StyledbyMcKenz Turns Two!!!

January 1, 2016 I hit ‘Publish’ on my very first blog post. Seven hundred and thirty days later I am left teary-eyed as I sit down to write. It simply feels like just yesterday I was wracking my brain for ways to put my thoughts into words, fearful of this new beginning yet excited to start a book in which I did not know the ending.

It’s ironic because exactly two years later, everything has changed and yet, somehow nothing has. I am at a loss of words right now, too. I simply cannot express what it feels like to celebrate the turning of age in my blog however, I am going to try.

Courage- One of the few core traits I actually did have when I began my blog, knowing that the people surrounding me may not be happy for me, they may actually tease me. However, this was something I knew I wanted to do, something I knew I had to do for myself. Being real, honest, vulnerable on the Internet for random people isn’t for everyone. I have more courage now than most adults do.

Dedication- From the moment I started blogging I established a posting schedule; although straying from it here and there I have always stayed consistent. Never once have I missed a Weekly Wrap Up; this will be my 468th blog post. I work on my blog more hours a week than most people with a part-time job; dedicated would be an understatement.

Confidence- Something that only blogging has truly ever showed me. Clothes, makeup, and a passion so real have shown me confidence in ways I hadn’t known possible before. There’s few things I wouldn’t consider wearing, there’s few moments these days where I feel the need to hide myself behind my computer screen, there are few days when I am not radiating confidence, not only in myself but in this site which I have worked so hard to create.

Endurance- A characteristic my track coach used to drill into my brain in the sixth grade. I quit two years later, but his words worked for something because endurance is a trait I have built up so strongly throughout these last couple of years. The truth is, blogging will make you or break you. There have been tears, stress beyond belief, days when I wonder ‘why am I pushing myself this hard’, but there are never days when I feel like giving up and that is so powerful; that is so raw, that is so moving. To create something that is so time-consuming and to still be so madly in love with it means something, it really does.

Pride- I was quick to value this one as it is a feeling like no other. I am so unbelievably proud of myself for all that I have become and all that I have created and that’s important in ways I cannot express enough. Pride is so much more than a feeling, it is something so deeply woven into someone once they are exposed to it as much as I have been.

These are just a few of the traits I felt I lacked that frigid evening as I wrote my first blog post. I have discovered each of these characteristics over the last two years, slowly but surely realizing that they were within me all along, I just needed something to help me unleash them, discover them, embrace them.

These are traits I will carry with me for the rest of my life, traits that one cannot acquire from simply just living. Traits that only come when you find something that you feel so strongly about that you burn with passion. 

I am thankful in ways I hadn’t known possible for blogging as it has opened up a world to me that I am so deeply engrossed in; I simply cannot imagine what life would be like without it.

I am addicted to the thrill of success, the undoubtedly fulfilling feeling of chasing my dreams, and this corner of the Internet that has become so much more than just that.

Blogging is far more than my hobby at this point, it is my happiness, it is a future career, it is a job opportunity, an application booster, a creative outlet… it is my life. I cannot express how much that means to me.

Seven hundred-thirty days ago my whole life changed and I had absolutely no idea. For this I am forever grateful. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for the endless love and support- for I am only half the recipe, I owe the other half of my success to you, my friend. Thank you for the never-ending encouragement, the fruitful knowledge, and the endless inspiration. Without you I would be nothing. 

I pray with every ounce of my heart that the next three hundred and sixty-five days bring as much success and love as these ones.

Thank you for the most amazing days of my life; this is only the beginning.

With a whole lot of love, McKenz

All pieces from my birthday party are from Hunter&Honey except for my gold block heels. Those are from DSW and the balloons are all from Party City.

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year three, I’m coming for ya!