Here we are at the end of yet another year. I feel like I say it every single year but it truly is amazing how fast they seem to fly by. While so many people like to make New Year's Resolutions, I find it just as important to take a look back and reflect on the year you are leaving behind. No matter what happened the previous year, good, bad, or anything in between it helped shape your year and most likely shaped you a bit more as a person as well. If you are new to my blog you won't know that I always dedicate the last post of the year to reflecting on my year and looking toward the next.

First lets talk about my resolution for 2018. As it is for many others my goal for the new year was to get healthier and start eating right and exercising and of course losing weight. This is of course still a work in progress. I need to lose a good amount of weight still so I never expected or pressured myself to fully achieve my goal in just a year with this one. I managed to lose a total of 40 lbs overall. Sure that is not that big of a number in comparison to how much I want to lose in the long run, but I am still very happy with the progress I made. Sure with the holidays and all the obligations that come with them I did gain a little bit of that back, but I was fully anticipating that and fully plan to just get right back on track after 2019 begins. Weight was not the only accomplishment this year in the health topic though. As you probably know I started working out with a personal trainer and did more weight training this year as well. That may not seem like that big of a deal to most people but to me it was huge. Cardio was like a security blanket to me. I never ventured too far into the gym even though all this equipment was available for me to use. By working with a  trainer it helped me gain the confidence I lacked with these exercises and equipment and I am now fully comfortable doing almost anything in the gym. My diet can still use a bit of tweaking of course but I gradually improved a bit during the year. I was able to fully complete a Whole30 for 30 full days back in the fall and I want to do another soon and adapt the habits I learned into everyday life a bit better as well. All of my fitness goals progressed in 2018 in my opinion, and I fully plan on continuing them in the next year. I bought myself a new Fitbit yesterday and look forward to utilizing the new features on this new model I bought. I know I can do it and look forward to the further progress in the following year.

Another big part of my 2018 was learning to let go and cut loose from negative parts in life. I know I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but distancing yourself from people that are only bringing you down or invoke negativity in your life is probably the biggest favor you can do for yourself. I have one very specific person in mind that I had to do this with in 2018. Sure it was sad and hard to do at first, but the more time went by the more I knew it was the best thing for all parties involved. Life is pretty funny sometimes. People can walk into your life and play such a huge and important role only for them to be gone a short time later. Sometimes this is because of one person showing their true colors and the other decides that is not someone they think should be a part of their life. Sometimes loss only opens the door for your relationship with someone else to blossom even further. I came to terms with just that this year and being able to do so makes me pretty thankful.

One more specifically noticeable part of my 2018 was (in my opinion) my blogging. I started off 2018 with a second blog about makeup that I would write on alternating weeks as this page. As weeks went by I realized that I really was just not that interested in writing a makeup blog. Sure I love makeup and even like sharing my looks from time to time, but writing about it is an entirely different story. I decided I would stick with this page on a weekly basis instead since I am more passionate about this one. I was fighting to finish every post for the makeup page where this page is pretty easy for me to write. Last year I was proud of sticking to an every other week posting schedule for this page and I am even more proud to say (with the exception of one missed Sunday when I was recovering from my wisdom teeth surgery) that I posted every single Sunday on this page once I stopped posting to the makeup page. I am just a few posts shy of 100 posts now and could not be more excited to reach that milestone. Pretty crazy to think that a page I decided the summer after college to start up would still be going even stronger more than 4 years later.

Overall 2018 was a pretty great year for me. I am honestly to a point in my life now that I feel like all the right people are in my life right now. Sure there is absolutely room for some others, but they have to be pretty special to fit in that spot next to all the other amazing friends and family I have! I am on the right track as far as my fitness goals and health as well and I look forward to extending that even more in 2019. 2018 was 40 lbs down so maybe 2019 will be 80 lbs down? You never know right? 

I want to end this post by encouraging you all (as I am sure you guessed I would haha) to sit back and reflect on your year. Think of your accomplishments and remember to not to sell yourself short! Think about what new or continued goals you want to reach in the new year as well. Also, try to always be working towards goals to better yourself. Sure the new year is a great time to think of resolutions since it is a pretty common thing to do, but there is no reason you can't also set a new goal for April or July or whenever. You really should always be working to improve yourself and being the best you that you can be. Lastly, I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year! Here is to many more posts together in 2019!