An Ode to 2016.

To be honest, 2016 had a lot to live up to after 2015, the year my whole life changed. 

In 2015, I moved in with my boyfriend, I quit my job, I went back to school, I started serving again. I went to California for the first time, got to visit one of my closest friends in Chicago, went on a bachelorette party in Key West, and had a quick overnight trip in Colorado. I was a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding, and then got to photograph another great friend's engagement. 2015 was a year filled with travel, love, and so much joy.

2016 was a little...different. I got rejected from four graduate school programs. We had the presidential election from hell. One of our family horses died (to be fair, my horse passed away in 2015 as well). I've never been more stressed about money in my whole life. And while there was still a bit of travel, lots of love, and plenty of joy, something about this year felt weird. Maybe not bad, but certainly weird.

Having said all that, I think there's been enough negative chat about 2016. Because while there was so much crazy shit happening left and right, there was also a lot of good. I actually did get into graduate school, and I've met some wonderful lifelong friends along the way. We got to hike in the mountains, and visit NYC during Christmas time. I threw Ryan a surprise 30th birthday party, and had a giant group of friends come out to the beach for my 25th. There was plenty of laughter, and lots of growth. 

So with that, I'm closing out this year. I'm getting in one last workout, cleaning up the house, and getting ready for tonight. It's been real, 2016...but I have a feeling 2017 is going to be the real MVP.

Happy New Year, everyone! See you on the other side :)

Looking Back | 2016 Goals.

It's nearly the end of 2016, can you believe it?! It's been a really weird year, hasn't it? 2015 was a pretty eventful/life changing/challenging year for me, so I had a feeling that 2016 would have a lot to live up to. I'm still working on goals for the upcoming year, but I thought I'd take a look back at what I'd planned for myself for 2016 to see how I measured up (especially considering that I haven't even looked at this list in months...whoops!):

1. Get into grad school  CHECK! And what a wild ride that has been. I was rejected from nearly every school I applied to...but got into the only one that really mattered to me. 
2. Complete at least two rounds of Kayla Itsine's BBG program  I was really consistent about this and working out during the first half of 2016! I still continued to workout regularly for the rest of the year, but not seeing the same results.
3. Start paying myself back  I took a lot of money out of my savings in 2015 to pay for my prerequisite classes without taking out loans. This year, I created a weekly automatic deposit into my savings of $20 a week (or $80 a month), plus $1 deposited per debit card transaction. While I still dipped into it here and there for trips and whatnot, I still saved a good amount.
4. Take at least 3 trips Ryan and I traveled to Asheville, N.C. at the end of last spring, and just came back from NYC a couple weeks ago! My hope for this past fall was to visit my friend at Vanderbilt in Nashville, but that's going to have to wait until spring time 2017.
5. Go on more adventures with Ryan (and the pups!) We actually did get to go kayaking/paddle boarding in Weeki Wachee this past summer! Even if it was only once, that counts as an adventure. We took all the hikes in North Carolina, made a conscious effort to go out with friends regularly, and even took a trip to the beach in the middle of the school/work week. While the pups didn't go out and experience much (they're a little crazy with other humans...), they still got all our lovin'.
6. Drink at least 8 cups of water per day  I didn't keep an accurate count of this, but I used my Yeti tumbler on the regular, which I think counts for something! I'd say some days were better than others, but I definitely upped my water intake this year.

What goals did you set for 2016? Did you meet them? Or kinda forget about them but still achieve some of them like me?

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