Cheers to Three Years | My Blogging Story

Last year, I 100% forgot my blog’s anniversary. It’s almost worse than forgetting your partner’s birthday or your relationship anniversary. I made this thing. It’s like forgetting your kid’s birthday. I was sad about it for a little while because I wanted to write a post but I would’ve felt fake writing about it after the fact. I decided that this year I was going to actually write a post for my 3 year anniversary but I wasn’t sure what would be interesting and also fun to write.

I realized I had some pretty great graphics and past memories of this little internet space so I figured we should chat about it.  3 years ago, I was sitting at home on my couch during the summer before my sophomore year of college. I distinctly remember it was a warm summer night. The sun was just beginning to set and that golden light was coming through my living room at a perfect angle. So cheesy, but one of those things I just always have remembered. One of my good friends Sarah had just started a blog for her photography business and had started a second blog for crafts and extra pictures that she didn’t want to share on her professional photography website. After scrolling around through her blog, I realized that this was something that I could definitely get into.

kayla blogs typing

As a kid, I loved to write. I had a notebook that contained a running story that I eventually typed up and added to on Word. My dad gave me one of his old work laptops that had zero internet capabilities (this was the early 2000’s). I typed on that thing for hours. My story was over 20 pages in Word. And then the laptop crashed. The hard drive wasn’t able to be recovered and TO THIS DAY I’m devastated. I really wish I could go back and read that story. It even had a big rainbow clip art title (don’t lie, you know exactly what I’m talking about).

Fast forward a few years, and high school had pretty much sucked the creativity out of me. I wasn’t writing anything other than essays for English class. My friend Sarah showed me her blog right in the midst of this huge dry spell for my creativity. I needed an outlet and she introduced me to one.

That summer day in July, I opened up Blogger and began to make my account. I struggled with a name for what felt like hours. I couldn’t decide on something. I knew I wanted to share my tips and advice for younger college students and high schoolers but I didn’t know what I should call it. I settled on “Kayla On Campus” which I then changed to “Kayla Candidly”. After a few posts, I knew that this was not a sustainable blog title. I’d be trapped in the college blogger path forever! I thought some more and settled on what you know me as today, Kayla Blogs.

kayla blogs old logos

Above you’ll see some old logos from over the years! Do you remember my blog when it looked like this??? I can honestly BARELY remember these days. It feels like so long ago and I feel like I’ve grown an insane amount since then. After I got things rolling I published my first posts which were mostly DIY’s including:

I didn’t really post consistently because I had trouble figuring out what to write about. The first post on Kayla Blogs that really took off was written during one of my summer jobs 2 years ago. It was all about preparing for the fall semester of college. I was working in an office and had access to a computer 8 hours/day. When I needed to take a break from the tedious work I was doing, I’d work on my blog. Really thankful for that job! My blog would not be where it is today without it haha.

Some of you may remember this post, my VERY FIRST planner round-up! That post was one of the first ones I had made a good graphic for and it went crazy on Pinterest. I was so proud of it and I loved writing it, and I think that definitely showed.

Kayla Blogs - a college lifestyle blog

Some other favorite (older) posts from throughout the years:

Thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me. I can’t believe I’ve learned so much and grown so much as a writer, a blogger, and a person through all this. I have loved this journey so much and I thank you all immensely for coming along for the ride!

If you’d like to answer a few multiple choice questions about me and my blog and what you like/dislike that’d be amazing! As you know, this year is going to be a big transition with me starting grad school and starting to blog more about other things besides college. Now is your chance to let me know what you’re interested in seeing!

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47 Comments

  1. July 14, 2017 / 3:48 pm

    Congrats on 3 years, Kayla! I have loved seeing you and your blog grow in past 2 years (that’s when I started following you). Here’s to many more successful years!

    • July 15, 2017 / 1:50 pm

      Thanks Amelie! Thankful to have “met” you through this journey!

  2. July 14, 2017 / 4:23 pm

    Congrats on 3 years! That’s awesome 🙂 It’s always fun to look back at how you got started and some of your favorite posts.

    • July 15, 2017 / 1:50 pm

      Thank you Liz! It was definitely fun to reminisce!

  3. July 14, 2017 / 4:40 pm

    Cheers to three years! Can’t wait to see where this blogging journey will take you!

  4. Lauren Pepperman
    July 14, 2017 / 5:19 pm

    Congrats, Kayla!! I love your blog and have been reading it for over a year now! You were definitely one of my main inspirations for starting mine.

