m definitely not organized right now in that area. This WW link often takes over my blogging priorities, as it should. It was a commitment Tricia and I happily made, but some weeks it does get very busy and I’ve decided to let a few opportunities go. How fun to be able to buy new decorations for your new house! Thanks for linking, Janelle.