Remember “Ask Stephany Anything”? I love doing this series during NaBloPoMo in November because it gives me a great weekly blog post idea. I did a few ASA posts during NaBloPoMo, but then got busy with my cruise and Christmas and end-of-year posts. I still have a few lingering questions from my form (and the blog post where I asked for questions), so I’m going to keep this series going for as long as I have questions. If you have a question for me, feel free to ask it in the comments or fill out my form!
From San: Would you ever consider leaving Florida and live in a different state?
I would love to leave Florida! I have lived here my entire life and I think it would be really special to live somewhere that experiences all four seasons. However, I’d need their winters to be mild, which is why North Carolina tends to be the place I’m most interested in living if I ever left Florida.
However, the thought of moving to a different state all by myself is terrifying! It would be really difficult to have to create a new support system and new routines in a different state. I struggle with change just moving from one apartment to another in my same city and moving to an entirely new state where I don’t know anyone would be hugely difficult for my anxiety disorder. So, I don’t see myself leaving Florida unless things changed drastically in my life.
From Suzanne: Would you tell us more about your blogging editorial calendar? How do you decide what to write and when? How long do you spend writing/blogging each day?
My blogging editorial calendar is not fancy. I simply use Google Calendar to plan out what I want to write each month. And truthfully, I’m only really planning out my Wednesday posts since I typically use Mondays for “What I’m Reading” posts and Fridays for TGIF or Five for Friday. Here’s what February looks like for me (just ignore all my actual plans, lol. The blog posts have a pink background):
As you can see, I have a placeholder for “What I’m Reading” every Monday. Typically, midway through the prior week, I’ll make a decision if I think I’ll be able to have three books ready to review by the weekend. If not, I’ll either remove “What I’m Reading” from that week’s planned posts or flip-flop Monday’s and Wednesday’s posts (if I think I’ll have three books ready by Tuesday). I like using Google Calendar because I can easily remove or move around blog posts. (For example, the “All About My Laundry” blog post has been moving around since October. I just know it’s going to take a bit of effort to write that post, and I haven’t had the time!)
How I decide what to write about varies! I keep a running list in my Notes app with blog ideas and will throw an idea on that list when inspiration strikes. (I think 95% of the ideas I get come from podcasts, ha.) Near the end of the previous month, I’ll sit down and plan out my blog posts (well, as I said above, plan out my Wednesday blog posts). Most times, I have enough ideas to see me through the month. I also have some recurring series that I cycle through that keep things interesting, like Snapshot of My Day, Three Things Thursday, Currently, Virtual Coffee Date, etc. If I run out of ideas, I’ll just throw one of those into my schedule.
Now, the real fun comes when I sit down to write. It usually takes me upwards of two hours to write a blog post (between writing it, sourcing pictures, editing it, etc). Not every blog post takes me that long. I can usually write a “What I’m Reading” post and a Friday post in under an hour. But more in-depth posts (like this one) will take longer. It’s usually because I’m not only writing, but figuring out how I want to structure the post. Do I want to break things out into different headings? Do I want it to be stream of consciousness? Should I start with this section, or this other section that I wrote later? I also spend a lot of time rereading and rewriting (you don’t even want to know how many times I’ve reread and rewrote my answer to this question!) I know I spend too much time thinking about these things, but I love the writing process and I love being precious about the writing I do on this blog. It’s just who I am.
I’m trying to get better at writing shorter posts. Not every blog post needs to be 1,000+ words and brilliant. Sometimes, a quick 400-word post that captures a small moment in time is enough. But it’s hard. I love to write, and I love to write long posts.
From Anonymous: I love name stories, so: how did the animal friends in your life get their names? And how’d you get your name? How do you feel about your name?
I really wish I had better stories for how I named my cats. When I decided I was going to adopt a cat, I started a name list in my phone. I had a long list of names I loved for cats, most of them human names because I love human names for pets! When I adopted Eloise, I spent a few days trying to pin down the perfect name for her. I had settled on Eloise or Freya and called her by both names to see which one fit better. In the end, she seemed more of an Eloise than a Freya. I have always loved the name Eloise because it’s so sweet and delicate. She mostly goes by Ellie, though, and she’s definitely an Ellie. I gave her the middle name of “Joy” because I adopted her during the holiday season, the most joyous time of the year!
