Photo by Sarah Stone follow her on Instagram at sarahstone_photography and check out her portfolio at sarahstoneportfolio.weebly.com

You may be wondering ,”Where the heck have you been, Kimberly?” It’s been almost a year since I last posted on this platform, and for that, I am terribly sorry. The honest to God answer? I’ve been dealing with a lot of stuff — from internships, to leadership roles, to friendship turmoil, I honestly was just too busy during this last year to devote time to blogging properly. You guys deserve an explanation, so let’s start from the beginning.

1. Fall/Spring Semester

The last time I posted was the summer of 2016 — so, really not that long ago, but still, it has been too long in my opinion. That was the summer before my senior year of college, and I was interning with an amazing company in Greensboro. I was fortunate enough to be able to continue my internship into the fall of my senior year. While I was super thrilled to stay on and continue my learning experience, it didn’t leave a lot of time for blogging — I was also taking a full, 16-hour course load, running the yearbook as Editor-in-Chief , heading up a new public relations organization, and serving as the Vice President of Public Relations and Marketing for my sorority. So, unfortunately, blogging did have to take a backseat to my studies, leadership responsibilities, and internship. But I wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world! Each one taught me more about myself, leadership, and the working world than I ever could have hoped to learn. So, thank you to everyone that made those opportunities possible — my senior year wouldn’t have been the same without them.

I also made a fun video during my spring semester (I meant to do the whole year, but I completely forgot). It’s a Second-a-Day video featuring my last 140 days at Elon University!

2. Revamp

I have been wanting to do a revamp of this blog for so long. And I wanted to have the proper time to dedicate to it. I didn’t want to half-ass something my whole heart was invested in. For a solid two years, I was solely dedicated to posting book reviews, participating in community tags, and giving the occasional life update. My goal with this revamp is to make this a completely unique blog that people similar to myself can enjoy and gain something from. I’m a recent graduate, living on a budget, interested in living a happier, healthier life, so I’m looking to reflect those aspects of my life on my blog. I’m still going to include book related topics (think reviews, recommendations, lists, and more), but I also want to get into my other passions.

This past year has definitely taken its toll on me, so I want to use my blog as a way to creatively express myself and focus on me, as well as provide advice or any insight I can for someone trying to find their place in this world. If you’re looking for pretty pictures of a pretty girl in pretty outfits, you probably won’t find that here (at least not on a regular basis). I’m looking to do more than just post pretty pictures of myself. This blog is going to become a way for me to hold myself accountable to my goals and inspire others to attain their own goals. I find that I’m happiest when I am creating — be that cooking, writing, or crafting — so, that’s what I want to dedicate this blog to — creation. I will not only be sharing my passion for reading, but I am also going to incorporate lifestyle and personal posts.

• Reading: I love reading, I love spending time in used book stores, and I absolutely love people that indulge me in that passion. I am going to continue to share book recommendations, post updates on what I am currently reading, and share lists of my favorite books or essentials lists of what I think people should read. I’m looking to spice up this section and make it more devoted to my individual reading passions.
• Lifestyle: This will include workout tips, fashion, makeup, music recommendations, DIY creations, and anything else that comes from my life and I find happiness in. I’m interested in being more than just a reader on this blog now.
• Personal: I want to get real on this blog. There is so much fake authenticity on social media these days — I want to be a true authentic voice. I am 22-years-old, (hopefully) starting a new life in a new city, and (again, hopefully) beginning a career I love — I want to share that. I don’t care if it’s only my mom reading this (Hi, Mom!), it’s still incredibly important for me to write about it and share because it may bring solace to another lost soul out there.

3. Graduation

I GRADUATED! The day finally came and someone decided that I deserved a diploma for all the hard work (and tuition my parents paid [thank you, thank you, thank you]) I put in over the last four years. I graduated on May 20, 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communications with minors in Business Administration, Literature, and Professional Sales (for a full look at my professional skills, check out my web portfolio at www.kimberlyhoniball.weebly.com [I worked on this for like seven hours, so please check it out if you have any interest in my actual work abilities]). Since graduation, I have been working part-time for a company that provides professional development to educators running its social media, developing a customer relationship management technique, and helping with its marketing; applying non-stop (that’s a “Hamilton” reference in case you were wondering) to public relations firms in Nashville, TN (and other places on the east coast, but mostly focusing my efforts in Nashville); and spending time with my family (I haven’t spent this much time at home since I was in high school).

So, that brings us to NOW. What’s going on now? Now, I want to dedicate myself to happiness. I am a firm believer in happiness being a mood, not a destination, so I am focusing my efforts on being the happiest version of myself and bringing happy into my life on a daily basis (even if that means treating myself to two iced caramel macchiatos in one day). During a summer of part-time employment and being away from the hustle and bustle of college, I was able to really look at what brought me joy. In modern society, we hide behind things — new clothes, new devices, etc. — in hopes that they will fill a void, but after some introspection, I found the brief thrill I got from a new top was not the same sense of satisfaction I got after completing a creative project. I found that what really brought me joy involved creating something (even if it’s just memories) and expanding my knowledge/understanding of something. This desire to create and maximize happiness also led me to the decision to revamp this blog.

I will be posting relatively frequently (once or twice a week), but I’m also NOT going to force it — that is where stress, pressure, and unhappiness come into play.

I would love for you to join me on this journey.

If you ever want to see anything from me, don’t hesitate to reach out! I promise, my RBF is the scariest thing about me.

Happy adventuring,
Kimberly

(Here are some more snapshots from my senior year if you’re interested!)