How to Find Post Ideas When You're Uninspired {and How to Prevent it in the Future}

You ever have those moments when you're thinking like, all day, about what to post about and you still haven't come up with a good idea?

Yeah, me too.

So, I'm here with some solutions for you, and how to (hopefully) (somehow) (maybe) prevent this problem from occurring again.

First of all, ask yourself some questions: what's a category I haven't talked about in awhile? What are some things that I'm currently extra-passionate about? What has God been teaching me about lately? What are some questions that I've been asked recently that I can answer/explore?

Once you've narrowed it down to a generalization, it's time to pick a specific topic to ramble about. Sometimes, if the topic is big enough (or if you just have too many words to say about the subject than will fit in a nice-sized post), you can turn it into a series, not only writing a post for your current needs, but also having your next post planned out—and possibly even written—ahead of schedule! Then you can congratulate yourself on being a wonderful time manager.

Until your second post is past and you realize that you let time get away with you, and you're back to your old dilemma.

So then, you pick another topic.  How to find the best topics? Well, for one, you can dig into your blog's stats and check out your most-viewed posts. But if you're like me, even this could be a problem. See, my father learned that every time he reloads the page (he's got this down pat—something like 20 times a minute), it puts another view on that post. So yeah, now his favorite post has over a thousand more views than any of my other posts.

Anyway, you could also visit other blogs to see what posts have the most comments, or maybe even ask some people you trust what their most popular posts are, or what they'd like to read.

Or, even better, you could write that post that you've been wanting to read/write. What's that little idea that's been stuck in the back of your head for awhile? (Orrrrrr if you're like me, you basically never have a little idea stuck in the back of your head and you improvise at the last minute.)

What are some more specific ideas? Let's brainstorm, shall we?

-Elaborate one a subject you're currently studying, whether you're actually in school or not.

-Share some thoughts about your daily devotional.

-Get political if you like; rant about something controversial if you want a lot of traffic.

-Share some photography.

-Host a guest.

-Compile a list of common myths and bust them.

-Give a demonstration of one of your hobbies and video it, or do a step-by-step photo tutorial.

-Ramble about a random topic like nicknames or bed bugs.

-Have a sense of humor? Do a comedic post!

-Share some favorites, whether it be music or movies or books or YouTube channels.

-Review a book or movie.

-Give some advice on a subject you know well.

-Post a poll on whatever you think needs it, such as where you should take your next vacation, what posts people like to read, or whether or not you should redesign your blog (I'm actually toying around with the idea of redesigning . . . any recs on a color scheme? Or should the blog stay the way it is?).

Annnnnd there's thirteen post topics for you to choose from!

How can you keep from scrambling to find a post idea at the last minute? The answer is simple, really: schedule ahead. But, I know better than anyone that it's super hard. There's so many other things I'd like to do rather than write blog posts in my spare time. But you really have to just do it. They won't write themselves. Something to keep you accountable is to have a blogging buddy to give you a prod in the right direction, and vice versa.

Another way to (kinda) stay on top of things is to make a post draft with the title of a random idea you come up with. Then, when you have time to actually write a post, just sift through your drafts and see if one of the titles catches your fancy. Then, viola! You're good to go.

I hope this whole post helps you . . . and if it doesn't, well, come back next week, and I'll (hopefully) have a special post for you. ;)
(No, Chow, you probably won't be interested.)

Let it Go

Sometimes we're uninspired in a number of ways: maybe we're simply bored and don't know what to do. Maybe we're stuck in that writing slump and just don't know how to go on. Maybe there's that one day that we can't figure out what to post on our blogs. Maybe we open our Bibles, ready to spend time in God's word . . . only to find that we don't even know where we want to read, and when we do read, it doesn't sink into our hearts.

Last year, I felt so uninspired spiritually. I felt like I was just going through the motions, being the good girl that everyone expected. I felt like a fake, which I technically was. I was miserable. I could smile, I could act happy . . . but it was all an act. An act to keep everyone on the outside from seeing what was going on inside me. Because if I didn't even care about myself, why should everyone else? In a way, I felt almost abandoned by God.

But you know what I found out? I realized that I really wasn't abandoned. I was the one abandoning. In 2018, I realized that I was grasping things so tightly, I was cutting myself and didn't know how to let go without bleeding to death. Maybe that's a terrible analogy, but . . . it's kind of the way things were. I felt like I was being left behind by the ones I loved dearly, and . . . I didn't want to let them go. I wasn't ready to let go.

But change happens. Much as we hate it sometimes, it happens. Much as it hurts sometimes, it happens. 

