About Laurie

Why I Blog

talk to me tuesday_white

This post has been edited for Tip Junkie’s Talk To Me Tuesday post on Why I Blog.


(This picture is too funny, I had to use it again.)

Lately, I’ve been evaluating all the time and energy I expend blogging. Is it worth it? I call this my “Blog Identity Crisis”.

Every couple months I go through the same dialogue in my head and ultimately decide to keep going. I really do love blogging. Since I have a terrible memory, I’m glad that memories which would normally be lost, are caught on film and in writing here on my blog.

I love keeping up with friends near and far. I really enjoy making new blogging buddies and connecting with people through our trials and interests!

What I love most about blogging is the excitement I feel when I get inspired by someone! I’m constantly amazed by YOU strong and talented women.

I’m inspired by your writing style, I’m inspired by what a compassionate person you are, I’m inspired by the fun things you do and your travels, I’m inspired by your imagination and what you create. I’m constantly amazed at how open you are about your life and how you’re able to let so many people in to your deepest thoughts. I’m inspired by your business sense and how you go for dreams and make them come true. I’m inspired by your mothering skills and it makes me want to be a better one. You’ve made me laugh and you’ve made me cry. I could go on and on.

To think, I almost didn’t blog at all. I would consider my writing, grammar, and story telling abilities to be my worst attributes. I’m not kidding. However, I decided to bite the bullet, put my insecurities behind me, and go for it. I’m really glad that I did.

My goal for this blog is not only to keep it real and share my life, but also to share the tips and time-savers I learn along the way. I hope you find it valuable and uplifting.

I created the Tip Junkie blog to promote Executive Homemaker as well as to promote other bloggers‘ fabulous ideas and products. That’s such a passion of mine but it’s very time consuming.

So my question to you is, why do you blog and have you had a ‘blog identity crisis’?

43 thoughts on “Why I Blog

  1. You totally inspire me! I love reading your blog and am so glad you are sticking with it! I might just have to post my feelings on the subject.

  2. laurie – i love you! i’m right there with you babe. you took the post right out of my head. i think i have a blog identity crisis nearly every day. for me it’s so hard to balance it all. and blogs can totally suck me in. lately i’ve felt bad because i haven’t been commenting anywhere. i’ve been reading and doing lots of lurking, but i’ve just been so busy taking care of my family and my life that i’ve had to compromise. which makes me sad, i feel like i’m not developing relationships like i would like. and then i feel bad because on the other hand i’m totally posting and expecting people to comment on me. i’m a total hypocrite. it’s funny because i’m thinking about doing a commenting on posting, so we will see if i ever get around to it. when it comes down to it, i blog for me. sure it’s fun to check how many readers i have, but in the end, even if no one read, i’d stick with it, just because it documents me. thank you for sticking with it. i have slight issues with private blogs (i totally understand it, but i get frustrated when my fav bloggers go private and leave me out in the dark).

    you are awesome. you inspire me everyday. i never can understand all that you do, and how happy you always are. you are incredibly strong & everyday you give me strength to get through my day. i love your online shop and that you give moms a place to do business. (and one of these days i should take you up on your offer to sell, i’m just lazy). you are awesome! don’t ever change!

  3. Well aren’t you a little doll for leaving me a comment on my blog! I followed your link and have been snooping around both your blogs for a little bit and you are darling! I am adding you to my “list” so I can make you a daily read! I love your style of writing because it reminds me of me… you just post what you want and say what you want and cover so many different ideas and I love those kinds of blog. A little bit ago ‘My blog” was under attack by real life people (you know that unhappy kind)and I did three posts on why I blog just to make myself feel better. I totally agree with what I’m Kelly said and find myself thinking a lot like her. I lurke a lot but don’t comment much… and my reason… because people will think I am some physco lurker and block me out! LOL!!
    Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see more of you!

    Amanda

  4. Holy cow, chica! That’d be a lotta comments to read…170 visitors in a day!

    Love your blog & I love to blog also. I think for me it’s the creative act of putting my life story into words…I like to read/like to write.

  5. I love your blog and look forward to your posts everyday. You crack me up with your free spirit and sense of adventure and you amaze me with how you juggle so much with three active boys!

    I do have a B.I.C. about every 2-3 months, too. Usually it’s when someone says “um, why do you share so much on the internet”. Well, I’ve grown so much from sharing on my blog. We just went through one of the hardest years ever with two adoptions that fell through in the last days but then experienced the wonder of our new adopted daughter’s birth. She was just born in February and I already can’t imagine life without her. It’s really something to go back and read my old posts and see how sad I was but then know how wonderfully blissful things turned out. Anywho. That’s my story. Hope you keep at the blogs – you’re great at it!

