Eat. Blog. Love.

Every blogger out there has a rhyme or reason as to how/why they got started blogging.I should also go ahead and say that never in my life did I think I'd ever call myself a "blogger"...partially because I didn't know I had the ability to write (even if it's not the best) and mainly because I didn't even know what a blog was. 

From a life-changing experience, to a dedication to a family member, or because they're incredibly skilled when it comes to fashion (jealous!), cooking (jealous again!) or photography (ok real jealous now!!)...all of us have a story behind why we got started blogging. 

While I'm no fashion, food or photography blogger, and while my blogging story is nothing special, it means a lot to me and humbles me to remember how I came to be introduced into this incredible blogging world that has given me so much more than I could have ever imagined. 

Mug & notepad from the fabulous Crystal Faye

So. Here goes:

When Beau and I got engaged back in 2010, one of my first duties as a bride was to put together our wedding website.  It was nothing fancy, it was one of the free ones actually, but it was all we needed. It was a place to point all our friends and family so they'd know every detail of our wedding because after all, I didn't have Facebook to do the job for me.

As I wrote out all the page descriptions, filled in the details of my wedding party and even started writing on one of the pages titled "Bride's Blog", I found myself really getting into it. I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted every friend or family member to know everything possible about our big day and wanted them to be in the loop at all times. After several posts into this so-called "Bride's blog" thing, even though like I said, I had not the slightest idea as to what a blog even was, I received an email from one of my best friends, who, at the time I had no idea SHE had a blog, too. Her email went a little something like so:

Stephanie,

I just read your Bride's Blog and decided I'm starting you a real blog. Send me your Gmail login information. I'll get everything set up so all you have to do is log in and start writing. You'll love it...I promise.

Kris

+++

Kristen,

Ok. My login information is below.

PS-what the hell is a blog?

xo

Steph

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Apparently all you have to do is ask and I'll send my email login information to anyone off the street...

This all happened some time in late February 2010. By the very beginning of March, my very first blog was born and was respectively titled "Two Hearts. One Love." (Kristen chose the name. Not me...)

I had a header. And a "design". And what I thought were cool fonts. Oh how I wish I would have saved that ol' gem!

One thing led to another and I wrote my very first blog post with the catchiest title of all "About Me" and it was the dumbest thing to ever exist in all of blogger history in all the land. Thank goodness I only had 2 followers back then: Kristen & my mom, and thank goodness they knew I was destined for bigger and better things.

Not too long after "Two Hearts. One Love." was born, I decided I wanted a name that actually meant something to me and one that wasn't named after a cheesy song written by a wannabe country artist...Zona Jones, anyone? I wanted something that was more "me" and something that contained Beau's name since, after all, he was a huge part of what I'd been writing about. Poor guy...didn't know what he was getting himself into...

It was then that "Beautiful Mess" was born.

Beautiful Mess was who I was for years and no matter where this thing takes me, I still think it will always be a little part of my blogging identity and I'm okay with that. I loved that name!

It wasn't too long ago that I got the re-design itch and also a wild...err-very wild...hair to completely re-brand myself as Southern Mess. Huge move? Yes. Scary? Heck ya. Worth it? You known it!

I was tired of calling myself "the Beautiful Mess" because the only truth to it was the "mess" part. I also wanted my own name; one that was more original and not one that was taken by 8 other bloggers, a few country songs, an iPhone app and even a book. Fair enough, right?! (Blog rule #1: research your name before you even consider making it permanent.)

And just like that...I became Southern Mess. 

So here we are now. A new name. A fancy, schmancy new design and a whole new life of blogging ahead of me.

While some people blog just to blog, which I wholeheartedly support, blogging, to me, has opened up a whole heck of a lot of doors that I could have never even imagined. If it weren't for blogging I wouldn't know I had a passion for writing or a knack for creativity and whit...or so I'd like to think. I wouldn't have a best friend in Ohio. I wouldn't have other friends scattered throughout the country, like Kentucky, Austin, Boston, Washington, Minnesota, California and Florida, to name a few. I wouldn't have extra spending money to blow on vacations or schtuff I don't really need (A HUGE thanks to my sponsors and publishing network for that!). I wouldn't have fun DIY project ideas to spend countless hours on executing and photographing. I wouldn't know the first thing about fashion or DLSR cameras. And most importantly, to me, I wouldn't have the job I have now; where I'm able to use my experience given to me through blogging, to be creative and fun and just write my little heart out.

So there. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Eat. Blog. Love.
It's a way of life and I wouldn't have it any other way!