Posts tagged blog

Goalgetter2013 – October

2
2 months ago
by Nanci in , , , , , , , , ,

I love October. It’s fall, the weather will hopefully get cooler, and hubby and I celebrate our anniversary on the 6th (12 years this month!). I was already contemplating what to do for my #goalgetter2013 challenge this month back in early September when I saw a post from fellow blogger Katy Widrick and my contemplating was over.

Katy is hosting another blogging challenge this month, after a very successful challenge back in February that I took part in as well. It was a great time and I was able to do some tweaking on my blog. Just coming off FLBlogCon, my brain has been in overdrive and Katy’s timing is perfect. So, I am taking a step back from my health/fitness goals and I’m going to focus on making my blog better.

 

goalgetter2013 october

 

I have a good idea of things I want to work on for my blog, in no particular order….

  • Create a media kit
  • Work on an editorial calendar
  • Decide on a new look for my blog
  • Work on SEO
  • Create a vlog series
  • Check links on older blogs to make sure they still work

 

This will be a good start for updating my almost 3 year old blog. My blog has grown so much this past year, I hope that it will continue to grow as I do. This tiny little space I’ve created on the internet is my baby and is an extension of me. There is so much I want to do with it.

 

Are you interested in joining in? There are a couple places you can find info on this challenge and I would LOVE for you to join in!

 

 

Are you new to my Goalgetter2013 posts? Here is my progress for the year so far….

 

 

Goals are most successful when broken up into smaller goals! Post a picture on Instagram on the last day of each month to show how you are working toward achieving your goals! Use the hashtag #goalgetter2013.

If you’d like to take part in this challenge and have another way to keep yourself accountable this year, you should definitely join in! Visit the #goalgetter2013 Facebook page today!

For more inspiration, visit these blogs… These are the gals who put this challenge together:

 

What are your goals for October? If you have a blog and will be joining the #Octoblog challenge, be sure to let me know!

An awesome day at FLBlogCon13!

9
2 months ago
by Nanci in , , , , , , , , , , ,

Where do I even start?! Much like last year, I will have several posts about my day at FLBlogCon because there was just SO much information and I want to be able to share my experience as it should be shared. This first post will be my day in general.

Hubby joined me this year too! He has been blogging this past year (Paintballer4Life) and wanted to be a part of what I insisted would be a great time. We hit the road about 5:45am with a mandatory stop at Starbucks. The drive from Clearwater to Orlando was not bad at all.

 

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We arrived at Full Sail University right at 8am and saw three of my blogging / running friends Kat, Xi, and Jessica walking in. Perfect timing! Yay Tampa Bay Bloggers! We met up with them and took the mandatory pictures that bloggers must take when they get-together. These ladies are so great – I look up to all of them.

 

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Kat, Xiomara, me, and Jessica

 

I also finally got to meet the fabulous Katy Widrick. I first saw her at last year’s FLBlogCon when she was very pregnant with her adorable baby girl. Over the last year, I have followed her blog and participated in her February blogging challenge. (By the way, she’s having another challenge next month. OctoBlog. It’s a great chance to update and fine tune your blog…) I was excited to finally get to meet her. She is one of the nicest people and always willing to help. She is very passionate about everything she does.

 

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Katy

 

I already had my schedule set ahead of time and knew what sessions I wanted to go. Some of these sessions I chose specifically because of the speakers that I saw last year and loved, and the other for the content.

 

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I’ll do a separate post on the different sessions, and the opening keynote likely calls for it’s own post as it was so motivating and a great start to the day. Pat Williams, senior vice president of the Orlando Magic, is a great motivational speaker and his excitement filled the room.

 

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The venue for this years FLBlogCon was Full Sail University in Winter Park. I feel that this location was much better suited for this conference. It’s a very hi-tech facility, outlets galore for charging your electronics, very easy to navigate, and the parking lot was right on campus.

 

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Lunch was held out in the Back Lot area and although it was very warm in our wonderful Florida sun, it was a great setting. Bahama Breeze served lunch and it was so good! Shrimp and grits, green beans, salad, chips and salsa, and a fun drink called the Curly Tail.

 

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In addition to the great blogging topics, the day was also very much about meeting other bloggers and networking. I saw a few I met last year and have since kept in touch with via the wonderful world of social media. I made new friends who I was already following, and met new bloggers to follow.

 

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                                     Melinda                                                                    Nathan

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Sarah

 

 

After all the sessions were over, there was a Ford After Party where there was more fabulous food to sample, thanks to Sysco and Gigi’s Cupcakes. By the way, the pumpkin cupcake was to die for. No shocker that I went for the pumpkin one!

