Why I am the worst blogger ever

I might as well come clean, folks.

I am the worst blogger.

Seriously the worst.

Here I am staring at my freaking blank screen at 9:14 pm and I don't have one idea of what I am going to say to you tonight.  All of Kimmie's peeps at Sugar and Dots are going to come over and say hi, and here I am with nothing in the world to say.

It really sucks being such a crappy blogge---

Now wait a second.  I do believe an idea was just born.  Yes.  Yes it was.

I hereby present to you...

WHY I AM THE WORST BLOGGER EVER

BY THE LIFE OF BON
AKA BON BON

WARNING:  This picture has nothing to do with the post.  

I just like it because it's the middle of summer, I'm riding a tandem bicycle with my bestie, and Santa Clause tried to hop on the back.  

And we're laughing our heads off.

Who could resist sharing?!?

Reason #1:  I don't like blogging about weekends.  My weekends are great and everything, don't get me wrong.  I just don't know that they are necessarily post worthy.  So most of the time I don't mention them at all unless Hubs was puking his guts out or something.  When I do try to post about a normal weekend I bore myself with the post.  Weekends are great to live.  Not so great to read about.

Reason #2:  Sometimes I am embarrassed to be a blogger.  I even kind of hate the term "blogger."  It feels like I don't belong in it.  You know when you just start dating a guy and you feel weird every time he calls you his girlfriend?  It's like that.  Also, pretty much everybody I know gives me a hard time about being a so called "blogger."  Don't get me wrong- it's all in good fun- but it's also somewhat mortifying.  "Hey, guys, Bon just got out her camera!  This is going on the blog!"  "Oh hey Bonnie.  Heard you got yourself your very own blog!"  and of course, my students, "Teacher are you going to tell this story on your blog?!?"  I always just kind of duck by head and pretend like I don't know what they are talking about.  I practically disown my blog on the daily.  Shouldn't a good blogger be loud and proud about her space on the interwebs?!?

Reason #3:  I always forget to take pictures.  Either that, or I feel super lame pulling my camera out.  For example, Saturday night we hung out with all of Hubs' friends.  It was real fun!  They were all dudes!  Six of them, in fact! I was the only girl!  We ate at a gross buffet and then wasted money in a way I would rather not discuss.  Just me and the boys!  I wanted to take a picture of it, but it just felt weird, "Hey you six mid twenty year old men!  Smile for the camera so I can put this on my blog!"  It's not just with six dudes, I always feel real self conscious pulling out the cam cam.  When I do, I snap a pic real fast and then hide my camera back away.  Which is way my pics always turn out like crap.
3a.  I don't have a DSLR camera.
3b.  I have no idea how to use a DSLR even if I had one
3c.  I never edit my pictures because oh gosh, it's just all so exhausting.

Reason #4:  I really really hate DIY.  You should see me try to do any kind of craft.  Thirty minutes into it I've got yarn tangled up, glitter spilled all over the floor, and fingers that are hot glued together.  I invariably give up half way through the project, throw the cardboard with a hot mess of glue and buttons on it across the room, and then demand someone else finish it for me.  It ain't pretty.

Reason #5:  I don't blog on schedule.  Ever.  I can count on one hand the number of times I have had a post ready to go a day or more in advance.  Did I say one hand?  I meant one finger.  Most of the time I open up my computer and stare at the blank screen and wonder, "now what should I write about today?" just like I did today.  If I were a good blogger I would have this all figured out and planned and scheduled.  Last week I talked to a blogging buddy of mine and she told me she writes all her posts for the week on Saturday.  ON SATURDAY!  Can you imagine the kind of determination and organization that that woman must have?  I'm never going to get there, I'll tell you now!

Reason #6:  I have no idea how to do any kind of blog design.  It's all I can do to copy and paste an html and I tell you what, that took me a whole year to catch on to.  I have only one time made my own button and that was an all out disaster.  I've got people who do that crap for me because I just can't figure it out on my own.  And my, don't I sound official saying "I've got people?!?"

Reason #7:  Pretty sure I am the antithesis of link-up queen.  I always forget how to link up, I never find the link ups on time, I'm never quite writing on the right topic.  Then there's my own link ups I've tried to host.  Don't even get me going there.  I never put the link up gadget up right.  What few people are nice enough to link up never even hear a peep from me because I'm so overwhelmed with the whole stinkin thing I never get to the point of actually commenting on the posts they linked up.  It's a shame I tell you, a crying shame!

