Ryan and the Blog

I love it when you can easily change leftovers into a whole different dish.

That’s exactly what I did for lunch today. I took the remaining pulled chicken from Tuesday night’s BBQ pulled chicken dish and turned it into buffalo chicken!

I served the buffaloified chicken on a whole wheat sandwich thin, along with cucumber slices, a small cup of honeydew and Colby jack string cheese.

For dessert I had a warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie.

It tasted slightly underbaked which is just how I like ’em.

Ryan and the Blog

Yesterday afternoon I received an email from Katie with a request for a blog post about how Ryan feels about my blog and how he handles living with someone who snaps photos of food multiple times a day and dedicates hours to creating blog posts.

I must start by saying that I am lucky to have Ryan’s whole-hearted support when it comes to the blog. When I first toyed with the idea of starting my own blog, Ryan encouraged me to go for it and even thought of the name!

Of course it’s not all rainbows and butterflies. I am a real person and he is someone who lives with a blogging maniac. We have had an argument or two concerning the blog.

Laptop Black Out

Our biggest argument was one I’ll call the “Laptop Black Out.”

Ryan got upset with me because I would type up my dinner post on the couch near him, but with my back against the right arm of the couch and my feet up by his legs. When he looked over at me, all he saw was the front of a big, fat laptop.

That doesn’t exactly scream quality time, now does it?

Solution

I realized he felt neglected when I would spend a lot of time creating a post hunched over my laptop, basically ignoring him. Part of the problem was the time I was spending on my evening posts. My old laptop was unbelievably slow, and I would spend an inordinate amount of time cropping pictures and waiting for things to load. It probably took me 5 – 8 minutes of uploading time per picture. Not fun.

After dealing with this nonsense for a while, I found a great deal online and bought a new laptop. I also discovered Windows Live Writer, a publishing tool that made uploading pictures a breeze. My dinner posts now take about a quarter of the time that they used to and Ryan is a much happier camper. I also try to blog when he is catching up on sports and isn’t looking for one-on-one time.

Ryan always makes me feel like a priority in his life and I needed to do some adjusting to make sure he felt like he was more important than the blog. Lesson learned.

The Pictures

So how does Ryan really feel about me snapping pictures of my food on our dates, or posing with a big ol’ burger on occasion?

I asked him this very question, point blank last night.

His reply? “I don’t really care at all. I’m used to it.”

Whenever I whip out my camera, he calls me his little tourist. 😉

As far as all the pictures are concerned, it also really helps that he’s not easily embarrassed… especially when I’m snapping away in a restaurant or public place.

I think we both feel the most uncomfortable asking other people to take our picture for us, but that made me feel awkward even before I had a blog!

Thank goodness for the self-timer.

The Key

To me, the key to balancing my blog and my relationship with Ryan is recognizing that my blog is my hobby. I do not have the luxury of being a full-time blogger who makes a living solely from my blog. Whenever I feel stress or pressure related to the blog, I remind myself that it is something I do for fun. Of course I want my blog to grow and thrive, but it is mainly my creative release and something that is supposed to bring me joy.

This mentality allows me to not post if I am too busy. It helps me feel okay stepping away from the computer when I’m hanging out with my family and neglect the blog when life gets in the way.

If you struggle with balancing your blog with your personal life, ask yourself this: What’s more important? The world seeing that turkey sandwich you just ate, or cultivating your personal relationships?