 

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The host of FLBlogCon, Bess Auer, is very passionate about blogging and she put on such a great event. Everyone involved was excited to share their knowledge with those who attended. Now that I am another year into blogging and my blog has grown so much this year, I feel like I took away much more information than I did last year. I can’t wait to put it to good use. Ever since I got home Saturday night, my brain has been in overdrive with everything I want to do.

If you are a blogger, or thinking about blogging, and have never been to a blogging conference, I strongly urge you to go. The information you will take away from the speakers and other bloggers is invaluable. I look forward to attending FLBlogCon next year!

 

Did you attend FLBlogCon this year? Or have you been to another blogging conference?

Inspiring YOU inspires ME…

2
3 months ago
by Nanci in , , , , , , ,

When I started my blog over two years ago and even now, the main reason I sit here and spill my thoughts a few times a week is to keep myself accountable. A really public note-to-self, if you will. And it’s a wonderful way to document important things that I want to remember.

The first time I did WW in 2006 was before Facebook so unless I actually told someone I lost weight (or gained or maintained) in person, on the phone, via text, or in an email, then it wasn’t shared and broadcasted for the world to know. This time around, with the help of social media, I have made my weight loss journey very public. I am open about my weight and share my weigh-ins every single week, whether it’s good or bad. And again, it’s much more for me than for you.

The same goes for sharing my activity – my running times, how far I run, my core work, and more. It’s not proof to everyone that I’m doing it, it’s proof to ME that I’m doing it. I’m holding myself accountable. And when I share my training plan and share how I’m going to work out, it’s so I stick to it.

The wonderful part of all of this is when I hear feedback about how I’m doing or that I am inspiring someone. That is a huge bonus and it just inspires me to keep doing what I’m doing. A comment on my blog, or conversation on Facebook or Twitter, or an email all make my day.

A friend posted this picture on Facebook the other day when I shared how I had just run my fastest 3 miles. She took the time to comment, to tell me that I inspire her, and tagged me in this picture… It made me feel great all day long knowing that little ol’ me can inspire someone else.

 

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Yesterday, I had a great comment on Twitter in regards to my blog post. Another moment of happiness knowing that this little blog and my thoughts inspired someone enough to tell me so.

 

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I also received a sweet comment on yesterday’s blog post, from a friend. Even more motivation to keep doing what I’m doing.

 

That’s awesome!  So proud of you.  I know how hard it is and how hard you’ve been working at it.  But like they say, you reap what you sow.  Congrats!

 

 

At last Saturday’s WW meeting, our fearless leader Beverly asked me if I would speak at the next meeting (tomorrow) for their Believe It Will Work topic. They were selecting 3 people from each meeting and I am one of them. I am not a success story this time around – yet – but I am working hard to get there and she wants me to share my drive and desire to do so. One of my favorite things about the WW meetings – what I feel makes the meetings so important – is the camaraderie you find in other members. When you are trying to lose weight, struggling with it, and not sure what to do, you forget that there might be others out there in your shoes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone express a thought or feeling at the meeting and I swear it’s something I could have said. Knowing that you are not alone in this battle and that you are human helps so much. I need that meeting every week to reset my train of thought, for validation that I am doing something right, and as motivation to keep going.

 

surround yourself with encouragement

(Source: Pinterest)

 

 

By sharing my journey with others, it helps me to keep going. Thank you for following along with my journey!

 

 

 

Currently | September Edition

13
3 months ago
by Nanci in , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

Happy Friday! I got this post idea from Kim at Racing Bananas and thought it would be fun one for a Friday.

 

Current book:

Grasping at Eternity (Kindrily #1) by Karen Amanda Hooper… I love YA books. I always have, but since my sister-in-law Jenna started her amazing blog, I have been an even bigger fan. I’ve had this one on my Kindle app for awhile, and I’ve finally started reading it. And fun fact, since my sister-in-law is friends with the author who is local, I’ve actually had the pleasure of having lunch with them! Another perk of having a sister-in-law who blogs about books.

 

Grasping at Eternity (The Kindrily, #1)

  (Goodreads)

 

Current music:

I love the new Katy Perry song Roar. It’s fabulous and a real mood booster. It’s such a catchy song and I have been lured in by her lyrics before, especially with Wide Awake. Roar is fabulous. It’s also currently the ringtone on my phone, proof of how much I love the song.

 

Katy Perry “ROAR”

 

 

Current guilty pleasure:

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. Every year, I live for the day they come out. And when they do, I have too many too soon and then decide I need to cut back. I’m not there yet, I probably will be in another week or so. I get mine with soy milk, no whipped cream. It’s still high in points but Oh. So. Good.

