Sunday, January 17, 2016

Happy New Year!

Since holiday cards are reserved for married couples with kids (because isn't it really just about bragging about your kids?), I obviously don't send out a card, seeing as I am the exact opposite of that. But in case there is someone out there who is really wishing they had received a card from me detailing my adventures and misfortunes of 2015 (as if the last 50 posts weren't enough), here is my Year In Review:

If I were to send out a card... I imagine the picture would be something like this:



"I turned 22 this year, and I'm not in school for the first time EVER... I guess I'll go to Europe TWICE, and I guess I'll get a job... and I think I'm going the right way; I'll just keep going and pretend like I know what I'm doing... Ah, entering unchartered waters, um I like NY, I'll go there. What's the worst that could happen..."

If all you wanted was a short summary of my year, then look no further. Looking for my witty and insightful rambling? Well, that's up next.

This has been the scariest, most eventful, exciting year of my life TO DATE. I mean crazy things are always happening, but before this year, I had classes to attend to add some structure to my wild life. This year: not a single class. 

You know how people say things like "The world is your oyster." Well, I took that quite literally, and jetted off to Europe for 6 weeks within a month of graduating. 

(Jan - March): This was a crazy time for me. See, I plan for the immediate future and that is it. So I spent my last semester making sure that A. it was amazing B. I would go abroad right after graduating and... yep, that was pretty much it. 

Highlights and accomplishments from that trip? Starting a blog! One of my goals for 2015 was to start a blog and keep up with it, and somehow along the way, I fell in love with it. I don't think I surprised too many people by going to Europe, but I will say it was completely unchartered territory for me. Yes, it was my fourth time to Europe, but it was my first time overseas alone. 

In just one month I tried countless Belgian beers (they're the best by the way), made friends with people that are now spread all over the globe (although I just moved down the street from my friend Mallory), and got lost in Amsterdam, Brugges and Paris. And that was all before I adventured off after the internship.

Whilst on my own, I learned that if I have a bad day, I can go soak in some live Irish music and all will be well with the world. I learned that sleeping alone in airports isn't so bad, and that I MUST go back to Ireland. I voyaged on six airplanes and passed through seven airports in just ten days. And I fell in love with photography (having a hobby when traveling alone is of the utmost importance).



But most importantly? I learned the joy of eating out alone and going to the bar alone. It took me going to another continent to be comfortable with that.

Upon arrival in back in the States, I jumped into a job as a graphic designer. Highlight of this? Working out of my boss's shed. 


One of my biggest focuses for this year was to take advantage of where I am in life. I see so many people rushing to the next stage of their lives without really relishing HERE and NOW. With this job (since it was all from my computer), I was able to travel a lot while working. 

(April-June): I went to El Salvador for Easter (to see my newborn nephew!), and I went to Las Vegas, Nevada and Arizona while my boss went to Bali. The wonders of being able to do all your work from your computer, huh?


Yes, that is me drinking beer and working as I sit outside of my hotel on the Las Vegas strip.

The most important thing for me though, was not taking for granted the close proximity of my family, most importantly my nieces and nephews. Because of the flexibility of my job, I was able to spend mornings with my nephew, go to countless baseball games and take my niece to DC. 


I got to hang out with my amazing family all the time. And I cherished every moment. Especially that time that just the adults went to the Dominican...


There's a video floating around somewhere of me taking an embarrassingly long time to jump down from this tree; hoping Phil never pulls that one out.

Quick backtrack though: I graduated shortly before this trip (hence why we called it the "graduation" trip).


It was clearly strange for me to go back and walk after actually graduating six months before, but it was fabulous to have A LOT of family there to support me!

Julia and I then had to move everything out of our house in Lynchburg from the past four years... more than half of what we went through ended up in the garbage. I had put a lot of things in storage when I graduated high school. Going through those things after graduating college was extremely strange to me. How did I have friends with clothes like that? And why on earth did I think I was going to use makeup that I bought at fifteen when I was in college? I guess some things are meant to remain a mystery. 




(July-September): My summer was filled with beach trips, Boston trips, half-marathon training, pool days, weddings, concerts... I could go on. And then suddenly, I was forced back into the world of APPLYING FOR JOBS. Our main client (Mr. GMO fighting man) ran out of money (should not have come as a surprise). So all of a sudden, I REALLY needed to come up with a plan for my life. 

As much as I would be content to live with my brother and his wife for, well, ever... that is no life plan. But remember, I had promised myself that I would take advantage of where I am in life. So when I got my planner out, instead of the words "Life Plan" at the top of the page, I ended up with "I will go to Europe if." 

And that is how on the eve of my 22nd birthday, I bought a one-way ticket to Europe... for the following week. 




There are a ton of posts detailing those adventures which dive into detail, but for the sake of not boring you to death, I'll focus on what I learned from this trip. 
  1. What's the point of life without spontaneity? If you were to tell me that what I currently have planned out for the month was all that was going to happen... well I really wouldn't be doing much then.
  2. Plans are still necessary. I learned how to make plans on the go that actually come to fruition (for the most part anyway).
  3. Make friends when traveling alone. It is very easy to make friends while traveling with Julia, but I was able to meet so many amazing people even when I was alone. I hung out with Emma for three days in France and she just visited me for ten days last week. 

I learned a lot more, but I should probably start to wrap up here...

End of September: I ran a half marathon. That was a HUGE accomplishment for me. To run that race after three months of training was truly an unexplainable joy! (Pictured at the top of this post).

(October - December): I was able to pursue photography with my awesome sister-in-law, Susanna. This resulted in becoming the family photographer for Christmas cards and family events - which is so fun for me.

October consisted of applying for jobs and interviews with more intensity than ever. I was applying for ten jobs a week, freelance designing, and going to an interview or two a week. It was crazy and stressful. But guess what? IT WORKED. 

Now I know that most people aren't in situations where they can say "no" to jobs offers right out of college, but thanks to continued freelance work from my brother's company and living with my other brother, I was able to wait for a job that would make me truly happy. 

So here's a big shoutout to my older siblings for not only NOT looking at me like I'm crazy when I tell them that I'm going to Vegas or Europe the following week, but instead encouraging me to go. It's nice to have six people older than you to give you guidance and advice when you're thrown into the unknown after college. I guess I can't even call it the unknown because I had six different points of view of what to expect and which way I should go. 

I guess you could say my brother Steve and his wife, Jen, won because here I am in NEW YORK. 



Bring it on 2016!!!

2 comments:

  1. Great post! Seems like you had an amazing year. Good read :) Happy new year!! - Johannes

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