Candidly Kristen – July & Summer 2019

Hello, friends! I can honestly cannot believe it is already August. I’m finishing up my summer internship tomorrow and I feel like this summer has been long but also gone in a flash. Anyone else?! I have been plenty creative in this summer, even for lack of blog posts. Between working, re-launching my Etsy store, and growing my YouTube channel, I’ve been re-discovering myself this summer and my voice as Kristen Shane.

In the month of June, I basically went from kind-of looking for a summer job, to starting a new full-time job in the span of about 3 weeks. My current job is at a software company, which is one of the furthest things I’d expect for myself as a creative person and law-student.

But, the job is a technical writer & editor, and I’ve been having such a great time with it! I can now say I’m a professional writer/editor, which is so so cool to have on my resume. I’ve been really enjoying it, but working full-time has made the summer fly by.

When not working, I’ve been spending most of my free time working on Lemon + Lily. The design and product creation processes take so much longer than I expected, but pouring myself into the store was a big goal of mine for this summer, to have it semi-established before I start law school this month.

I have honestly worked the entire summer, between my job and Etsy/blog/YouTube, but I’m happy with that! I’m happiest when I’m busy and I’ve been so fulfilled by my work lately. Summer has always been the time for really developing and growing my online business. My (somewhat unexpected) job took up most of my time, but it also allowed me some structure for my summer months and a way to gain experience in a new field.

Candidly, I’ve been working hard on improving my mental/emotional health this summer. I try to keep it real and show that there is more to life than perfect pictures on blogs and social media, but it does make it more difficult to feel ready to write my heart out here. So in that regard, more hands-on creative projects like videos and Lemon and Lily have been good for me, but I really do miss writing (especially since it’s been my job for 2 months now).

I do have some exciting new blog & YouTube things coming up and I’m so excited to share them with you all! And, I’ve just been approved for YouTube monetization and Google AdSense, which is another huge step for my online business! Nothing will change about the content you see here, but it’s exciting to finally make a little money from these passion projects I love so much (and have been doing for three years making $0).

Candidly, it’s been a little surreal for me to hit some of my big goals in my creative online business this summer. I truly believe everything happens for a reason, and I’ve had quite a few big reasons as encouraging road signs to keep pursuing what I love. And now, the YouTube growth & monetization means I can rationalize the time I put into Kristen Shane content a little more, especially going into school, while still doing exactly what I love.

Candidly, I’m honestly not sure what will happen over the next month. I have a few short weeks between my job and the start of law school, which I intend to wholly devote to Lemon + Lily and blog content. I hope to pre-schedule out a few posts and videos, but that’s never been my strong-suit.

My three-year anniversary of KristenShane.com is also a few weeks away! And I’ve just passed my one year mark back on YouTube.

I will be embarking on my next big adventure into law school in a few weeks. Please keep me in your prayers as I start this new chapter! I am doing my best to balance work, blog, and business, but I’m excited to share my growth into this new season with you.

Thank you so much for following along, and especially for all your support on Lemon and Lily and my YouTube lately!

I hope you are having a lovely week. Talk soon!

Candidly,