This month marks the one-year anniversary of my wife’s blog, Wendi’s Weekend Trips & Whatnot. It is a remarkable achievement when you realize she does this for fun as a creative outlet for her love of writing and holds down a full-time job dealing with performance, compliance and quality improvement for a very successful and impactful nonprofit agency in Wooster, Ohio.
To say I am proud of what my wife, Wendi Warren, has achieved would be an understatement. Many writers deal with self-doubt, thinking why would anybody want to read what they have to say. Writing builds connections with others, and these connections can lead to relationships. The answer to the age-old question, “What do writers do?” is always, “Writers write.” And that’s what Wendi has done. She can write a blog anywhere she has her smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer. She can even go old school and write by hand in a notebook. She was writing her blog about getting invited to the Valravn VIP Media Event, — where she scored an opportunity to be among the first 1,500 riders of Cedar Point’s record-breaking dive coaster — while in line waiting to get on the ride. She wrote another while listening to a community band concert.
Later this month, Wendi will be formally celebrating her blog’s one-year anniversary. She plans to offer her subscribers a food guide of sorts. All posts from the restaurants and ice cream shops we have visited over the past year have been collected and published in an ebook format. (To get an idea of some of the restaurants featured, click here.)
There have been a lot of strange twists and turns over the year. Some of the most popular posts deal with things you would have never imagined. A blog post about six things to do in Minerva is the most popular one. Thousands of people have seen it. I am not sure what connected with the people, but something did. This was the only post where you could literally see the page views climb higher every time the stats page was refreshed.
Wendi had the opportunity to join me on the set of the PBS/Lone Wolf Media television series, Mercy Street. We visited Pittsburgh to see where “Jack Reacher” was filmed. Ate at restaurants featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
What started it all was a spur-of-the-moment trip to Grover’s in Buffalo, N.Y., which prompted visits to Jamestown, N.Y., and Niagara Falls. Wendi will share the story about how it all began at a later date, but the trip back in July 2015 was the catalyst.
On behalf of my wife, Wendi, the founder of this blog, I want to express my gratitude for making this such a wonderful and fun adventure for us. I get dragged along to shoot photos and video, and it has been an enjoying time, and a tiring one, too. Every time you comment on a post or share it on Facebook and Twitter, it is appreciated.
Stay tuned, who knows what Year No. 2 holds for Wendi’s Weekend Trips & Whatnot.
