So, today is the day my blog turns 2 and I can't quite believe that it's happening to be completely honest with you. I started my blog as a past time one summery august day and I didn't know how long I was going to stick at it and where my blog could take me. My blogging experience has been absolutely incredible and I can whole heartedly say that's down to you guys. I couldn't ask for a more lovely or genuinely nice bunch of people. I can't thank you enough for your support, just reading my blog posts twice a week means the world to me. A couple of days ago I asked you guys to ask me some questions over on my Instagram (@louloves01) so I'm here answering them for you all!

@lifeasnajida - What motivated you to blog for so long?

I'm not completely sure. I think it's mainly down to the fact that I love writing so much for you lot twice a week and that you all support me. When I first started blogging I would get really disheartened when I spent a long time on a post for it to get 4/5 views. But when that did happen there was always the few people who would leave really lovely comments and make me keep trying to produce more and more better content for you all.

@bethxkate - Did anything/anyone inspire you to start your blog?

I wouldn't necessarily pin my inspiration down to one person but I saw loads of bloggers genuinely enjoying what they do. Before I made my blog, I had been thinking about it for a while and that day was just the final push I guess. Another thing I really enjoyed growing up was writing, weather that be stories or diaries, I just really enjoyed it and I think this was a way to rekindle that passion.

@artisticanimalblog - Favourite blog post you've been made?

Ahh this is so hard! I love posts where I get to interact with you guys so I really enjoy writing Q and A's for you but I also really enjoyed the two brand collabs that I did with Emma as well as with Heart and Home because they offered a relaly new experience for me!

@martistelling - Have you ever felt discouraged by anything and wanted to stop blogging?

Yes, of course! Especially when I was first starting out, it could be really discouraging look at your view number and comparing it to other more successful bloggers. If this is you at the minute, my best tip for you is to just ignore the views as it doesn't really correlate to how good your content is, you just need some more exposure. I also got quite discouraged recently as well. Back in January/February I went through a major view surge and was getting 200/300 views a day and then in April I think it dropped really dramatically (to about 20 or 30 views). I still haven't got back to where I was but now I don't look at the amount of viewers I lost, I look at how far I've come from the start of my blog and it makes me really proud of how much I have managed to grow my little corner of the internet!

@daisyjaneblog -Have you experienced any hate and if so how do you deal with it?

I've been really lucky and haven't had any hate so far but I know a lot of bloggers that are even smaller than me have but I guess I just got really lucky.

@words_with_el - What have you gained from your experiences as a blogger?

Oh wow, I cant even explain how much I've gained from blogging. The main thing that I have gained though is that in the blogosphere everyone is so supportive of everyone and there is just the best community feel that literally can't be beaten!

@artisticanimalblog -Any advice for starting a blog?

My advice to anyone thinking of starting a blog is to produce content that you would personally want to see. I went through a phase of writing posts that I really didn't enjoy and it think that negativity cam through in my posts so that's when I started posting what I'd want to read and it made me rekindle that love of writing/

@bethxkate and @lifeaskatiex - What have you learnt in your 2 years of blogging?

This is a tricky one... I'd have to say that my follower count and page views don't necessarily reflect how good my content is/ I always make sure that my posts are as good as I can make them and even if the post doesn't get many views, I know it was still good content.

@words_with_el - What's your favourite part about being a blogger?

My favourite part of being a blogger is being able to interact with you all on a pretty much daily basis. I love reading all of your blog posts and seeing everything you post on instagram!

@thebatchofbeauty - What's been the best thing about starting your blog?

The best thing so far has been being able to interact with my readers on a daily basis. Every single one of your comments have been nothing but positive and I cannot thank you all enough for that! I just love blogging in general and this has been an amazing journey for me so far and I can't wait to see where it take me in the future!

@artisticanimalblog - Something you wish you'd known before you started your blog?

I wish that I'd known just how much work it takes to produce content that's up to standard 2/3 times a week. When I first started, I definitely underestimated just how much you had to do and it came as a bit of a shock to me to be honest!

Thank you so much for all you support of these past 2 years, I can't believe the time has gone so quickly! I love you all so much and I'll see you again tomorrow,

Lou Loves
xxxx