2017: Moments of the Year

December 29, 20176min read

Ahhh! I cannot believe 2018 is creepin’ up on us so fast, you guys! Anyway, as we close out 2017, I wanted to share some personal and professional moments of my year with you! Take a stroll down memory lane with me if you will. I’ll include links to some of this year’s posts that are tied to my favorite moments and my personal Instagram so you can see pictures too!

January:

I finished an emotional intelligence certification I had been working on at the end of 2016 within the first week of 2017. Right after that, I launched my blog within 12 days into the new year.

In the middle of January, I attended Next Level You in Florida (picture above is the view from my room) and a few weeks after that, I went to NYC and Philly with my besties!

I also started BBG…again…after my accident (oy).

February:

I decided to change campuses as I was contemplating on moving to Dallas. I met many new church friends on the night of Valentine’s Day and I’ll never forget it either.

God answered my prayers that night too!

March:

I attended Sunset Yoga with the Dallas Fitness Ambassadors and saw many of my DFA friends. It had been awhile since I’ve seen them after my accident! I also started my financial stewardship class halfway into the month too!!!

April:

Clotheshorse Anonymous was the first small brand to reach out to me for a possible partnership. I was SO excited as I had been working hard publishing blog posts daily! My initial thoughts were, “This is getting real!” lol!

May:

I agreed to help out my friend, Bobby, by participating in my first “professional” photoshoot so he could play with his new camera gear.

We’re so glad we brought Rachie along that day because we both needed an assistant to carry our stuff and to tell us when cars were coming, haha! I felt very weird standing in the middle of the street…facing oncoming traffic.

June:

I finished my first financial stewardship class and was so happy to be able to learn so much, nerd out and chart a course of action.

Despite the heat, my summer was really great because my first outfit in partnership with Clotheshorse Anonymous goes live!

July:

My first website feature happened during daddy’s birthday month on Clotheshorse Anonymous‘s website!

Funny thing is, I didn’t know it until I happened to hop on the website and saw it! I took this picture with my phone to share the moment right away on my personal Facebook page, haha!

August:

I ended the end of my summer by seeing my friend Heather use her wonderful acting talent at our church’s summer musical, Godspell! We also reunited with our acting teacher, Mandy, that evening. It was so fun to see her again!

My first giveaway with a brand, Smile Brilliant, also happened this month. I learned a lot on how much work it takes to prepare and write a blog post, IG image and giveaway with a brand.

I went to NYC again with my besties and had so much fun celebrating our ten years of friendship! Here we are drinking to our relationship with one another since it’s the year of aluminum, lol!

Seeing my first musical (Hello Dolly!), the 9/11 Memorial and walking the Brooklyn Bridge were quite possibly the highlights of the trip. We also ate at While We Were Young because #DoItForTheGram and Eataly (best place for pasta…everrr).

I ended the month attending the Kairos Conference with Rachie and our friend Keren. And just when I thought I was living in freedom, God did more amazing things at this conference!

September:

One of the biggest professional highlights of the year was teaming up with a big brand, CORE Water to host a fun giveaway to TIU’s event!

I couldn’t believe it when they reached out to me! The event was so fun (even though it was SO crazy hot) and I got to meet Karena and Katrina! My friend from high school, Jamie, who I hadn’t seen in ages won my giveaway too! It was nice to reunite with her again!

October:

I kicked off my birthday month with an invitation to join Lewis Howes‘ Mask of Masculinity book launch team! Excited was an understatement when I got this email, ha!

My church friends and I attended some art shows (thanks so much for the invite, Rachel M.!) and I got to meet an artist, JD Miller, that night. His artwork was quite possibly my favorite from the evening’s events!

October really empowered me more when I met female beauty bosses (Michelle of Ranavat Botanics and Dana of Beneath Your Mask) at the Indie Beauty Expo on my day off of work! By the way, I didn’t plan this because I was at the mall to pick up my spiralizer, haha!

For work, I also got to meet and celebrate my coworkers accomplishments whom I’ve worked side-by-side long distance, some for the entire time I’ve been at my job! I’ve never seen so much confetti in my life, hahaha!

I also attended ID Seminar with my church friends and it was oh-so-good for my soul! It really solidified who I am in Christ and what I’m meant to do in life!

I ended the month going to Jon Acuff’s book signing and seeing what he had to say about his new book. It was so nice to see Jon again! Can you spot me? (Image credit goes to the bookstore worker who took the photo with Jon’s phone, lol)

My family also took Rachel and I out to eat to celebrate our birthdays and I joined a private gym owned by a friend at my church!

November:

I was invited by the LIVELY team to get to know their brand and products more. I had been following their brand on Instagram for awhile so I was excited to learn more about them. Ali, their marketing director, was so sweet to take time to chat with me and answer my questions.

My first-ever Friendsgiving that didn’t involve only my besties and I was with my amazing group of church friends. I love them all SO much! Look at them! They’re such beautiful souls!

I ran my first-ever Turkey Trot (I did the 5K route) with my besties and finished at 43:54:12. However, this wasn’t the exact time as I forgot to stop my timer when I crossed the finish line (oops)!

I also nabbed some things I had my eye on for awhile that was on super sale! You can check out what I got in my Black Friday haul post!

December:

I was accepted into Reward Style and a few weeks after that, I found a Burberry trench on major sale at Clotheshorse Anonymous. It was quite possibly the best find of my fashion life, ha!

2017 ended with a bang when I saw my first-ever ballet show (and during the Christmas season too!) with my girlfriends at church thanks to Katie over at Avant Chamber Ballet!

Christmas 2017 was one for the books. Although I missed mom #2 very much, my loved ones and I made great memories too. This year, my bffs and I expanded our gingerbread neighborhood into a village complete with mountain and resort, haha! I wonder how we’re going to top ourselves next year, lol!

I also received the sweetest Christmas cards from my Instagram friends, Hoang-Kim and Jess.

As you can see in these last photos above, I built so many new relationships and am so happy my circle of friends is expanding! I also read six new personal development books in addition to re-reading some old books via Audible and completed 22 Bible study plans these last 365 days!

All in all, 2017 was a fantastic year for me! I thank God for blessing me with such a wonderful and memorable year and can’t wait to see what great, happy and positive moments 2018 will bring!