Hello, dear friend! And happy 1/6th of the way through 2019! My life has evolved fairly dramatically over the two months, in the best possible ways. Looking back, my (lack thereof) December 2018 ‘Candidly Kristen’ post was the first month I missed since starting this series in January 2018!
WATCH: Life Update & Reflecting on the Past 2 Months
Since December, I’ve shifted from 20-and-graduated to 21-and-working-full-time. And it’s been a huge life-adjustment, again, in the best way. It kinda feels like my butterfly-out-of-the-cocoon-moment, notgonnalie. But it also kinda feels like I’m a butterfly with fresh, not-ready-to-fly-yet wings.
Before I get into the more personal elements of this two-month recap:
- Blogging: I saw my first two 10k+ blog views months EVER in January & again in February! Candidly, I didn’t spend a ton of time promoting my blog posts or pinning on Pinterest. Quite honestly, about 95% of my blog views are on the same few posts which continue to bring in traffic from Pinterest. Read more about my Pinterest strategy & optimizing your posts here!
- Community Creators: I am so excited to have kicked off my new creators Facebook group & Instagram, Community Creators (@commcreators). Part of the reason I was on my blog less in 2019 so far is due to the creation & launch of this group. I hope to do a dedicated post all about this group. Essentially, it’s a place I created for like-minded creators to come together to genuinely build community, support one another, & strive for ‘community over competition’. There is a password to join the Facebook group, but feel free to message @commcreators on Instagram & I’ll getcha in! So far, the response has been amazing & I’m so blessed to have a supportive community who needed this group, too!
- YouTube: Candidly, YouTube brings me so much joy, but it’s also a huge struggle as a creator. I celebrated passing the 400 subscriber mark this month! & I’ve been filming Workwear Office Lookbooks which y’all have been loving! This month, I also produced my first ever channel trailer. Check it out!
– Candidly, January & February –
Looking back on 2018 feels like a mountain climb. Sometimes, it was really hard. Sometimes, I fell down. Sometimes, there were incredible, breath-taking views. Sometimes, I had to reach out and let others help me through tricky parts. Sometimes, it was a completely uphill battle.
But with closing the book(s), literally, on LSAT studying after taking my last exam the end of January, it feels like I’ve reached the metaphorical peak of said-mountain, that I’ve been climbing towards since pre-k: college graduation & ‘what’s next’.
Except, now that I reached that milestone, it takes looking back to remember how I got here.
I am so incredibly grateful for my path in life. I still don’t know God’s ‘why’ or ‘when’ for lots of things, but reflecting on the recent events in my life has given me a little human insight into the workings He’s got going for me.
I hope you don’t live with regrets. Instead, I hope you can be strong enough to accept the lessons life hands you, as difficult as they may be.
(I actually started writing this post in January & didn’t get to posting, so I’m combining with my February Candidly. And since graduating in December), I started a full-time internship in Tallahassee. I talked more on my first week and on the actual position in my “First Week of Work” post & video. My office is faith-based, which has done such incredible things for my faith life already. I love the job, the people, and the office, and it’s such a continual blessing to work in a space with God at the center.
When I explain to people my current state (post-graduation, working, pre-law-school), I can’t really explain this job any more than as a ‘total God thing’. I’ve written and posted about trusting in God and His plan multiple times on my blog. Faith and trust are two things I’ll always be a student in.
In my first 2 months at this job, I realized that living God’s plan for my life means living in active pursuit of His call (for things like my career, pursuing law school, blogging), while also living in active openness to this life in things I cannot control (like this job opportunity & my relationship status *yikes*).
I also learned that miracles happen every. single. day.
And miracles aren’t just water-to-wine! Miracles are anything that make us aware of God’s awe, wonder, and reality in this world. And the closer we are to God, the more aware we are of His works, and thus, the more aware we are of the miracles in every day.
This post has taken a course of its own but on the note of miracles in the every day, I’ve also been reflecting on the purpose and passion behind my blog (and YouTube and Instagram). I’m not currently a student, although I will be a student again shortly, and I’m still college-age. Should I keep posting ‘college’ content? Do people want to see ‘work’ content?
In this thought bubble, I’ve been focusing on the tagline of ‘grace in every day’ or ‘finding the joy in every day’ (which I recently added to my Instagram bio).
Let’s go chase miracles. Let’s find the joy in every day. Let’s celebrate today, just because we can.
I’ve had quite a few mini-epiphanies in our last trip around the sun. Can ya tell?! And in this journey, I’m freshly zealous in my pursuit of positivity.
Everything is not sunshine. But there is sunshine in everything.
I’d much rather let the many blessings and joys in this life be my focus, rather than the things undeserving of my worry and attention. Want to join me?
Over the next five days, I’m hosting a ‘5 Days of Grace’ challenge series. Right here. Right now. The series, hosted across my blog, YouTube, and Instagram, will focus on a different area of grace in our lives to focus on (family, self, prayer, home, etc.). Each day, I’ll be posting the new target area and tips for pursuing grace and allowing grace in that area. Sound good?
Leave me a comment below if you’ll join me in this 5 day pursuit of more grace, because we could all use a little lot more of that.
