Why I started A Blog

I didn't even know what a blog was until the summer of 2008. 

My husband had recently graduated from college and we had just moved our young family to a new town in a new state where I only knew a handful of people.  A few short months after that, my husband left to train at a police academy for five long months.  I kept busy all day while he was gone taking care of my, then, five year old, three year old and five month old ...and then sometime at the end of the day, after the kids were tucked into bed, I discovered a blog that a friend had referred me to.  It was Dandee Designs.  Her blog was completely fabulous and inspirational.  Soon after that I discovered Nie Nie Dialogues.  Both of these blogs were fantastic.  Each post was like a chapter in a good book that I just couldn't put down.  For weeks after I discovered these two great blogs, I spent every spare moment I could reading their blogs from start to finish.  I became hooked!  I began checking them daily for new posts!  I loved hearing how exciting they made some of the most mundane tasks of life seem so special.

Soon after discovering those two blogs I started reading some couponing blogs.  My husband was fresh out of college, he'd just started his career, we were happy to be in this new stage of life {neither of us being students anymore}, but we were also faced with the reality of some hefty student loans.  We wanted to pay them off long before it was time to send our own children off to college.  So I got hooked on two or three couponing blogs and became a couponing queen myself.  It was fun.  I loved saving money on food and deodorant.  But I  loved something about those first two blogs I discovered even more.  They were about home... and sometimes they were about decorating.  The decorating part really grabbed me.  I had wished I could put those two worlds together somehow:  Stylish Mommy & Coupon Budget Decorating.  Like REAL LIFE budget decorating.  I'm not talking about 20-30 dollar a week projects ...I'm talking about LESS than that.  I'm talking about projects that nearly any budget could tackle.  Because my decorating budget at the time was minuscule.  Still kind of is because getting out of debt is one of our highest goals today.  But I don't think having a tiny decorating budget means you need to completely give up on having a home you love ...AND just so you know, I also know that the home you love doesn't necessarily have to be beautiful.  It's the people inside, the way you treat each other, and the memories you make together that truly make your house a home.

Well ...before I started this blog I started a private family blog.  I posted updates and pictures of our little family to share with the people we loved that we wanted to stay in contact with.  I kept up this blog for about a year and a half...maybe two years.  I occasionally posted some little decorating project or craft that I had just completed.  But a big part of me wanted to be able to share my passion for these things with more than just family and close friends.  But that was scary. I didn't know where to start, I didn't know what I would call my blog, I didn't know if people would like it, I didn't know if I would have the time for it and on and on and on. 

Then one afternoon as I was driving home after finishing some errands, I was taking the round about by our house and it hit me.  I could do it.  I could start a blog.  It was time.  Time to stop talking to myself about it in my head and actually DO IT!  I was scared though.  But I knew it was something that would help me.  It would help me learn a new skill {cause blogging is a skill}, it would help strengthen my talents, it would give me a creative outlet outside of being "just a stay at home mom" and most importantly I knew that the Lord wanted me to do this.  Even if it never ended up helping anyone else, it would help me.  {...and hopefully one or two other people!}

I think my first post consisted of some things I put together from the dollar section of Target.  I look back on some of my earliest posts and think they were kind of silly but they were a starting point and I feel like I've grown from there.  So mission accomplished right?  Well some days I think so and other days I don't.  Some days I think, why the heck am I doing this?  It takes so much time!  My kids constantly see me at the computer!  There are days when it's difficult for me to engage in games with my kids because my brain is on my blog.  It's been difficult for me to find balance.  I tend to want to over achieve.  I want to be a good wife, a loving mom, a good cook, I want a clean house, I want well disciplined and smart children, I have callings in my church {or non paid jobs you could call it} that keep me busy, I want to have a good relationship with my Father in Heaven, I want to make it to the gym regularly, and I want people to like my blog!  {Is that too much to ask???} Sometimes, no I take that back, most days it can be.  I'm not perfect at balancing everything exactly the way I always should.  Balance is one of the biggest challenges I face right now, but it's actually not a bad challenge to have I guess.  Even so, sometimes I wonder why I blog, should I just quit?  Especially when the housework is piled a mile high or some of the needs/wants of my family are not being met.  But most of those times when I think I should quit, what I really need to do is take it to the Lord.  What does He want me to do?  How does He want me to organize my day?  What does He want me to blog about?  How can I help others?  How can I help myself?  And I try to look for inspiration through Him.

At the end of the day, I really enjoy writing this blog.  And even if writing isn't really "my thing" or my biggest talent, I have passion for what I'm writing about.  And lately I've been discovering more and more what that really is.  It's turning a house into a home and doing it on a budget and doing it with style. 

It's REAL LIFE

budget friendly decorating,

real life budget friendly recipes,

real life budget friendly menus,

real life budget friendly homemaking.

If you've made it this far down this post, thank you for reading.

I know you're busy and you have important things to do.

Thank you for your support and your friendship.

It means so much to me.

 I'm so happy to be sharing this blog with you.

~Robin