When you’ve come to the end of a chapter, it’s hard not to stop and think about the beginning and how far your journey has taken you. I started this year off with a post entitled, 2016: Fearless. It was full of hope, inspiration, life, dreams, and optimism. I had no idea what to expect from 2016, overall it was an incredible year. I learned a lot; about life, about DIY, and about myself. I laughed, cried, lost some of that hope I started with, got some of that hope back, and had the time of my life. I learned that I am capable of much more than I give myself credit for. I learned to ask for help, own up to mistakes, to forgive, take chances, and live my life to the fullest. I have zero regrets from 2016; it was filled with magic.

I set some goals at the beginning of the year. Some related to fitness, dating, and DIY. I didn’t keep all of those goals. I am usually that person that must accomplish EVERYTHING on her to do list, even if it doesn’t fit my situation any more. I’m the kind of person that “If I say I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it no matter what.” To me, it has always felt like failing if I backed out on a goal.

One of the goals I didn’t accomplish was 48 first dates. I didn’t make it to 48 first dates this year and I stopped blogging about dating along the way (there were more dates than I ended up posting on the blog). To be honest I lost count of this goal and lost some hope as well. I am the perpetually single lady and that is something I struggle with. To be honest, I don’t know what to do about it anymore. I am the last woman standing. I have tried a lot of different means of putting myself out there. I feel like Charlotte in Season 5 when she was trying to figure out her situation. Some relationship expert said that she wasn’t putting herself out there. And Carrie responded, “Believe me, she’s out there.” Whamp Whamp.

I also didn’t make it to 1000 miles this year. I ran a lot more than I did the year before and completed a half-marathon (which wasn’t on my original goal list), but 1000 miles just didn’t happen. It’s a HUGE commitment. If you break it down, it’s 20 miles a week, which doesn’t seem unrealistic. But when you factor in going to Crossfit a couple times a week, Swimming, and rest days, it would be difficult to get to 20 miles per week without becoming obsessed with this goal.

As you can tell, I’m a glass half-empty kinda gal. I will always see the areas I fall short in before anything else. But in 2016, there are so many more accomplishments and things that I exceled at than missed goals…..

I blogged more than any other year thus far, 51 posts to be exact. I blogged about projects, travel, life, struggles, dating, and happiness. It wasn’t always easy to be real and to put more than just the best 5% of my life out there.

This year’s DIY projects included tiling three, yes 3, bathrooms. I removed painted over wall paper, which brought me to tears. I used bold colors and stepped outside of my love for gray paint. I made a kitchen island, mirrors for my bathroom, industrial pipe shelving, repainted a stool, worked with reclaimed wood, organized my garage, and so many more projects! I gained a lot of confidence in my DIY endeavors, this year.

I feel like I lived more of life this year than before. I added Texas to my list of states visited this year, and I got there twice. I solo traveled to Costa Rica and jumped off a water fall. I became known as the concert groupie at work because it seemed like every week I needed to leave work early to go to some concert. It added up to nine shows for 2016.

I learned a lot about the people in my life this year. That I can go to my mom to discuss just about anything. I was reminded that her and my dad support me and my goals and dreams, no matter what. I was also reminded once again that “The most beautiful discovery that true friends can make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” Every relationship is different. Some are meant to last a life time, others only for a short period of time. Some involve daily communication with Instagram tags, silly snapchats, and rants on random topics. Some are less frequent in communication, but low maintenance enough where you can pick right back up where you left off no matter how much time has passed.

This year was truly about looking fear in the eye and charging forward anyways. I saw this quote online by Carrie Fisher right after she passed a couple of days ago. It reads:

“Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.”

I’m not confident when it comes to my business, I am very afraid. But owning my own business is what I’ve always wanted to do. I tinkered with the idea of becoming a Marine Biologist or an interior designer/architect for a bit as a kid. But for most of my life I talked about being my own CEO. I think one of the most difficult things is to take your dream, that is the dearest to your heart, and put it out in the world. Those things that are closest to your core, that are the real you, are the hardest to put out into the world. But I have finally done it; I have a real live business. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I am really uncomfortable in this part of the journey. Hopefully 2017 will follow with some confidence.

Over the last month or so, I’ve been dreading the end of 2016. I was concerned about what was in store for 2017; would it be a continuation of 2016, or something completely different? I was concerned that 2017 could be a repeat of 2015’s “Stuck in the Middle of Nowhere.” But the last couple of weeks of 2016 have given me faith that there is nothing to fear about 2017. I got this…