Why I Blog

Why do you blog, Laurel? What’s the point?

This is a question I have been asked recently, and one I’ve been asking myself more and more lately as I really try to hone on in devoting more of my focus to making this little corner of the web better, more fun, more real, and more encouraging!

After a lot of thought and conversation with friends who I’ve worked with on blog collabs, I’ve realized that there are several reasons I blog! Allow me to tell you, while I sprinkle in a few of my personal favorite blog posts as I’m writing! 🙂

{ I really loved this post because it was fun to style the photos AND because I just really love the Rum Old Fashioned! — READ MORE! }

{ Posting about The Lovely Bee happenings was the main reason I even started a blog in the first place. And look where we are five years later! Only talking about The Lovely Bee like… once every 4 or 5 months! My, how things can change 🙂 — READ MORE! }

First and foremost, I LOVE BLOGGING! I love writing and taking photos. I love food & drink and design and clothes and telling stories, so being able to combine all of my interests in one place just seems like a no brainer. I genuinely love pretty much every aspect of blogging. It’s a fantastic outlet for me that I just really enjoy.

I will say that blogging is not all glamorous, as it may seem to an outsider. It’s a lot of behind the scenes planning and marketing. It takes a lot to make a blog successful, which is something that I’m still working to do better, and just enjoying the journey as I grow little by little (by little by little!)

{ This post was so much fun because I got to spend some time with my fabulous photographer friend Hannah Groat, then go get a glass of wine with her afterward! Oh, and I heart the dress 🙂 — READ MORE! }

{ This is probably the post I personally frequent the most, because we make these bars at our house just about every week! We all love them! –READ MORE }

Another reason I love blogging is because it is challenging. It really is. It challenges me to try just a tad harder when I’m getting ready in the mornings, should the opportunity for a photo shoot crop up! ha! (Just being honest!) It challenges me to better my photography skills, which I feel will be a useful skill long after my blog is no longer a thing (which hopefully isn’t any time soon!)  It challenges me from a financial standpoint. There is a lot out there that I see because of being part of the blogger world that I want but can’t buy simply because it might be an unwise purchase for me at the time. And now that we have kids, I’ve been really trying to keep that spending a bit more in check. “Ohhhh but I really want it!” I’ll say to myself. “No, no Laurel. Let’s be smart here,” I reply to myself. Multiple times daily. It makes me much more careful about how I spend, ensuring that when I do actually pull a trigger, my purchase is something I think I’ll use for the long term. It also challenges me to build relationships with brands I admire, to increase the chance of collaborating with them! This often works out in the favor of my readers, too, in the form of exclusive promo codes, giveaways, and other discounts!

I love that my blog serves as my personal scrapbook of sorts. I get to look back and see how my kids have grown and changed as well as how I have grown and changed. It’s fun to be reminded of how to style a certain top that I forgot I had, or to make that lemonade recipe that I forgot I posted. It’s just been a fun resource for me personally, especially when Timehop and Facebook remind me of things I’ve posted about in years past!

{ This will always be one of my favorite photos of my kids. And it was captured because of this blog! So if for no other reason, THIS PHOTO is why I heart this blog! 🙂 — READ MORE! }

{ Here is my favorite new Christmas tradition around our house. This took a lot of time and energy last year, but now that the books are all purchased, all I have to do from here on out is wrap! –READ MORE! }

I love the opportunity to share about things I love, but I also love the opportunity to share my challenges. My most frequented posts to date (by far) have been about the miscarriage Price and I experienced in 2013 (that post here), and all the posts about my little brother Dooley who passed away in 2002. Getting to put pen to paper about personal things is therapeutic for me, and I pray that it is a way that my readers can see God and what an amazing orchestrator he is. I’m humbled in looking back at some of the things I’ve shared (big and small) and seeing how the Lord has used those instances to grow Price and me as a couple, strengthen relationships with friends and family, and so much more. I want this blog to remain fun and happy (at least 90% of the time!) but, ultimately, it is my prayer that this blog points back to Jesus. Jesus is what it is all about.

I won’t lie and say I haven’t enjoyed a free article of clothing from time to time, or that I haven’t enjoyed getting to eat a free meal at a beautiful restaurant because of this little site. Because I have very much enjoyed those things! 😉 Those perks are fabulous (and give me great opportunities to remind Price that he gets benefits from THE HIVE, too! ha!) but those aren’t what it’s all about. It’s about having the opportunity to share who I am, fun things I find, tips that seem worth passing along, and sharing about what gives life meaning. I want to keep things real over here! Again, it all goes back to Jesus 🙂

So now that you know why I blog, I want to take a minute to thank you for joining with me on this journey! I genuinely have loved getting the opportunity to meet so many incredible people through THE HIVE. It’s been such a blessing for me!! I cherish every single one of my readers and followers and new friends, and hope you’ll continue along with me as I continue to feel my way through wifehood and parenthood (somewhat cluelessly at times), food and drink loves, style phases, and all that other stuff!

{ Flashback to when I had pink hair 🙂 –READ MORE! }

{ Reading this today makes me realize how different life is now compared to a year and a half ago! But this is the advice I would still give to new moms today, and will probably have to remind myself of at another point in time, should the Lord choose to bless us with a third baby! –READ MORE! }

Thanks again for sticking with me, commenting on posts, sharing feedback whenever I do random surveys, participating in giveaways, texting me about typos or pictures where I look constipated (seriously- thank you!), and just simply reading or liking an Instagram post! You have no idea how much ALL of that means to me!

When I boil it all down, Jesus and friends are why I blog. And I love that. 🙂

Many many many Xs and Os!!!!