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Then and Now

You know you’re a blogger when at least once a month, when writing a post, you think, “THIS would be a great way to announce a pregnancy.”

Spoiler: Not a pregnancy announcement.

Anyway, fake pregnancy announcements aside, I’ve been thinking about how fun it is to look back on my blog and see the changes and improvements in my writing, photography, and life since I started my blog many eons ago.

I know some people can’t stand to look back at their early efforts because they are so much better now, but I think it’s wildly encouraging to see how much better you can get. Plus, I love looking back on different stages of my life that are all recorded in this digital space.

For instance, here was an outfit photo back then from this post about why I’m not a fashion blogger:

I think this one now might be slightly better. 
And of course my food photography has come quite a long way. 
There was this photo for the first recipe I posted (Tomato Pie) in 2011: 

Nothing sets off food like a filthy carpet background. Write that one down if you decide to do any food blogging.

Now it’s pretty delightful to see improvement like this:

Then, I was reading YA fiction (Twilight, in fact, was one of the early books I read after I started this blog and I totally loved every second of it and now it’s all kind of been ruined for me by all the insane popularity and resulting backlash that’s made it a sin to like Twilight). 
And. . . now I’m still reading YA fiction. (Like raving about Jordan Sonnenblick just yesterday). 
Then, I was living in Austin, in our first house.
Seven years later, we’ve been in Boston, then back to Austin, and now in North Carolina. 
When I started this blog, our family looked like this: 
Now, we have these two little hooligans as part of the crew. 
(Seriously, though, wouldn’t that have been a great place to announce a pregnancy?)
Then, I was working as a nanny for two little boys in Austin. 
Now I stay at home with my two little girls and blog like a maniac. 
Between those two roles, I was also a medical transcription office manager, a grad student, a teaching assistant, a supply chain project management intern, and an elementary school librarian. 
I liked my life then, and I like it now even better. 
(P.S. If you’re so inclined to do a “Then and Now” post, leave me a link so I can check it out). 

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16 Comments

  1. What a cute post! Since I've only been reading a few months and I haven't had a the time to go through archives, this was a fun mini adventure. 🙂

    BTW, I found my white jeans (under my dresser, covered in dust) and they are clean and being worn today! Life is good. It's the little things.

  2. Someday I will definitely do one of these posts, but as of right now, there hasn't been any noticeable improvement in my photography or my blogging style or my photoshop skills. It would probably just be depressing. (Plus, I haven't been blogging for SEVEN years like you have . . . quite an accomplishment!)

    Even though I haven't been blogging for very long, I HAVE been reading your blog since practically the day it was born, so I'm pretty proud of myself for that. It's been fun to see all the changes!

  3. Ah such a fun post, I love it! I mean…you had a life before you met me??? What?? It's funny that you know people from when you met them and on – and it's hard to picture your family before having H and a cute prego belly 🙂 Your adorable family, I just want to kiss their cheeks!!! (okay, we'll leave Bart out for that).

  4. What a wonderful post!!! So fun to look back on what seems to be not that long ago and realize how much life has changed. I remember the first time I met you back in TX. Back when I had the "Mom at home with small children" life and we were considering Cam going back to school. Now we live in WA and I'm in "Mom out of home as Volunteer/Coach/Carpool driver with tweens" life and Cam owns his own business. Big changes in short amounts of time.

  5. Oh my goodness, yes yes YES. It's wonderful (and a little embarrassing sometimes) to compare my "then" with my "now."

    Thanks for sharing yours!

    …Still laughing about bloggers and pregnancy announcements. 🙂

  6. This post is so fun! Whenever I need to look up a recipe on my blog from "the early days", the pictures always make me laugh because of how horrible they are! Not that they're much better now… but a huge step up! And the pregnancy announcement part is hilarious!

  7. So, I remember all of those posts that you linked to. Ha! I have been around for a while. This post actually brings to mind a recent post by Adam Roberts (aka The Amateur Gourmet)–another person I have been following since the beginning of time.

    http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2014/03/stick-a-fork-in-it-or-when-food-blogs-stopped-being-food-blogs.html

    I look back on the early years of blogging with a bit of nostalgia. When those pictures that you posted were perfectly o.k. (This isn't to say that you shouldn't try or want to take better pictures, etc. And you are right, the recent pictures *are* better) But I miss the days when there wasn't the pressure to be a brand (or what have you).

    I, on the other hand, feel like some of my better content was back in the days when I actually had time to be witty and to think about things besides what to have for dinner, etc.

  8. I love this! Sometimes when I feel frustrated with blogging I look back at my archives to see how far I've come – always refreshing!

  9. This was a fun post. I'll have to think of something snazzy to do when my blog turns 10 next year. I feel exactly like you do about Twilight. I loved it in an intense head over heels kind of way. Twilight was a gateway book for me that got me reading more YA fiction. (Before that I was more of a middle-grade fan.) That hasn't let up. But the insane popularity and backlash kind of ruined all the fun, didn't it?

  10. This was so fun to read! I haven't been blogging for all that long yet, but it would be fun to do a post like this some day! It was great to see all the different ways your family and blog have changed and grown.

  11. Too bad though that this is not a pregnancy announcement, I'd love to see a third little child of yours! The first two are so adorable.

  12. My husband is going to get his PhD this fall after graduating with his masters in May. We'd love to start a family, but I don't see how we can make me being a stay at home mom and him being a full time student work. Can I ask how you guys make it work?

  13. I would totally do a similar post, except that I read all of my posts last year when I realized I was coming up on the 1000-post mark, and I do not have the stomach to do that again. Cringeworthy, indeed! My blogiversary is coming up in a couple of months, though, so maybe I'll peek back quickly.

    But I love that I have been reading since the beginning. I slept on that plaid couch (right? I think so) in Boston!

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