All The Pretty

I've really been doing some soul searching lately about what I want to do with this little blog of mine. I was ready to call it quits there for awhile - and basically did. I've come back here and there, and was mostly maintaining it as a baby book for my kids. Riveting stuff for everyone else, I know. But after feeling super encouraged to continue on with the whole writing thing lately, I knew it was time to try and do this thing again. I absolutely love writing, but I've just always struggled with exactly what I wanted to do with this space.

I've struggled for a couple of different reasons. For one, I've always felt like I need to choose a niche, decide what my "thing" is, and stick with it. But I don't have a thing. I'm all over the place. I'm serious, I'm funny, I'm heartfelt, I'm stressed, I'm just about everything under the sun. As I'm sure most of you reading are as well. So deciding to make this a "mom blog" or a "home decor blog" or whatever else it might be never felt like a good solution for me. I need the freedom to blog about whatever I'm feeling right at the moment. 

Another, and probably the number one most major, reason that I struggle is because of ALL THE PRETTY. Alllllll the pretty in the blogging/Instagram/Pinterest online world. One of the amazing speakers at Hope Spoken touched on this, and I totally connected with every single thing she said. Sure, I love to blog. But my blog will never be so very very pretty. I'm not a photographer, so I'll never have the beautiful photos. I'm not a model, so I'll never LOOK effortlessly beautiful in photos. I'm no real fashionista, so taking outfit shots and posting them feels ridiculous. There are so many things that I'm NOT. Bloggers seem to have the most amazing lives, and while yes, my life is pretty dang amazing most of the time, it is also so very REAL. There is so much that is not very pretty, and I am just not good at hiding my realness.

So even though I'm not a big comparison person, and I don't feel jealous or long for the things these other bloggers have, I still felt inadequate when it came to my own personal blog. I just couldn't imagine that anyone would come back to a blog lacking all the beautiful things.

But, in this new path that I'm walking in to the world of all the God things, I'm just having so many little revelations along the way. When it comes to my blog, I think the key is in my realness. In my opening up and letting people see what is behind any pretty facade that you may see. Sharing my trials and my frustrations and the lessons that I'm learning and the struggles that I'm going through.

I mean, sometimes it's just so nice to know that you aren't alone. Sometimes it's so nice to hear that yeah, my kid drives me nuts too, just like yours. Yeah, my husband and I get annoyed with each other if we go too long without a date night away from the babies. Yes, my house is a complete and utter embarrassment of a mess at least once a week. And I don't think that I should have to hide those things in order to gain more blog readers or Instagram followers. I mean, I totally understand why people follow all of the oh so beautiful blogs. I do it. I do it and it inspires me and I find so many gorgeous things I want to do and try and buy and whatnot. But I also love it when I read a post that just hits me right in the gut and I'm like YES I totally feel you. So I think my blog may be less of the oh man that's just so fabulous and more of the oh girl I so get you.

So who knows. We shall see what comes of this new agenda of mine. Stuff's about to get real up in here people. Don't get too excited, because I don't have any dirty little secrets or anything, but I do live a very real life with two very small people and one very male husband, so trust me - it's not as glamorous as one might think.

I hope at least some inspiration can be found. I hope at least this might become a place where a mom or a wife or just a woman in general could come to commiserate or to find some hope or encouragement. I want this space to be comfortable, to be welcoming. I want the people who stumble in here to feel like they've found a cozy spot to hang out for a bit. Honestly, I want it to feel like I hope my home feels to my friends. Come curl up on my metaphorical sofa and let's just chat about life. Hopes, dreams, frustrations - all of it. Nothing's off limits here. So if you're in to that kind of thing, stick around and let's see where this goes.