talented photographers – Say Yes to Happy

Today’s guest blogger is one of my favorite bloggers out there. Ailee blogs at Snapshot and My Thoughts. She is a talented photographer and has the most beautiful photos and her family is picture perfect. Her toddler, Isla, is beyond precious. I am so honored that she is guest blogging for me today. She makes me realize I need to step up my photography and blogging game.

Why I Love Blogging

by Ailee Petrovic of Snapshots & My Thoughts

My history with blogging dates back six years (oh my gosh, slow down time!), and there has been quite an evolution. To start, let me take you back to the very beginning.

History

May 2009: I started my first blog, Ailee Marie à Paris, to document my summer abroad working in Paris. I still read those posts from time to time! I definitely got bit by the blog bug that summer.
January 2010: I began writing Semplistic Thoughts (my maiden name was Semple) as a senior at The University of Texas at Austin. I thought it was a novel way to share thoughts and create a dialog on topics important to me (namely my faith).
January 2010: During my final semester at school, I had to write a blog as a requirement for a Media course I enrolled in. I called it Me, Myself & Media, and it mainly focused on advertising campaigns.
May 2010: On a trip to Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, I wrote a short travel blog – Down Under Diary to chronicle my activities.
May 2011: At my first job out of college, I was working with a large team of Management Consulting analysts (most of whom I still keep in touch with!), so we wrote a collaborative blog called Dino Debates to keep us entertained while living in Oklahoma City every Monday through Thursday. If I need a laugh, I revisit some of those posts.
August 2011: During a trip to the Philippines, I wrote a short blog – Musings in Manila. It was a life-changing trip, and I’m glad I have it well documented.
January 2012: My best friends, McKenzie, and I started a blog called Hello Houston, to share some of our favorite restaurants in the city. We sadly decided to make it private after we stopped writing it.
June 2012: Voilà – my eighth (and final for now!) blog, Snapshots & My Thoughts was born in 2012. It began as a space for me to document favorite styles and interior designs, then after we got engaged, it turned into a wedding-ish blog, and now, it definitely reflects our current stage of life: new parents.

People often ask how I got into blogging, and I like to think it was just inevitable from the advent of weblogs (do you even remember when they were called that?) that I would one day write one. I have always loved expressing myself through writing, and I enjoy photography, curating pretty graphics, sharing (and finding) design inspiration, etc. – all essentials in the world of blogging. It just kind of made sense to have my own (or multiples!).

Blogging is cathartic… inspiring… community-building… creative… capturing… and should be fun to write. I love writing posts and most especially hearing feedback (makes blogging feel less one-sided). I have met some of my closest friends through the blogging and creative circle (some ‘real life friends,’ others modern day pen pals). Finding like-minded individuals isn’t always easy, but you can definitely do it in the blog world!

As you can tell from my history, I absolutely love blogging. With this said, there are days when I feel uninspired and Snapshots & My Thoughts gets neglected. Lately, my calendar has been booked with photo shoots (I am a photographer too!), and coming up with creative content to share has been the last thing on my mind. I recently considered quitting altogether, but quickly snapped out of it. Blogging should never be a forced thing. Instead of focusing on having five posts a week, I have decided to let the process be more natural. Are there home renovation photos I want to share? Great. Then I’ll do it. Do I have Halloween outfit inspiration ideas? Perfect, I’ll blog about it. But blogging should never feel like pulling teeth.

One of my 2015 resolutions was to ‘get more personal’ with my readers. Last year, I began writing a ‘Week in Review’ post on Mondays that highlighted the past week and my favorite memories. At first, it felt a big braggadocious – like “here are all of the cool things I did!”; however, I hope my readers know me well enough to know that I’m not like that. Blogs are like online diaries, so why not share happy memories? It’s my favorite post to write every week, as it makes me feel incredibly grateful for all of the joyful things in our lives.

If you need some convincing why you should write a blog, read this article. I agree wholeheartedly with the arguments!

Now it’s your turn. How do you document your favorite memories? Photos? Do you rely solely on social media, like Facebook and Instagram, or do you keep a diary? Perhaps even a blog?

You guys have to check out her blog, you won’t be sorry! If you’re anything like me, you’ll be really inspired and impressed. Thank you again SO much Ailee!