Brand Spankin' New

Tomorrow is the start of 2016!

"How do you use this selfie stick?"

"Happy New Year!"

2015 has been the craziest and best year of my life, so I'm not quite ready for it to be over. From October 2014 to November 2015, my life completely transformed for the better. In just thirteen months, my life does not resemble what it used to be at all.

• October 2014, I quit my terrible job as a public school teacher. I could write a book about how awful and hopeless the situation was. I respect teachers so much and I literally do not understand how they don't implode from all the pressure.
• November 2014, Brian proposed marriage! He asked me the easiest question in the world: if I'd spend my life with him. It was a very fun day full of friends and family.
• March 2015, I started my current job. I never pictured myself working at a church, but working in Children's Ministry is the perfect fit for my skills, education, values, and whole self.
• May 2015, I moved out of my childhood home. Weirdly wasn't very emotional about it, but it was very difficult to finally clean through my childhood closet and throw away 90% of the junk I had been holding onto for sentimental reasons.
• Summer and Fall 2015, I was in the thick of wedding planning. It's a lot of hard work, it takes up 70% of your brain, and it's constantly frustrating that you're not married yet. Once. In. My. Stinkin. Lifetime. 
• November 2015, Brian and I got married. Really our favorite day of our lives so far. We took our first vacation together, moved into a home together, and our whole routines got rearranged (for the better) to fit each other.

My only regret from this past year is that I didn't do much of documenting it. Aside from 800 wedding pictures, I have hardly any photos of my family and friends. So many of my favorite memories happened this past year, and I anticipate thousands more will happen in this coming year. I've never been one for New Years resolutions, but I have set a goal for this go-round: I'll post on this blog every single day, 366 days in a row at least. Check out what sparked this idea and my weekly plan on my "About the Blog" page.

My Thursday theme each week is "Three Things Thursday." Here's a list of three things I hope for this blog:

1. I hope to use this as a creative outlet and have fun with it.
2. I hope the people whom I love but  I don't get to see very often can feel more connected with me by skimming over this blog every once in a while.
3. I hope to provide nuggets of encouragement, insight, and truth.