Hello again and happy extremely belated 2017! I spent two weeks at home and unexpectedly also took a two week vacay from bloggin'. It was very nice not worrying about getting something up at the right time for everyone to see. I was busy enjoying time with my family, as I'm sure everyone else was. Now that I'm back in LA, it's time to get back to business.

Today, I wanted to share with you a recap of my 2016 year as well as what I think about 2017. 2016 has a bad reputation for most people. I didn't want to focus on the bad but instead focus on the good! Also, to make things quick, I decided to just share a list about my 2016 experiences.

1. Finally finding a job with photography after graduating in 2013
2. Flying home and surprising my dad for his birthday
3. Miclynn visiting us, TWICE
4. Road tripping up PCH from LA to San Francisco with Lyle and Russell
5. Celebrating my 25th birthday at Disneyland with my best friends
6. Having my family visit during the summer
7. Visiting Catalina Island for Lyle's birthday
8. Spending some sweet summertime in Texas
9. Having a job that allowed me to take time off whenever I wanted/needed
10. Checking Portland, Oregon off my travel bucket list
11. Checking Disneyland during Halloween off my bucket list (thanks to MY COUSIN MARISSA!)
12. Being able to explore and travel to multiple places in California throughout the year
13. Road tripping home (again) for Christmas
14. Spending 2 weeks at home visiting family and friends
15. Ending 2016 with my loved ones
16. Surviving an entire year living in LA

2017 has quite a bit to live up to. I have a lot of high expectations for this year and for myself. I'm sure everyone feels super empowered at the beginning of a new year and it's a great feeling to have! I wish we could always think this way about every day instead of just at the beginning of the year. Here is my (slightly more detailed) list for 2017, in no particular order.


1. Focusing on positivity. I let too many things bother me and bring me down. I want to try my hardest to stop that this year.

2. Furthering my career. I have the hardest time explaining to people what it is I want to do. Half the time, I'm not even 100% sure. So, I'll just leave you with "furthering my career". Whatever that may be.

3. Worry less. Worry less about what others are doing, worry less in general. Things almost always work out in the end, so why should I waste the time worrying about it?

4. Bring more peace into my life. Taking care of my mind and body is something I worked on a lot last year. But, like I said above, I worry and let things bother me.

5. Explore Los Angeles more. I've been here a little over a year and everyday I'm finding new places and areas I want to see. This city is massive and I want to make sure I see as much as I can while I'm here.

6. Travel more. That's a given. I already have travel plans in mind, but who knows what life has planned for me!

7. Be more open. I don't quite want to be like Jim Carrey in "Yes, Man" but I also don't want to turn away opportunities or ideas that I might have before.

8. Read more books. I used to read a book a week when I was younger. That was those pre-internet days though. I want to get back into it this year.

9. Get/stay organized. I say this every year and yet, I have over 7,000 photos on my phone that have yet to be organized. Ugh.

10. Keep on bloggin'. As of right now, I have no idea what the future is for my blog. I have a few ideas here and there, but nothing consistent. My monthly photo diaries was fun, but I don't think I want to continue it. I need to figure that out ASAP because it's already almost February. What?

11. Pick up old hobbies. I love to paint and watercolor. I may not be that great at it, but it's a fun hobby to keep me occupied. I want to do that more this year.

12. Work harder on photo. Another given. I always strive to work harder and better my photography. I hope that this is the year that I experiment more with film!

13. Work harder on video. I played with the idea of creating YouTube videos but I have no idea what content I would create. I just know that video is something I love doing and I want to do more of it this year.

14. Be more thankful. I'm 1000% thankful for everything I have in life. But sometimes it can be easy to get caught up in what you don't have rather than what you do have.

15. Try something new. Last year, I went parasailing for the first time. Being terrified of the ocean, it was kind of a big deal. But it was so fun and worth it. What should I try this year?

16. Stop procrastinating! Or at least try to. This blogpost going up way later than it should have been is already a bad start. But that's okay. I'm only human, right?

17. Last but not least, I hope to end 2017 in a better place than where I started it. Not that I'm in a bad place now! I just want to be continuously growing. I would hate to find myself ending this year with no growth.


So, there ya have it friends! A look back on 2016 and what I hope for in 2017. I hope you all have had a wonderful start to this new year! And I look forward to what's to come next! As always, let me know what you think! xo