Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes

I'm trying to be a better blogger. I first started this blog in February of 2011. We were living in a small town in West Virginia where hubby was in medical school. I was a substitute teacher and it had been a cold, snowy winter which meant plenty of snow days from school, so I had lots of time on my hands. I started reading blogs and I remember a few of them were doing a remix challenge, essentially working on a capsule wardrobe for 30 days. They inspired me to do the same. I'm certainly not fashion forward and it takes me awhile to get into a trend. I have worked in retail for 6 years between 3 different stores though and I like to look put together. Sometimes I'd wear an outfit and think, no one saw me and I thought I looked good, so it was nice to take an outfit picture and document it. And so I started this little blog.

That summer we moved to another town in West Virginia for hubby's clinical rotations. I continued the blog, however realized it made more sense to post a few times a week instead of everyday like I had been. I was still subbing but that was only part time and I started teaching dance but that required wearing yoga pants and t-shirts. If I had nowhere to go or no one to see, why get myself all dressed and made up? That worked better for me so that I would have better and more interesting outfits and content instead of here's a boring t-shirt and jeans because I had nothing to do and the weather was blah blah. I paid for someone to help me make the blog pretty and started to get a better following. I was even asked to do a few reviews for eShakti, a great clothing company that is known for customizing their clothes to your preferences.

Then we moved to Washington. This was hubby's first duty station and he was as busy as ever in his residency program. We were in Tacoma, WA  surrounded by Seattle, Olympia, Mt Rainier, the Cascade mountains, the Olympic mountains, and the Puget Sound. First, we got our puppy, Bentley, then there were some health issues in my family and I got a job at a golf course. I was busy meeting new people, doing all the things there were to do in the area, and wearing a uniform to my job so having a lack of daily outfits to share. I continued the blog as much as I could for the first year. I got my Washington certificate to substitute in our local school district starting the second year. Then we moved into a new house. Shortly after we found out we were pregnant! I was busy and tired. Sometimes the idea of getting dressed was exhausting. I didn't share any maternity outfits on the blog.  If you follow me on instagram, I did share a few bump dates. Honestly, there was no reason to not share those on the blog, it was just that my laptop was incredibly slow, uploading pictures took forever as did writing posts, and I just didn't have the time. So I just stopped. Occasionally when I was subbing and had a free period, it was easy to sit at the computer and write a post. But that was about it. About six months after Emma was born, I started to take a few outfit pictures again. I was getting back to my post pregnancy body and was having fun coordinating outfits with Emma (not matching, just coordinating colors). I joined a style Facebook group that was a fun place to share everyday outfits. If you follow me on Facebook, I started posting the outfit pictures there as well. It was easy to take a picture on my phone, upload to Facebook and be done. I didn't write any posts to go along with them, but was just happy to do what I originally started the blog to do, share my outfit of the day.

Just the beginning of color coordinated outfits :)

Now we've moved to Missouri. We are mostly unpacked and settled in, and are starting to get into our new routine. We've had a couple of playdates which we will continue to do, and I will probably continue to substitute teach in the district. However, I currently have more time. Emma's nap time gets filled quickly and it seems there's always something to do, like laundry, cleaning, exercise, play with Bentley, or paying bills and such, but I'm hoping to make the blog one of those things to do. Next week is my birthday and for an early bday gift, hubby got me a new laptop! So its easier for me to write blog posts again!

Ok, so sorry for the long post, but that's the story of this blog so far. I plan to continue outfit posts and being able to share what's going on in our lives, whether it be what we're doing, eating, baby's milestones, etc. I'd say its a style blog, but really its our family lifestyle blog. I hope you enjoy!

My sweet little family <3

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