And y'all, it's okay. 

I learned something very important over the new year: let it go. It's so hard to let go of things near and dear to you. It's so hard to trust God with it. It's so hard to say, "God, I don't know what's going to happen, but I give it all to You and I trust You with everything." Oh, my, it's hard. I think I'll be working on that for the rest of my life.

I'm someone who likes to have all her ducks in a row, everything safe and sound, and I like to be the one taking care of it all. I like to be the one that people depend on. I like to be in the spotlight.

But it doesn't work that way.

I need to be willing to step back and let God take control. Let Him take the wheel. Eventually I said, "God, I can't do it anymore. I'm sorry, I should've given it all to You in the first place." But y'know what? It's not just a one-time thing. It's something we do repeatedly for as long as we live. And my oh my, it's worth it, y'all. Let it go. And experience His mercy like you've never experienced it before.

Because even though we mess up, even though we're sinners that will never be perfect, even though we feel like hopeless wretches . . . mercy said no.

Let that sink in for a minute. Mercy said no, y'all.

Oh, thank You, Jesus, mercy said no.

My Favorite TV Show Themes

I don't know about you, but for me, theme songs are a huge factor in my opinions on TV shows. (I mean, not much, but...some, at least.) Like, have you ever just started dancing during the opening credits to your favorite show because the theme song is just. so. good? Or you listen to it on repeat? Or you sing along because you've seriously seen and listened to it so much that you know every line, word for word? Yeah, I'm going to be talking about a few of those.

One of my favorite things to do with these is, when I find (or think of) another one that I love, I'll add it to my TV themes playlist on Spotify, then listen to them on shuffle and see how fast I can name them.

The Loner

I'm not a huge fan of this show, but I love the theme song, and I was so sad to find that this song isn't on Spotify. 

The Virginian

Ohh, this brings back so many memories. Mostly of watching the episodes on Sunday afternoons during the Summer because that was basically the only time we watched TV.

Rawhide

Again, one of those shows we watched together as a family.

Bonanza

Now, once again, Bonanza isn't particularly a favorite, but the theme song is the bomb.

Mission: Impossible

The show is just as epic as the theme song. And I mean the old show, not those new movies. *shakes head sadly* The old is so much better than the new.

The Pink Panther

I'm not gonna lie, the show drives me insane. But the theme is epic. (And yes, I'm well aware of my overuse of the word 'epic'. Don't judge, Squirt.)

NCIS: Los Angeles

While I love the show, there are some questionable parts. Watch with discretion.

MacGyver

As my sis so eloquently puts it, "I love this song. I love the show too. Almost as much as the song."

Magnum P.I.

I've never seen this show, so I can't exactly recommend it... ;P

Hogan's Heroes

Last, but certainly not least. The show is hilarious.

So there's ten of my favorite TV show themes. Can you see a theme here (no pun intended)? Yes, my family is sliiiiightly biased to the old shows.

What are some of your favorite themes?

God vs. Braces

This is a post I've had in the back of my mind for quite some time.  I've had my braces off for over two years, but two of my siblings have had braces since then and I'm reminded of the whole process all over again.  So today I'm going to be making some observations of how braces remind me of God.

Now, before you think I'm completely off my rocker by comparing God to braces, let me make my case.  (After all, people use foods like eggs and apples to represent the Trinity, so you can't exactly get much further out than that...)

First of all, you don't realize how much you need braces until you're shown how badly you need them.  Before I had braces, my teeth didn't bother me—until I began to realize that a person's bottom teeth are supposed to be straight, not overlapping.  It made me feel conspicuous and almost afraid to smile.  But then when I finally did get braces, they straightened my teeth out and made them good as new.

In the same way, people are searching for something—or someone—to make their lives complete, whole, and worth something.  We don't realize just how desperate we are for fulfillment until we see someone with a smile and laughter, and we think, wow, I wish I had whatever they have.  We become insecure, and pretty much nothing can make us feel good about ourselves again.  Sure, a hug or a word of encouragement can give us a temporary pick-me-up, but nothing really satisfies our thirst for purpose until Christ enters our hearts.

The second thing about braces is the huge amount of trust.  You have to be ready to give up your teeth's current status and trust the orthodontist to know what they're doing in order to bring about the end result.  I don't know about you, but allowing someone to put their fingers in my mouth and poke around and cement little pieces of metal to my poor teeth.  It's actually a rather disturbing thought, when I put it that way.

