Where in the world?!
I'm almost done posting about vacay... hold in there guys. But before I move onto Day 13?, 14?, shoot, I've LOST COUNT so I probably should go back and check- anyhow, before I move on, has anyone (that would be anyone with a blog to be precise)- has anyone ever checked out the stats on their blog??? I just only recently discovered these. They're pretty interesting. Not that I really care WHO's reading my blog or HOW MANY people are reading it- don't worry, I DON'T obsess about it... I've said before, the reason I've kept a blog for the past 4+ years has been for several reasons--- 1. My blog is like my journal. I tend to forget things pretty quickly, so my blog is a good way to "BOOK" memories. 2. I like to write. Really I do. I'm not trying to boast and claim I'm actually a GOOD writer, but truly I'd LOVE to write more if I had the time, and of course I HATE when I get WRITER'S BLOCK- which seems to happen ALL.THE.TIME especially when my boys are having "one of those days". F.Y.I. I already know I use the words, "Seriously" and "Love" far too often; I need to invest in a thesaurus; I'm guilty of writing run on sentences AND I'm totally a "punctuation whore"... I use "...", exclamation marks, hyphens and commas WAY too much and inappropriately... my grammar is HORRIBLE! but then again, can you blame me much?! I was taught in California. I'm not blaming my teachers, but I believe they stopped teaching grammar in the schools way back during the 60's and 70's. After that, the schools all ran out of money, and English was meant to teach just that, English, since so many of the kids in the San Diego School District were E.S.L.. Just saying... 3. Most of my family and friends live everywhere ELSE but Utah, so my blog has been a great tool in keeping them informed about our family's happenings. 4. I LOVE to take pictures--- I think my desktop has nearly 28 thousand just from the past 3 years. {I just checked- 27, 231 pictures actually- no worries, they're all backed up on hard drives}... anyhow- if I had the wall space in my house, along with enough picture frames, I'd print and hang nearly every one of them... but I don't... SO, I post my favorites here on my blog- so I can come back and look at them and remember what, who, where I took them AND share them with all of my favorite people. 5. It's no secret--- all of my boys (with the exception of Atticus) have all had some major medical problems (usually at birth)... you know how when you go to the doctors office and they ask you if there have been any new or past medical conditions, illnesses or emergencies that they should know about?--- well, I'm not going to lie... at least a time or two, or okay, maybe a dozen times- I've grabbed my smart phone- opened up my blog, scrolled down to a particular post I've written before in the past and I've read {or in some cases just shown the doctor} what the name of the illness, condition, anomaly was... sometimes I've forgotten completely what the boy('s) had, but most of the time, I just can't pronounce the medical term. Anyhow, a blog has come in really handy for these circumstances. 6. I LOVE scrapbooking- CAPPA CAPPA SCRAPPA (just kidding)- however I rarely ever have the time to do it, and I'll be completely honest- I have a whole closet full of fancy scrapbooking papers and tools - shoot my husband even bought me a fancy Cricut machine about 4 years ago that I've only used maybe a dozen times (if that)--- I just always find other things to do than scrapbook, SO, in my mind, keeping a blog is PERFECT because it's sort of like a scrapbook of our life- minus all the fancy embellishments and cutesy buttons... Which leads me to my last and final reason I blog... 7. Someday, I hope to have my blog printed and made into a nice hardbound fancy book--- so my kids or guests (if they care to) can thumb through it and see all of the fun, fabulous and sometimes NOT SO FABULOUS adventures we have had together as a family.
