Misc

Blogging Feedback: Harsh Reality

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I once again asked for your feedback but unlike past years I actually got some harsh (but necessary) criticism…

I dislike the lack of content. I read a lot of blogs and a lot of them I have read through their babies first year. I never felt like their quality or content dropped significantly. I feel that your blog has, and I feel like you justify it every single blog by mentioning your baby. As a reader I prefer more day in the life posts learning about you and how you are navigating through your weight/workout/life/parent struggles so I can relate and maybe apply something to my life. I feel like all I read from you are sponsored posts and posts with very little heart. I unsubscribed from Naturally Family, but I keep holding off on leaving your blog. I feel like I might miss the moment when you get it and your blog becomes one I am happy to see in my reader.

and you know what you’re right.

When I first read this it felt like a having cold water thrown in my face, I should have seen it coming up it still shocked me. I read this and re-read it and re-read it again.  I then opened up RWT went back to my archives and looked at this month last year compared to right now and it’s true.  The last few posts from this month consists of sponsored posts, post about things I like and the upcoming challenge but nothing really about me, my life or anything with real significant content.  I agree as well that I am running into the same issue over on Naturally Family (NF).

I will also say it’s true that Edith has become the excuse behind why my content has dropped. As well as the fact that I struggle between what belongs on which blog and at the end of the day I am tired and often spent but I make a half-assed effort to write a post.

I have been working on my goals for May and one of them is to slow down and make more time for the things that I love and am passionate about.  From reading RWT right now you wouldn’t think it’s this blog or NF but it is.  Transitioning from the working world to becoming a stay-at-home mom and moving across the country has really sent me into talespin and I’m trying to recover.  I write this blog for you and for me and I know I have so much more to offer. It’s about taking time to deliver more quality content vs. quantity of posts.

I appreciate your feedback and would love to continue to have it so please take a few moments to answer five questions.  I will say I am working on more personal posts to go along with the sponsored , recipes and link up posts. As always I love to answer questions from you because to be honest if you met me you’d know I am a sharer so please no question is too personal just ask–> lindsay@runningwithtongs.com

RWT A-Z

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Good Morning! Hope you are having a great start to your week.

Janetha posted this A-Z survey and so I figured why not do it?

A is for age: 26

B is for breakfast today: Oatmeal with almond butter and banana

C is for currently craving: Asparagus and Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream

D is for dinner tonight: TBD

E is for favorite type of exercise: Running and Yoga

At Wanderlust Vermont

F is for an irrational fear: no idea?

G is for gross food: cheese out of a can- EWWWW

H is for hometown: Colchester/Burlington, VT

I is for something important: My husband.

J is for current favorite jam: Raspberry? or do you mean jam as in song?

K is for kids: We’ve got one on the way!

L is for current location: Burlington, VT

M is for the most recent way you spent money: After vacation pantry/fridge restock!

N is for something you need: I need to clean the t0-be nursery

O is for occupation: Holistic Health Coach, Blogger, Administrative Assistant, Recipe Creator

P is for pet peeve: Leaving cupboards open

Q is for a quote: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” ― Hippocrates

R is for random fact about you: I am obsessed with notebooks.

S is for favorite healthy snack: Avocado on Wasa with Sriracha

T is for favorite treat: coconut ice cream

U is for something that makes you unique:

V is for favorite vegetable: asparagus

W is for today’s workout: Hasn’t happened yet but will be pre-natal yoga and/or a long walk

X is for X-rays you’ve had: Um not sure leg, knee, teeth

Y is for yesterday’s highlight: Cleaning off my desk.

Z is for your time zone: Eastern.

Now it’s your turn! If you do this A-Z Survey on your blog come back and leave a comment so I can check it out! 

11 Random Things and More

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Since I haven’t jumped on and done this survey yet and I have some time to waste I think I will.  I’m sure you’ve seen this up on many blogs over the past few days, so heres mine!

Here’s how it works:

  1. List 11 random things about myself
  2. Answer the 11 questions Courtney asked other bloggers
  3. Come up with 11 questions to ask other bloggers
  4. Tag 11 other bloggers to do this next

11 Random Things About Myself

1. I studied at three universities in three different countries over the course of my academic career.  I first went to Spain the summer after high school to study Spanish at Universidad Complutense de Madrid , I then started my first (real) year of university at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, NB, Canada, then I did my second year at Suffolk University in Boston and then I did completed my final two years back at St. Thomas University where I received my B.A. in Political Science with minors in Religious Studies and Human Rights.

At our Metro stop in Madrid

2. Although I had big dreams of working in International Relations I ended up down a totally different path and became a certified health coach.

3. I hate when people leave cupboards open.  Seriously my biggest pet peeve.

4. My husband and I met through a mutual friend when I was at school in Boston and we re-met when I returned to Fredericton for my last two years of university.  We actually re-met at a bar when I was trying to avoid another guy named Neil, my now husband Neil was my knight in shinning armor.

5. I would love to move out of Vermont in the next year….but where to is another story. Taking suggestions.

6. I am always in bed long before my husband and I always take the cat with me.

7. I still sleep with my blankie from my childhood.

8. Growing up I always made my mom dress and toss my salad, even out at restaurants. Honestly I would still have her do it if I still lived at home.

9. I love to play canasta.  Summers after college when I was living at home I would go to painting class with my grandma and then to her seniors meal where we would end the day playing hours of canasta. Yes, I’m an old lady at heart.