  6. Love your blog too! keep blogging….it’s 1.) free therapy 2.) family history 3.) great way to keep in touch 4.) helps me be a better mom (by stealing ideas from other people) and much more fun than cleaning your house. Anyway….thanks for the comment!

  7. I have a blogging crisis every couple of months! I think it’s important to have blogging goals and rules so it doesn’t take over. Re-evaluating ever once in awhile helps me to keep it real and not let it take too much of my time.

  8. i love me some blog… but lately i’ve been trying to find a balance in it all. it’s very theraputic for me and fun to keep up with everyone. blogging gives me a million ideas, ones that i’ll never have time for… and it’s an amazing network to hear and feel what everyone else is going through along with you.

    you know how great i think you are! keep it up! (sounds like a yearbook signing) have a fun summer! 😉

    and, i hope you’re feeling better!

  9. I love this post. Sorry that I haven’t been commenting lately. I’ve been in a comment crisis lately- do they actually read my comments? Do they care? Am I one of those people that kind of rubs other people the wrong way when I comment? I know I love comments but I don’t have 40+ per post. Etc, etc.
    I thought this post was a clever way to acknowledge other people and get out what you wanted (THANKS!:)
    I’ve had similar thoughts and wondered why it is that I blog. I have the same reasons you do. I never ever ever thought I’d get into it the way I have. And I never ever thought I’d make such great/supportive friendships with people I haven’t met in real life. It’s incredible. I can’t wait til we can meet in person!!!
    You truly inspire on so many levels. Thanks for being all the things you mentioned and more!
    PLEASE DON’T QUIT!!!

  10. In my husband’s family at the end of the year, we all have to say one thing we learned in the past year. This year I said that through blogging, I have been connected to so many outstanding woman who like me are always striving to make the best out of what life has given us. On days when I need a pick me up to realize this is all worth it, I read others blogs.

  11. You’ve definitely succeeding in making your blog exactly what you set out to make it and MORE!
    It is “real” – you portray yourself as a woman with a great wealth of interesting things to share and a happy life that is rich but very down to earth as well. I blog for many of the same reasons you do and I know what you mean about the comments…it is nice to know that someone ‘gets’ something out of it.

  12. I am one of those lurkers that never leave a comment! I love your blog and I LOVE LOVE LOVE tip junkie. I’ve gotten so many great ideas and tips from that and it’s all thanks to you. So Thanks and I’m so glad that you do blog!

  13. I love your blog. Glad your doing it. I am often guilty of lurking. I just have had to decide not to comment on every blog I read. Real life has to happen too. I love comments and always wish my lurkers would just come out and say hello too!

  14. Laurie-
    I really enjoyed this post. you know that I have been in a bolgging “funk” lately. I am barely able to manage life and blogging just wasn’t giving me the joy that it used to.

    However… I know that I will enjoy doing it again, so I try to do enough so I don’t fall off of blog world.

    Anyway, thanks for being real. You are a great gal, I am so glad we are friends.

    btw… I can’t even tell you how many of my friends tell me… Oh, you are actual, real life, friends with Laurie! So lucky! .. yes, yes I am. 🙂

  15. Hey, thanks for your comment on my blog! I love that you and I did such similar posts. Great minds think alike, right? I could relate so well to what you were saying. I loved looking at your blogs and Executive Homemaker website. You are so talented, and seem to have quite a knack for this thing called blogging. Hope you don’t mind if I check back again!

  16. What an amazing list of great blogs to be included with. Thanks for the shout out. I too go back and forth about blogging, but somehow I continue to do it everyday. I think that I set that goal to post everyday and now I have to stick with it. I love the challenge, especially with my blog. It forces me to come up with more crafty ideas and continue to be creative with and for my kids. My blog actually helps me be more of a mom to my kids as we do the projects I post about. So that is very worth it.

    You are awesome and I love your blogs. We all need good tips and you are the junkie to give them to us!!

  17. Well, you could just blow me down with a feather. Seriously! My writing style? That is the biggest compliment I have had in quite some time. A sincere thank you from me to you.

    The ironic thing is–and irony seems to follow me wherever I go–is that today is the only day in the history of my blog when I didn’t write one single line. Just pictures today because I was too busy with company. Funny!

    Why do I blog? Well, it’s the first time in many, many years that I’ve consistently journaled. I love that it helps me capture the fleeting youth of my children. It helps me think and be more aware of the life I am living. And, quite frankly, I enjoy writing. It’s a creative outlet. Every mother needs one of those.

