LOOK!!  I am the Guest Blogger on the fabulous www.blogtessa.com today!  Please stop by and tell her hi! Stick around and help me with my dilemma please!!  

And the post goes:

I started this blog to write.  Not necessarily to even write well, but to write none the less.  I was a stay at home mom to three children 3 and under with a husband who works 70 hours a week and going stir crazy.  I needed an outlet – welcome ADayinMotherhood.com!

I don’t think I had ever read a blog before I started mine.  I don’t even recall how I came up with the idea to start one.  And I certainly had no clue at all what reviews and giveaways were!  I just wanted a place to go and spew forth my misery and happiness!

So I wrote and wrote and wrote.  Told my friends about it and wrote some more. And I really enjoyed it.  And then people I did not personally know started to follow me and I discovered Twitter, and blog hops, and Facebook pages.  I suppose then, I was on my way!

And so I kept writing!  Every chance I got. Sometimes more than once a day.  I had a lot to say.  And I started reading and realized that the blogging talent “out there” mirrors any professional forum.  And that is putting it lightly for sure.

I got my first giveaway and things stated to change.  Another giveaway followed, the another, and now I am where I am now.  7 live giveaways and almost 700 followers.

But I struggle sometimes.  I love to write.  Whether it is good or not, I truly love it.  And I truly smile cheek to cheek when someone takes time out of their day to not only read it, but to comment on it.  And I feel like a real writer.  One with no agent, book, or column, but still – a real writer!

And now I love reviews and giveaways!  I love getting to try new products and, honestly, the happiest I am on any given day is sending out that “You Won” email and getting the happy dance, super excited, “OMG I WON” email back from people.  Because the readers that enter really take the time to make sure every entry counts.  And entering giveaways takes time!

But, it seems, I am torn sometimes.  I want to write every single day like I did before, but when I have 6 wonderful products to write about, and I want to do an honest, creative review, it takes all of my me time.  And that leaves me postless on the personal side.

And though, depending on the posts and how relate-able they are to the reader, people still lovingly comment, I wonder if they are feeling short changed.  Like they have to dig through all of the review and giveaway stuff to get to the posts that they have loyally read since the beginning.

But on the flip side, I never review or giveaway a product I do not like and would not recommend to my closest friends.  Ask them, they are tired of the phone calls!  So I want to display these to everyone!  Because it is a great feeling to get something you want from someone who tried it and recommended it that you trust!

I have not solved the battle within.  I have separate lists on my sidebars.  Those that are here for the giveaways can find the links in easy reach and those who just want to read can find my latest posts.  And I have gotten responses on both sides thanking me for doing that.  But my internal fight continues.

I still want to write… and do reviews… and write…. and do giveaways.

And when I sit down at my desk late at night, I usually have a decision to make.  Write a post that I have thought about for 3 days, or get this review up so people can see how fantastic this product is?  I rarely can do both – because each comes from my heart and I want that quality to stay, no matter what.

So, I guess I don’t really know how I make it work.  How I divide my time between posting my life and PR work.  Trying to provide posts that you can relate to that I love to write and you enjoy reading and also sharing my latest finds and giving you a chance to discover them too.  I just take this seriously, I suppose.  Both sides of it.  Because I don’t really care what drew you to this blog over all of the other wonderful ones you can go to.  I am just truly honored that you are here!

In the end, I suppose, when I turn off the small green and gold office light that shines on my keyboard during my “working” hours, I am right where I want to be…  stuck in the middle with you!