Okay…here I am sleep deprived on a Thursday writing a life update post. Yep, I thought I wouldn't be doing this on the blog, but it seriously needed to happen, mainly because there is no way on earth I would be able to write the post that I really want to write for today and do it justice. There is also a small part of me that truly wants to give you a life update, though, because I have been doing a lot since January.

I am honestly not sure how often I will be sharing life updates with y'all, but I figure you should get them every blue moon!

So, here is what's been happening with me.

1. Freelancing On Freelancing

Ever since January I have been quite busy in the freelance writing department. I have been working with several different clients doing amazing stuff in their perspective niches. I got to work on digital marketing focused clients, education, home improvement, and even for a client who has a vintage rentals shop! It's been so interesting to take a glimpse into what my clients do and try to provide the best content for them.

One awesome freelance post that I was able to create so far this year was a post with Chegg! My writing has actually been on Chegg's blogs before, but they were all ghostwritten projects. In February, I got to write a post about things you didn't know were invented by African Americans in honor of Black History Month. It was so cool to not only write for Chegg, but also get credit for it.

After months of procrastinating on this project, I finally made the next step in my freelance career and I created a freelancing website! You can find me over at Amanda Cross Co. to learn more about my freelance writing. I also wrote a post for the blog yesterday featuring 10 of my favorite freelance writing tools, so if you are interested in learning more about freelance writing, this post is for you.

2. Guest Post Central

This year I have given myself a resolution to post more content on the internet, one of those ways is by guest posting on other people's websites. I am a bit behind as far as sending out guest posts are concerned, but I will be done soon enough so I can start thinking about a new batch of guest posts to pitch. If you would like me to write for your website, go check out my guest post page!

One of the posts that I was so excited about is my post for Tori of Chase The Write Dream's blog. I am obsessed with Tori and I love her blog so it was a great fit. Check out the post titled What To Do When You Feel Overwhelmed In College!

I should have a few more guest posts coming out in the near future so be on the lookout for that!

3. The Blooper Experiment

This year I decided that I wanted to show y'all all sides of me: the good, the bad, the ugly, and the sad. I didn't want to hold back, because holding back was causing me to be way more self-conscious than I needed to be in my life. I decided to let all that go this year, and I meant it.

For most of my non-sponsored fashion content, I have been sharing 2-3 of my bloopers from the shoots I have been doing and it's been impacting me in a major way:

• I am not an absolute control freak during my photo shoots anymore and I let my dad have more control over the creative process behind them.
• I don't take five hundred years to edit pictures because I am putting less stress on getting the perfect shot.
• I just feel hundred times better about myself warts and all, and y'all like that I am not only sharing the cute styled photos.

More than anything, I want y'all to know that Instagram is Instagram. It's curated, not truthurated.

4. Restructuring My Creative Life

This year I went through a bit of restructuring to determine what exactly mattered in my creative life. I decided that this blog mattered (obviously) and I had to let go of Amanda Cross Blog. I loved writing the content, but I couldn't justify building up something that wasn't really taking me where I needed to go.

I did create Amanda Cross Co. though, which in some ways will be similar, but not in all regards. I started over from scratch there, I will probably post there a couple times a month at most. Amanda Cross Co.'s blog is meant to directly correlate with my freelance business. It's my writer website and I am blogging there so potential clients can see my writing skills.

I go into more detail on this creative restructuring in a post I did on LinkedIn Pulse for my LinkedIn profile if you want to learn more about the transition.

5. Shopping A Little Too Much

I have been shopping a lot lately. Mainly for just random clothes, beauty products, and books. I am planning for all this stuff to eventually wind up on the blog in some capacity either through a big massive post, or through some tinier reviews. I am excited for y'all to take a closer look at the things I have been purchasing, and that will come soon enough.

Some things I have been purchasing lately:

• Products from SheIn. My first post featuring an item from SheIn went up on Monday. I loved how that post turned out as I talked all about how to define your style on a budget.
• Way too many cups from Metal Marvels, some of the SIC Cups are still half off, by the way! Also, have you seen her amaze I AM collection? These bangles are for a great cause as 5% of the proceeds from each bangle are going to amazing charities, and there are 8 phrases to choose from!
• All the beauty products! Lately I have been getting a lot of stuff form ELF Cosmetics and I also picked up a few products from Amazon. I recently hauled these on Instagram Stories, so to see what products I picked up, check out my Insta Story page on the blog.

Other than that, I have been doing a bit more shopping, but that will come out in due time!

6. Trying Dinnerly

I will be doing a full review on this in a little bit, but if you have been following me on Instagram Stories, you know I have been trying a meal kit service called Dinnerly. I just did the last meal on Wednesday, and I have to say that it's a pretty great box so far. I was sent a box for review, but I need to take some time to get my thoughts together and that full review may be coming next week, I am still deciding on the time frame.

I didn't like all the meals, but that's just food preferences. Dinnerly is a bit different from other boxes because there are limited choices (which helps them bring you dinners at such a cheap price.) At $5 a serving it is the cheapest meal kit that I ever cooked, but I feel like the quality of ingredients they sent was good.

Like I said, I will be doing a full review soon, but if you want to check out the website and maybe get a head start on trying it out, you can check out the ad in my sidebar, or right below:

7. The Happy Arkansan Money Month

Since March is often associated with the color green, I decided to make this month money month on The Happy Arkansan. What does that mean? It means every Wednesday I am going to share something money related. I have a guest post lined up for this series thanks to the lovely Michelle from Budgets and Balance for sending something over. Her guest post is everything! I also have a ton of my own content planned for this month.

This past Wednesday we had a chat about how to break down your income goals, so that should be on your to read list if it's not already!

8. Awaiting The Big 25

It's March which means I am kinda stressing and freaking out over my own birthday. I turn 25 on March 23rd. It feels weird to say that I am literally halfway to 30 right now. Where has the time gone? I still feel like I am 13 most days, but I am far from that number.

I should be going to Memphis to celebrate my birthday which I am very excited about. We are going to visit some old favorites, and I may even be able to convince my family to go some place new.

Conclusion

That's all I have for this edition of The Happy Life Updates. This may become a monthly thing, or it may fall off the face of the planet, I am not 100% sure. Either way, I was glad to have some space to chat about all the cool things I have had going on lately.

What has been happening in your life?