Feb 14, 2011

Bees Life: Meerkat Edition

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What Is It Like To Be A Bee?

It is amazing and very rewarding but also nerve racking and time consuming at the same time. 

When you blog on a public forum like this you really put yourself out there. No matter how many times I post on here, I still get a little nervous when a new posts goes up. After spending a couple hours pouring my heart and soul into a post, I worry what if no one likes my idea? What if my post is dull and no one reads or comments on it? But then someone will comment on how I have helped or inspired them and the rewarding part of being a blogger kicks in.

There is also a part of being a bee that is a bit weird for me too. I have seen us Bees referred to as "the cool kids on the other side of the lunch room". Holy crap, I'm cool?!?! Wait, when did this happen? *grin* I have never been in "that cool kid" group and guess what? I'm still not. Part of what rocks about being a bee is that we are all down to earth, fun lovin', everyday brides. I am just a girl who marches to the beat of her own drummer just like many of the other bees.


How I Fell In Love With Weddingbee

I stumbled onto Weddingbee not long after we got engaged. I was doing a Google search for wedding inspiration when the 'bee popped up. I think I spent the next five minutes trying to figure why all these people were calling themselves by names of edible objects. I quickly decided there was a whole bunch of crazy going on at that site and went back to my Google search.

A few months later a friend asked if I had tried Weddingbee. I typed in the address and thought "OMG it's those crazy food people again!!", except this time there was a peep toed shoe thrown in the mix. WTH?! My curiosity got the better of me so I started to click around. Once I figured out it was a bunch of different brides blogging about their weddings, I was addicted.


Why I Started Blogging

Mr. Meerkat is really the one who got me started blogging. He already had a blog of his own filled with all the techy stuff we love but he also wanted to have a blog dedicated to our wedding to share with our family around the country. At first he was the sole blogger on our wedding site. After a couple months I decided, who knows why, to write up a post about our engagement photographer and as you can probably guess I fell head over heels for it.

I had been blogging on our little wedding site for a while when the idea came to me to create my own blog. One where I could talk about not just our final decisions but the different ideas that got us there. I wanted to be able to share the whole planning journey with other people planning a wedding. And out of nowhere the thought hit me like a ton of bricks; I wanted to be a bee.

My Application Story

My blogging began in secret, I didn't even tell Mr. Meerkat.

After a few weeks of writing my little heart out, I decided to give Mr. Meerkat and his cousin, who is a writer, a peek at my new blog. They loved it and encouraged me to apply to Weddingbee but it wasn't until I saw Mrs. Penguin's post calling for application submissions that I finally got the guts to send in the applicaiton I had been tweeking for weeks.

I waited patiently that first week, still no word but I remained hopeful. I mean you can't ask for miracles over night right? As the second week went by and Miss Elephant was introduced I got worried. Did the hive really need two brides planning a travel themed wedding? By the time the third week started I had convinced myself that I had been rejected and calculated out how long it would be before I could apply again.

Then at the end of the third week, on a quiet Saturday morning, an email arrived in my inbox from Mrs. Penguin. Mr. Meerkat happen to see it pop up and being the sneak he is, stole a peak. (I really think he was as excited as I was to see if I been accepted.) When he saw that I had indeed been accepted as a new blogger he came into the other room with this huge grin on his face and said he has some good news. He teased for a couple minutes asking what it was worth to me. Of course having no idea the awesome news he had, I just laughed it off and gave him my impatient look. After about five minutes of teasing he 'fessed up and told me that I had been accepted. I did a full body jump into his arms, legs wrapped around his waist hug. The whole time screaming and yelling "OMG are you sure that's what it said?!?!".  After I verified that I was indeed accepted (as in rereading Penguins email about twenty times), we sat down together and both agreed that there was only one icon that was for us, the meerkat. (Not to mention it reminded us so much of our puppies)

My One And Only Tip

Pay it forward.  Blogging isn't just about showing your ideas. It's about inspiring others and helping them. When someone comments and says that I have inspired them to try something new, I know I have succeeded in paying it forward. So as your writing, think about what way your post can help someone. Whether it be through inspiration, tips or simply some moral support.

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