HaleyTo quote my husband, who often spouts out this quote from LL Cool J:
I know the blog has been churning out a lot of content this month, so I just wanted to take a minute to give a brief history of the blog and re-introduce myself and my family.
From 2010 until Now
I launched The Hobson Homestead back in 2010, a couple years after I got married and before I started having kids. At the time, my husband owned a CrossFit gym and we were really into the paleo diet. I was churning out posts almost daily—oh to have that kind of time again. Most of my posts centered around paleo cooking, as it was up-and-coming in 2010. But I also posted about beach trips, weekend getaways and the occasional heartfelt post (still one of my all-time favorite memories).
In 2011, I became pregnant with my first child, so the pregnancy posts about monthly bump updates and baby gear and nurseries started rolling in. Then I had two more babies—making three in less than three years—and my blog posting slowed down. After all, babies don’t keep and mamas with three kids three and under don’t sleep.
Since the birth of my third child, I’ve blogged as inspiration has hit and as much as I can given the limited amount of free time I’ve had. Sometimes, this may mean blogging once a week, but more often once a month. And sometimes, I took a three-month hiatus because . . . well . . . life.
But as I’ve developed my part-time social media business and my extra time has been spent learning, growing and executing that business, I realize I’ve missed this space. I’ve missed my own small slice of real estate for creating and reflecting and sharing—no matter how mundane or irrelevant my posts are to the rest of the world. In a nutshell, I’ve missed my personal outlet.
So I decided that if I want to make blogging a priority and, in effect, make it a success, then I’d have to treat it like one of my clients. It’s not that I’m giving myself strict deadlines, but more that I’m giving myself the time—time to create and imagine and unload thoughts.
It took me a week to get the creative juices flowing and fingers typing again, but now that they’ve started, it doesn’t feel as if they’ll ever stop. Ideas are mounting, collaborations are forming, inspiration is soaring and my need for a personal outlet is being satiated.
So truly, “Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years.”
Blogging Nowadays
Now that I’m blogging in my mid thirties, I’m wiser, savvier and more confident than my early blogging days. Generally, I know what I want to say and do with this blog, but time is my biggest hurdle, despite treating myself as a client.
That’s one reason I’m so excited to welcome my husband of 10 years on board as a contributor. Sometimes in marriage, you want your own space or hobby, but in this instance, I’m excited to share my blogging space with him. It’s nice to have a sounding board—and of course, he has countless ideas of his own.
All that to say, as family life changes, this blogging space will continue to adapt. I know the path that I hope to take this blog down, but dreams and reality are oftentimes on disparate journeys. And if so, that’s ok, too.
In a couple months, I’ll have a fourth baby to mother and nurture, which means my posts may change. They may be shorter and possibly more muddled, depending on my level of sleep deprivation. But that’s ok, too.
Regardless of the length or sophistication level or type of content, I’m back—and couldn’t be happier.
