My 3 Year Blogging Anniversary ♥

October 14, 2018

My 3 Year Blogging Anniversary ♥

Yesterday was a big day for Christina’s Chic Corner! It was the three year anniversary of when I published my first blog post! Starting my blog was such a random thing for me and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or getting myself into. The idea randomly popped into my head, it sounded fun, and I just went for it without doing any research. That’s one of the few times in my life where I’ve looked back at a memory and thought about how it seems like such a crazy decision that I made, but it turned out to be amazing and changed my life for the better in ways I would have never imagined.

Out of the three whole years I’ve been blogging, I’ve continued to post consistently three times a week. My posting schedule has always stayed the same (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and in total, I’ve published 465 posts. I’ve only taken two week-long breaks in three years. One was unannounced when I just needed to breathe and the second was during my honeymoon. That’s a lot of work! And anybody who works for themselves knows exactly what I mean when I say I’m always working!

I took a look back at my one year blogging anniversary post and I still feel the same way. If you haven’t read that post already, you can catch up on it here. There’s a lot of behind the scenes information about why and how I started my blog. So instead of repeating my feelings and words, this post will basically be an update to that post and all that has changed in both my personal life and in the blogging world.

Pink hair throwback! Who remembers??

There have been many changes and important events that have happened in my life during the three years of having this blog. I do keep the majority of my personal life pretty private, but there are a few big things that I’ve shared. Such as when I got engaged! I created a wedding series, Setting the Wedding, and shared our entire journey throughout the wedding planning process. It’s so funny whenever I read some of my old posts and see the transition of talking about Jacob. Calling him my boyfriend, to officially introducing him in our Engagement Story, then transitioning from fiancé to husband. That’s one of the wonderful aspects about blogging is getting to see the documentation of how life has changed.

The second biggest change in my life during this blogging journey is the latest addition to our family. Our sweet Australian Shepherd was first introduced in my June Favorites this year and has since made many appearances, mainly on my Instagram stories. We got him at (almost) eight weeks old, weighing only eight pounds. Now he just turned 6 months and weighs 47 pounds!! We’ve gone through two teething phases, still working our way through the second one. Not gonna lie, I definitely got super emotional when he lost his first baby tooth because he was almost all gums when we brought him home.

Watching the relationship grow between these two has been nothing but heart-melting. Our four year old (now 4 ½) German Shepherd completely took on the “mom” role within the first 24 hours they were together. She’s still very protective of him and cautious to be gentle, but they both appreciate how much bigger he is now when they play. They’re so attached to each other. We knew they’d be best friends, but we never could have imagined the incredibly strong bond they’ve created.

When thinking about my blog, so much has changed over the course of the three years. I mentioned in my last anniversary post that I didn’t even know what a hashtag was when I started blogging. After I finally learned, Instagram became my favorite social media outlet because I love pictures! In the past two years or so, Instagram has really gone downhill. Engagement is at an all-time low and posts aren’t being shown to all followers.

It can easily get really depressing and cause you to second guess if you’re doing everything right. When in reality, it’s completely out of your control. I’ve tried not to worry about it because Instagram has never been a good source for getting traffic to my blog and at the end of the day, that’s what I’m looking for.

With Instagram struggles aside, my blog and brand has continued to grow across the board. It’s really challenging being a one woman show and trying to do it all by myself. I still don’t have a big photography imagination or even know all the settings on my camera. But my graphic design skills have grown quite a bit and I’ve even been brave enough to change my blog layout a few times!

Blogging is an amazing career, although it does still have its negatives just like any job. I’m sure I saw a little bit of this in the beginning, but I’ve seen even more of it now that I’ve been here longer. Bloggers and other online entrepreneurs like to play games sometimes. I would like to say that it’s not the majority, but it’s definitely getting worse. When I say “games,” I mean there are a lot of people who want support that aren’t willing to give any in return. There are also a lot of people who want to fake their numbers (likes, followers, subscribers, etc) to make their brand appear more successful. It’s really sad.

Two of the most surprising things that I’ve learned from blogging is judging where support will come from and gaining confidence. What I mean by support is that when I began blogging, I decided to surprise my family and friends after I had about two weeks worth of content published. I still don’t know if that was the right decision or if I should have announced it first, but what I do know is that the support I get from strangers vs people I know in real life is almost immeasurable. I never would have guessed I’d have so much support from people I’ve never met before. It’s amazing and such a unique feeling.

I’d say I’ve always been pretty comfortable in front of a camera, but I had never taken a selfie before I started blogging. That felt really strange at first and is now sometimes what gives me the best bloopers...which I’ve actually gained the confidence to post. There’s only so many photos you can take of yourself, trying to get a good one, before you feel like you’re just gonna lose it. Not to mention that I’m not a straight-face kinda girl and my cheeks really start to hurt after a while! I love being able to feel comfortable enough to keep things silly.

These past three years have been nothing short of incredible. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs, but I came out stronger and more confident than ever...Except for when I have to talk about my blog in person. That gets real awkward! Do you have any idea how hard it is to describe something like this to someone who hasn’t got a clue what you’re talking about?!

Every time I look at my blog and how far I’ve come, I get overwhelmed with feelings of pure joy. I’m beyond grateful for all of my readers that constantly support this dream of mine. Thank you for all the shares, likes, comments, and any other engagement with my posts. Besides general statistics from Google, engagement is the number one resource for letting me know you enjoy the content I’m providing.

I’m so thankful for my supporters who take time out of their day to visit what I hope to have made a happy little escape from everyday stresses. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for Christina’s Chic Corner. I know it’s gonna be great! ♥

Real quick, before I go. I want to give a little shoutout to my husband, Jacob. I have to give credit where credit is due and without him, Christina’s Chic Corner wouldn’t even be here. I might have had the idea, but he’s the one who made it happen. He gave me the confidence to know I could really do this. He used his skills to create the website and has continued to help in every way imaginable. He’s been my number one supporter since the beginning and has picked me up when I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. He reads all my posts, likes all my pictures, watches all my stories. He provides for our family and is always there when I need him. That support might not always get mentioned from behind the scenes, but it never goes unappreciated. ♥

~Mani Monday~

Because I ended up wearing such a light color last week, I really wanted to go for something a little darker this week. Funny enough, I decided on another Butter London nail polish. This one is in the shade Ruby Murray. It’s such a beautiful deep red! The Butter London formula lasted pretty well throughout last week, with the exception of one nail. I believe they also have a few lippies in this same shade to match!