About a week or two before I adopted Lila, I was at my mom’s Super Bowl party and my cousin was talking about the twins she had given birth to in October. (She was a surrogate for a friend.) One of the twins was named Lila and my eyes just lit up at that name. I thought Lila was such a pretty name and would be the perfect name for a cat! So that name was in the back of my mind when I went to the animal shelter to look at the cats. And there she was. The shelter had given her the name Lola and it felt like divine intervention. Just one letter off from the name I wanted to name my next cat? And she was totally a Lila, too. I gave her the middle name “May” since she has a May birthday.
Chip and Lucy were named by my mom, of course. She chose “Chip” because she loves chocolate chip cookies. He goes by Chip, Chippy, Chippy Boy, Chipper, and Chip-a-Dee-Do-Da. Lucy was chosen because she just liked the name. We were actually deciding between Lucy and Barbara, which was my grandma’s name. Wouldn’t Barbara be such a cute name for a teeny-weeny dachshund? Ahh! However, I was really pushing my mom to name her Peppermint Patty (since my mom loves York Peppermint Patties!), but she’s definitely more of a Lucy than a Patty. Lucy goes by Lucy, Luce, Lucy-Goosey, Goosey, Goose, and Lucy Girl.
As for my name, my dad originally wanted to name me Doogabock, which was a name he invented (and became my nickname for most of my childhood). My mom instead chose the name Stephanie (it was the 80s, after all) and wanted to make it look different, so she chose the unique spelling of Stephany. I hated my unique spelling growing up because it meant I could never get anything from those personalized kiosks that were popular in the 90s, but now I really love it! I like the unique spelling and I feel like the name fits me.
Do you know the origin story of your name?
I’m not sure why my parents chose the name Elisabeth, but I know my mother had written out all my birth announcements with Elizabeth spelled with a “z” when my Dad happened to spot one and say: oh, I put it down as Elisabeth as an “s” on her birth certificate because that’s how it’s spelled in the King James version of the Bible. I mean, after what I suppose was months of discussing the name Elisabeth, they never discussed the spelling?!!! I guess each person just assumed the other was thinking “z” or “s.”
A few times it has been a real nuisance to have a less-common spelling, but I LOVE the way my name is spelled. Every time I see Elizabeth with a “z” I cringe just a little bit, because I like the look of it with an “s” so much more. It looks less harsh to me?! But I realize I am 100% biassed.
What shocks me the most is how some people never, ever get my name right. Like friends I have known for several years continue to spell my name wrong. I ALWAYS (obviously) spell my name correctly when I, for instance, sign off on an e-mail exchange. But they’ll respond with Hi Elizabeth. I don’t get bothered by it, but do find it deeply fascinating.
That is SUCH a funny story of how you became an Elisabeth and not an Elizabeth! What a fun story to be able to tell to people. 🙂 I, too, prefer the spelling with an “s” so I feel you on that!
Oh, the origin of names is so interesting. I have a relatively unusual name for my age (it’s not all that uncommon nowadays), but my sister’s name is SO BORING. I have tried to get my mom to tell me how my sister ended up with such a generic name and I didn’t, but she doesn’t really give me an answer. I guess I’ll have to just go about my life with this unsolved mystery. Also, Doogabock? That would not be awesome.
It’s always interesting when siblings’ names don’t really match up. I would be frustrated, too, not to know how you guys ended up with such different first names, haha.
I think you’ve probably heard my name origin story as I think I’ve blogged about it. I was the 4th child and the first child my dad got to name completely on his own. Even though he is the manliest man that wore wrangler and worked in a trade, he watched soap operas when he came home for lunch every day. So I was named after a soap opera star. He said she was strong, confident and feisty. My middle name was going to be Suzanne, but then they realized my initials would be LSD! So they went with Anne instead. I honestly do not love my name. I actuallly change it to Stephanie in 3rd grade! I was so obsessed with Full House at the time and just hated my name. Overall it’s fine now but not what I would have chosen!
OMG, Lisa. Have you spent all this time being oh-so-jealous of my cool 80s name?! 😉 Haha. That’s adorable that you were named after a soap opera star, though! LSD makes me giggle. It would be hard to get that initialed on a bag!
DOOGABOCK.
I do have an origin story! My mom was really into Russian history and was reading Nicholas and Alexandra when she was pregnant with me. She wanted to name me Anastasia, but no one was on board with that. Pro tip: never tell anyone what you are thinking of naming your child until after they are born and named. That way no one can give you input! Anyway, she wanted Anastasia, but went with Nicole – inspired by Nicholas. She didn’t know anyone of that name, but guess what, there were a LOT of Nicoles born in the 1970s. Shortly after I was born, her cousin had a baby and named her Nicole, which apparently was a real burr in my mom’s saddle. That Nicole went by Nikki though. My middle name is a shortened version of my mom’s name.