I could go on but Reason #8 I am a bad blogger is I blog too late at night and then I am exhausted and just want to go to bed and the post gets the raw end of the deal.

So sorry post.

Hey!  It just occurred to me that a lot of you probably think you are bad bloggers too.  Well, hello, that is what the comment section is for!  Tell me what makes you a bad blogger and we will all wallow in our blog awfulness together.  Now that sounds like a party!

P.S.  If you are here for the first time, A. I am so glad you are here! B. Check out my Best of Bon page if you want to read more and C. don't forget to enter yesterday's massive giveaway.  Lots of loot up for grabs!

The pros and cons of blogging

Everytime I head to my mom's house she has a stack of mail for me.  This is because Hubs and I move at least once a year and we have no permanent address. Usually the mail my mom has for me includes a notice from a bank I deserted months ago and a statement from my retirement company.  That's right, Bon Bon's got a retirement account, isn't she special?

Occasionally in the stack of mail will be a BYU Alum magazine.  They start sending you this magazine after you graduate.  My theory is they do it so that you will always remember your alma mater and one day feel so inclined to send them lots of money.  The magazine is called "BYU Magazine."  Clever title, isn't it?

I thumbed through the magazine at my mom's house on Sunday and came across an article entitled, "Family Focus: The benefits of Mommy Blogging: New moms find emotional support in online communities."  What a mouthful, eh?  The gist of the article was this: women, and specifically moms, who blog are happier.  The article stated that having an online support system helps to relieve all of the responsibilities and burdens of motherhood and childrearing.

The article states, "With a new mom's increased feelings of connectedness and social support often comes better marital satisfaction and less marital conflict, say the researchers.  Holmes believes that when a mom feels that many people care about her, her husband is relieved of being the sole emotional support."

So I guess my question here is, DO YOU AGREE?  While I have definitely seen the benefits of blogging in my life, I feel like there is a fine line that I try hard not to cross.  A line that takes blogging from a hobby, an enjoyment and a fulfillment to an obsession, a burden, and a suffocation.  While I love the interaction I have through blogs and the great women I have met through it, it is a constant battle to not compare myself to the other women.  I long ago accepted I'll never be crafty and I'll never be a gourmet cook.  I was not born with these gifts.  But reading blog after glaring blog of beautiful DIY projects and perfect homes and delicious meals can make even the most confident women start to feel insecure.  Sometimes I feel my daily life is so mundane compared to others, that I'm not rich enough, pretty enough, or stylish enough.  And I wonder, Would I feel this way if I didn't spend so much time reading blogs?  Or would I feel perfectly ok about myself and the place I am in, because honestly, I'm in a pretty good place.

I guess what it comes down to is my number one struggle with blogs.  I've said this before in this post, but I will reitereate it here- I feel like a lot of blogging is not honest.  Our culture does not appreciate people who talk about their troubles on social media.  Think about the last time you saw a facebook status that said, "I'm so lonely.  Why don't I have any friends?"  Most likely you think that person is a social freak and that they should keep that kind of information to themselves- or at least not on social media.  But when you see a fb status that says "Had so much fun at the lake.  I have the best friends ever!"  You think nothing of it.  Or else maybe you get a little jealous because you didn't go to the lake this weekend.  You cleaned the house.  Or watched TV.  Or got in an argument with a family member.  Meaning that obviously your life is not as awesome as the lives of others.

Because social media does not encourage us to talk about problems, it by default does not encourage us to be honest.  Sometimes I read a blog and I think, "Yah, that all looks great, but I don't know you.  Who are you?  What's really going on in your life?  Besides the Instagram pictures of the movie you went to and the food you ate, please be honest with me.  Let me really meet you."  I think until the blogging culture is more friendly to an occasional "complaining" post, it won't be an honest culture.  Just yesterday I posted my frustrations at being overcharged at a doctor's office.  One reader commented, "Please stick to happy posts!"  While I understand that people don't read blogs to be bogged down by others' problems, I was also hurt that this reader only wanted to hear from me if I was happy.  If I needed support or encouragement or if I was frustrated or upset, the reader didn't care to read along.

So... now I will turn the tables to you.  Do you agree with the study that says that blogging makes you happier?  Does it increase your "marital satisfaction", as the research claims?  Or does it leave you feeling inadequate and searching for something more?

Please, please... CHIME IN!