As has become my tradition, I will look at what 2023 was like for me, according to my blog. Here it is, 2023- the second six months. (In case you're interested, here's the first six months.
July
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| We picked blueberries at Uncle Billy's house this month. |
I began the month with a 4th of July post about when Ward's mother got her US citizenship. Later, I talked about a baby shower I was having and about Wally and Theo getting a new place. I ended the month with a travelog about the trip Ward and I took to Pennsylvania. And, as always, I featured what was growing in our yard.
_________________________________________________________________The highlight of the PA trip was a visit to The Ruins, an abandoned coal mine adorned with hundreds of mosaics.
August
A volunteer sunflower planted by the birds.
I did six posts in August. In August, we took a day trip to Pennsylvania to visit Camp Micheax and found other interesting things along the way. I chronicled the odyssey of trying to find a new rug and did a meanderings post in which I talked about an eye patch I had to wear and tomatoes that needed to be processed. In addition, I did two focused posts - one about my perfectionism and one about coping with the overwhelming bad news we hear every day. And no month would be complete without some flower pictures.
_________________________________________________________________One of the few structures still standing at Camp Micheax.
September
We had a surprise iris bloom in September.
I did seven posts in September. We began the month with a trip to West Virginia and Ohio for a family reunion. While there, we explored Marietta, the first settlement in the Northwest Territory. At the end of the month, I was chronicling a trip we took to Peaks of Otter Virgina. In between, I talked about singing and a broken apple tree branch.
Flat Top Peak at Peaks of Otter.
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October
We hiked along Smith Mountain Lake during our VA vacation.
I did eight posts this month. The month began with a continuation of our trip to Virginia. Back home, Ward and I hiked at a local Audubon Sanctuary, and I blogged about being inspired to do more outdoor things in the cold after seeing a TV show focused on Maine. (BTW, still working on that goal. I don't like cold!) And I did a couple of posts where we were beginning to see signs of autumn.
The fall mums were blooming this month.
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November
Beautyberries were providing some November color in the yard.
I did five posts in November. Several of the posts this month involved the planning we did for our Thanksgiving dinner with 30 people. We had our credit card stolen, and we bought new furniture without fretting over it for a long time, as we had done in the past. Kris did a post telling us about her new cats.
Kris's cats, Pippa and Stuart
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December
It was short-lived, but we had our first snow of the season in December.
I finished up the year with 10 posts in December. Most of the posts this month talked about Christmas, including four posts featuring ornaments from our tree. On Christmas Day, I did a tribute to my mother. And on a non-Christmas topic, I mentioned the extremely long false eyelashes I had been seeing and wondered if anyone had any insights into this trend.
Ward sent me Christmas flowers at work.
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So there you have it - my Blogging Year, 2023, in review. I would call it a year of maintaining the blog posting about once a week. I didn't have regular features, but I did post many flower pictures, which may be my favorite kind of post. I continued to have writer's block as I was conflicted about rambling about my mundane everyday life and wanting to say something more meaningful or clever. And that resulted in me not posting anything at times.
What does 2024 hold for Live and Learn? We shall see. Maybe I'll spend more time on the blog and write some meaningful regular posts here. Or perhaps you will get to hear more of my everyday ramblings. Tune in. :)
Until next time...
I enjoyed the review of the second half of your year. I know I learned quite a bit about the various places you visited on your travels and I'm always interested in finding out about people's everyday lives, too, especially since that's what I write about!
ReplyDeleteI generally enjoy hearing about others everyday lives, so I don't know why I worry about writing too much about mine. I guess part of it is a privacy thing, both mine and others. But I think one of the posts this past year explains part of this when I talked about my perfectionism. Posting about where we've gone is good for me as I sometimes refer back to them for information, so I'm glad you like it, too.
DeleteI don't remember about your husbands mom getting citizenship. I am wondering one day if my nephew's wife's mom might one day try to get citizenship here. She visits often and stays for the allowed months before going back to Brazil.
ReplyDeleteShe came here from Guatemala to go to college and met her husband. She moved here, and after a few years, she applied and got her citizenship. My husband was a young boy at the time. Immigration status and citizenship is a hot topic and the rules always seem to be changing. Good luck to your nephew's MIL if she wants to stay here. Some countries allow dual citizenship, but other's don't and not everyone wants to give up citizenship in their country of birth.
DeleteI like all your posts, whether they are rambling in nature or "meaningful". :)
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you, faithful reader. :)
DeleteI love the beautiful Christmas flowers! I always worry if I’m posting ramblings or actual helpful posts on my own blog. Most of the time, it’s just ramblings! Haha! 😁 But, I enjoy hearing about everyone’s lives, and I enjoy your blog very much!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mandy. I'm gonna see if this the year that I finally don't overthink everything.
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