Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

Hello hello and happy new year!! My winter break has been much busier than expected, in a good way, and I simply haven’t had as much time to sit down and write as I was anticipating. I planned to do a “2017 Goals Wrap-Up” and start a list of goals for 2018, and this post will do both of those things, just much more candidly than I originally planned.

Let me start by saying 2017 was a good year for me. A great year for me even. In the scheme of things, it was a very big year. But it was also a very difficult year, and some of my greatest challenges went hand-in-hand with my greatest celebrations.

Read more: When Life Gives you Lemons, 20 Celebrations from my 20th Birthday

I created a list of goals from halfway through 2017, and I just crossed off the last item when my dad and I donated blood this week.

Check out my completed 2017 Goals post here!

I haven’t finished my 2018 goals yet (and the list will grow and change throughout the year), but I do have some ‘big ideas’ for my 21^st year. I’m always hesitant to make “New Year’s Resolutions” or even a yearly goals list, because I don’t think we should limit ourselves to what we come up with in January or negate success from ourselves if we don’t “finish” the list… That being said, I do think it’s important to evaluate your life, habits, and mentality as you work towards those big-deal-goals.

I also think it’s important to have a tangible plan to reach your big goals, whether that means setting smaller goals on the road to the finish line, or making yourself a plan for success.

With intentional steps and planning in the right direction, it’ll be a lot easier to get where you want to go.

Don’t let your goals be statements on a list. Let them be intentional ways of living.

Personally, I want to keep creating more this year. In 2017, I made some big moves on this blog and I opened my Etsy store.

I plan to pray more and let faith be part of my daily routine. I was great about this coming out of high school and into college, but honestly let my prayer and faith life slack this year. So far, I’ve started a prayer journal that I plan to write in daily/weekly to keep track of my thoughts and make prayer intentional.

I want to write more about faith and scripture, which works hand-in-hand with improving my faith-life. I’ve recently been focusing more on faith/style/DIY type posts, but I’ve again let the faith aspect slack, which is not what I intended at all.

I’m going to go easier on myself in 2018. My mental health was not good this year and I know it’s partially because of unhealthy habits I allowed myself to make. I’m still figuring out how I’m going to do this, but I know it’ll mean cutting out some negative things (like comparison on Instagram especially) and adding more positive self-talk.

I also hope to read more! I’ve always been a bookworm and each time I come back to reading after months without, I remember how much I love it. I’m going to keep track of all my 2018 reads here!

I’m going to graduate college in 2018, which is just crazy to think about. My older sister will also be graduating, so our family will go through some big exciting changes this year.

I don’t know what the Lord has in store for me this year, but I do know that trusting in Him more and spending more time in prayer is what I’ve really been needing.  I don’t exactly like the way I finished out 2017 (and honestly, a lot of that stemmed from a lacking faith life), but I do know that God is working in me even when I feel like I can do it all on my own.

My own plans for my life mean nothing compared to what God’s got planned for me, and I was much too quick to ignore that in the past few months.

Anyway, I’m hopeful for this fresh new year, and I’m so thankful that you and this blog and such lovely parts of my life.

I hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year’s Eve! Be sure to get all caught up on my last few blog posts, and connect with me on Instagram!