It's like asking Christ to come in and do some housework in our hearts.  We're asking Him to come live inside us to do His work in our lives.  The thought really is unnerving, knowing that He'll see everything inside—both the good and the bad—and get to work.  In essence, we're saying, "I'm screwing up.  I'm obviously awful at running my own life, so even though it's a terrifying thought, I trust You and ask You to do what I can't."

What else is there?  Well, for me at least, the whole process is painful.  Not only are we trusting the orthodontist with our mouths, but we're allowing him to cause us some pain so that we achieve the desired result.  Am I the only one that rode home from the dentist with my head resting on my hand, not feeling like doing anything because my mouth hurt too bad?  It hurt, but I endured because I knew it would all be worth it.

When we ask Christ to live in our hearts, we're asking Him to take over and mold us into the children that God created us to be.  And, well, to put it simply, it hurts to give up everything.  It hurts to 'take up your cross' and follow Christ wherever He leads.  It hurts when those around you glare and shun because they don't like what you're doing.  But y'know what?  There's also a deep joy and satisfaction derived from knowing that you're doing your Creator's will and that someday, it will all be worth the effort when you hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

This walk with Christ isn't all flowers and rainbows.  Goodness gracious, I know that.  But keep your eyes on the things above.  Realize how much you need a Savior.  Trust.  Endure the pain, because He will sustain you, and in the end, it will all be worth it.

Top Books of 2018 {Plus 2019 Goals}

So, I tried to narrow my favorite books down to one... but there were actually two that just really stuck out to me.
There were several books that I LOVED and rated 5 stars, and they each basically made me speechless (because c'mon, 5 stars?  It has to be good).  But there were two that just... ahhhh, I loved them so. very. much.

What are these two books, you ask?  Well, *grins* lemme show you.

    

Blaze of Glory by Jeff Struecker and Angels Walking by Karen Kingsbury.

Oh. my. word, y'all.  Okay, so I was so surprised by Angels Walking.  I had been told that it was amazing.  I'd been urged by a good friend to read it, but as I knew that Karen Kingsbury writes romance, I was rather hesitant.  I mean... romance.  But.  Wowwwwww, I was kinda shocked at how much I loved it.  Allllll the feeellllsssss.  I've recently acquired an appreciation for feelsy stories and this one is definitely worth a re-read.

So, Blaze of Glory.  I enjoy intense books, and um this book delivered.  I checked it out of the library on a whim because I thought the cover looked cool (and because the author is military so I knew the military aspect would be epic).  Well... it was... incredible.  If I hadn't known better, I would've thought that I literally went on a rollercoaster, it was so intense.  But it was amazing.  And the spiritual aspect. <3

So yes, my two favorite books from the year were actually basically opposites, which is interesting but cool. (Also I got Blaze of Glory—the whole series, actually—for Christmas, and a candle that SMELLS LIKE A BOOKSTORE AND IT'S SO AMAZING)

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Okay, now 2019 goals.

Right about now is the time that everyone is making their New Year's resolutions—a new year, a fresh start at becoming more, becoming better.

I've never made New Year's resolutions.  Why?  Because the definition of a resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something.  Resolutions take determination, y'all.  And while I get that determination and perseverance can be good things, I didn't want the burden of knowing that if I messed up one of my resolutions I'd feel like a failure, which basically reverses the effects that resolutions are supposed to have.

So, I came up with an alternative: goals.  Because I know I'm a work-in-progress, and by God's grace I'm going to continue to improve every day.  It's the same thing with my goals.  Rather than making a resolution, I made several goals to work towards rather than piling it on top of myself all at once.  So I'd like to share with you a few goals I have for the new year.

1. (Tentatively) Publish Beloved.

Okay, so yeah, this may or may not happen.  But *crosses fingers* Lord willing, I'll put the hammer down and stop procrastinating.  This poor baby has gone through (and is going through) so many changes, it'll be a miracle if I get it ready for publication by 2090.  But I'm going to try. ;)

2. Exercise at least 4 days out of every week.
Those who know me well know that I'm seriously so out of shape, it isn't even funny.  So since Mom got a membership at the local gym, I'll hopefully get going regularly with her, as well as exercising at home.  Because goodness knows I need it.

3. Read at least 60 books.
So according to Goodreads, this year I've only read 76 out of my 90-book goal this year, which is sad, but it also means that I haven't spent as much time with my nose in a book (or I'm just not as fast a reader as I used to be... but I refuse to accept that), so that's good, right?  So I thought I'd let off some pressure and rather than shoot for the stars on this one, I'd shoot for... well, the neighbor's yard, I guess.  (Living out in the country, that's not exactly close...)

