Deuces, 2015.

There's a lot to be said for 2015 and I intend on saying everything that I possibly can.

I learned things that I never thought I would have to learn during my 20's and while it was hard, it was definitely for the better.

Things got tough more than once, but it is so comforting to be surrounded by the greatest friends and an even better family.  I learned how to be patient, hold my tongue when necessary, how to be accepting, an entirely new language, and finally, how to make amends.

I ate things I never dreamed of eating.

I survived food in TWO FOREIGN COUNTRIES!  For those of you that know me well and grew up with me, or have even gone through college with me, you know how hard it is for me to stray from chicken.  By hard, I mean I literally learned that I love pizza and salad and sandwiches.  Talk about a damn epiphany.

I traveled through/lived in two different countries.  When I say lived, I mean I lived.

Ecuador, Colombia.  Mountains, beaches, cities, clubs.  Three new families who adopted me as their own for two different seasons and actually want me to come back and visit.  Friends in Quito and my dear friends ALL over Colombia.  I went bungee jumping, paragliding, zip lining, and off of an extreme swing on the side of a mountain.   

I actually dated around and more than one time for that matter!!!! (To mama and the rest of my family, I know how happy you are to hear I "finally gave someone a chance" aka someone finally gave me a chance.)

I hate to tell you guys this, but long distance doesn't really work.  It doesn't work from continent to continent for sure.  You know what else doesn't work?  Investing in someone who isn't willing to invest their time into you because they're "busy".  {Busy with someone else that they didn't tell you about until you already wasted your time} BUT THAT IS OKAY because every experience is a learning experience.  I also learned I really hate having to answer to anyone.  Not that we didn't know that before, but still.  I guess it was also a reassuring experience?

I INTERNED {AGAIN} but this time it was in a different country for a non-profit and I even got to work with kids!  Those of you who know me know that I have a very small amount of patience, but I actually loved it.

Smile Education Foundation brought me one of my favorite families and about a million kids and teenagers in Colombia I am so invested in that I cry when I look back at pictures because I miss it so much.  Jardín, I will most definitely be back.

I discovered how much of the United States I haven't seen.

Thanks to American Airlines and a botched flight, I got to go ahead and knock Chicago off the list of to do's.  I also got to see Knoxville, so it's safe to say that Memphis is next.

No matter how hard you try and push yourself, there is always going to be someone that is criticizing who you are, what you're doing, or telling you that it isn't enough.

Tell those people to....well.  You get the point.  You are here, doing what you are doing, living your life day to day the way you do, for a reason.  I'm completely unaware of why {especially if it consists of watching Fox News in your daily routine} but there is a reason for everything.

So my best thing to say now, is jump in with both feet first.  Don't doddle around and hope that something comes to you.  Good things don't come to those who wait, good things come to those who work their ass off and snatch up what they're chasing.  

I got to see two new cities, two new countries, MY ROLE MODEL AT A LIVE SPEAKING EVENT, I wrote over 100 pages of notes, 100 pages of papers and tests, made new friends.  I did a lot of really cool things, honestly.  That isn't me bragging, that's me openly appreciating what I accomplished this year--every single one of you should look back on all of your accomplishments and pat yourselves on the back, because you're a big deal.  But with all of the cool things I did, the greatest thing I did was I made mistakes and then, I learned from them.

I'm all about trial and error.  I'm not going to lie, 2016 scares the absolute you-know-what out of me.  I graduate in May and I have about 40 different people telling me how to go about my business from there.  And I don't really know what I'm going to do.  I'm going to be successful because I just am too fearful of failure and too ambitious and passionate about what I'm studying to fail.  But it's okay to be unsure.  Guess what else?  I AM GOING TO BE A MAID OF HONOR.  I don't know why Ivy is trusting me with this job either, but I'm so humbled to be given all that love and trust for what's gonna be the best wedding of 2016.  

Oh, and about 2016.  I don't believe in New Years resolutions.  Honestly, I work to better myself each and every day.  January shouldn't be a month of trying to figure out where I can get better because you can get better in every single aspect.  Talk to someone you don't know in an airport, in the grocery store, on the street.  Don't go a day without smiling at a stranger or offering to help someone out because you can do all of that FO FREE.  That includes your gate agents in the airport, even when six of your flights have been canceled and you've been told that you will be stuck in Chicago for the next 72 hours.  I promise the rest of my blog posts will hopefully become more interesting than this throughout 2016. 

Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.

-Winston Churchill