Thanks for the tips, I will definitely implement this code.
However, my main issue is that It seems as though if I have any other logic in the void loop other than blynk.run(), the blynk board is disconnected from the blynk server. Serial monitor says "login timeout" repeatedly.
Maybe I should be posting this on the blynk website, but I thought it is worth a shot here too, as it is an arduino programming question.
Thanks!