New year, same me || 2017

Happy New Year to everyone!

I hope that everyone had a fun and safe new years eve! I sure did. It was the first year since being of age to go out drinking where I stayed in. It felt great but also made me feel a little old at the same time. Haha. Adam and I decided to stay home this year mostly to save money since we’re always spending more money than we anticipate whenever we go out. It was a nice change, though I felt a little bit of jealousy seeing everyone posts on IG/FB dressed up and going out but it was our choice. After I got over that feeling I realized that I’d rather spend a night with Adam then going out and acting like a fool. I guess that’s the 25 year old inside of me.

Anyways, this post is to reflect on 2016 and to have a set of goals that I would like to achieve. I am not quite into the whole “new year, new you” trend (I went into detail about it in last years post on new years), but I do believe that a new year is like a new chapter beginning. I mostly just want to have a place where I have written down goals that I want to achieve and to be able to look at it whenever. I have these goals that I want to accomplish but I never write them down so I forget about them or never fulfill them. I thought what more than a perfect time to make a post for the new year about goals I want to accomplish. The only thing about these goals are there is no time frame that these need to be completed.

In 2016 I have had some positive and negative things happen all of which happened to make me a stronger person.

Let’s go through the year with a little twist… I will add some favorite photo’s from each month!

JANUARY: It was the start of my senior year, I know odd being spring semester but it made me realize that I am almost done with college. The other thing it’s made me realize was what I wanted to do with my life after college. For the past four years I have been in denial about what I wanted in life. I wanted to become a PA but as the years pass I wasn’t quite sure if that’s really what I wanted (it’s a whole different story in and around itself and if you want to hear more about it, leave a comment below I will make another post). Short story: I want different things in life right now and I know that if I was to continue school after finishing my b.s. I wouldn’t be trying my hardest to succeed. I am ready to “start”my life after college not to go into this rigorous program that I would fail instantly because my head isn’t in it. It’s been a tough road finally coming to terms with this decision but I am happy with my choice.

Yes, I am obsessed with Starbucks….

FEBRUARY: I don’t have much to say for this month, other than Adam’s parents got a new puppy, Watson. I do have a favorite photo that I took of him.

MARCH: This month is where Adam and I tested our relationship. We got our puppy, Enzo and he’s now our baby! We knew that he would be hard work with training and giving him the time that he needs especially with both of us being in school. Looking back at it now, we were & still are good doggy parents! Enzo has made our relationship stronger and has made us grow independently as well.

APRIL: It was my mom’s 50th birthday and I surprised her with a birthday party. A little back story on my mom and I. Personal things (that I won’t mentioned what exactly) happened in 2014 & 2015 that have caused our relationship to not be the same as it used to be, but throwing this party for her made me realize that she is my mother and she’ll always be there for me even if she and I are stubborn as hell. You could say that in 2016 I have realized that family is number one and that you should always forgive them.

MAY: I watched my boyfriend walk the stage to receive his bachelors in electrical engineer and boy was I friggen proud of him! Heck, I still am! He’s my inspiration. Watching him walk at his graduation gave me the motivation to push through my senior year and to finish strong. I thought to myself that’s going to be me in a year! He’s always been there for me pushing me through all the hard times. I appreciate him and all that he does for me.

During this month I also got to watch my best friend walk to the stage to receive her bachelors as well! It’s been a wonderful year for my loved ones and I couldn’t be more proud of the both of them!! Deep down inside of me, although they may not know, but watching them both walk has pushed me even harder to finish school. Seeing them finally accomplish what they have been working so hard on gave me motivation to finish what I started.

I also learned a lot about myself during this month as it was the year that I turned 25 years old. There’s a blog post/video from this day if you want to learn more about it. My feelings are the still the same about that post.

JUNE: In late June, I started my internship at the MHCGM. It was scary at first because all that I am used to is being an LNA, but I took a lot from this internship; I gained a new friend, new experiences, and learned to be more independent.

JULY: During the month of July, Adam and I went to our first Fisher Cats game and volunteered for the Run to Home Base together. I went to the temple with my mom, Grandma and Aunt. It was a month that was full of firsts. The Run to Home Base was probably the one that most stood out to me. Adam and I left at 2 a.m. got about 2 hours of sleep and spent the whole day in Boston helping others. We volunteered at Fenway helping with care packages to send to those who are overseas. It was a great experience and I am appreciative to be able to volunteer.

