Re-deCLAIREing Happiness Part 3

Third times the charm…right???

The first time I started this blog was when I graduated college. I had just been on a writing high from my University of Illinois James Scholar’s Senior Year Project. I was blogging about my student teaching experience and LOVED it. Sharing my teaching experience was so fun and so easy. I wanted to keep on sharing after graduation since I technically was #adulting and starting my first job!! I had aspirations to be an influencer like some of the accounts I followed. Oooooh maybe I would get free things?? Oooh maybe I could do this as a side hustle?? Oooh the possibilities!!! MissDeCLAIREingHappiness was born! I had a passion to share what was on my mind–the products I loved, things I was eating/cooking that were making me happy, tips and tricks, getting my first classroom ready, and the engagement life. Thennn my first year of teaching hit & if you have ever been a first year teacher, dated one, been besties with one, had one in the fam, or just witnessed one on social media YOU KNOW how busy those newbies are!! I got too busy and life just happened. I would post here and there—especially when summer hit—but my time and energy had to go elsewhere. The blog also wasn’t reaching the number of fans I dreamed of and I wasn’t getting any free things (I know… I really hate admitting that)… so my first hiatus began.

Cue Summer 2020–The Second Awakening of my Blog! Miss was now turning to a Mrs! I definitely had more time on my hands (thank you COVID-19) and I had more to share and talk about…I was getting married to my high school sweetheart (hi Joel😘) and was so excited to share all things wedding, honeymooning, marriage, teaching, DIYing, eating/cooking, and more. I had more time which to me meant that I really could make something out of this: let me research and brand and make a plan for something consistent so I can keep on going. Because ya know when you make a presence, you’ll have a presence… right? But then again, life got in the way. I wasn’t able to consistently write and share. I would get sudden bursts of inspiration and excitement—updating my insta with pics, devotionals, etc. but again I just stopped. To be honest, I felt discouraged as I wasn’t getting “the following” I wanted. I was looking to other accounts to see what they were doing and what was different. What could I do to get my name out there? How could I share these happy things in life?! But, again life got busy. Maybe this time though, I was afraid of the work and time it would take to put in to staying consistent. As I stopped, there was always a pulling at my heart strings to get back to it, but I didn’t feel like it was the right time.

Which brings me to the here & now! It is currently 2am… I am wide awake, drafting this post in bed, waiting for my 2 month old to wake me up for his nighttime feeding. (Lol the nights where I’m wide awake are the nights he sleeps practically all the way through 🤪). As I mentioned before, since my last post and my last blog, there’s been a tugging on my heart to go back to blogging. Knowing that I had already started this blog and reintroduced myself and tried to “rebrand” myself and I thought it failed, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be doing this. This time has been different though: I wanted to ask God what His opinion of all of this is/was. I’ve been intentionally praying about getting back into blogging for the past few weeks, even having Joel pray about this too. This time I feel different. I asked for God to change my heart if this wasn’t something I should pursue again, and now I’m here… the passion is here: MrsdeCLAIREingHappiness now MamaDeCLAIREingHappiness buttttt I’m not going to change the handle. Life I would say is even MORE busy than it has been before—I’m still doing everything I did in those first two blogging Claire’s but now I’ve got a newborn and even will be returning back to work soon after this maternity leave!!! Sounds like the craziest time to get back into blogging. But God can take crazy and make it into something beautiful.

God has changed my heart—He’s changed my intentions behind this blog. He has shown me that yeah, life is crazy and busy, but there’s time to slow down. He is my strength and with God, all things are possible- Matthew 19:26. I’m no longer concerned with who I reach and wanting this to become more. If I was called back into blogging to even reach ONE person, that’s why I’ll do it.

So hello again world! Miss to Mrs to Mrs/Mama DeCLAIREingHappiness is BACK and I would say…better than ever. I’ve got happiness to share and all things happy, but I’ve got joy too!! As I’m returning back to this deCLAIREing happiness journey, here are my goals:

1.) Intentionally sharing: I desire to post. I desire to write. And I desire to do all of this intentionally in a good amount of time. I would LOVE if I could share 2 blogs a month. I feel like that is a realistic goal…haha I think…but sometimes it might be more or it might be less. Whatever the number, know that the posts will be genuine and purposeful. If I’m supposed to reach one person with just one blog post, I’ll do it and count it as a win…even if I stop blogging or take a break.I’ve been learning to be slow and to love slow. I’ll be slow to speak in these posts and reflect to make sure I’m saying what is needed to be said in the best, loving way.

2.) More interactive: I’ll be looking into ways to make my posts more interactive—asking God if there’s anything He wants me to share and asking y’all if you have any questions or ideas. I’m already dreaming of ways I can share not only my words and ideas, but creations and products. Social media is meant to be SOCIAL: interactions… between you and me, me and others, you and others. I’m not trying to use this blog to show myself, but to be social and to make friends, form connections, and further develop relationships. Will it sometimes be messy and unorganized as I’m trying to figure this out? Sure! Will I be learning along the way and may have to rethink things? Most definitely! Come on this journey with me! Let’s both learn some things together!

3.) More LIGHT: I’ll be sharing goodness and the Goodness. Simple as that!

Join me on this journey—subscribe to my posts and follow me on insta (@mrsdeclaireinghappiness) if you want to or don’t, seriously no pressure!!! I’ve updated the website to reflect what’s happening currently. In this restart, I know I’m even going to be more busy, but God’s got me. I am so blessed to have even MORE to share—marriage, teaching, crafting, cooking/food, DIYing, AND motherhood 😍

As I’m wrapping up writing this post, I’m hearing my lil guy cry on the monitor, ready to be fed…all in His perfect timing! I’m heading out now, but you’ll be hearing more from me.

Xoxo,
Mrs.DeCLAIREingHappiness