Drumroll….

I am proud to announce the new and improved Smilingldsgirl’s youtube channel- Rachel’s Reviews.  Over the last month or so I have finally taken it upon myself learn as much as I could to make my youtube channel as good as it could be.

There is still room for improvement so I’m not there yet but I’m very happy with how it is coming along.  Today I got the youtube channel art done.  This was created by my friend Joan at  http://www.bitsycreations.com/

In addition to stationairy, posters and cute designs she calls kidlet’s, she has done my custom Christmas and Valentines and my logo for my reviews.  Pretty much anything I’ve thrown at her she’s done, so check out her site for all your graphic design needs.

This is what my channel looks like.  I think it looks pretty professional especially for as little as I’ve had to spend.

My videos are getting better too! I’ve still got to work on the focus shots of the product but if you look at previous videos this is definitely better.

It seems to be working too.  My viewership has gone up 35% in one month.  Not bad!  It’s still very small fry but I’m having a blast doing it, learning a lot and so it’s been totally worth it.

Plus, I’ve also gotten great constructive feedback and some meaningful comments like this:

One lady said  “Anyway, I really like your videos and was just telling my sister tonight she needed to check you out on youtube. Unlike most people on youtube your real, not all made up like it seems most of them try to be, that and your never negative. I love your unboxing videos and between my sister and you I do believe a monster has been created…I now have 5 of them!!!”

That just made my day! (And it made me realize if you ever wanted to do a little service that’s free go onto random youtube channels and give them some praise it really does feel good!).   There is so much negativity out there that sometimes you need extra thick skin to put yourself out there but it is worth it.  100% worth it.

My greatest desire with this blog is to show my life and that I am not ruled by my weight. I can get on youtube, read, write, vacation and swim 5ks, and so can you!  Last year I had an epiphany where I realized ‘what if this is the way God wants me to look?’

I had been pushing a boulder up a mountain my whole life and never quite getting there.  This left me feeling like a failure when I had success after success in my path.  Don’t get me wrong sometimes I would talk the talk of being big and bold but inside I knew I had tried really hard and was still obese.

What if this is the way God wants me to look?  You know, I’m finally able to move beyond the weight loss rut and say, ‘OK Lord. Give me your next challenge’.  I try to focus more on having a healthy life and being happy (and you know what’s funny is I think I’ve been more fashionable and beautiful since this realization.  Beauty is so much more than lbs)

I’ve tried to be completely honest about my life on this blog.  Some people think that is crazy but it has served me quite well.  Even on youtube people can tell when you’re putting up a front, when you are:

‘real, not all made up’.

Could you give a higher compliment?  Not to me.

I know I have my bad days, but that’s part of being human.  However, deep down inside there are always things I am smiling about even when life seems to punch me in the gut. (or leave me sleep deprived for 2 months…sigh)

It’s a good life and  an awesome adventure in blogging and vlogging! 🙂  To learning more each day and having fun! Cheers

(And if you haven’t checked out the site go to http://www.youtube.com/user/smilingldsgirl and please subscribe.  That’d be awesome!)