Today on the blog we want you to meet Kayla Aimee – a blogger, author, wife, and a very proud Mom! In fact, a large part of her journey centers on her road to motherhood. Kayla Aimee has a beautiful perspective on  - well, everything – and our interview shows only a small bit  of it. Read on here and be sure to hop over to her site in the future; we’re confident you will want to know more. Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Our featured gal, Kayla Aimee!

JORD: Your blog is about your life: the everyday adventures of parenthood, being a mother and a wife, and challenging yourself to test your own limits and face your fears. How has your life been enriched by the mindful documenting of it in the blogosphere?

KA: I’m grateful to have such a rich documentation of our family history. It’s like a time capsule of our relationship, from our first date to the birth of our first child. And instead of short captions scrawled in the margins of a photo-album, I have this complete series of family storytelling that goes along with our pictures. As someone who loves history that is such a treasure to me.

My blog has also created a beautiful online community for me and my life has been greatly enriched by the people whose lives have intersected with my own through the sharing of words on a screen. When my daughter was born prematurely at 25 weeks, it was the online community of my blog readers who really surrounded and encouraged me during such a difficult time. The support of such an amazing community of readers has been a huge blessing to me.

JORD: Scarlette, your daughter, is a frequent guest in your posts so we know she inspires you, but does she ever articulate an idea for your posts herself? Would you encourage Scarlette to create her own blog at some point?

KA: She’s still too little to understand what Mommy’s blog is, I think, but she does indirectly influence a lot of my content, like my Stuff Scarlette Says series. So she can’t have her own blog because I need that material. Just kidding ;) Lately she’s been wanting to write her own books, so she illustrates them and has me write down the story as she dictates it to me so I can see her wanting to be a storyteller. But she can’t have her own blog for a long time, I’m hardcore strict about kids and access to the internet!

When she is old enough to grasp some of the responsibility of having an online presence though I will definitely encourage her to follow her dreams if that is the direction they take her in. Although it probably won’t be a blog. Apparently the kids these days have whole careers around 6 second videos on iPhone apps. I am too old too even understand this and I am only thirty one, y’all.

JORD: How do you balance what you share on the blog and what you keep private?  Do you shut off the blogging mindset at a certain time each day?

KA: My biggest priority is to never post anything that would hurt the people I love. I learned that lesson the hard way early on, unfortunately. Relationships are so precious and I value them too much to lose them to a viral blog post. I never write anything about anyone in my life without asking their permission first. 

 My general rule of thumb is to try to avoid posting anything that might embarrass my daughter in the future, which is why I don’t write about things like potty training or post pictures of her if she is in the middle of a tantrum or in a state of undress. I don’t want to create a digital footprint for her that could cause her any sort of hurt when her peers start googling one another in the future. As she gets older I will likely write about her less as she gains more ownership of her own story and ask her approval on what I can and can not share.

I think that sometimes we put a lot of value on authenticity online but I believe it is possible to be authentic and vulnerable without sacrificing the things that you hold sacred, which for me is my marriage and motherhood.

My role as a mother and wife outweighs my role as a blogger so it’s less about balance and more about always making sure the scales are weighted in my family’s favor.

And I do shut down my time at the computer at a certain time each day but I can never turn my mind off, unfortunately.

JORD: Though your blog was started as a personal outlet, it’s evolved to a professional blog as well. How do you see the blog evolving in the years to come? 

KA: I would love a Delorean right now so I could find out! The hard thing about blogging as a career is keeping up with an ever-changing technological world – you never know what is just around the bend.

My personal goals for the blog are to transition to more travel writing because my hope is to be able to expand on Scarlette’s education with travel as she gets older. Plus, we just got back from my first big travel writing trip to Ireland and it was amazing. I also want to author more books and so I would love for my blog to eventually become more of a companion to my writing career. That is my big-picture dream, to continue writing.

If you need a summer reading list addition, this is it!

JORD: You have a book coming out this summer (EXCITING!) Was writing always going to be a part of your life? Did you imagine you would be a published author?

KA: Yes! Anchored releases on July 1^st and it is one of the most exciting things that I have ever done. It’s also a little bit nerve wracking, like “Dear Lord, please let people read my book!”

I have wanted to be a writer since I was in the fifth grade so I spent a lot of time imagining being a published author but I still have a hard time grasping that it is actually happening. I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to write the story of my heart and have it bound up and delivered to bookshelves.  Every time I get to see a part of the manuscript getting closer and closer to the finished copy I am overwhelmed with happiness and gratitude.

JORD: What do you waste your time doing?

KA: Oh my goodness. So my friend Jessica wrote this book called The Fringe Hours and in it she suggests using a time-tracking app to track your time. So I did. And then I realized how much time I had spent browsing Taylor Swift’s Instagram and I was like “I WISH I DID NOT KNOW THIS ABOUT MYSELF.” But her cats, y’all. Her cats are so cute.

JORD: What do you wish you had more time for?

KA: Friendship. I tend to be a little bit of a workaholic. My goal for this year is to spend more time face to face with the women in my life that I love versus texting them.

JORD: What should humanity – as a whole – spend more time doing?

KA: Serving one another.

JORD: This person inspires you – who is the first person that’s popped into your head?

KA: My friend Devon. I had breakfast with her this morning so I guess she’s on my mind but I left feeling so encouraged by our conversation and realized that I always feel like that after I talk to Devon, even if it’s just for a minute in passing. I really admire that trait.

JORD: If you were rich enough for just one luxury – the rest of your life would remain the same – what would it be?

KA: Oh I would have a full-time chef, no question. I hate cooking and I am terrible at it but I love good food.

If only all our desks were so chic! 

Another vote for a chef! We may need to interview a blogger who makes cooking at home easier…

Thank you again to Kayla Aimee, we have met so many wonderful women and mothers on the blog, and you are another shining example of the kind of Mom’s we all know and love. We look forward to your journey ahead – we expect to see more travel posts in the near future! Happy Mother’s Day everyone, we hope you enjoy the day.

Till next time!

Love - The Jord Team