No More Long Distance
Now that we’re all under the same roof again and there’s no end in sight, we are nothing but a normal, boring family with nothing unique about us. We embody that outdated description of a true nuclear family of a husband, wife and kids all living under the same roof like the Cleavers from Leave it to Beaver.
If we’re not a long distance family, and we’re not really traveling anywhere, what the heck do we blog about? As we continue to explore all of the nature that Colorado has to offer, we’ll definitely write about our adventures. I could just take a blogging break, but I enjoy the process too much. I like learning about different blog platforms and plugins, search engine optimization (SEO) and digital marketing, and photo and video editing.
I keep coming back to learning new things
Many years ago, I started a blog documenting new things I’d learn each week. I felt, and still do, that we learn something new every day. We just have to acknowledge it. Blogging about it helped me look for knowledge at all times and to actively seek out new topics or skills to learn about. I think the blog was called Smarterly.com but I can’t find any trace of it. However, I keep coming back to the concept of letting everyday life educate me.
It could be something as simple as finding out that a woodpecker’s tongue coils around its skull. Did you know that? Is it something you would have ever looked into? Not me. In fact, if I hadn’t stopped on a diagram while scrolling through Reddit, I would still be living in woodpecker ignorance.
It makes perfect sense!
They need a way to get to the bugs to which they’ve worked so hard pecking a path. See those little barbs on the end? Those ensure that their squirmy snacks can’t easily escape.
Every time I learn something new such as this, I always share it with Dennis and the boys. Why learn something new if you don’t pay it forward? Plus it helps with retention. There’s a much better chance of remembering what you’ve learned if you share it with others.
The boys share what they’ve learned with us as well. It may be a topic they’ve dived into online or something they learned about at school. For example, Ben recently came across teratomas on the internet. Teratomas are rare tumors that have developed tissue or organs such as teeth, hair, muscle and bone. He shared this new knowledge with us over Thanksgiving dinner but warned us to NEVER under any circumstances google pictures. Spoiler alert: He was too late. This is just the kind of knowledge that Dennis and I absorb, and we were already familiar with what teratome pictures the internet offers. We nearly burst with pride at this dinnertime teratoma TED Talk.
Random trivia is awesome, and on the other end of the spectrum is learning new skills. Take the aforementioned SEO as an example. When I started this blog, I didn’t even know what SEO stood for (search engine optimization), but it kept popping up everywhere. I took a crash course by reading articles, watching videos and listening to podcasts. I learned what it takes to get my blog to appear in internet searches. This is very important if you want people outside of your close family and friends to read your blog. It’s absolutely critical if you are trying to monetize your blog.
The basics are:
- Including key words and phrases in your content that you think people will search for
- Blogging frequently and consistently
- Learning how to grab people’s attention before they close out of your site and move on to the next article
- Learning a bit about reading and using your SEO metrics.
I learned a LOT about SEO, but since I’m blogging for fun and not really trying to make a living out of it, I only practice a small portion of the basics.
Coincidentally, the topic of SEO came up at Thanksgiving as well. Do you ever wonder why googling a recipe for green bean casserole produces articles with a lengthy background story on how the author’s husband’s cousin met his future wife while on vacation in Prague, has a nut allergy and doesn’t understand the obsession with Seinfeld? Only to find out that the wife makes a mean green bean casserole and here’s the recipe with about 12 adjustments? You have SEO to thank for that!
Think about it like this:
- In order to rank well, an article needs to include about 1000 words. What recipe on its own is 1000 words long if you don’t include a story or a lot of fluff?
- Recipes are not very unique. You can probably find thousands of bread recipes across the internet, and even if they are different flavors, the basics are the same. Articles with duplicated content will not rank very high.
- Why are there So. Many. Images?? People (and SEO) love photos! In fact, one of the first tips for new bloggers is that your blog should be formatted as text, image, text, image, text, image. Images can also mean videos, but you get the idea.
So the next time you’re scrolling through a long-winded seemingly unrelated story to the recipe for “The BEST and EASIEST chocolate chip cookies you’ll ever make in just 7 steps!” (That’s another tip: People love superlatives and odd-numbered lists. It’s science, folks.), remember that there’s an annoyingly valid reason behind it.
Speaking of Thanksgiving...
What did your Thanksgiving look like this year? The four of us stayed home and cooked all of our favorites. Enough for an army, in fact. Turkey and ham, two types of casseroles, two types of potatoes, 3 dessert choices, and a side of Lactaid. It takes all day to cook and about 10 minutes to eat.
Black Friday
The best part was Black Friday, though. We’ve never been Black Friday shoppers, and certainly weren’t about to take the risk of Covid exposure this year. So for the past few years, we’ve gone on hikes instead. In Colorado, the state parks waive admission on Black Friday, so we really are bargain shopping, just not in a store fighting over TVs.
This year, we decided to visit Eldorado Canyon State Park near Boulder. It was a cold day and steep hike but worth it with the gorgeous views. Afterward, we drove through Boulder at the perfect time. We just happened to be driving past the flatirons as the sun was setting behind them. We wondered why we were seeing hundreds of people pulled over to snap pics and now we know why. Breathtaking!
Then, we drove through Golden just because we were close and it’s one of the cutest towns in Colorado. On the way home, we stopped at Red Rocks Amphitheater just to climb up and see the views.
Just get to the recipe already!
It took me over 1000 words to say that, even though we’re not currently a long distance family, we’re still blogging about topics such as our family and our boring lives, what little travel we are able to do, Colorado, and now, when we learn something new!
I encourage you to go about your day and keep your eyes, ears and mind open to what you learn. Then report back using the comments section below! And don’t forget to subscribe!
(Have you googled teratomas yet?)
You took Georgie with you! Beautiful pictures and looks like a lot of fun. And yes teratomas as not something you want a visual of!
Hey love the Blog and pictures.Havent googled Terratomas sounds like Ben might be interested in the medical field.I eill keep my fingers crossed.🤞
You’re totally making me feel guilty for not doing all the right SEO stuff and not updating my blog more often. Oh well, less monetization for me! Nice Thanksgiving goodies, and nice day trips (as usual)!… and I have no curiosity whatsoever about teratomas!!