Happy New Year!! I can’t believe it’s 2016 already. I feel like this year just flew by. Even so, a lot has happened since last January. Before I get into that, how were your holidays?
Thanksgiving at my house was just like every other year. We varied the menu only slightly, but it was almost the same as every year. Everything was delicious, as usual. I made sangria for the first time and loved it. It actually inspired me to keep trying to make mixed drinks/cocktails. Maybe I’ll start posting those too 😉
Fast forward to Christmas. Literally, fast forward because Christmas was like a blink after Thanksgiving. I put my tree up the day after Thanksgiving, and it’s actually still up haha. I haven’t had a chance to take it down, but I’m not complaining. Christmas as an adult is so strange. I didn’t have a chance to actually acknowledge that the holidays were here. Like, I love to do my Christmas shopping in store but I couldn’t at all this year. I ended up ordering everything almost last minute, with a prayer that everything would get here on time. It made me realize that the holidays won’t ever be the same anymore. It’s a kids holiday, and I probably won’t experience the same magic I did as a kid until I have kids of my own. That right there excites me; I can’t wait to see the sparkle in my future kids’ eyes on Christmas morning. Not that this will happen anytime soon, but it’s still something nice to look forward to.
For the menu, we kept things almost the same as last year, too. We’re creatures of habit here, which is not exactly news. This time, I made Christmas Punch, which was amazing. I also ended up making a bundt cake for dessert, but we can talk about that later.
Now that the new year is in, it’s time to reflect. I’ve actually been reflecting about the year since Christmas. The end of the year always gets me down. I don’t know, but something about another year coming to an end gets me down in the dumps. Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about everything that happened, or didn’t happen.
Last year, I switched jobs three times. This is three times more than I expected, haha. At the beginning of last year, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I thought I was going to have the chance to stay where I was, because I loved it and was passionate about the mission. Unfortunately, things change about as fast as they begin. I ended up having to move on faster than I would’ve liked. The way things happened, in the time frame it happened, made me realize that things happen for a reason. While I wasn’t ready to go, it was clear it was my time to move on. I did, and now have a better idea of where I want to take my career. I’m not exactly there yet (actually, kind of far from it) but I’m working to make it happen.
As a result of all this job stuff, my time here has dwindled and I hate it. HATE IT. I’m still trying to figure out how I can continue baking and blogging, and will try my best to figure something out soon. There’s so much I want to make and show you, but things are weird with timing these days. I will be back, hopefully soon 🙂
Last year was also the year things were moving in my personal life. I opened up a lot last year, and welcomed a lot of new things and experiences. I used to be so closed up and quiet, but now I’m much more receptive and talkative. I started making more friends, and even started dating. On that front alone, it was a really big deal and big change. I’m still figuring that out as well, but I’m enjoying it so far!
I realize I’ve grown a lot as a person in a year. I’m definitely not the same girl I was in 2014, and am grateful for that. Like I mentioned above, everything happens for a reason. There are things that happened that could be inexplicable but I know that someway or somehow, it happened that way because of something else. I’m sort of okay with this, but at the same time, I wish I knew what was in store for me this year. I’m so desperate to continue growing and taking myself places I’ve never been, and will keep working and fighting to make my goals a reality.
As we go into 2016, and I go into my 26th year of life, I hope I can keep changing into the woman I’m supposed to become; a woman with goals, aspirations, and talent to be whatever I want to be. I think if I have any goals this year, besides being more present, is to ultimately just do things. While I’ve grown out of being a closed up person, I’m still the cautious and careful thinker I’ve always been. I’m not looking to completely change that (because sometimes it’s appropriate), but I want to take more risks; say more, do more, be more than I’ve ever thought I’d do. I have high hopes for this year because if last year was any indication of how my life is going forward, then there’s no other way to go but up from here.