 

1st psl

 

Current drink:

Water is my go-to drink, and what I drink the most of every day. I usually drink it plain, if I add anything it’s just lemon. Now if we’re talking favorite drink when hubby and I are out enjoying wings? The answer would be beer. Ice cold beer.

 

Current food:

The last few weeks we’ve had breakfast for dinner quite a few times. Eggs, ham, maybe hash browns, and maybe toast. I love eggs and could eat them all the time so it’s never a stretch to have them often. It’s also easy to make and during the week, I am all about making meals that don’t take much effort.

 

Current show:

I love The Little Couple and Who Do You Think You Are? We also watch Bar Rescue and I’ll admit it, The Real Housewives of New Jersey OR Orange County. But not Miami, I don’t like that one. Those housewives are a train wreck and I just can’t look away. Also recently, I have gotten sucked into Grey’s Anatomy. I don’t seem to watch shows when they’re all the rage so clearly I am way behind on this one and I’m sure I’m not catching them in order. I really want to watch Orange Is The New Black, it’s already in my Netflix My List.

 

Current wish list:

A new pair of Brooks Glycerin 10 running shoes and a handful of race entries. I hope I can swing the races I have planned for the fall and it would be fabulous to have new shoes to run them in.

 

Current triumphs:

Running. I’ve been running a pretty consistent pace for awhile now and it makes me feel like I am doing something right. I am enjoying the structure of my half marathon training. It’s not necessarily my goal to run faster, but to be able to run longer and better.

 

Current links:

Three blogs that I love are:

  • Racing Bananas – I just recently found this blog and it turns out Kim and I have a lot in common!
  • Words To Run By – Sara is wonderful and is very open in her blog.
  • Orangespoken – I know Steph personally and she is so awesome. Her blog will make you laugh out loud at times.

 

Current needs:

I *need* for the weather to cool off. I *need* for it to not be so humid. I long for the nice fall days I know we will have at some point. I just wish we didn’t have to wait for so long.

 

Current indulgence:

I love, love, love my iPad Mini. It’s very high on the list of the coolest things I‘ve ever bought for myself. I can read on it, catch up on blogs, play time-wasting games, watch Netflix, and more.

 

Current outfit:

I’m totally stealing this from Kim at Racing Bananas but my running or yoga clothes. They’re so comfy and I would wear them every day if I could.

 

Current excitement:

I am pretty excited to attend FLBlogCon again this year, this time with hubby. I enjoyed it so much last year and met new people. This year has been so different for my blogging, it’s grown so much, and I am excited to meet even more new people and learn even more for this little piece of internet that I love and put so much into.

 

Current mood:

I am tired and worn out. It’s been a stressful week with our dog Blue having surgery and he has 10-14 days healing time before his stitches come out, so it will be stressful until then.

 

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What are you currently enjoying? I hope you’ll share!

Goalgetter2013 – How did I do in August?

1
3 months ago
by Nanci in , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bye bye August! Although I don’t really like you, I very much enjoyed the goal I set for myself for August. Here’s a quick recap!

 

goalgetter2013 august

 

My goal was to complete the #AugustCoreFocus challenge hosted by Kat over at Sneakers and Fingerpaints. This challenge took place on both her blog, where she had a photo of each daily move and sometimes a video, as well as on Challenge Loop.

What I loved most about this challenge was Kat’s thorough instructions which included progressions, if you wanted to make it a little harder, or regressions, if you need to hold back a little. As much as I love core work, there are some moves that scare me simply because of my history with low back pain and sciatica. Kat was very firm in that you do not injure yourself and you make any adjustments you need to. Or, if there is a move you are no comfortable with, do a different one.

Over the 31 days of this challenge, I did probably 26 of the moves and repeated a few. Where I started out doing one a day, there were several times where I missed a few days during a busy week and would then catch up with them on one day.

I very much enjoyed this challenge and it has led me to continue on with core work for the month of September, doing my own little core challenge with 4 moves – forearm plank, straight arm plank, boat post, and crunches.

Thank you, Kat, for hosting this great challenge and for all the time and energy you put into it!

 

Are you new to my Goalgetter2013 posts? Here is my progress for the year so far….

 

Would you like to take part in the #goalgetter2013 challenge? It’s pretty simple….

Goals are most successful when broken up into smaller goals! Post a picture on Instagram on the last day of each month to show how you are working toward achieving your goals! Use the hashtag #goalgetter2013.

If you’d like to take part in this challenge and have another way to keep yourself accountable this year, you should definitely join in! Visit the #goalgetter2013 Facebook page today!

For more inspiration, visit these blogs… These are the gals who put this challenge together:

 

How did you do in August? Share!

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