Anastasia! What a beautiful, fancy name. I can definitely see you as an Anastasia. I used to be obsessed with Russia as a kid (I have no idea why!) and Anastasia was a name I always loved.
Being Greek my parents followed tradition which is to name children after their grandparents starting with the father’s parents first and then the mother’s parents. Therefore I’m named after my paternal grandmother. Growing up in the USA in the 80s it was a very uncommon and difficult name to pronounce. Thankfully I went by the first three letters in my name which is a common name in English, thus making it less awkward for me in school as a young child (except for the first day of school lol). I embraced my full name more as I grew up and became and adult. Luckily, my children’s names “work” in both greek and English.
Oof, I always hated that first day of school where everyone would mispronounce my last name (it’s very German!) so I feel you on that. I’m glad you were able to shorten your name to make it easier on you when you were a kid!
I love knowing more about your blogging process! (And I’m relieved it takes you two-ish hours to write a post — because it takes me forever to write a post and then I worry I am just not efficient enough or something.) (I am also excited to see that you may be going to see Jim Gaffigan tomorrow! I saw him once and loved him!)
My name comes from a friend of my mom’s. She died of some sort of childhood cancer, so my mom didn’t tell me about the origin until I was a grown up.
Yes, Suzanne! I am not an efficient blog poster either, and sometimes I feel really self-conscious about how long I spend writing a blog post. But it takes how long it takes!
OMG I did not know Stephany was the unique spelling! I thought it was the more common one!
I can’t remember why I am Kim. One funny thing is all of my siblings have names with three syllables and I brought this up to my mom to ask if she did it on purpose and she said she had never thought about it. Ha.
I love reading how you named your girls! And how cool your cousin was a surrogate.
I love using gcal for my editorial stuff too!
That’s so funny, Kim, that all this time you thought Stephany was the typical spelling. Love that I had that effect. 😉
There must be something about three-syllable names that your mom loved, she just didn’t know it!
I LOVE the question about pet names! I also prefer human names for pets. Our black cat is named Charlotte (which my daughter picked out after my son rejected her first choice, which was “Beyonce”, PHEW) and then when we adopted our calico, she was a cute little kitten that her foster mom had named Greta. I loved that name for her, but the kids insisted on changing her name to Muffin. I know, Muffin is a cute name, but I would much rather have Greta. Oh well. Those pictures of Chip and Lucy are so cute, I can’t stand it.
I’ve also thought about moving away from Florida. Well, one thing we think about is possibly moving from South Florida to Tampa! But if we left the state entirely, I would also want a location that didn’t have too much winter. Maybe Georgia? If this even happens, we wouldn’t do it until my daughter graduates from high school- so we’re looking at at least 4 and 1/2 more years.
Awww, Greta is such a cute name for a cat! Now that might go on my list for potential cat names if I get another cat (which I won’t anytime soon, but ugh, it is TEMPTING).
Yes, move to Tampa! You would love it here, I think. There is such a rich running community here.
I’m obsessedddd with names and stories about them, which is probably no surprise, given my own weird name story. I’m named after my mom’s grandmothers, Sara and Katie, and my parents always wanted to call me Katy but thought Sara Kathryn sounded better than Kathryn Sara. So Sara Kathryn it was… but I never, ever want by Sara, even to my parents. I called it “my doctor’s office name” because it was only for formal stuff like medical visits and taxes. When I got married, I changed my ENTIRE name – dropped Sara, made my first name Kate, made my maiden name my middle name, and took Mike’s last name. I still haven’t changed my bank info, though, even five years later, which means the name I go by and the name on my cards is 100% different! I should probbbably take care of that soon…
I did somewhat know the story of your name, mostly how you’ve always gone by your middle name. Good for changing it all when you got married! Hopefully you can take care of the bank info soon, haha.
Names are such a fascinating thing. Almost always there is a story behind. I just realize that would be such a great conversation starter.
I also love your insight into the blogging schedule.
I have to repeat myself and say: I love the AMA series that so many bloggers started during NaBloPoMo… so many random things that you’d never blog about if it wasn’t for someone asking the questions 🙂
I can see how it’s hard to leave your home state – but I do love that you have been exploring the thought in your head.
I love the unique spelling of your name. I was born in the 70’s and Sandra was REALLY popular in Germany at the time. I don’t know why my parents couldn’t come up with something more unique LOL (my sister’s name is Jeannine – although she goes by Nina).
It’s been really fun to see what topics people are curious about with these AMAs! Some people ask really great questions!
I had no idea your sister’s name is Jeannine!