So there you have it... those are the reasons I blog. I don't do it for the $$$cash$$$ or the audience - cash would be fab but I'm not going to SELL OUT. Has anyone else noticed all of the mommy blogs that have popped up with lots and lots of shameless advertisements and promotions- don't get me wrong, I LOVE some of those promotions sometimes- but seriously, can't I just read your blog without reading about 1800-Contacts or some fabulous bakery that gives you free cupcakes because you mention them on your blog?! Go ahead and say it, you think I'm a hater. I'm not really though and I know, I know, it's called NETWORKING... I understand how it works. Remember, I WAS once a real legit Communications Major. P.R. and Advertising weren't my emphasis, but I did have to take some of those classes... remember how a couple of years ago, everyone was all up in arms because a lot of big name companies were going to t.v. show producers and paying them beaucoup bucks to use their products in their shows??? It was subliminal advertising to those of us who watch the shows... we see our favorite actor/actress sipping on a Coke--- so what do we do? Well, we go get a Coke of course. That's how subliminal advertising works. Our brains work in cRaZy ways! Anyhow, that kind of subliminal advertising has infiltrated the "Mommy blogs" we read. Haven't noticed??? Pay attention next time you read a blog. Okay, I'm not talking about the friend across the street, who's blog you read, but that gal's blog you stumbled upon because a friend told you about it... you don't actually know her but you read her blog because she gives great advice or because she's even craftier than Martha Stewart. I'm not going to name any names, because A. for one, I enjoy reading some of these people's blogs B. if they want to keep a blog for the very reason to make cash- that's their choice. Not mine. But who knows, maybe one day I'll sell out- that is whenever it is that mainstream America wants to know what it's like to raise 5 little boys... yeah- you're right, that will probably NEVER happen.
Anyhow, I'm ALMOST done with my rant... sorry, I'll get to the point now... Okay, so Blogger introduced this whole new set up... I like it for the most part. It's been interesting reading my stats. Apparently, my blog isn't NEARLY as popular as the other Stephanie's blog I know {I'll give you a hint- her blog name is the last three letters in my first name- repeat it twice}... It troubles me though- because Blogger has this new feature on it's stats report that tells me where my reading audience is from... It's called Pageviews by Countries. The majority of my readers are from the U.S.- that's a no surprise-- then occasionally I'll get a reader from Portugal {okay, Portugal I can understand since I served my L.D.S. mission there and because I still have some friends who live there}; Angola {again, no surprise, since two of my mission companions were from there}; then I usually have one or two readers from The United Kingdom... {okay- I don't THINK I know anyone living there, but perhaps I do}, then this is what stumps me... who are these people reading my blog from Russia, Poland, Switzerland??? (today I had 6 from Switzerland alone!), Austria {the only person I know of from Austria is Arnold, as in Arnold Schwarzenegger- and I don't even know him personally!}; then there's Germany- WHO lives in Germany that would be reading this?! and last week when I looked there was a page view from some country who's name I've since forgotten, but it was some little tiny country in Europe, I've never heard of and I actually had to look it up on a map to see where it was! {I'm pretty good with geography, but seriously, I was wondering if this country even existed?! Apparently it does}... So yeah- I don't mind people reading my blog- I mean that's one of it's purposes, but generally I like to know WHO it is that is reading it! Otherwise, that's just kinda creepy. I'm not gonna lie, I've thought once or twice perhaps Russian spies are reading this... I know it's far fetched, but seriously, there's been crazier things that have happened! I don't ever plan to make my blog private- I've seen too many of my friends go private and then give up because it's too difficult for their readers to follow- my mom would probably be the first to complain. She's SO NOT tech savy. So sorry to out you like that mom {I'll be the first to admit, I HATE when my friends go private with their blogs cuz their new posts NEVER show up in my Google Reader feed}--- SO, here's the deal: If you're one of those people from Austria, Germany, Russia or Switzerland or where ever else, could you do me a favor and tell me how you know me or found my blog? And please- don't be a stalker. I don't mind if you enjoy reading my blog, it's okay to be generally curious about other people, but if you're being creepy and stalking me- shame on you and please stop. Maybe I should have added another reason I blog is NOT to be stalked! Thanks.
Okay, so I'm about done- but before I end... has anyone ever read the little article about "Promoting Your Blog" that blogger posted???... it's all pretty much stuff I already knew- of course I don't really care to promote my blog except to family and friends- but one paragraph I read that really made me laugh was this...
Why am I laughing, you ask??? Oh, simply because "short and sweet" is NOT my nature. Obviously you don't know me if you had to ask.
Okay, enough... I've got two more days of vacation to post about then I'll be all caught up! Hooray!!! Then I can clear my mind and start working on our family Christmas video postcard and gifts.
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