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Dear Kelsie,

Gosh. You’re 24 today! You swore you would stay 21 forever, but I guess you finally figured out that wasn’t possible! It’s okay though because the best years are yet to come, at least that’s what they tell you! 🙂 Although 23 is now behind you, you learned more about yourself this year than any of the others to date. You worked tirelessly to turn a fun hobby into a real job that you continue to pour your heart and soul into! You actually applied what you learned in those college business classes to YOUR business. Something you have built from the ground up, and now you’re so proud of this little space on the internet that you get to call yours! You also met some amazing new friends that you never would have known had it not been for blogging. These girls are the real deal, and their friendships couldn’t have come at a better time! They didn’t realize the impact they had on your life, but you did!

After letting go of things that were never yours in the first place, you made the decision to focus on yourself and stop trying to find a man to save you. This was such a defining moment for you in year 23! The make-believe and fairytales were nice for a while, but they weren’t real! You never needed a guy, but you had to figure that out on your own! You were capable of so much more than you ever realized. And maybe you wasted more time than you would have liked on boys who didn’t matter, but they were lessons learned. The tears and the heartbreaks made you stronger! Your heart may be guarded now, but you realized it’s better that way.

You learned that everything will ALWAYS fall into place regardless of the circumstances. God’s plan for your life will prevail, and you have found peace in that. You stopped worrying about the situations that were beyond your control, and you just embraced the cards you were handed. It didn’t always make sense, and it didn’t always seem fair, but life never is. You just had to close some chapters and move forward to the new ones! Looking back only hindered you from the wonderful things that were ahead. You learned to truly appreciate the good friends in your life because they are far and few between! It’s important to make time for the people who made time for you.

You fully understood what it meant to love yourself before anyone else could. You figured out how worthy you really were, and you embraced your confidence! You never gave up on your dreams, and they’re finally coming into fruition. You stopped letting others dull your sparkle, and you stopped settling for less than you deserve both professionally and personally! In fact, settling isn’t even in your vocabulary anymore. Because that’s something you’ll never do again! Year 23 might be behind you now, but it served a purpose greater than you realized. It was a year filled with life lessons both good and bad! But those moments have helped shape you into the person you are today! So cheers to 24! May it be the best year yet 🙂