1 Year Blogoversary

Wow, what a year it has been! I nearly missed my blogoversary between doing a custom design job for a client from my shop and being mom, wife, sister, and daughter to those around me. 2013 was super busy, I had a baby, moved back home, my time in the military came to an end, and I became a full time SAHM/WAHM. I started New Mama Diaries over on Blogger a year ago as a way to chronicle my pregnancy. I knew I wanted to do Youtube videos, but also wanted a place to write my thoughts down. While I love vlogging, making videos can be time consuming and cumbersome, so I figured a blog was a better route for consistency. Plus, even though I’m not the world’s best writer, I’ve always liked to write. I should proof read my posts more often though!

New Mama Diaries is like my second child. I’ve poured a lot of time, energy, and money into it. I treat it like a priority and I’m always thinking about it. I’ve been able to make a little bit, let me stress, little bit of pocket change from it and that’s been nice. However, while I’d love to make my blog my full-time source of income, I have a long way to go until I’m there. To be honest, if it never is, I’ll be okay with that, because I have other passions. When I first started to blog, I didn’t even know you could make money from it. I first began blogging around 2006/2007 in college, as a beauty blogger. This is back when I did hair and beauty videos on Youtube. I didn’t know then that you could make money blogging, and I didn’t know last year when I started New Mama Diaries.

It all began when I was 17ish weeks pregnant and was ready to announce it to the world. I’d been on Pinterest and had come across a bunch of cool blogs. I thought, wow, I guess blogging is back on the scene. I saw that women were chronicling their lives, milestones, recipes, art and crafts, and any and everything you could imagine. I wanted to do that too. From previous years, I’d enjoyed blogging, but I was never able to really gain an audience. Additionally, being that I was in college and was so career oriented, it quickly fell by the wayside. When I started doing videos after college, I blogged to go along with the videos, but again, I was not consistient. Then I decided to join the military and that was my focus and my heart. Gone were the days of me going to my corporate HR job in heels, pretty painted nails, and a dolled up face. I traded all that in for a set of camis and a pair of combat boots. And that’s what I’ve done for the past 4 years, up until I had Chunk.

I love New Mama Diaries, she’s been through everything with me over the past year. While I might not be as candid as other bloggers in sharing their lives, NMD has allowed to have a forum to be a little less private, more open, and somewhat vulnerable. She’s allowed me to hone my creativity and get the juices flowing to take it to the next level. I can thank her largely for rekindling my love of design, and opening my third baby Sweet Face Studio. However, NMD was created initially to chronicle my life as I became a mother to my first (and human baby, lol!) Chunk. He inspired NMD, and if it wasn’t for him, I’m not sure she would exist. Chunk makes cameos on NMD every now and then, but the blog is not about him. Its about me, his mother, growing and developing as a woman and mother. Its about my interests, my loves, my likes, etc. NMD is something that all of my kids can look back on and see what was going on in my head at the time.

I often had these questions for my mom, but as with any time you’re having fun, it flies, and she doesn’t remember it all. She has three kids, so I know its impossible to remember every moment of everyday of her own life, much less her childrens’. NMD does this for me. My kids can look back at it and say, “Wow, so that’s what mom was thinking.” or “Wow, look how the world was in 2014!”, whatever, ya know! Thank goodness for modern technology and social media that help chronicle people’s everyday lives. We are in essence walking encyclopedias. NMD is my online encyclopedia of my life right now and for many years to come, even when I’m an old mama. Makes me think that I might need to consider a name change in the future, maybe, maybe not.

For now, I’m still a ‘new mama’ so I’ll keep with it. For now, I’m a blogger, learning everyday to share more, give more. For now, I can proudly say that I’ve finally been disciplined in something and stuck with it. I’ve achieved many goals, but this is one close to my heart, because it is a part of me. So, before the tears start, here’s to another year of awesome blogging, taking things to the next level, and chronicling all of life’s joys, big and small moments!

xxoo,