Chapter Eight – The First Year

I can hardly believe it’s been a whole year since I first went public with my little blog. You guys, I love my blog. It has become such a big part of my life; my identity, even. I have long been a food blog follower, lurking behind the scenes, scoping out recipes and familiarizing myself with the lives of the authors behind the blogs. It was always a little daydream of mine to have my own little corner on the web, to share all of the recipe ideas that constantly flow through my mind and talk about my own experiences in the kitchen, and in life. I’m so glad I took the leap!

Reflecting on the triumphs and challenges this past year…

• Technology

I have learned SO much the past year. If you’ve started a blog, or really any website, you’ll understand when I say that it is overWHELMING. You suddenly find yourself using words like “coding”, “javascript”, “plugins”, and “SEO”. SEO!? I was introduced to computers and the internet at a fairly young age, but it was all surface knowledge. I had no idea how much actually goes into the flashy websites that I frequent.

Just when I start to become comfortable with maintaining and operating my website, something gets updated or I click on something unknown, and catastrophe strikes. I then spend the next few hours (or days), combing through forums online trying to decipher the problem, all the while feeling like a bit of an imposter. I truly feel like I’ve sort of guessed and fumbled my way through the set-up and maintenance of this site. I often see things I would love to change or improve, but have no idea how or where to start.

Time, and resources. Two things I’d love to have more of! 🙂

The other monster that I just can’t ignore is SOCIAL MEDIA. Aaah. I was that person who didn’t even have an active Facebook profile before starting the blog – I’ve never loved social media, but it really seems to be a necessary evil in food blogging. I will say I have grown to love and appreciate Instagram. It’s fun and easy to use, and I can honestly say I’ve created real relationships through it! I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to Twitter, and even Facebook is still a bit of a giant mystery to me. Plus, who has the time for all of these platforms!?

• Relationships

Starting the blog, I never expected to make such strong connections with fellow bloggers. I absolutely LOVE reading the comments from my friends, and I love commenting in return on their posts. It’s amazing how you can really start to feel like you know someone just through an online relationship. I so appreciate all of the support and love from this amazing group of people – you know who you are!!

I truly enjoy reading the posts of my food blogging friends; not only do they provide amazing inspiration for my own blog creations, I’ve found myself trying new recipes and getting great ideas for dinner, breakfast and snacks without having to look very far.

• Balance

When I talk about balance, I’m referring to my own personal struggle with the demands of running the household, caring for my two little boys full time, and managing the blog. Oh, and dealing with pregnancy on top of that! It is NOT easy. I have so much respect for those bloggers that are working, momming, and operating a successful food blog. How!?!

I spend 90% of my evenings working on the blog; writing my own posts, commenting on other bloggers’ posts, making food, editing photos, and brainstorming recipe ideas. Most of my photos are taken at night, without that glorious sunlight! Thank goodness for my tabletop fluorescent light. With the exception of that one fantastic day per week where my in-laws take the boys off my hands, I get zero time during the day to work on the blog, especially since my oldest son has stopped napping. I do spend some time on the weekends preparing food for the blog while Etienne is home – but I’m always so rushed to take photos of the final product, as the food I’ve made is usually also our meal for that day.  I just cannot waste food, so we eat EVERYTHING that I make, with some of it gifted away.

I often feel discouraged by my photos or the amount of time I’m afforded to style the food; I feel things could look SO much better and I could take truly wonderful photos if I had more time to practice and try different things (like videos)! I often daydream about the endless time I would have if the kids were all in school, and I could take advantage of that glorious sunlight, and actually take photos of food without someone screaming for Mama or having utter chaos erupt on the other side of the door. I have to do a check-in with myself every now and then to lower my expectations for what I’m able to achieve within my own personal constraints, and to stop comparing myself to others!

One day, I will have more time to really work on this passion of mine!

• Goals

When I think of what I hope to achieve with the blog, I know that one day I’d love to earn enough money from it that I can justify spending more time and money on it! I don’t expect to ever be a top blogger, nor do I really think I want that – but I do hope for some degree of success! I guess success is how you define it, right?!

I’d love to have a few more pins go viral, or to gain a larger following on some of those social media platforms I was just complaining about. Hopefully the blog can one day be more than just a hobby, but for now it is my favourite way to spend my “me” time, and my mind is never far from it.

With a new babe coming in a few months, I am certain I will have to slow down a bit – but I know I’ll get back into the groove eventually.

A big THANK you to all of you who have read and followed along this past year. I absolutely love when someone tells me they’ve tried a recipe; it is so rewarding.

Here’s to another year of learning, growing and obviously, eating.

♥