Why Are You Here?

I've been thinking a lot lately about this blog and its purpose.  More than anything, I started it as a way to document my children's lives and the life we live together.  I want to be able to look back and see how we spent our days when the little moments escape me.  I want my children to see what it was like as they grew.

I've also always found it weird when bloggers asked their readers what they wanted to read.  I don't know why, really.  I guess I just thought that the readers were reading because they found something interesting in the way you were writing, so why change it.

I went through phases (and sometimes still do) of wanting to be a "big" blogger.  But, I'm pretty sure I'm not willing to spend the time and effort it takes to get there, and who knows if blogging really is just a phase that's on the outs.

There are even days that I think it isn't worth keeping up with.  Is it taking too much time away from my family?  Should I be doing more productive things with my time?

I feel that I basically tell a story through photos, and document the ordinariness of our every day.  There are periods of time when I don't blog much and others when I probably overdo it.  But, I am not making pinable (is that how you spell that?) images.  I'm not giving you valuable advice on mothering.  I'm not even doing much to draw you in.  I'm just journaling is what I've decided.

So, I guess what I'm asking is this: what do you like most about this little blog of mine?  Is it when I talk about what we do as ranchers?  Is it when I spill my heart about motherhood?  Is it the weekly posts with just a photo of each child?  Or, is it simply getting a look into my life on the daily?

If you were me, how would you make this space better?

If you could ask me to write one post, what would the topic be?

Or, do you just have a question you want to ask?

Some days, I wish I could tell you all about this life and take you on a journey with me like The Elliot Homestead.  Because, really, this has always (with the exception of a few years) been my life.  Other days, I feel like just focusing on the beauty of the days like Small Things, maybe just getting out of my comfort zone a bit.  And more often than not, I just continue doing what I'm doing, wondering here and there if I should keep it up.

So, what do you think?  Or, why are you here?

The Hundred - My Take

Last weekend, I was able to attend an amazing blogging conference in Dallas.  The Hundred Event. Hosted by some of the greatest (Grace, Megan, Bridget and Lauren), it was even better than expected (and they were too)!  Joules (don't waste a minute checking out their clothing and fabulous rain boots!) sponsored the event, along with a host of others, and it really was perfection.

There were style workshops by the fabulous Kendi, lessons in photography from Jenni, and ideas on how to increase your following via the infamous Stacy (a fellow Aggie, I might add).  Curt Steinhorst spoke to us about prioritizing our time and being careful as to whom and what we gave our attention.  There were delicious meals around Dallas, a perfect party at the Peacock Alley showroom and a farewell brunch that could not have been a better way to send us off!

There were no details left undone, no hang-ups in the flow, and nothing I would have asked for that hadn't already been thought of.  Honestly, it was a perfectly laid out event.  Even with the list of influential speakers, the top-of-the-line accommodations and the thoughtful gifts to make our time spent there even more special, I would have to say none of those things were what I would say was the best of it all.  If not that, then what?

It was the people.  Those whom I had followed and finally got to meet.  If you don't already follow Blythe, Nell, Olivia, Kate, Joanna and Katrina, I would highly suggest it.  It was the new people I connected with - Taylor, Indiana, Kelly, and Mary ( to name a few!).  If anything like me, we were all excited to be there but apprehensive about what really to expect.  

It's just like writing this post afterwards.  Will I say the right things?  In trying to be authentic, will I go too far and accidentally be less than that?  Am I even in a position to be here, because by no means am I a "big blogger"?  I cannot say that I didn't feel those things at some points in the weekend.  I cannot even honestly say that I don't feel some of them still.  

However, it drove home a point for me.  In order to do anything well, you must give it all you're willing to give it.  Give it your all?  Yes, if you want it to be your all.  Give it less than that?  Yes, if you're willing for it to be just that.  By this I mean that I learned a lot this weekend.  I learned what it takes to build a bigger following.  I learned a way in which to approach sponsors.  I learned that there is more to "making it big" than I ever imagined.  And, I learned, that I'm not so sure I'm up for that.

I love writing.  I love photography.  Both are a release for me.  More than that, though, I love my family.  I have been given a blessing that not everyone has, and that is staying home with that family and raising these kiddos.  If I truly take into consideration Curt's presentation, my little ones must be the greatest source of my attention-getting.  If not, then what am I really doing?  

Blogging, for me, started as a way to document our life.  I cannot get myself to scrapbook, so I told myself this would take its place.  One post after another, I loved it more, and as more people read it, I felt better about what I was doing.  This little blog gives others a glimpse into a life that isn't quite the norm for most.  I mean, really, how many of you actually worry about a cow rubbing some paint off of your car parked outside or follow the weather as if your livelihood truly depended on it?  Not most would be my guess.

But, it doesn't serve much more of a purpose than that.  Of course, it has connected me to some of the most beautiful women I know (or hope to actually meet some day).  It has provided me with a way in which to unwind and, in my opinion, be a better mom.  It has given the kids' grandparents and even great-grandparents a way to instantly get reports on our lives.  But, it's not our life.  In fact, it's just a little space on the world wide web.  

Our life is actually what you see in those pictures and the moments I wasn't quick enough to capture.  Our life is about the times we're there for each other however simple those moments may be, and much to my selfish dismay, those moments are not measured by a new "like" on Instagram or another follow on the ol' blog.  

The Hundred taught me that with a little more effort, my blog can grow.  But, it taught me more about appreciating the people behind it...and the people behind the blogs I follow.  If I can be the mom I want to be while still writing this blog and seeing it grow a bit, I'm all over that.  If not, I know which I'd rather see succeed.  

*All of these photos by the lovely Paige of Awake Photography