AUGUST: My internship ended at the beginning of this month and it was bittersweet. I had been going to “work” for the past month and then it was over. When I first started I thought to myself how I wanted it to end now because I wanted a summer. I was selfish. Well when it finally ended I was actually sad. After my internship ended, I decided to take a break from working. I still worked my set hours but I chose not to pick up an obnoxious amount of hours. I wanted a summer before going into my last semester of school.

During this month, I finally went to the beach, Adam and I went on the Duck Boat Tour in Boston, we visited friends in ME, Moryah and I climbed the mountain for a sunrise hike, and lastly Misty, Maneeya and I jumped in a quarry!

The quarries was definitely the highlight of the month – because well you’re jumping from a ledge that’s god know’s how tall. I am bummed that my video footage was deleted but I have a couple photos (that don’t do it justice but oh well). It was scary AF but me and my co-worker said screw it we didn’t come all this way to watch others jump into the water. We jumped a few times and it was exhilarating! I was amazed that I actually jumped and talking about it now makes me want to go back.

SEPTEMBER: I started my last semester of school – which was very exciting! I also got asked to do a photo shoot for a family as well as shoot my first wedding! I was on cloud 9. To finally be able to shoot photos for someone who wasn’t a friend. Little did I know that it was going to start the trend – others started to ask me and soon my little business that I had became an actual business. This was the month that pushed me to pursue my business that I have always wanted. I am always telling myself that I want a business but I never invested the time into it and I always came up with excuses as to why I can’t. Well after having many different people come to me to take their photo’s it was what I needed to spend the time to perfect this business.

OCTOBER: I shot my first wedding with the help of my lovely best friend, Moryah!! Thank you so much for helping love!! ❤ I don’t know what more I could ask for in a best friend; someone who knows how to use a DSLR camera, knows my style of photography and who can be your secondary photographer when needed. I never give her enough credit but seriously she’s amazing and we always have fun no matter what the situation!

Something that Adam and I got to experience with Enzo was his first time experiencing the fall season. He loves the fall, whenever we take him on walks he would have his nose up in the air just smelling the different scents. He loves to crunch through the leaves on the colder days. It was so cute watching him act differently on walks.

NOVEMBER: Is Adam’s birth month. For his birthday’s we just did something small, we watched his favorite football team play! My brother came up from P.A. it was nice being able to spend time with him. Thanksgiving was great being able to spend time with my family and Adam’s family. I am very thankful to be able to have two Thanksgivings this year.

DECEMBER: The last month before the new year; this month has been the craziest month as far as being stressed out. I had projects, papers, finals to study for within the first couple weeks of December. I managed to get them finished and passed in on time but it wasn’t fun. I can now say that I have finished school – now to wait for my degree to come in the mail to make it official. Finishing school didn’t make the stress go away…. now I was stressed about Christmas!! Finding time to go Christmas shopping for everyone and finding things that the person would enjoy and not just throw away/re-gift.

I was surprised by Adam when he got me a graduation gift; a drone! Something that I can use towards my business. He’s so thoughtful and is always pushing me to succeed at my goals in life and that’s what I love about him the most. He’s always helping others when they’re in need of it. I am so happy to have found him and blessed to be able to call him mine.

The other thing that’s hanging over my head is finding a job that pertains to my degree. Part of me is really nervous and the other part of me is excited. I have explained it in a previous post so I won’t go into detail.

Some personal goals I want to achieve

• To be more positive – I find myself being nice to others whether complimenting them on their successes or just smiling at strangers. However, when it comes to me, I am such a negative Nancy. I am always comparing myself to others and it puts me into this hole. Not everyone is on the same page in life. I have made a blog post about this going into detail if you want to read it.
• To be successful – A long term goal is to have a successful photography business. I know that it’s going to take time but I am going into the right direction.
• To be more patient – I have never had patience, I am always rushing and I want answers right now. This is something I am going to have to work hard at but I want to make this change.
• To travel more – Whether it be to Boston or somewhere far away, I want to travel to different places and to take lots of photos. I always make these plans to go to places that are two hours away but then they never actually happen because of the drive. I want to not worry about driving to places that are far away – I just need to do it.
• To save money – I made a post recently about having more of a minimalistic approach towards things. I still want to continue the idea and in turn hope to save more money. A house & a wedding are in the near future and so saving money is a must! I want to be able to say no to a new purse, clothes or whatever thing I don’t really need!

Come along and join my journey to becoming a better version of myself – see what goals I will check off as an old chapter closes and a new one begins! I would love to hear what ideas you have for the new year!