    Lauren / laurensjourney.com

    • July 15, 2017 / 1:50 pm

      Aww, that’s so sweet! Thanks Lauren!

  5. July 14, 2017 / 7:01 pm

    Happy blog anniversary! It’s always fun to look back at how you’ve changed over the years. Cheers to many more blog years!

    • July 15, 2017 / 1:51 pm

      Thanks Maryanne! I loved looking back on my old posts and seeing how far I’ve come since then. Really makes you feel proud and like all of this is worth it!

  6. Emely Roman
    July 14, 2017 / 7:28 pm

    Wow this is such a cool post!! I just started recently. I really hope I can remain consistent.

    • July 15, 2017 / 1:51 pm

      Thanks Emely! Try to set some expectations for yourself, even if they’re small. And hold yourself accountable!

  7. July 14, 2017 / 9:39 pm

    Congrats on your 3 year blogiversary Kayla! Here’s to three more years! 🙂

    • July 15, 2017 / 1:51 pm

      Thanks Jessica! I hope there are many more blogiversaries to come!

  8. July 14, 2017 / 10:09 pm

    Congratulations on 3 years of blogging! I think it is so fun to look back on how far a blogger has come. I have enjoyed getting to know you a bit through your blog over the past few years, can’t wait to read what comes next <3

    • July 15, 2017 / 1:52 pm

      Thanks Jordyn! Thankful to have “met” you through MBN!

  9. July 14, 2017 / 11:37 pm

    Congrats on 3 years!! I’m about to celebrate 6 months haha, so 3 years sounds like such a long time!

    • July 15, 2017 / 1:52 pm

      It goes by really quickly, I promise! You are leaps and bounds ahead of where I was at 6 months in, you’ll be great!

      • July 15, 2017 / 6:58 pm

        Aw, thanks Kayla! Fingers crossed!

  10. July 15, 2017 / 8:03 am

    Congratulations on three years of blogging! I’ve been blogging off and on since middle school (circa 201 back in the early days of Blogger) and it’s something I wish I had stuck to more consistently.

    • July 15, 2017 / 1:52 pm

      I wish I had been more consistent at the beginning too! My oldest content is so fun to look back on and read.

  11. mckenna bleu
    July 15, 2017 / 6:15 pm

    Happy blog anniversary and many more years of it!

  12. Anna Hubbard
    July 15, 2017 / 10:29 pm

    Happy blogiversary, Kayla! Can’t wait to see what other posts you have in store!

  13. July 16, 2017 / 2:11 pm

    Cheers to 3 years! I remember your planner round up and being amazed how viral it went on Pinterest haha.

    • July 28, 2017 / 1:59 pm

      Thanks Jenny! Feels like so long ago now haha

  14. Dori
    July 16, 2017 / 8:20 pm

    Such a fun blog! First time here; but I’ll be back for sure. Congrats on your 3 years!

    • July 28, 2017 / 2:00 pm

      Thank you so much Dori! Hope to see you around again!

  15. thesophiadiaries
    July 17, 2017 / 1:25 am

    Thanks for sharing your story!! It’s always cool to see how others started <3

  16. Kaitlyn Fickle Killebrew
    July 17, 2017 / 3:11 am

    Congrats on your 3 year anniversary! That’s a huge milestone and you should be very proud!

    • July 28, 2017 / 2:00 pm

      Thanks Kaitlyn! I am very proud 🙂

  17. Allison Ellzey
    July 17, 2017 / 8:33 am

    HAPPY HAPPY 3 years of blogging! I love seeing how far you’ve come!

  18. July 17, 2017 / 8:26 pm

    I have loved getting to know you over the past through years through your blog! I cannot wait to see what year four brings you 🙂 One of these days, I’m going to need you to teach me how to host a Twitter chat!!

    XO, SS || Seersucker Sass

    • July 28, 2017 / 2:00 pm

      Thanks Dana! I’d be happy to teach ya!

  19. Kaitlyn Fickle Killebrew
    July 18, 2017 / 10:35 am

    Congrats on your bloggiversary! That’s so exciting!

    • July 28, 2017 / 2:01 pm

      Thanks Dara! Haha, yes it is! Feels like I’ve been blogging forever!

  20. Faith
    July 28, 2017 / 1:08 pm

    Congratulations on three years of blogging! I’ve been keeping up with your blog for a while now & I love it! 🙂

    • July 28, 2017 / 2:01 pm

      Thank you Faith, that means a lot!

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