the start of something new
“It’s the start of something new…” Cue the high school music song 🎵 Okay, but really, now I’ve got that stuck in my head, so let’s just roll with it. Annnyyyways, hello! I’m blogging like a journal for the first time in years. I’ve truly missed just yapping with you all (or yapping to myself, I’m not sure who even reads these). In case you’re new here, you’re probably wondering why I’m going completely unhinged with these random writings, and honestly, same. Basically here’s the update—I’ve revamped my blog!
Previously, this blog was a lot more rigid. I had it set up in a way that I didn’t love anymore and wasn’t inspired by it. Just as of yesterday, if you would have went to http://danyelllang.com you would have found a polished website designed for busy moms to learn how to document their memories in easy and consistent methods. Memory Keeping is something I’m super passionate about, and I still am! But limiting myself in that way took away my joy for blogging. I constantly felt like my posts were only meant to teach. And what I really missed was just jumping on my blog like back in 2012 and spilling my guts. I’m not sure if this is something people do anymore… but I’m going to.
Okay, so where do we start? How about we talk about my goals, plans, and passions?
🎯 Goals
1) Post a couple blogs a week.
This feels pretty manageable right now. Especially since I can freely write about whatever I want. I’m planning to be fluid with the formatting, cross things out, post pictures or post none, really just have fun with it. I will be the first to admit though, my hormones are my downfall. I’ve done this before… right at the exact same time of my cycle every month I will get this WILD burst of I-can-do-anything energy. I get inspired, make plans, have these grand goals, and then fall short in two days when my period inevitably hits. Here’s hoping that’s not going to happen this time with this blog 🤞🏻
2) Bring back the “weekly recap”
This used to be one of my favorite blog posts I created. I stopped doing it because it didn’t really fit. I was sharing my weekly/daily happenings on a blog that was trying to target busy moms who wanted to learn how to document their families. So instead of figuring out a different way, I just stopped. But now that I’m not trying to use my blog to teach anybody anything (we’re just here to yap), I’m ready to bring back the weekly recaps. And this time I’m bringing it back and throwing out all the rules.
3) Maybe do a podcast
Heavy on the maybe here… but what better way to yap than talk out loud to you all 🤩 If I were to do it I’m just going to tell you right now it would be soooo laid back. I mean, talk to my phone, no set up or gear, no plan but just chatting like we’re on a call kind of thing. I used to have a podcast with a good photographer friend where we structured each episode to be something about memory keeping. I liked it, but this time I want to keep it more general. I also used to have a podcast with Trevor (my husband) where we chatted about ALL THE THINGS. That’s what I’m looking to get started again.
📝 Plans
In order to reach my goals I need some plans. I’m a very Type A kind of person, but since having kids all of my Type A requirements have gone out the window. No more pretty planners and time blocked days. I make a three bullet to do list and hope to God I can get it accomplished in the pockets of time I have.
But, as my kids are getting a little older I’m starting to finally feel the break to do some of my own things again. Greysen is 3 and will mostly play by himself when he wants to, and Forrest is almost 1 which means he happily toddles at my feet as long as I keep tossing snacks down to him like a gold fish. That all to say, I think I can hammer out some blog posts while the kids eat breakfast or for a quick hour after they go to bed. Not using my blog to teach anyone anything, but rather using it as a journal to yap in makes writing easier too. I don’t have to have much structure, and if it just a little bit doesn’t make sense I’m okay with that, haha.
My VERY LOOSE plan is to post a random blog post every Tuesday about who knows what, and then a weekly recap blog post on Fridays. My Tuesday blog post will be things like this—random ramblings, topics I’m currently interested in, book reviews, etc. And then on Friday, I’ll plan to recap the week previously (Monday-Sunday) with stories, pictures, wrap up of everything I shared online, and so on.
🌻 Passions
So, that leads me to passions. What am I passionate about? These are the kind of things you’ll probably see pop up in the blog from time to time. And as my passions change, so will the topics I talk about. I just love that this blog can be whatever I want it to be.
+Books: reading books, collection books, just looking at books. It’s one of my favorite past times. So, I’m sure there will be loads of book content coming to the blog very soon!
+Digital journaling: I’m obsessed with my simple system of using the Apple Notes app as my catch all. It’s a common place notebook, journal, etc. And the best part is that I can search it and pull up anything at any time.
+This little app called Finch: okay, so obsessed is an understatement when I talk about this app. I’m going to need a whole blog post just to explain it.
+Homeschooling: we’re in the thick of it, and it’s not going exactly like I planned, but I have lots to say about this topic. So, expect posts upon posts very soon.
+And of course, as always, memory keeping of any kind!
Whew okay, so we’ve got a start. One blog post down, many many more to go. I’m really excited for this structure and I hope that you all are too. If there’s anything you want to see or you’re excited for me to yap about please DM me on Instagram (this is the best place for us to chat). In the meantime, bye critters!