4. Blog consistently.
Um maybe by the end of the year I'll actually master this one?  Because while I obviously need help in the consistent blogging department, I've been doing better lately, and maybe I'll just have to designate a few days this year to just write like 20 posts at a time and schedule them and possibly actually publish a post every week.

5. Write at least 50,000 words.
Well, seeing as how I probably wrote barely 10K this year, this might not happen, especially if I'm going to be dedicating a bunch of time to Beloved.  Buuuut we'll give it a whirl.  I mean, hundreds of people write this much in one month alone (NaNo, anyone?) and surely I can do it in the span of 12 months... right?

6. Create a 2019 playlist.
Now, this is an idea that I kinda halfways stole from a blog I follow, but I thought it was a neat idea.  I love music, and I'm constantly listening to music or singing or playing piano or just playing a song in my head over and over (I don't recommend that though, unless you want to get really tired of that song really fast).  I'm not sure how I'll do this, maybe a song per week, or when something significant happens.



7. Finish reading through the Bible.
I started this for school this past semester, and I'm actually supposed to get 3/4 of the way done by the time next semester is over, so I'd hope this would happen... but I guess ya never know.  Maybe I should shoot for reading through the Bible again after I finish...

8. Memorize at least 20 Bible verses.
I don't memorize nearly as much as I should, and I'll hopefully step up my game this year.  I've never really cared that much for memorization (unless it's music that I accidentally memorize by listening to a specific song over and over), so not only will this increase my knowledge of the Bible, it'll also bring me out of my comfort zone.

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Yeah... that's a lot of goals.  We'll see how I do!  I might write an update post this summer... we shall see.
Do you have any goals/resolutions for 2019?

Why Fruitcake?

Fruitcake is the stereotypical Christmas dessert.  I've personally only had it once (never again), but it's still everywhere this time of year.  So during a conversation with my mother on the subject, and amid speculation, I began to wonder exactly why fruitcake is so traditional and popular, even though few people actually like it.  So, I did some research.  And I was surprised and slightly horrified to find that some fruitcake supposedly has a shelf life of 25 years.

Fruitcake actually started in Rome, where it was almost a delicacy, only affordable to the rich because of how rare fresh fruit was in the winter.  Add liqueur to that, and you've got an expensive dish.  Our American version stemmed from the British form of plum cake, a fruity dessert incredibly popular to eat during holidays.  Obviously, it's not nearly as rare and expensive now, so it's not as popular as it used to be.  But it's still iconic.

My personal experience with fruitcake came 3 or 4 years ago, when we visited a location famous for their fruitcake, and was handing out samples.  I sunk my teeth into a bite, even though fruitcake isn't liked all that well and I'm not a fan of trying new foods.  But I figured I might as well give it a try.

The bread was... very sweet, and the fruit was... well, something I tried not to chew too much.  All this to say, no, I don't like fruitcake.  But if you do—more power to you!

Also, don't forget to visit Faith's blog for the other participators and the giveaway!

Memorable Decorations {Part 2}

Last time I talked about the memories behind our Christmas decorations, we ended in the front room.  I'd like to now take you over to the family room, where more surprises await.

First of all, let's hop to the south side of the house, where windows offer perfect places to drape some greenery.  And what better addition to the greenery than snowflakes?  Probably about ten years ago, my grandma patiently attempted to teach me how to do a simple chain crochet stitch, which I promptly left to do other, more interesting things.  Well, finally, a few years ago, she gave me the idea to make lace snowflakes for my mom.  I readily agreed, not knowing how tedious it would be to learn new stitches and put them to use.  But I'm quite pleased with how they turned out!

A hop and a skip away, and once again, we've got a homemade gift that the guys made probably six or seven years ago.  Mom wanted stocking hangers, and so her sweet husband once again surprised her with eight shining, gold-painted hangers.  I remember that we all gave them to her—Daddy and us kids—and though I didn't do a thing, they were still partially from me, and that was special.  Though it made my brothers slightly irritated.

And let's just take a moment to admire these stocking handcrafted by my very talented mother, shall we?  Not only are they simply stockings, but cowboy boots!  Yeah, have I mentioned her love for western decor?

Now let's take a step back from the mantle (where we put the village every year until we decided to put it on the piano this year) to examine Kordell's fascination/obsession with lights.  The dude seriously finds a new place to string lights every year. (Let's not forget that one year Birdo strung garland across the room suspended from the ceiling... but that's another story.)

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Our house is certainly all decked out this year!  How about yours?