Why My Blog Looks Plain...for now

I've been wanting to blog for ages but never really committed myself to it. But six weeks ago, something happened that made me want to blog more than ever: I became a mom!

I immediately looked for inspiration and wow, is there a lot! There are so many incredible moms out there who have already been blogging for years! They write about their day or their week, their thoughts, share photos, share how to make things, how to decorate, etc. They basically just share their lives with their readers. 

    "Oh, we’re having a party, I’ll take photos of that and write about it on my blog."

    "I just made this awesome meal, let me share that on my blog.”

    “I’m working on my amazing DIY project, let me make a tutorial on my blog.”

You see, I’m already a sharer. (I'm a teacher by profession -- I think it comes with the territory.) Problem is there’s no party to take photos of, awesome meals to share, or amazing DIY projects to make tutorials for. All I have are my thoughts and grand plans. Well, you know what? I’m going to blog anyway. 

I know that I follow other people’s blogs for their tutorials, their photos, and their other posts. But really, I can distill all those reasons into just one — I want to be like them. I want to be healthy, I want to create beautiful things, I want to be surrounded by things that make me happy (not clutter that makes me not want people over) in our home, I want to have new experiences, I want to travel, I want to BE the person I’ve been planning to be. No more waiting — I'm tired of that story.

I’ve realized that I’ve been cutting myself a lot of slack. I tell myself that I’ll get it together when the time’s right — when I have enough money, when I’m not so busy, when I have this gadget (*ahem* DSLR) or that tool. Well, all these things might take a while. Who knows? Some may not even happen! So today I’ve decided to just start. That's why this blog looks the way it does. I've started -- it's not eye candy but at least it's up. Done is better than perfect.

But if you stick around, you'll hopefully get to see those tutorials of toys I've been meaning to create, recipes of those healthy meals I've been meaning to make, photos of spaces I've been meaning to declutter, along with posts about anything I feel that's worth sharing. You'll see the blog grow from meh to decent...to hopefully, pretty good. 

So here are some of the blogs that inspire me:
http://trulyrichmom.com
Tina is actually my cousin-in-law and the first person I went to for tips. (Thanks, Tina!) Her blog is about her take on faith, family, and life in general as a Catholic mom. She also writes about homeschooling in the Philippines -- a route I might consider down the road.

http://tickledmomclarice.com
I met Clarice on a Facebook group for breastfeeding moms -- more on that later...She was very helpful. (Thanks, Clarice!) Her blog is packed with all things mom: her family's daily life, her own advocacies, product reviews, among many other topics.

http://www.whatelsemichelle.com
I found this blog and the following blogs on bloglovin'. She's a Filipino mom, like me! Michelle is a graphic designer who has recently discovered a love for interior design. Interestingly enough, she has a section in her blog called Toilet Gawker filled with photos of beautiful public bathrooms!

http://picklebums.com
Picklebums is written by a former preschool teacher turned pickle farmer mom. Oh, how I wish I could live on a farm, too! Maybe one day...

http://scrumdillydo.blogspot.com
Scrumdilly-do appeals to both mommy me and teacher me. I can't wait to try her ideas when my son gets bigger.

http://smallforbig.com
I love this blogger's DIY tutorials for crafts to make with kids! Another favorite is the 1000 Words section in her blog.

http://emmyjuneborninmay.blogspot.com
She had me at this entry on what she's learned in her first 60 days of blogging. I have yet to explore her other posts but as a new blogger, I am certain I'll come back to this entry again and again.

http://ohhappyday.com
Oh Happy Day is a party and lifestyle blog. I don't really throw parties but I love this blog because it's pretty.

http://www.ohjoy.com
This is more of a website for her business with a blog section. But I love it because her photos are eye candy!

http://ohdeardrea.blogspot.com
While poking around in bloglovin', I chanced upon her post, How to Have a Great Life Without Spending A Lot of Money + Saving Some Too, and just fell in love with her blog. A lot of the rules she talks about are old plans of mine but she's actually putting them into practice. Consider me inspired!


If you have a blog, how did you start? How long did you plan for it? Why do you blog?

If you don't have a blog yet and you want to have one, what's keeping you from starting?