#AtoZChallenge | B is for Blogging and getting personal for my grand return.

Somehow my short break from blogging turned into a year and a half long hiatus, with a few occasional feeble posts to make me feel like I was somehow still engaged. I kept up a little better with my social media accounts and still spent a lot of time thinking about my blog but just didn’t get around to posting that much.

Maybe that’s the natural ebb and flow of a hobby blog. I don’t know. This is my first blog. I can’t feign that life was too busy. My empty nest meant I did have excess time to devote to my blog, but I found other things to fill the time instead. There were a few major life events during my break including the loss of my mother and a change of jobs. The first certainly a large stressor, the latter more of a minor transitional period.

In the end, I don’t think it was any specific incident just a temporary loss of interest.

To celebrate my return to blogging, I thought I’d dust off a post I drafted a long time ago and share some random facts about me as a way to reintroduce myself.

Ten random facts about me:

  1. My favorite food is lobster. I’m a true Maine girl! Spoiler alert, it’s likely not the last time you’ll hear about lobster during this A to Z Challenge.
  2. I collect mini-mates and even have a hand painted set depicting the cast of Firefly. My husband once told me that shopping for me was like shopping for a ten year old boy.
  3. I celebrated my last milestone birthday with a trip to Machu Picchu, which had always been my top bucket list travel destination. It did not disappoint.
  4. My childhood dog won a blue ribbon for best trick at our local dog show. He could balance an empty soda can on his nose, flip it in the air and then catch it in his mouth.
  5. Each Christmas I create a geek inspired gingerbread house. I’ve made the Tardis from Doctor Who and the Enterprise from Star Trek.
  6. My first car was a Volkswagen Cabriolet. Sadly, it was totaled in a fender bender a few years after I bought it. I replaced it with a  Volkswagon Fox. The Cabriolet was cooler.
  7. I have never ridden a horse. A high school boyfriend was going to take me horseback riding once, but for reasons I’ve long since forgotten we never made it.
  8. It’s A Wonderful Life is my favorite movie. My husband can recite almost all of the lines. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with him.
  9. My favorite TV show is Supernatural. I’ve been watching it since it debuted fifteen years ago. Sam and Dean are my boys. My friend and I went to a Supernatural Convention in Las Vegas a few years ago. We enjoyed it so much that we spent more time than we had planned there.
  10. I still have all the negatives from every picture I have ever taken. Even in our digital world, I can’t bring myself to throw them away.

I also was nominated for a blogging award a few years ago, although unfortunately I wasn’t able to accept because I had stopped blogging at the time. I thought it might be fun to go back and answer the questions that had been posed to me.

The blogger who nominated me is someone I discovered during my first A to Z challenge, Sara Writes: The Crazy Life of a Silly Little Sister. Her site is playful, bright and full of personality. Her A to Z challenges in the past have been fun and full of amazing baked creations. I usually finish reading her posts with a sweet craving.  Her theme this year is a Potterific A to Z. Harry Potter is one of my favorite fandoms. I’m looking forward to reading her posts. Be sure to visit her blog!

While I wasn’t able to participate previously, below are my answers to her original questions.

What is your favorite part about yourself?

One of my posts from my previous A to Z Challenge was on Anna Kendrick’s book “scrappy little nobody“. I used a quote in that post,

“I gave up on being Nice. I started putting more value on other qualities instead: passion, bravery, intelligence, practicality, humor, patience, fairness, sensitivity. Those last three might seem like they are covered by “nice,” but make no mistake, they are not.”

I think in the past I might have described myself as nice, but Anna’s quote really resonated and I’d have to go with passion. I am passionate about many things including hobbies, travel, friends, family…. the list goes on.  It’s probably why I chose the word bliss this year!

If you could be any character in a book, which book and character would you pick and why?

I would be Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. She is confident, intelligent and fun. While she certainly makes some mistakes along the way, she has a joy for life and is unwilling to compromise for anything less than love. It doesn’t hurt that she ends up with Mr. Darcy either.

