2018 YEAR IN REVIEW & 2019 GOALS

It’s the first full week of 2019 I’m still wondering where 2018 went…it seemed to FLY by, did anyone else feel that way? It was probably because I spent most of the year planning and anticipating the wedding. I’ve excited to share my 2018 year in review and 2019 goals. Last year, I posted my 2018 Resolutions & Goals so I thought I’d give an update on each of those. My goals for 2018 were to focus on health, reading, blogging, financial stability, wedding planning, and beauty.

2018 Year in Review & 2019 Goals:

• Health: I vowed to work out 4x/week, combining strength training, cardio, and yoga, and to change my diet for the better. I made a lot of progress on this goal – I spent the majority of the year up until the wedding going to Madabolic 3x/week and then switched to doing BBG on the SWEAT app 3x/week. We changed our diet and ate out A LOT less up until the wedding as well. I’ll be honest, right after the wedding, we let it all go, HAHA. We have been eating out, eating anything we want, and not working out since we got back from our honeymoon. I think we worked really hard and hit the goals we wanted to hit before the wedding for the most part and we felt we deserved a break afterwards.
  • 2019 Goal: I’m already off to a good start with getting back on track with exercise and diet. Tristan and I are doing whole30 and we want to focus on eating paleo long term as well. I’m sharing all of the whole30/paleo recipes we are trying on a Pinterest board HERE if you’d like to check them out! As for exercise, it’s my goal to do 30 min of cardio at least 5 days/week. I’m starting the BBG 12 week challenge on January 14th and I hope to make it all the way through (last time I wasn’t as fully committed as I could have been)!
• Reading: I’ll be honest, I did terrible with this one. I read one book at the beginning of the year (Big Magic) and then read nothing the rest of the year… terrible!
  • 2019 Goal: I’m making this my goal for 2019 too. I’d like to read at least 1 book per month and spend less time watching tv. If you have any good book recommendations, please comment below! Right now, I have a few on my list-
    • Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
    • How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley
    • The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman
    • The Shortest Way Home by Miriam Parker
    • What You Don’t Know About Charlie Outlaw by Leah Stewart
    • When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger
    • Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
• Blogging: My 2018 resolution was to blog once a week and I did this the majority of the year. I definitely could have been a little more consistent and creative with my posting and content, so I will continue to strive to improve year over year.
  • 2019 Goal: Focus on blogging more frequently (1-3 x/week) and posting more creative, exciting, and relatable content.
• Financial: My goal was to be in a better place financially at the end of 2018 than I was at the end of 2017 and I’ll be honest, I was probably in the same place in a few areas but I did improve in some areas as well. I focused so hard on wedding planning and budgeting that I lost track of my own personal budget many times throughout 2018.
  • 2019 Goal: Pay better attention to the budget I’ve created for myself, focus on my financial goals and achieving them by the deadlines that I’ve set.
• Wedding Planning: I had a blast planning the wedding last year… of course there were low points (disasters with my wedding planner, my dress, the budget, timelines, etc.) but there were also many, many high points. Our wedding was an absolute fairytale and the best weekend of my life, so this goal was a huge success.
• Beauty: My resolution was to focus on my skincare regime and this was also a HUGE success for me in 2018. My skin went from having clogged pores, huge, dark scars, and constant acne, to clear, smooth, and almost entirely scar-free by October. I started using Spironolactone, a high blood pressure medication used to treat hormonal acne, as well as 2 gels – Aczone in the morning, and Tazorac at night. I went to my Esthetician once a month from January-September for extractions and the occasional facial. I got V-Beam laser treatment for my scars 6 times leading up to October. This eliminated my acne scars almost 100% (I have a few very s and I would highly recommend it for anyone else looking to get rid of them. It’s pricey but well worth the money to boost my confidence and no longer be sad and frustrated with my skin.
  • 2019 Goal: My goal for 2019 is to focus more on all around self-care. As I mentioned before, I’m trying to eat paleo long term, in order to improve my skin, digestive system, allergies, and overall well-being. I’m adding collagen peptides to my smoothie or coffee daily, taking a multi-vitamin, and drinking 70-80 ounces of water daily. This year I’ll take more time to meditate, go for a walk, do hot yoga, read a book, listen to a podcast, write in my journal, or to simply pamper myself with a face mask, pedicure, or massage.

Below are a few highlights from 2018… photos I never posted on Instagram but wanted to share because they capture a lot of the most special moments throughout the year!

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Hope you enjoyed my 2018 year in review & 2019 goals!