Four Year Recaps & New Year Caps-off!

The last time I wrote a blog was January 7, 2013: over four years ago. Honestly, I'm not sure what is more alarming: the fact I'm picking up this hobby again after four years, or that 2013 WAS FOUR YEARS AGO!?!

So, I decided to start writing blogs again. I wanted to do this back in April, after Andrew and I got married, like a whole newlywed-year-of-marriage-all-the-cute-things-blog. But, I never did, and then I forgot about the whole idea and HGTV was way too addicting and new jobs and homesickness and 2016 was just a really hard, emotional year. But here's a breakdown of some highlights that have happened in the past four years since I've been a non-blogger.

•    I flew on an airplane for the first time to Portland for Spring Break. Now, a frequent flyer. 

•    Graduated college 

•    Left my job, became a nanny, moved to PA, renovated an over-hundred year old house

•    Moved into said house, became an assistant manager at rue21, lived in snow for the first time, missed my family too much and moved back to Florida

•    Became a Behavior Therapist, worked at Florida Autism Center and impacted the lives of the most amazing, adorable, and perfect children I've ever had the privilege of knowing.

•    Expanded my horizons and decided to start making cosplays, went to lots of cons. 

•    Got engaged in Chicago! Did the Single Ladies Dance with Matt Smith at Comic Con 

•    Planned wedding, planned wedding, planned wedding 

•    Made new friends, lost friends, was a Disney Passholder, and still made more cosplays 

•    Met David Tennant, Nathan Fillion, Alex Kingston, Karen Gillan, Oliver and James Phelps, Emilie de Ravin, and Adam Baldwin 

•    Realized my hidden talent and passion for up-cycling furniture 

•    Got married, moved to New Jersey, made a home out of a Bachelor Pad, and learned to Wife.

•    Honeymooned in Saint Martin

•    Became addicted to HGTV

•    Bought new bikes, got said bikes stolen, replaced said bikes, and had lots of adorable bike rides 

•    Adopted a kitten named Sebastian, spent lots of money on kitty toys and lots of time recording Kitty Antics 

•    Missed my family

•    Missed my family

•    Missed my family

•    Became Basic.

•    Got an amazing job as nanny for a beautiful family!  

•    Went to NYC a bunch of times and saw Justin Bieber at MSG, The Rockettes, met Santa at Macy's, and stayed at The Plaza.

•    And besides an amazing Christmas then deciding to do a Bullet Journal and doing round 2 of Whole30, we're up to date! 

Everyone always tries to make goals and resolutions and themes for the new year, and I've finally decided my words that are going to describe my year. 2017 is going to be the year of New, Productivity, and Positivity! I have so many goals for this year, like completing 3 rounds of Whole30 in a row, completing a bullet journal, reading 26 books, making every second of every day worth something, and becoming super rooted in my bible and growing closer to Christ. I really want to try and make the most out of every day.

When you're little and your parents say, "enjoy being a kid, you'll miss it when you're older," you always thought "Psh.. no way! Being a grown up is awesome! You don't have to eat vegetables if you don't want to and you don't have to take naps and you can stay up late and you can buy whatever you want without your parents telling you 'no.'" Well, let me tell you, 8-year-young-me, being an adult: I have to force myself to eat vegetables because I want to take pride in the body God has given me: I want it to be healthy and strong. I wish every day I could take a darn nap just so I could feel like the second half of the day isn't creeping by. I strive to be asleep by 9:30 every night because I have to start my day at 5:30 to get ready for work. That's right, 8-year-young-me, not school where you were so upset about long devision and IOU school lunches, but work. Every day. For 40+ hours a week. And oh! Let me talk about the whole "buy-whatever-you-want" thing. Yeah, I can buy whatever I want. But then, I have to have money to eat and money to put gas in my car money to pay for a roof over my head. And apparently you can't just put everything on a credit card. Apparently, you actually have to pay for that at some point.

I guess I'm learning that Adult-ing is hard, but Wife-ing makes Adult-ing a lot better, because without my husband, I couldn't do any of those Adult things. So, I digress. This year, I'm getting rid of the "bleh, I want to grow up so fast, I want to rush through life and be older" 8-year-old-me mentality, and I'm going to go slow and grow slow. I just want to enjoy so many little things and expand on my talents and passions and loves, and work on myself spiritually, physically, and creatively. I'm super excited about what this year has in store: the past few years have been really hard on my family and I'm praying that God brings so many blessings, happy moments, and endless love for 2017!

What are your Words for the new year?

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