Five Year Review

My journey into the world of blogging started 5 years ago! Hard to believe it’s been so long now and the road that I’ve been on.  Join me as I walk down memory lane for a bit!

My blogging story started by flipping through decorating magazines and finding a website and diving down the rabbit hole of blogs.  One blog would lead to another and another and another.  Some of those original blogs are ones I still follow – like Jeanne Oliver who has inspired me, taught me and draws me into her life in Colorado.  I even got to be a long distance part of her first workshop in her studio which you can read about HERE.  I’m so thankful that I found this creative outlet, a way to document our life here in rural Nova Scotia and share it with those who are interested.

Farm Fresh Style started on the free blogging platform that is Blogspot.  And for me, starting out it was perfect – easy to use and not overwhelming.  But when I made a career change, I knew I needed my blog to work harder for me.  So, with the help of Christine, we switched my blog over to WordPress and developed my website and farmfreshstyle.ca came into being.  Makes it all official sounding, eh? And now, a few years into working with my site as is, I know I want to give it a refresh and change how a few things function.  So….maybe by Spring it’ll have a makeover, hopefully making it ‘fresher’ and more user-friendly. Stay tuned….I’m not tech-savy….but thankfully I know people who are!!

When I started blogging, we were living in our mini home just over the hill and the girls were little.  When I think back, Hannah probably doesn’t remember when I didn’t blog and drag the camera around taking pictures for the blog.  I mean, seriously – look how little!!!

We have since moved into an old house across the road and have spent the last three years making it our own.  Currently, the exterior is being painted so hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll be able to show you what it’s looking like now.  But HERE is the post where we announced that we were moving!!  This house was a part of my younger teenage years and I love that I get to call it home now.  It’s come a long way from move-in day!  I think I probably owe you guys a tour…but I need to finish some stuff first!  You can look back at the house HERE, HERE and HERE!

We’ve expanded our family with the addition of the girls’ bunnies, Lucy and Lacey.  And then along come Buttercat, followed by Ebony, the pony.  And now we sort of have another cat, too, that adopted us named Cuddles.  I love the addition the animals bring to our yard.  There is life around us and we enjoy the company of our furry, four-legged friends.

 

The other big change since the start of Farm Fresh Style all those years ago is the changes my career has gone through.  I was working in New Glasgow as a decorator but shortly after we moved into our new house, I left that job, which you can read about HERE and announced I was starting my own business doing decorating, markets and other fun creative things.  I also did some work at The Lifeshelter in town, which since had to close it’s doors, unfortunately.  And now I’m working for a design firm in Truro, Costandi Designs, and loving that.  I’m also the Design Consultant for At Home on the North Shore, a lifestyle publication based in Pictou.  So, my days are full and I love what I’m doing.

Over the course of my blogging history, I’ve joined a few social media platforms.  I started my Facebook page back around the same time I started my blog.  And then there was Pinterest which we all know is quite the rabbit hole of ideas, inspiration and loads hours spent scrolling!  I joined Twitter and I can’t say I post much there, but I do enjoy some of the threads of random conversation that happens over there, not the drama so much, though.  But then there’s Instagram.  Instagram has my heart.  I so enjoy the community that I have found through that platform.  I have made new friends through Instagram and stayed connected with old friends.  I highly recommend joining if you haven’t already!  If you’d like to connect with me through any of those platforms, please do, I’d love your company!

Over the course of 5 years, I’ve written lots of blog posts…most saw the light of day and a few didn’t. Writing is an outlet for me to share my thoughts and a place to document some fun things we do as a family, as well as some of the creative things I do.  When I started with the new website, I developed my tag line – ‘creating a country life in full colour’ and I try really hard to keep it real here for you.  I won’t air my dirty laundry, that’s for sure, but I do want to share authentically.  Are we perfect over here? Certainly not.  Is my house always clean? Nope!  Am I the best mom ever? Absolutely not.  But, I want to honour you, my readers, and so just like if you were coming over to visit in real life, I would offer you my best and since I am inviting you into our lives and home virtually, I still offer you our best.

It’s fun to look back over the years to see which posts are the ones you read and shared the most.  And which ones keep popping up, week after week.  The house tours tend to capture people’s attention, especially this one of a random, welcoming stranger, which you can read HERE.  A more recent one that is speaking volumes is THIS one….comparison is such an issue these days!

I would be remiss if I don’t give a shout out to the amazing blogging community that I am a part of now, the East Coast Mom Media group.  They have been a huge support and encouragement, as well as a wealth of knowledge.  Everyday I’m learning new stuff because of this crew and starting to tap into the potential that is out there.  And honestly, some of these people I am honoured to call my friends!

So to celebrate, I thought I would do a little give away! Because it’s fun to spread the love! Comment on the blog, on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with your favourite Farm Fresh Memory for a chance to win a  custom-made sign of a place close to your heart!  Your memory might be a post a wrote, an event that we attended together, a project I made or a decorating project I helped you with. I’ll be making my selection on Monday, September 4th!! You can see an example below of the one I made during a workshop…

Thank you for following along this journey, for stopping me when I’m out and about and telling me how much you enjoy the blog, or to those who introduce me to their friends as ‘you know, Farm Fresh Style’….seriously, you guys are why I keep sitting down and pounding out a post every now and again.  I truly enjoy writing and am thankful for the opportunity to do this.

To be continued,

Lori