This is the time of year where you see everyone recapping their year and their favorites. I have decided not to do that this year. Not because I have nothing to recap or nothing that stuck out, but because I want to look forward rather than behind. I spent a good portion of my year struggling with my own demons along with all the crazy that comes with life.

I don't see 2016 necessarily as the culprit to having a said "bad year". We all run through cycles where things can be really good or they can be really bad. Sometimes right in the middle. It seems like more people were vocal about how bad this year was, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was the year.

I will be happy to see 2016 go, just as I am glad to see every year go. It's inevitable. Time continues, even if we aren't ready. I enjoy starting with a fresh slate to re-evaluate what I can do to make the next year better.

And if I must put out into the universe one great thing about 2016, it is this: I learned a whole lot about heartbreak and unconditional love all at the same time. It was a wonderful thing to learn as I was able heal some parts of my life that I was hanging onto.

Now onto to 2017 to continue the journey of healing. And a journey it will be..

I hope each and every one of you have a magical holiday. Whether you are celebrating Christmas or not, I hope the magic of the season brings you together with your friends and family.

We are quickly approaching the new year, which is celebrated near and far. I hope you can all reflect back on your year and apply what you learned to the upcoming year. We never know where another year will take us, but we do know time will keep on.

A friend of mine and I always send each other cards, where we end our writings with "20XX" will be our year!" and then we talk about our year and see if we felt it was our year. It really does put perspective into your thinking when you have someone to discuss it through.

As the year comes to an end and I get a little older, I can only hope to be my best self and never allow someone to take that away from me.

Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays to you all!

Christmas week has officially snuck up on us. Are you done with your shopping? I'd like to answer that question with a big fat yes, however I am not done yet. Seems to be a trend for me every year.

I know I had said I am on a blogging break, and I really have been, but I wanted to take a moment to write a few things as we lead into the crazy weeks that are "the" holidays.

I am planning to write a 2016 wrap post, and that will come next week, but this week I wanted to take a moment to just reflect on what this blog has been to me this year. Kind of a reminicing blogging progress report.

Looking back at the archives, I feel like I started this year off strong and with a positive note, and gradually through the year I went down hill. I found myself complaining here more often then I would have liked, and that bothers me. It bothers me because 1. I don't like to read about someone complaining over and over again on their blogs and 2. I could have done something to fix those issues. I could of kept them to myself.

I felt like I came here to get justification for my struggles. Like I owed you all an explaination on why I was absent, or always complaining about something. Part of that happened because I felt like I was obligated to write here 3 times a week. No ands, ifs, or buts about it.

After numerous blogging breaks and some crappy posts, I am finally to a point where I won't blog just for the sake of blogging. I noticed as the year started to end, my blogs made more sense to me. They had reason. They weren't posted just to get something posted.

I have learned a real lesson this year. No matter how crappy I am feeling in real life, I can't let that reflect on the blog over and over again like a broken record. I have learned that if I am having some trouble keeping things straight here, I will write about it once, let everyone know where I'm at, and move on.

I think that makes the most sense.

Overall I think I did okay this year. I was consistant, but not in the way I had anticipated. Next year I would like to blog with more passion and purpose. I want there to be reason to have you all back. Not have you all leave thinking, "Dear Lord, this girl complains to much!".

I really hope you all will join me in 2017 for a bit of a shift in content here. I will speak more about that in my wrap up post next week.

In the meantime, have a wonderful and safe holiday week! I hope it is filled with friends, family, spirits, and good food.

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

I announced last week that I am going to be starting my 200 hour yoga teacher training in January. Now that I am all signed up and accepted, I need a few things. I put together a Christmas wish list of sorts that I am looking for this year, and in return I hope it helps you shop for the yogi in your life.

For me, I am all about learning and training, as I will be spending a lot of time on my mat over the next 4 months. I added things to my list that would be useful and handy for my training. I threw in a few fun items too, just because.


1. Yoga wheel: I am not very flexible in my back. I have seen the wheel being used to help with back bends and other poses that require some flexibility. This would be a real blessing to anyone in my boat with the flexibility issue.

2. Blanket: I don't know about you, but when I start my savasana, I get really cold. My body relaxes and my body temperature goes down. Having a nice blanket to carry with me would be helpful.

3. Ombre leggings: I just really like these. I was at a point where all I wore was black leggings. They aren't fun. If I am going to be living in leggings more often, I might as well make them fun to look at!

4. Yoga mat: I have a mat currently, but just like everything else, mats do need to be replaced. Mats can be as simple or as fancy as you'd like them to be. For me, as long as I don't slide and it's not paper thin, it will be sufficient.

5. Sweatshirt: I am going to be training through the whole winter. It will be cold. Having a fun sweatshirt always makes it better. When you look forward to wearing youe winter wear, it doesn't seem like such a chore to go out.

6. Tank top: Just as much as getting cold can happen during your practice, so can getting warm. Having fun tank tops to practice in are always a good time. Plus I am going to miss pigging out on things like tacos..

7. No slip socks: I rarely ever wear socks when practicing, but again it will be winter and it will be a long day. I am going to want something I can put on my feet that won't cause me to slide on the mat.

8. Mesh leggings: Again these are just fun. Yoga can be as fashionable as you want. Sometimes it will be fun to put on something different to practice in.

9. Yoga block: Props are so important as I mentioned with the yoga wheel. We all need a little help sometimes to learn new poses. Having a nice cork block can make all those challenging poses a little easier.

10. Bag: Finally, you need something to carry all of these things in back and forth from classes. I really like this one because it fits everything and your mat has a place to go. This is probably what I'm hoping for the most this year!

So there is my wish list/gift guide. Is there anything I missed? Are you a yogi looking for some new stuff for Christmas? Let me know in the comments what you are in need of!

Sometimes you have to love Facebook memories. Today a photo popped up reminding me that 6 years ago I was in the Bahamas. It was a beautiful photo of the ocean and blue skies. It had me thinking about how great it was to spend a week on a tropical island so close to Christmas.


We (my brother and roommate at the time) were in Nassau. It never dawned on me when we booked the trip that we would be there a week before Christmas. I was so excited to see the island all decked out for the holidays. The tree above had all kinds of shells as ornaments. It was super pretty with the pink building in the background.


We spend our days exploring the island and getting to know the locals. The weather was chilly for the locals (only 60 degrees on some days), but that didn't keep us northerners from swimming in the ocean and running around in only cardigans to keep warm.

 
The scenery was breathtaking, and the rum was a plenty. We took one guided tour of the island which provided all you could drink rum punch. It was pretty amazing. As you see in the above picture, Bacardi was pretty big there..

The island was pretty busy, and the shopping was insane. I am convinced if you couldn't find it on this island, it doesn't exist. The main shopping area of Nassau, which is conveniently located down by where the cruise ships come in, range from small boutiques, to high end stores. Everyone was Christmas shopping while we were there and it was so hard to navigate through the sidewalks.


 We only went down to the main shopping areas 2 days of the 7 we were there. It was so overwhelming. We instead stayed on our own private beach (we stayed at a small place that wasn't as resorty and enjoyed the beach to ourselves most days).


Having the opportunity to spend a week away before Christmas on an island who was also deep in the holiday spirit was amazing. I really enjoyed having that opportunity and I recommend everyone to do it at least once.

I sure do miss waking up to this every morning.. We had a balcony and it was glorious.


 Have you ever spend the holidays in a tropical setting? What about in a place opposite than you currently live? IE saw snow for the first time?

Let me know below!