Everyday Baby Steps

This week's Friday Feature Profile mom blogger is Caroline from Morningside Mom.  Caroline is an awesome blogger and one of the first I met.  I couldn't have been more excited to talk to her on the phone, as we have lots in common.  She wants to be a freelance writer, too!  I hope you enjoy reading what she has to say as much as I enjoyed talking to her.

How long have you been blogging?

Not that long.  Since March, actually.  I always loved writing.  But, ironically, I was a science major in college and ended up working in college admissions.  I did that for ten years.  Then I had my first-born son.  I was just trying t o be a mom, and everybody kept saying, "You should write; you should really think abou twriting."  Being nervous about it, I wasn't really sure how to do it.  Then I clued into the whole blogging thing an ddecided to give it a shot.  Never thinking it would be anything more than a personal diary/using it for practice.  right away I got such good feedback that I thought, "Wait a minute.  Maybe this is something I should kind of stick with.  So I just kept going with it.  I really felt like the blogging thing started to take on a life of its own for me.  I really didn't go in with the intentions to get as involved with it as I did.  It just seemed to literally take me down the path and lead me by the hand.

Tell me why you started blogging.

I was tired of just talking about what the kids did that day.  I really cared about things going on in the world or just random thoughs that I had, and there's no outlet for it.  I feel like blogging has allowed me to get out there, try things, completely express myself and be a part of that interactive world.

It's been a great way to get out of the house without getting out of the house, being able to have some interaction and have a feeling like my mind is valuable.  You get very little of that as a stay-at-home mom.  I always call it Groundhog Day - you're just in that routine of the same dishes, the same diapers, the same everything.  It's like Chinese water torture sometimes, sometimes it's wonderful.  My blog has just opened my world and allowed me to really be a part of something more than just where I'm at in my little routine.

Didn't you win a trip to BlogHer?

Yes, BlogHer had a contest sponsored by Ragu.  It was a random contest, but I won.  The winner got to go to the BlogHer conference in San Francisco.  I got the feeling that the universe just kind of opened up and just landed in my lap.  My family was so supportive, and they figured out what they had to do to take care of those kids so that I could go for that weekend.

Probably a few weeks before I was a leaving, a PR company happened to get in touch with me and really liked what they had read and they decided they wanted me to review some products for them, which happened to be a laptop and video camera.  I didn't have a laptop.  I ahve very little; I have an old computer which is on its last leg.  And for this to happen was just one more thing telling me, "You have to blog.  You have to do this."  One thing I've learned from the whole thing is that all signs are pointing me to blog.

Is blogging what's led you to try your hand at freelancing?

It's a confidence thing for me.  I wasn't trained in writing, specifically.  I went to a iberal arts college, and I had to write well to go there and to graduate from there.  The other portion of it is,"How do I sell myself?", and I think that blogs make a great resume.  People can refer to your writing ability there.  I'm just gonna keep going and see where it takes me!