Road trip or fly the distance? Explain.

Fly the distance whenever possible. I do not enjoy long road trips. When we were dating, my husband and I drove from Quebec City, Quebec to Saint John, New Brunswick. Once we arrived in Saint John, my husband wanted to drive up to see the tide change in the Bay of Fundy. I flipped out. The thought of spending even one more minute in a car pushed me over the edge. We finished that trip by driving down to Bar Harbor, where we got engaged, so other than the endless car ride it’s a happy memory.

We also rectified the situation this summer by taking a vacation up to the Bay of Fundy, so he has now officially seen the tides change. We realized on our trip this summer that we were only 30 minutes away from some of the best Bay of Fundy tides during that earlier vacation, but since it was before cell phones and GPS, we never knew.

If you could keep a fantasy creature (from books or movies) as a pet which fantasy creature would you like to have?

Scooby Doo. I know he’s a dog and not technically a fantasy creature but he does talk. It would be nice to know what my dog was thinking. Maybe Scooby could play interpreter.

Imagine you can only take one more trip – where would you want to go?

Does an around the world trip count? I actually can’t image only one more trip because travel is such a big thing for me. If I had to pick one, I guess backpacking through Europe. And by backpacking, I mean staying in nice hotels and taking ubers.

How did you end up as a blogger? How did your awesome blog come into existence?

I have always been an informal story teller and memory keeper. I have many scrapbooks and photo albums. I am the family’s visual historian. I feel like blogging is the next step in memory keeping for me. It is also a way to be creative not only with the writing but the website design too.

If you were given the chance to remove any one evil from this world which one would it be?

Killing.

Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or neither one? Why?

Harry Potter. While both are beautifully created worlds, I am smitten with with wizarding world.  My new puppy is named Neville. He’s a rescue pup so no fancy names needed for his papers, but if we did one it would be Neville Longbottom, a True Gryffindor. Next to the main three, he is my favorite character.

What’s the most important life lesson you’ve learnt so far?

Resiliency. You can’t let roadblocks and setbacks stop you from moving forward. I drive my girls crazy because I’ve stressed the importance of grit to them so much that it’s now a major source of irritation for them. Oops.

Which activity or interest are you most passionate about in life?

I have many, many passions but if I had to pick one, I would go with travel and seeing new things both near and far.

Below is my own question that I will be answering for each of my A to Z posts this month.

Why does blogging bring me bliss? I enjoy the creative challenge and opportunity to improve my writing. I love to learn and expand my skills. Blogging helps me be more thoughtful and reflective about activities and other aspects of my life that I am documenting. I’m a memory keeper at heart and my blog is an extension of memory keeping. When I read old posts, it brings me back to that particular adventure or moment in time. 

Are you a blogger? What do you enjoy most about blogging?

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I’m participating in a Blogging A-Z Challenge for April 2020. I will be posting new content every day this month except most Sundays. Each post is associated with a letter of the alphabet, starting with A and ending with Z. My theme for the challenge is Bliss. To read more of my A to Z posts from this year, click HERE.

57 thoughts on “#AtoZChallenge | B is for Blogging and getting personal for my grand return.”

  1. lindamaycurry says:
    Reply

    Your comments on travel got me thinking. Since we retired we have been on one or more overseas trips a year. This year because of Covid-19 we had to cancel Sicily and Croatia. Now my husband is unwell and doesn’t think he’ll travel anymore. Suddenly the years of overseas travel we planned may be cut short. I’m finding I’m OK with that and will enjoy shorter trips within Australia after we regain our freedom.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Weekends in Maine says:
      Reply

      We never know how much travel time we have left. I’ve started pushing up trips that are a little more active / intense as I do worry that someday we won’t be able to take them anymore. Local travel is great too. I love our Maine getaways.

      Like

  7. Lael-Heart says:
    Reply

    I’ve been to Peru too! I hiked the Inka Trail almost 6 years ago this June. We watched the sun rise straight onto Machu Picchu on the Solstice. The whole experience was dreamy. It’s really one of those places that lives up to all the hype!

