Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016

First of all, I cannot believe it’s 2016. Maybe it’s because this entire last weekend is a blur to me as it was filled with work and blogging,  or maybe it’s simply because this year was so incredible and went by in such a flash.  That’s not to say that in 2015 I didn’t stumble upon a few challenges — I definitely did. No year is perfect, there will always be difficult moments, but it’s how we get through them that is what’s important. Click through and lets talk about 2015, and my hopes + goals for 2016.

2015 started with a hunger and determination to improve myself, grow my career, and experience more. I dreamed of travelling more, challenging myself, and seeing the results of my hard work. While I won’t say I have felt 100% successful at everything I’ve put my mind to, I will say that I have built a foundation to achieve everything I hope for – and that’s pretty cool.

After a few years of battling self doubt, 2015 gave me the tools to turn a new leaf. I made the conscious choice to take on obstacles with a more positive outlook, and I feel that alone made me view the outcomes as more successful. I am welcoming 2016 with the same attitude I built in 2015, and I am excited to see what this year has in store for me. But before we look ahead, lets reflect a bit.

The Struggles

2015 wasn’t all good. There were struggles. Professionally, I struggled with my career goals. I worried and stressed about my blog, and I lost a bit of my direction. But like I said before, this year I chose to see these challenges and obstacles in a new light. I finally realized that the “I can’ts” and “I don’t knows” weren’t going to get me any closer to my end goal, and so I asked instead.. What next?

I’ll be honest, I am still not anywhere near my long-term career goals. As someone who has always grown up being very career oriented, at times I have felt discouraged about where I am vs. where I had thought I would be by now. I want great things for my career, and I want to create something of my own. I have a long way to go, and I am excited to see where this next year takes me. This may just be the year that I begin to see my hard work + determination take shape in my career.

The Best Moments

The ultimate, most incredible, and most exciting part of this year was becoming engaged to my boyfriend of 7 years. When I met him at 18, I knew right then and there that he was it. There have been very few times in my life that I’ve felt that “ah-ha!” moment – the moment that I know someone just gets me. In fact, I can only count three times that I’ve ever felt that way. It was on our third date that I felt this way with Jer, and I just knew I’d found someone who was going to be incredibly special in my life. Fast forward to July 4, 2015. We decided to spend the extremely hot day hiking up to Joffre Lake. It was smouldering out, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I complained once, or twice… or the entire hike up. But when we arrived at the top, Jeremy surprised me by getting down on one knee. It’s been a moment that has given me jitters and shots of sappy excitement since.

This year we also ventured off to Cayo Santa Maria in Cuba, which was incredible. It gave me that little break that I needed to reassess my blog and my goals. It was there that I sat down and realized that I was confusing my readership and cluttering my content, and it set me on a whole new path for my blog. I began to look at my personal style and beauty content in a whole new way, and realized that it was time to focus on what you all wanted rather than to blindly post content and hope for the best.

Lastly, 2015 brought some really exciting blogging opportunities. I met new bloggers who’ve become dear friends, had incredible collaborations, and even went travelling with my blog a bit this year! I worked with brands that I had thought I’d only dream of working with. I participated in campaigns that made me excited to jump out of bed in the morning to get writing. It’s been a wild 2015 for the UU, and I just know with a bit of hard work that 2016 will be more of the same.

So.. What’s coming up?

2015 proved to be an important year on my blog. I tried a few new avenues here on the UU, I saw what stuck, and I discovered that a few things deserved their own place. For this reason, I began working on a secondary blog to host my other interest which is blogging. My second blog is The Mint Edition, and it will be an online destination dedicated to helping new bloggers launch into their own paths of success in the blogging world. I’ll be sharing my tips, talking one on one, providing e-books, and doing webinars. I can’t wait!

2016 will also be an incredible year for me and for Jer as we will be planning our wedding and honeymoon. We’ve begun laying some of the planning groundwork, and I am so excited to share with you all the things I find and discover along the way. I’ve always loved weddings and I can’t wait to focus on them more here in the future.