    Hey, and thanks for all the tips, Tip Junkie.

  18. I love to blog because it is such a great outlet and an amazing way to meet new people even if I never meet them in person. I love the idea of my out of state family being able to keep up with our lives.

    Often times I get around to reading other blogs late at night or early in the morning and am just too tired to comment, or I’m breezing through in the midst of the day and don’t have time to comment. However, I do love taking time to share a thought and I love comments as well…so If I want them, I better leave them, right? (C:

    I enjoy your blog! Keep it up.

  19. Hi, I think all bloggers go thru this. Ultimately I think I blog because it is a written record of my life, and because I just think it is so fun!

    Thanks for saying I make you laugh and linking me- too bad I’m not funny today!
    Paige

  20. I blog therefore I am. NOT! I love to blog, it saves me telling a funny story six times on the phone. Mostly I blog to keep my family up-to-date on our daily lives. It is hard to connect these days, being states and time zones away but throwing up a photo and writing about my day makes me feel like someone in my family will read and care about what we’ve been up to.

    I don’t beleive that I have more than 5 non-family readers and they are sporatic. I am OK with that. My hubby thinks that I am a bit crazy to show pics of my family on-line and share our gastrointestinal illnesses but it’s life, no way around that.

    I enjoy reading your blog and seeing what a fun time you have raising your three boys. I am not even sure how I happened upon your blog. A link here, a link there. My family is getting ready to move to Dallas in the next couple of months so it was probably fate that I get to read about someone from my future hometown.

  21. Although I haven’t left alot of comments I totally love your blog. I found your executive homemaker site and decided to check out your personal blog and I am now addicted to both! What you blog about always seems to pertain to me and my life and I have gotten so many good ideas from you! You are an inspiration to me and others! I recently started my own blog, but I am terrible about updating it! I really stink at creative writing! I draw a blank as to what to write about! You seem to have so many interesting things going on in your life, so much good information to share and I am so glad to have found a daily dose of inspiration!

  22. I love reading your blog and yes, I am one who doesn’t usually comment but I take it all in. Even though I’m a Oklahoma Baptist girl, it just goes to show that we are all ‘sistas’ in Christ. Hang in there…

  23. I blog for the same reasons you do. AND I am so thankful that you do blog because I love being inspired by you!
    I have had many a blogging crisis,but ultimately I feel likes it’s a great way to keep in touch with my family (since my sis is the only one close.)and it’s one of the only outlets I have to reach out to other women like me. It’s an amazing community of women and it alway surprises me how many people have been where I am or who have advise that I need.
    Plus- I love that I have a blog now because lets face it, I’ve never been great at keeping a journal.

  24. I honestly don’t know why I blog. I started it as a family blog for my parents and family who live farther away. Then it kinda turned into a journal. Now it’s kinda…I don’t know…just there. I don’t have “blogger friends”, but it’s my own fault. I read a lot of blogs, but rarely comment. I need to realize that if I want people to read mine and comment, I have to do the same. There are plenty of times I think about stopping; my three readers would be okay after awhile…it would be hard but eventually they would pull through.
    But I keep on doing it. Why? I honestly don’t know.
    But I do love reading other’s blogs ..so don’t ever quit!!

  25. Oh, I totally relate. I had a blog identity crisis today too and made my blog private. Sometimes I get so discouraged reading about how amazing everyone is. I felt like a particular failure as a mother today, and went private because I don’t want everyone on the internet to read about how crazy I am. That touched my heart to the very core to see you link to me as a good mom (if that’s how you meant it). Love ya Laurie!

  26. I must confess…I’ve been a “lurker” for a while and your latest post really struck a cord with me. Laurie, I am so inspired by you and yet we’ve never met! I started blogging nearly a year ago since all my dh’s family live out of state I originally started for them. I get frustrated that I tend to do postings on my blog in spurts vs. posting them on the day they actually happen. My dh says I’m addicted to blogs, I think he’s right! Reading blogs of women who inspire me make me want to be a better wife/mother/woman. Thank you for inspiring me!

  27. I just now clicked over through BlogHer and I can totally relate to your post. I often wonder why I am doing a blog. It started out as one thing but then morphed into a different thing altogether. I go in cycles, but it boils down to something you said which is that I want to chronicle things that will otherwise be forgotten.
    If I like what I write about that’s all that matters.
    Seems like you’ve got a lot of fans, though, so you must be doing something right!

  28. I guess I will leave a comment since you asked. Thanks for stopping by at mine. I am still trying to find friends but I am sure things will work out.

