Happy Birthday to The LovingKind!
I am in total awe and full of gratitude to celebrate this day with y'all. Part of me feels like The LovingKind has always been here, and the other part can hardly believe it's been a year!
I am grateful from the top, bottom and every side of my heart to the Lord for the gift of The LovingKind. There is no doubt that it is His heart for love, marriage, and people that is behind all of this. I have learned so much, enjoyed so many new things, and made some amazing connections, and I'm just so thankful He has chosen me to be part of this.
Woody hand painted this ceramic heart with The LovingKind logo mark for my birthday. He is self-proclaimed not to be a painter, but what he may lack in skill, he makes up for with loads and loads (and loads) of heart. I love him so much.
Thank goodness for my dear husband too! Not only does he show me what it is to live as The LovingKind, but life with him gives me so much inspiration for the blog! Living and loving in marriage every day, is a gift and lesson-learning machine, and I wouldn't want to live it with anyone other than my Woody. Forgive this sappy, personal moment, but, thank you, babe, for loving me, cheering me on, and being so darn adorable. I love you.
And, to readers and followers of The LovingKind, THANK YOU! You can't even imagine how much joy I receive by sharing this journey with you. Whether you've been here from the beginning or are visiting for the first time today, every time you read, comment, like or message, I get the biggest smile on my face. It is truly an honor to welcomed into your hearts, your homes and your computer screens to share a little piece of our lives together. I look forward to the next year of growing of loving alongside you!
As a tribute to the first year, I thought it'd be fun to recap some of the best moments and top posts of the past year! We'll start right where it all began with the first blog post, "So This Is Love" on Valentine's Day 2014.
First blog post, "So This Is Love" February 14, 2014
In February, I also shared what is still one of my favorite posts to date, and a great resource for brides (or anyone helping to plan a wedding), The Focus 3 (part 1 and part 2). Maybe part of the reason I love it so much is because I got to share some of our gorgeous wedding photos by the talented Sarah DeShaw!
March celebrated Woody's birthday, I was part of a fun "What's in my bag" feature with Sunshine Magazine, and I shared our proposal story and proposal video on National Proposal Day!
This video was one of the best surprises of our lives, and I can only imagine how remembering this moment will get sweeter and sweeter throughout the years.
The spring led to thoughts on purpose, wondering about the common statement that the first year of marriage is the hardest, and some helpful feedback regarding finding the right wedding photographer.
In June, I shared one of the most popular posts of the year, "Selecting Heartfelt Bridesmaid Gifts." I loved selecting gifts for my bridesmaids and was delighted that so many people found this post helpful!
June also marked the first of my Behind the Lens series featuring wedding photographers. This series got a little off track at the end of the year, and I'm excited to pick it back up in 2015!
My dear friend Callie and I kicked off our Luv Cooks + The LovingKind collaborated posts in July, and I shared some thoughtful reflections on marriage and commitment that I learned back when Woody got his wisdom teeth out in 2013.
Stir fry in the city with Luv Cooks!
Yes, I got permission to post this photo!
August was a big month! I turned 29, we were featured as a Southern Wedding Southern Newlywed, and the love journal post was another favorite with readers!
September and October were a little quiet on the blog as I worked hard preparing to launch my Christmas card collection. In the meantime, I shared some of my favorite online places for you to visit and also the second post with Luv Cooks!
November was one of my favorite months of the year! Not only did Woody and I celebrate our second anniversary at Disney World, but I also launched the The LovingKind Shop!
Enjoying the Magic Kingdom!
The first products available in the TLK Shop were Christmas cards, and I absolutely adore this video created in partnership with Nicholas Keaton sharing the vision behind this first product collection!
I did not anticipate how fulfilling and wonderful it would be to have people order the TLK Christmas cards and use them to send holiday cheer. I know how much I love when I find just the right card or product, so helping to bring this to others was really special. I even received one in the mail from our newlywed friends, RJ and Kayla!
December was a great completion to a full year, and I finished it out with a personal favorite post about my two-year marriage lessons, and a festive recap of our New Year's Eve party from the year before.
The New Year started off in a great way for our family and for The LovingKind! In January, I shared my 2015 goals, the first of a regular, monthly post with goal progress updates and new goals for the month, and the response was incredible! This included a fun giveaway of some of my favorite Making Things Happen products from the Lara Casey Shop, and it was the most commented on post ever for the TLK Blog! I was simply giddy getting to learn about your goals and meet new friends.
I also shared about some thoughts and tips on marriage and money in January, and then came the exciting launch of love + Valentine's cards in the TLK Shop! Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday, and I had so much fun creating these cards celebrating love and friendship. The best part has been seeing which cards people pick out for the ones they love (and of course sending some of my own)!
Complete Collection of love + Valentine's cards
And that brings us to now! Another goals post went up to kick off February, and Callie and I shared our favorite collaborated post yet—a sweet Valentine treat! As for the rest of the month, I'm excited to celebrate a meaningful Valentine's Day with Woody (one of my February goals), and put a fun, behind-the-scenes post on the blog!
Sneak peek of Behind the Scenes post!
It's safe to say the first year of The LovingKind was pretty special. I grew and learned SO much, and experienced enormous amounts of love through it all. What's to come for 2015? You can count on continued goals posts, more marriage and wedding-related content, new collaborations, and more products for sure! Beyond that, I'm excited to see the good plans the Lord has, and I'm going to continuing creating and spreading love.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing, and most of all for being The LovingKind!
Photos in this post by Jacob Blount, KLP Photography, Rachel Coffey, and Sarah DeShaw.
