In a lot of ways, blogs are like diaries. I come here and tell the happenings of my life, what I feel strongly about, what I find funny, and who I have a crush on. Well, sort of. I confide in my blog, even though it's public.
Have you ever looked back on your old diary entries? Yikes. I love it and I also question who the heck I was back then. Like, how could I even fathom to choose Backstreet Boys over N'Sync? (Don't worry that phase only lasted a very short period of time.)
Just like with a diary, my blog's writing style and direction has changed over the years. 2 years ago, in 2013, I wrote about going to see a music act in Deep Ellum with Michael and our best friend. This Friday, in 2015, I went with the same people to see a DJ duo perform in Deep Ellum. My how times have changed. Just kidding. I actually really like that I'm still doing the same things.
Regardless, if I was still keeping a diary, here's how it might look on my blog:
Dear Diary,
What a great weekend. You know, it's hard to have a weekend where you do fun things every weekend day now that I'm older. When you have two kids (dog children) and a house to maintain, responsbilities get in the way.
On Friday I went to see Showtek at a new music venue in Dallas called The Bomb Factory. It was surprisingly awesome. The venue can hold 4,000 people and has a big bathroom. This is really important to me. Who wants to wait in the restroom line when your favorite song comes on? The lasers were a little much though. But still a great place to see live music. Don't worry Lizard Lounge, it's still not better than you.
You know you're old when you have to wake up on time to go to your neighborhood's gardening meeting. Whatever. I learned about shade gardening and which type of plants grow in Texas, get over it. I put my skills to good use by laying in the grass with the dogs.
I wonder if people are jealous of how cute my children are?
Saturday night we went to Half Shells and ate crawfish and fish. People that don't like seafood are just plain ridiculous. Oh well, more for me. Then we watched the movie “Inherent Vice.” This might be the worst movie I've seen in a long time. How in the world did IMDB give this movie a 7 out of 10 rating? Maybe I wasn't smart enough to understand it.
No, it was definitely the movie's fault.
Sunday I walked at White Rock Lake and drank a martini at The Lot. This time of the year is the best time for weather. Right before it becomes blisteringly hot and I can fry and egg on the sidewalk. I know, because I've tried. Okay not an egg. It was cookie dough. Don't judge me.
Well Diary, that was my weekend. This week I'm starting an Instagram challenge and I'm really nervous about it.And I'm going to try and be super healthy this week. Cross your fingers for me.
– Helene
1. If Treasure Tromp had a mission statement what would it be?
Treasure Tromp is all discovering life’s little treasures one adventure at a time. From traveling around to hiking and camping, I want to make sure that I never miss the beauty of each adventure and encourage you to seek your own treasures as well. In addition to treasure hunting, you can also find posts about organization, wedding planning, and updates to my 30 by 30 list.
2. How do you balance travel and planning a wedding? That seems tough!
Balancing travel with planning a wedding IS tough! While wedding planning keeps us busy, we make sure to keep travel a priority in our life (since being engaged we've visited Bali and France, lived in Cape Town, South Africa, and tried to visit some states as well). I think that there are two secrets to how we've balanced travel and wedding planning. 1) A long engagement! We've been engaged for over two years, which has allowed us to spread out wedding planning while still being able to travel around; and 2) Checklists! Each month we keep a detailed wedding checklist to help keep us on track so that we never fall behind!
3. Does your fiancé help plan the wedding?
My fiancé takes care of about 50% of all the wedding planning and details. Since wedding planning can be stressful, we set aside time every Sunday to discuss wedding planning. Keeping all non-urgent wedding planning to this time helps to ensure that we don't let the wedding take over our life.
4. What do you look for when figuring out where to travel next?
Besides cost?
There are a ton of factors when thinking about my next trip, but if I'm being honest, I'm not too picky. I just love visiting new places and being able to experience different cultures. A few years ago I decided that I want to use my passport at least once a year, so I'm really drawn international travel. I also love visiting different regions of the world. Since I've visited the African, Asian, and European continents fairly recently, my next international trip is to Central America. But since traveling internationally can be expensive, I've been focusing on exploring more of the US. I've been to less than half of the states so there are lots of places left for me to explore!
5. What are your tips for balancing blogging with everything else you have going on?
Keeping a detailed schedule is the best way to balance blogging with life! I use CoSchedule to plan, schedule, and monitor my blogging (and social media) schedule. I also think that maintaining a healthy relationship with social media and blogging is incredibly important. I believe that blogging should be fun and obsessing over stats really takes the fun out of the process.
Go check out Nicole's blog here!
