New year, new resolutions, right?? (yes, yes I know I was supposed to do this BEFORE January 1, but I have only just begun to think about anything but school).  However, the term “resolutions” just sounds like a whole lot of negative thinking to me.  Why make a list of all the “bad” things you do and pledge to “resolve” in the new year?  I mean there are definitely things I need to work on, but overall I am pretty happy with who I am.  So instead of coming up with a list of new years resolutions I am going to put into writing the main goal I hope to accomplish for myself this year

In 2018 I pledge to become the best version of myself in both body and mind.

The last year or two I have become so confident in me and the path I have chosen for myself.  Although most days I do feel happy with where I’m at, there are also plenty of days when I don’t feel that self confidence and pride.  It’s easy to sit here and write about all the times I have felt good, but it’s not easy to talk about the times I feel not so good.  There are so many days I feel like a beached whale, my face is filled with acne, I am bouncing with anxiety, and my brain is incredibly foggy.  My goal for 2018 is to prevent these days as best I can.

I’ve been thinking long and hard about how to put this goal into writing, and I still don’t know what to say.  It’s not hard to say I want to lose 10 pounds or eat more vegetables, but what I really want to do is experiment with new ways of eating, exercising, and mindfulness to become my best self.  In the next year I plan on reading through all kinds of different holistic practices and experimenting with my own body to figure out what makes me feel like my best self.

As I sit here I think, haven’t I been trying to do this for like my whole life??? In actuality yes I have, but I don’t think it has been such a conscious fight up until recently.  For many years I have been somewhat aware of what I was eating, drinking and doing to my body.  But when faced with the choice of binge drinking all night long or going to the gym I almost always chose to drink the night away.  When choosing between spending a afternoon in bed eating ice cream and watching Netflix or going to the gym I almost always chose Netflix.  I have never been so motivated to make my personal well being such a huge priority until now, and I think the fact that this life change is so real to me is going to make a huge impact on my results.  So really this isn’t a “new goal”, but it’s me finally taking action on a goal that has been only a thought for too long.

We only get one body and one life.  I am committed to living my best life.  So follow me as I document my adventure wandering through wellness.

Long time, no see.

Where do I even begin?  The rest of 2017 was a crazy busy, super speedy blur – with absolutely no time to waste writing a personal blog (which is really sad).  But HOORAY because graduation has come and gone and I am finally feeling free to pursue MY passions.

So basically September 2017 to now I spent my time student teaching, working a 48 hour weekend job (if you think I made a mistake in my hour calculations your wrong), and compiling this insanely massive teacher performance assessment.  To sum it up the last like four and a half months were pretty intense (minus some wonderful days off around the holidays), however the time left me feeling like I really had accomplished something.  This Friday was my last day of student teaching and now I’m kind of in a state of shock.  As I sit here and reflect on these less than ideal past months I realize they weren’t nearly as bad as I’ve just made them sound.  I mean, had I not conquered these last couple of months, I wouldn’t be sitting here feeling as appreciative as I do now.

A self reflection of 2017:

MY BEST. YEAR. EVER. Seriously, looking back I feel like one of the luckiest girls in the world.  I did some amazing things in the last year, and I don’t even care if I sound like I’m bragging, that just shows how happy I am to be ME – which is an accomplishment in itself.

2017

a trip to Costa Rica, ran my first half marathon, studied photography in Italy, visited 6 European countries, moved, student taught, graduated from college & last, but certainly not least, I figured out WHO I am.

Woah, this list leaves me feeling so, so blessed.

So helloooooo 2018.  I hope you are as nice to me as 2017 was.