2017 has been a lot of new experiences for me and I have learned a lot about myself.    I have opened myself up to so much this year and been willing to take the good with the bad and recognize when it’s worth it and when it’s not.  I learned how to stand up for myself, how to be more understanding and how to learn to say both yes and no.  Thinking back to this time last year I’ve grown and changed in many different ways.  And I’m really proud of who I’m becoming.

This year I did so many things I never would’ve predicted that I would do, and I’m so proud.  I stopped being afraid to do new things or step outside my comfort zone.  I made these new experiences work for me, making my way out of my comfort zone without feeling pressured.  This year I also learned a lot more about being an introvert and how to embrace it in a new way.  I learned that I get overwhelmed easily and how to deal with that effectively, I learned that I get myself way over-worried about highly improbable turns of events, I learned that I need to stretch myself to do more but not too much.  And I learned that I have some friends that will seriously pull through when I really need them to, and I can’t thank them enough for those times.

But I also realized that no one is perfect, certainly not me and not my friends.  I have to give them the same slack I give myself when I mess up, because they are people too.  And something that’s been on my mind a lot lately is messing up.  It’s normal, it happens to everyone, and it’s okay.  Even though it’s not good and we should avoid it, they’re learning experiences. And sometimes, it’s not the kind of learning you can get from watching other people mess up.  There’s something in your emotions that just clicks sometimes, and you learn an important lesson, and you won’t forget it.

It’s also been a good year for my blog. I wrote posts that I’m super proud of and took pictures that I’m really proud of.  One of my favorites is this one on hygge which I also loved the pictures and prompted me to really put more effort into my surroundings, which I have been enjoying big time.  Another one is my post on digital detox which was a good one for me since I didn’t touch my cell phone for over two days (crazy, right?) and I learned a lot from this experience, including how to really detox (with more attainable ideas included).

My review of the Colourpop Yes, Please palette was another one of my favorites, including the pictures.  I loved how the colors looked and how they turned out as a whole.  The Glossier post was a good one since I went all out and had a great time in the Showroom. It was so fun for me to come home and write about everything.  And finally, one of my first posts of the year, my 2017 pep talk, really got me through some rougher spots this year.  I found myself going back to this post and reading it when I needed a pick me up.

I found myself going too long between posts and being a little bummed about it. Posting 5 times a week this December pushed and still pushes me to make time for my blog.  I had to really commit to drafting whenever I had time and taking pictures on the weekend mornings. My ideas were posts I would want to read so I got crazy excited to get to work on everything.

Although this was supposed to be my year to de-stress all aspects of my life, I think the opposite happened.  I found myself more stressed than ever so maybe that wasn’t my biggest success of the year.  I think it may have morphed into the year of yes to new things, I did so many new things that I didn’t expect but am so thankful I did.

2018 is coming soon, it’s time to get ready for a whole new year!  Happy Holidays!

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