10. If a meal is really good (and we are at home) I will lick the plate clean.

11. After months of trying to figure something affordable out Neil and I are actually going on a Babymoon! We are going to Boston for a few days and then flying out to meet my parents in Myrtle Beach where they are renting a condo.  We are so excited to get away before the baby comes and neither of us have ever been to Myrtle Beach.  I honestly think the only time I can remember going to South Carolina was on our first Disney trip, over 20 years ago, when we drove to Disney from Vermont and stopped at South of the Border. 

Questions I have to Answer:

  1. Are you a morning person or a night owl? morning.
  2. What’s the one piece of clothing you can’t live without? my lululemon wunder crops
  3. What is your biggest pet peeve? see #3 above.
  4. Gum or mints? mints.
  5. Favorite dessert? berries and chocolate coconut ice cream.
  6. Do you have tattoos or piercings? i have my ears pierced and i have three tattoos.  I also had lip pierced two different times.
  7. Do you believe in ghosts and/or the afterlife? ghosts yes.
  8. What’s your worst habit? not putting my laundry away.
  9. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? somewhere in Europe- this Q is too hard.
  10. What is one thing you miss about being a kid? summer vacations.
  11. If you had to change your name, what would it be? i wouldn’t.

A New Set of Questions:

Okay since I know that this has gone around quite a bit I’m going to encourage you to answer the questions above.  I also am not going to tag anyone since many people have already completed it but if you haven’t yet please complete and come back here and leave me a comment!

Survey Results: Part 1

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I really appreciate all of you for taking a few moments to take my blog survey. Your feedback has been very helpful in guiding the future posts and focus of the blog. If you have not taken the survey yet, and would like to, please visit here. The survey is open until January 15, 2012.

 

Since I have received so much great feedback I decided to split my results into two parts, the first of which will be a discussion on various comments that were made and the second will discuss more the poll results and the future of RWT.

Comment: “I think your blog is great! Sometimes it doesn’t feel like a food blog.” 

Response: My blog is not intended to be a food blog. Yes when I first started blogging in 2006 as Cooking For A Vegan Lover my blog WAS exclusively a food blog that was about 90% recipes and 10% products and restaurants. Since then I transitioned to Cook.Vegan.Lover. (aka CVL) in the fall of 2010 which was my small move into adding more lifestyle posts into my then food blog. Over the course of CVL I became a health coach and started adding health and nutrition posts as well as lifestyle and fitness posts into the blog on a small scale.  Then after many months of debating whether I wanted to make the big leap to transition into more of a healthy living blog (which CVL was already becoming) I finally made the decision to say goodbye to CVL and that is how Running With Tongs was born.  If you have not yet I encourage you to read my Important Changes letter that explains the transition from CVL to RWT.

 I would like to see less iphone photos/crappy phone pics.

Response: I agree they suck. I have been lazy lately and I haven’t bothered to locate my camera when I decide to take a photo and since I always have my phone on me I end up taking lots of iphone photos.  This is one change that I am working on being better about and I will be limiting iphone photos on the blog to ones that are well done.

Travel and restaurant reviews, only because I don’t travel or eat out.

Response: These are two things, especially restaurant reviews, that people would like to see less of on the blog.  I have to say that you will see less of both in the coming months but not because I don’t enjoy writing about them but because with a baby on the way we won’t be doing so much traveling or dining out. However, they will not go away completely.  I know that many of you don’t live in the Vermont or travel to the same spots that we do but I enjoy writing about our experience and will continue to do so.  I will be doing less restaurant specific reviews and more overall travel posts though.

I would like to see less pregnancy posts. 

Response: You will. At first when I kept seeing this come up on the “things I would like to see less of” responses I was a little upset.  My blog is a place for me to write and express myself and I really value my readers, so hearing that many of you are not interested in sharing my experience made me feel a little upset (it doesn’t help that my hormones are raging). However, I get it, so many bloggers happen to be pregnant or were recently pregnant so I know that many of you are feeling a little over the whole “I’m having a baby” thing but guess what I’m not. We have experienced two miscarriages and being on my third pregnancy and this one currently being successful it is as big deal to me and I really want to share my experience. Ultimately I have decided to keep RWT pregnancy post free and the Hubz is working on a RWT Bebe site for those of you interested in following my pregnancy progress and for those of you interested in my vegan pregnancy.  Although I am creating a RWT Bebe site, RWT will not be 100% pregnancy free because my blog is where I choose to open up about my life and well I’m not going to pretend I’m not pregnant, so no explicit pregnancy posts (although I will make a note at the bottom of daily posts letting you know of updates to RWTBebe) but being pregnant might come up occasionally.

I would like to see more more recipes.

Response: This you will definitely be seeing more recipes.  Honestly the first 11 weeks of my pregnancy were hell and getting the kitchen to create recipes was just not going to happen.  Most days I was happy if I could make toast let alone create a recipe.  I am now feeling better and am already working on recipes.  I plan to share 1-3 recipes weekly and I also am hoping to create one new e-book before the bebe comes (e-mail me if you are interested in being a tester).

I’d like to see more health and wellness posts/I’d like to see less health and wellness posts.

Response: So far health and wellness has been pretty divided between those who want more and those who want less.  Well I’m going to try and provide a happy medium.  For those of you who want less: I will try to add more quick tips and work on one health/wellness topic specific post each week.  For those of you who want more I will be posting two-three times per week over at my Health Coaching Blog where you can get your weekly fix of health and wellness posts (that’s 3-4 per week between the two sites).