What I Love About Blogging

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Like most of you, I’ll be spending the day with those I love the most. We don’t have fancy plans since my kids have their usual Wednesday schedule including school, dance class and swim class. We might sneak in a quick family dinner, but it is probably more likely you’ll find me tonight at Pei Wei (my son’s favorite restaurant) than a steakhouse or trendy hot spot. Since I don’t have much to report on my Valentine’s Day plans, I decided to switch gears and talk about one of my other loves. I’m talking about my love of blogging.

Note: This post contains affiliate links

Outfit details: off the shoulder top (similar here or here), jeans, booties (similar), J monogram necklace, tassel earrings

My blogging journey has been exactly that. A journey. I’ve been blogging since the summer of 2015 and to be honest, I’ve loved almost every second of it. Everything from the excitement of starting something new to figuring out my passion and actually doing something with that. Let’s be honest. How many people really get the chance to work in a field they love? Not many at all.

The reason I started doing this in the first place was because it allowed me the flexibility to do the most important job in the world to me. Be a mom. I started my blog right around the time I left my job in IT to stay home with my kids. For years, I dreamed about being a stay-at-home mom, but I knew I was never destined to be a traditional housewife. I love spending every possible minute with my kids, but I knew I needed something more for me.

And as it turns out, I’m actually a terrible housewife. My husband would be the first to admit that dishes and laundry are not my best skills. I’m guilty of letting the laundry pile up so I can spend time learning how to use presets in Lightroom or add a new plugin to my WordPress site. I love that I am the one to take my kids to school everyday, volunteer in their classroom and watch them at their sports classes. But I also love I can spend nap time and evenings writing about fun things like sales, new trends and exciting brands. I’m not going to claim I have perfect work-life balance (who does?!), but it is a balance that makes me pretty darn happy.

Still to this day, I consider myself a full-time mom and a part-time blogger. I still can’t quite believe I’ve somehow managed to turn my blogging hobby into a real job. I’m honored by all the amazing brands I’ve been able to work with over the past couple years. I still squeal with excitement every single time a brand reaches out to me with a collaboration request. I honestly don’t think that excitement will ever wear off for me. There is nothing more fulfilling in this role than having a company you admire, big or small, want to work with you. This part of the job is an absolute dream come true.

Most people probably don’t know this, but I was a Marketing minor in college (my major was in Management Information Systems). Being totally honest, my marketing classes were probably my favorite. I loved the creativity and psychology behind it all. I’m so happy I was able to figure out a path to put that love of marketing to use. But back in my college days, I felt like the only real job you could get out of college with a marketing degree was to go into sales. I HATED sales. Still do. I’m not a natural sales person. There is nothing I hate more than making people feel pressured to buy something.

That’s a big part of what I love about blogging. I’m not pressuring anyone. If you don’t like my posts, don’t read them. If you don’t enjoy my photos on social media, unfollow me. I don’t check my follower list to see who is there and who isn’t, nor do I have any clue who is actually reading my blog posts. I love that I’ve somehow build a community of people who care about what kind of shoes I’m wearing. That’s fun to me. Talking about things I enjoy and use in my everyday life. If you choose to buy it as well, that’s great! I’m glad I made your shopping easier. But I also love I didn’t make anyone feel uncomfortable in the process.

Finally, the blogger community is pretty fantastic. I know I’ve talked about this before in my Top 9 Blogging Tips post, but I’ve made so many friends through this crazy adventure. Some I’ve met in person and others I talk to frequently on Instagram, email or text. In a weird way, it feels like these people are co-workers. We are all working to build our own brand and grow individually, but all work together to navigate that crazy thing called the internet.

Now don’t get me wrong, blogging isn’t all rainbows and roses, but I try my best to focus on the positives. I’ll leave the negatives for a whole separate post. But when it comes down to it, I truly love being a blogger. How many people can say that about their job?