    This was a fun read. A great way to get to “know” you. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Deborah Weber says:
    Reply

    I love your post, and these personal glimpses of yourself that you’ve shared. It feels to me like a perfect way to settle back in, and the challenge certainly seems like the perfect time. I think all of us who have been blogging for any length of time, find we drift away on occasion. But I’m happy you’re back!

    Liked by 2 people

  13. Jenny says:
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    It’s very fun to learn so much about you! And I am highly impressed by a gingerbread Enterprise.I always cheat and make “gingerbread” houses out of graham crackers. (cringe)

    Liked by 2 people

  14. dyannedillon says:
    Reply

    I was an off-and-on blogger, mostly off, for a couple of years. It started when my mom passed away. She was my biggest fan, and my heart just wasn’t in it. I finally got my motor started again last year by doing the Ten Things of Thankful weekly hop and Six Sentence Stories hop, although I was sporadic at best with both of them. I’m glad you’re back! I love traveling vicariously with you!

    Liked by 2 people

  20. Alana Mautone (@RamblinGarden) says:
    Reply

    It’s good to see you back, and to learn a bit (well, a lot) about you. I haven’t been to Maine since 2011. I sometimes wonder if any of us will ever travel again, but things are going to get better….one day. Until that time, blogging is a great way to make new cyber-friends.

    Liked by 2 people

  21. Narayana Rao Kvss says:
    Reply

    Interesting to read. I read the whole post. Specially noted the word, “Resiliency.” I spotted it in the salesmanship book. As a salesman you try to sell, but the prospect does not buy. You have to approach another prospect.

    It is so with blogging also. All posts do not attract the same attention. But you need to keep writing for coming out with one that does come out well and help the readers. I am very happy that my blog post “Online Handbook of Industrial Engineering”
    https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2019/05/knol-handbook-of-industrial-engineering.html is doing well.I realize it after one year. My present A to Z posts will help this blog post to do better in the future as I am writing on practice of IE in top companies and that series will go into the handbook. Already the link to the theme reveal post is included in the handbook collection.

    Once again I appreciate your blog post. I enjoyed reading it.

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Mikaela D'Eigh says:
    Reply

    Oh, I so get that! I hadn’t posted much on my blog in quite a while either – had become hyperfocused on the FB scroll – ugh. So glad for this challenge and that I now have the time to get back to writing and posting.

    So happy to meet a fellow Whovian, Trekkie, and Browncoater. 😉 Haven’t watched Supernatural yet, but it’s on my watch list. Currently to addicted to Kdramas and Cdramas to watch anything else, lol.

    My first time eating lobstah was in Maine, actually – fresh off the boat! Loved it and the blueberry beer I had with it! And Maine is breathtakingly beautiful. Would love to visit again some day.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Weekends in Maine says:
      Reply

      Sounds like a perfect Maine day – lobster off the boat and blueberry beer! I highly recommend Supernatural once you’re caught up with your K-Dramas and C-Dramas. If you like horror, we just watched Train to Busan which is a South Korean zombie movie. It was excellent!

      Liked by 1 person

      • Mikaela D'Eigh says:

        Lol, I’ll never catch up with Kdramas and Cdramas – at least I hope not! Train to Busan is on my list because Gong Yoo is in it but horror isn’t really my thing, so we’ll see. A sequel is coming out soon I think.

        Liked by 1 person

  24. Jeanne Bryan Insalaco says:
    Reply

    I so enjoyed this older post I discovered. I’ve only been to Maine once. Hubby was stationed at Loring AFB in Limestone. We drove from CT. Drove up on Rt 1 when we hit Maine and just slowly enjoyed the ride stopping at many antique and book stores. I’m always in the hunt for Nancy Drew books! I’d love to make that ride again. Enjoyed the potato fields snd brought home potatoes for everyone.

    Like

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