    I have been going through the same thing lately and I love to blog. I wish I could do it more often because then I would have a more accurate record of my thoughts and stuff but I just don’t seem to have the time and it doesn’t help that everytime I start something my boys are making a mess somewhere else.

    I am glad that I got to meet you.

  29. laurie love your blog. i am on the same page with the blogger identity crisis. but i love it.
    i blog to vent, to share, to feel validated, to have fun, to learn new things, to be a better mom(get fun mom ideas, new parenting skills),to have fun at home, to gain insight into others lives. and make new friends and keep up with old ones. but i admit it gets old commenting on tons of blogs daily, and not getting comments back, i believe it is reciprocal, and i get behind and feel overwhelmed about that. i have guilt because i haven’t posted or commented all day. and have new people all the time wanting to be my friend. it’s overwhelming. and i’m having a hard time keeping up. that is when it isn’t as fun anymore. but i keep at it, release the guilt, accept that not everyone has time everyday to waste blogging, and have fun doing what i do.

  30. Oh Laurie, I was having one today and wondering if I should just disable comments since I’ve realized that I’m totally addicted to them. That’s not the problem though, it’s when I don’t get any and I can’t pull myself away from the computer until someone responds…well, that might be a slight exageration – but not too far off 🙂

  31. Laurie- You are such a darling person! I LOVE visiting your blogs and your website, and I SO appreciate everything you share with us, whether it be all your AWESOME tips or just your life in general. I SO admire you as a mom and a homemaker. You inspire me! I’m already a “TipJunkie Junkie”, and I’m addicted to visiting every to every other day.

    I became a blogger in August ’07 after my sis-in-laws talked me into it, and I LOVE it!! I’ve been recruting friends to the hobby ever since, so it’s getting tougher and tougher now for me to get to bed at night, (becasue I stay up blog-jogging). I blog to have somewhere to release my thoughts and ideas, to show off my latest projects and my cute kids!! Seriously though, when you spend a lot of time and effort on something you just can’t be satisfied until you’re able to share it with someone else. It’s called “Show and Tell”. And I CANNOT let great deals, ideas or FYI’s just get slipped under the rug. Everyone needs to know about them! I mean, we’re all sistas… and we need to keep each other in the loop. If I can make a difference in another woman’s life even once, I feel satisfied at the end of the day. This blogging world is one amazing place! I feel like I know some of you and am grateful for friendships and support from near and far. You other women inspire me so much!! Love ya, Angela K. from Meridian, ID

  32. aubs33 said…
    I really like your blog. I’m impressed you take so much time to keep it up. I totally have blog identitiy crisis all the time. I don’t know why, I just do. I feel a little exposed sometimes, or like I didn’t express things like I wish I could.
    Thanks for all you do! I would love to advertise on executive homemaker some time. Aubri

  33. I love your blog. Thankyou for sharing your time and your talents. You are amazing. I also noticed you were LDS so thankyou for sharing that as well.

  34. I really enjoy reading your blog. I just paroosed (sp?) in from another blog and I am catching up on all of your creative projects. The powder room is FAB! I am really inspired.

  35. I really enjoy your blogs, as well as the ideas at EH! I am totally loving this “Why I Blog” post and reading other people’s ideas! I started blogging as sort of a hobby to keep myself busy during a medical recovery, and now I find that I am in a little bit of an “identity crisis” deciding if I want to narrow my topics, or keep this a personal journal.

  36. I’ve been your blog stalker since I blog hopped to your Tip Junkie site. Thanks for all your efforts of the part of all of us strangers!!

  37. I am so new to bloggin. I havent heard it before yesterday, I have been reviewing bloggin sites and tryiny to get a hang of everything that is going on. I am a bit overwhelm by all the ideas family and creative juices. I dont have a clue of how to begin and get organize, but ill be back on tomorrow. However, i wanted to say that your blog has really inspired me. Thanks for sharing your life.

  38. Ok so I’m on day 3 of the blogging world and like you I have some insecurities about writing. I can’t spell and I always have fragments in my sentences. I’m constantly forgetting when I’m suppose to use commas. Oh well I got my college degree having on my wall so that’s all that counts and now I’m an official blogger. Thanks for keeping it real.

  39. You are my favorite blog! I’m a lurker,just getting into blogging. I love how eclectic your blog is…my brain works that same way. I love the teach me thursday esp. Thanks for all the fun ideas.

  40. Hi, Laurie. I'm stopping by from your "Tip Junkie" party. 🙂 I definitely experience that blogging identity crisis, especially because my blog is small compared to so many others. Ultimately, I just have to get all my thoughts out to keep my sanity intact, whether anyone comments or not. 🙂

Leave a Reply to Sue Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *