2016, you’ve been a real learning experience. Before I welcome in the New Year with open and cautious arms, it’s time to reflect on this past year. There has been a lot of change on my side, a lot of learning, and some growing pains. In 2016, I decided my word of the year would be “intentional“. Intention was at the root of all my decisions and plans. Being able to do that was definitely NOT easy, especially because I am such a people pleaser! For the past few weeks, I have been reflecting on everything I have been able to accomplish, the good things, the bad things, and the choices I made. I’m putting together a recap of it all and sharing my NEW word for 2017!

Last year, I was home celebrating Christmas and the New Year with my family before finishing up my 2nd year in Spain. This year, I’m back at home celebrating the holiday season, and working a full-time job!

Here’s a recap of what’s happened in 2016:

• Flew back to Spain after the holiday season to finish my 2nd year as a Language and Cultural Assistant in Lucena, Córdoba
• Celebrated the Three Wise Men in Spain with friends from Lucena and New Zealand!
  

  (Watch one of my VERY FIRST Vlogs! Please try not to cringe, because I also cringed while watching this haha!)

• We hosted our first guests in Spain! My cousin and his girlfriend who live in Germany came down and visited us (:
• Celebrated Carnaval in Cádiz with a big group of our friends from all over the world!
• Became a monthly contributor for TREND Magazine!
• Road tripped through the southern region of Spain with Mario! We visited Granada, Ronda, and Marbella (:
  

  (Watch our Andalucía Road Trip here!)

• Hosted the FIRST Quirky Pineapple Birthday Giveaway! (: And then celebrated by having a moustache birthday party with all of our new friends!
• Spent Spring Break driving from Valencia on the Mediterranean Coast to Algarve, Portugal on the Atlantic Coast!
  

  (Subscribe to The Quirky Pineapple on YouTube!)

• The Quirky Pineapple was nominated for the Liebster Award!
• The boyfriend and I decided to go into business together! We present y’all to: Map It Trips! 🙂
• Went back to Munich, Germany to celebrate friends’ birthday
• My sister, Thatianna, came to Spain to visit for two weeks!!!
  

  (Watch Part 2 and Part 3!)

• Mario and I did “Pareja de Hecho” in Spain (post coming up on that in the future)
• I moved back home in June
• Was hired as a full-time intern, two weeks after arriving home. This then lead to a full-time job!
• Started BeachBody and became a BeachBody coach!
• Finally had a family vacation after 2+ years without one! We went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina!
  
• My sister graduated from VCU! (:
• Mario came to the United States for three months, and we spent time exploring my home country together <3
  • We visited: Richmond, Virginia Beach, Lexington, and Philadelphia

(Watch Mario and I take on the Whisper Challenge in English & Spanish!)

• Visited new cities and countries!

See ya, 2016!

There have been a lot of small victories, triumphs, and opportunities this past year. Furthermore, there have also been losses, moments of frustration, and a lot of loneliness. To be honest, I think this past year I felt more alone than I ever did my first year abroad in Spain. It didn’t matter that I was living with Mario and we created a pretty great home together, there were lots of moments that I thought I couldn’t stay in Spain. I also had A LOT of free time, which I poured into my blog and new YouTube channel! The Quirky Pineapple even went through a bit of a makeover after having the same layout and “logo” for two years. I’m heading into this new year even more focused to make my dreams a reality and hopefully inspire and create a movement that encourages other young women to do the same! So, see ya, 2016!

Goals for 2017

Planning out goals and resolutions for 2017 is a daunting tasks at times! There are so many things I feel like I need to do, and when you’re 24 going on 25, I think there’s this social pressure to “get your life together” by then. I remember growing up and thinking that people who were 25 and older had their shit together! They knew what they wanted to do in life and had a plan for themselves. Clearly, as I am reaching that age, I am going to be honest and say if you know what you’re doing and have your life together, I totally commend you. This girl is sitting over here trying to decide if buying those pair of shoes is worth it, or save for that plane ticket to the other side of the country!

So I’ve sat down and came up with a list of goals for 2017. Really, this is to be accountable to myself and a way of letting the universe know what I want! Universe, if you’re listening, please take notes. My plans always tend to change, and I’m pretty fickle, but I think I have it figured out a bit.

• Start working as a freelance writer (hire me, y’all, if you need anything!)
• Improve my photography
• I plan on making $100 a month through various areas connected to my blog by June 2017! (This is a HUGE goal for me, but if I can work things out correctly, I think I can do it!)
• Become a full-time blogger/vlogger (this may take a bit longer than one year, BUT I’M WORKING ON IT!)
• Help me improve The Quirky Pineapple by taking a simple survey!
• Figure out how Mario and I can be together in one country
• Attend more blogging/travel conferences, which also means make more connections with other bloggers, vloggers, and photographers!
• Save up enough money to be able to buy my parents a trip to somewhere nice! 🙂 (They deserve it)

These are some pretty big goals for the upcoming year, but go big or go home, right? Lastly, at the root of all these goals is the motivation to stay focused. This past year, I incorporated more intention into my life by putting my efforts into certain things, or taking my energy out of projects that I didn’t want to do. For 2017 my word of the year is FOCUS. I want to be more focused on growing, encouraging, and building something that I am proud of! I also want to have more focus in my daily tasks, without getting distracted with small things or mishaps.

What are your goals for 2017? Do you have a word for the year?

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