Ok, not really. In fact, it's probably not much older than your kids. But in the blog world, Ten June is a grandma. Last weekend, this little blog celebrated it's fifth birthday. Five years! Half a decade! I've never even kept a plant alive that long. As evidenced by the half-dead house plant sitting in my dining room in the photo above. Woops.

As you probably know, this blog started as a catalog for our renovations on our 1952 ranch (check out the full house tour if you missed it back in the day). About two years ago, we moved into a rental house in the city and then, about a year and a half ago, we moved into our current rental house in the suburbs. Along the way, I popped out two sweet babies. Needless to say, the state of this blog has evolved.

When my second baby, #littleladyjune, came in February 2014, I was actually blogging and freelance writing full-time. While I really enjoyed that, an amazing work opportunity came across my desk when she was about six months old- a job working part-time, mostly from home as a commercial real estate attorney... with really great pay (particularly as compared to blogging and freelancing). So I took the job and have loved it ever since. While it's become more of a full-time thing (35-40 hours a week is full time, right?!), I do still love practicing law and having a steady income stream to provide for my family.

But, it's kept me busy. So, since I took that job, the past year for my blog has been slooooow. I'll tell you what, there have definitely been times I wanted to give it up and walk away. The time it takes! The pressure to keep up with the rest of the amazing blog world! The fancy photo shoots! The magazine-worthy home! The constant focus on material items! These are things that don't necessarily jive with my lifestyle.

As a blogger today, I don't really feel like I fit in. I'm not a fashion blogger. I'm not a mommy blogger. Let's face it, I'm not even a fancy interior design blogger. I'm just a girl with a toddler (or two) on her hip, peanut butter in her mom haircut, living in a rental house but with a copy of Domino magazine in her hand and a project list that could fill an entire spiral notebook. I love interior design. I love designing for real-life. I might not be fancy, but I've got some skillz. And as I thought about this and how it relates to my blog, it hit me... that's what I need to focus on. Being me.

I mean, that doesn't sound so earth-shattering, right? Be yourself. But for me, I've always felt a lot of pressure to categorize myself as a blogger and choose what kind of blogger I am/want to be. If I aim towards the design crowd yet post pictures of my kids on Instagram, I lose followers. Seriously. If I aim towards the mommy blogger crowd, no one is interested in interior design stuff. It feels like I can never satisfy anyone! So, I need to not focus on pleasing others and, instead, focus on me. The answer simply needs to be: I just blog about "me." I guess I kind of fall into the "lifestyle" blog category. Design. Food allergies. Natural cleaning tips. DIY kids crafts. Room makeovers. Travel. Mom stories. I'm just gonna keep doing it all and blab to you guys when I can. If you'll have me!

I'm also going to stop putting pressure on myself to have big, fancy, Pinterest worthy projects all the time. I used to chat often on my blog not just about a completed project, but about life, ideas, plans, being in between projects, that kind of thing... I didn't feel like I needed to have big glossy, perfect photos for every single post. Now, that's kind of changed because there are SO many amazing bloggers out there generating such fabulous content. And kudos to them, because I love reading that stuff! But for me, that's not always realistic. I live in a rental house- there are only so many things I can do around here. And, like you, I have about 12 free minutes in the day to complete projects. And sometimes, I just want to marathon veg out on Orange is the New Black and call it a day.

BUT, I have a lot of good ideas. I have some fun projects coming up. And I want to share them with you! So, instead of staying silent with imperfect or in-between projects (and while I would never promise miracles and a consistent blogging schedule!), I do hope to be around here on the blog more often. It may not always be glossy photos and perfect projects, but I think you guys like real life sometimes, too, so... have no fear, I'll give you that, too. And I'll continue with the random "lifestyle" nature of the blog... kid posts, food posts, travel posts, project posts, hi-I'm-Michelle-and-I-think-I'm-a-gangster-posts. I'm excited to continue to share all of that and not feel like the blog world has shaped me into anything different.

With that said, happy five years to my sweet little blog! Cheers to five more, Ten June!

Photo: Michelle Rothmeier, Ten June