Why “Something Different”?  I’m glad you asked! 

Blogging is not new to me. This is actually the 3rd time I’ve started writing online. My first experience with blogging was in college when I was earning my fashion degree. That blog was basically a place for random book reviews, fashion week critiques, and tips for fellow college girls.  I did a pretty good job keeping it updated until I graduated and entered the “real world” of 50-hour work weeks!

Fast-forward 3 years: I married my college sweetheart, became a military wife, and moved to a new place where I had to start over with new friends and a new job. My new job gave me extra down time, so I decided to try my hand at blogging again, this time with Instagram fueling my desire to “be one of those fashionable Insta girls”.  I mean, I have a fashion degree for Pete’s sake! I was kicking myself for giving up on my college blog, and thought it would be great if I could build an online presence and earn some extra income. Obviously my motivation was all wrong, and of course that blog disappeared quickly too.

Fast-forward again, only 2 years this time. My journey into motherhood started with a bang (we weren’t exactly planning a pregnancy), my husband left on a long deployment when the baby was a month old, and I was left wondering if any part of my life was still recognizable. The post-partum hormones went crazy, combined with sleepless nights and a colicky infant. I struggled through those long months by myself, figuring out how to be a new mom on my own and trying to maintain my career. It was rough. There was lots of crying, and soul-searching, and book-reading, and not nearly enough praying (working on that, as always). When my hubby finally came home, I was a different person. I was stronger than I ever thought I could be, and also more tired and confused about my life than I had ever been before. As I adapted to having a second parent to help take some of the burden off, I slowly began to come back to life and open my eyes to the possibilities that lay ahead. No, my career would no longer define me. Motherhood did not have to define me either, as I learned from all the soul-searching. Being a “fit girl” also did not define me, nor did being a “style girl” like I was in college. While it seemed like my friends all had some THING that defined them, I struggled to put the puzzle pieces together.

I finally began to realize that I did not need to be the same. I didn’t need to emulate an insta-model, career woman, or even working-mom. I learned that it is OK to figure it out as I go, take each situation as it comes, and develop a story that is unique to me. It won’t look like anyone else. It will be Something Different.