Thoughts on 2016

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I'm sad that Christmas is over, but I must say that it feels good to be free from the obligation to listen to Christmas music and drink only out of Christmas mugs. It's also exciting to look ahead to 2016 and see what's to come. For me, it's going to be a year full of scary and exciting change, namely, leaving high school and going to college. The life I've lived for 17 (almost 18) years is about to change completely. Just the thought that I have absolutely no clue where I'm going to be this time next year is crazy!

As far as this blog, I see it growing during the next year. When I sat down last March to create it, I had no idea what it would become! I spend so much time brainstorming, writing, and photographing for this blog. It's become so important to me, not to mention my favorite pastime! For Christmas, my parents gave me the Sony a6000 camera. And I love it! I'm hoping to use this new tool to really improve the quality of my posts (a.k.a. no more pictures taken from my phone!) and also to document my life. The pictures you see in this post were taken by it. I'm still figuring it out, but so far I'm loving the results.

As you know, I also have an Etsy shop that I opened in September. It's definitely still in its infancy, but I have high hopes for it this upcoming year. I've been working on some new products for it and I've been surprised by how much it takes to post even a single new listing! I have to make sure my products are of good quality and are original. Hopefully, I'll get a plan sorted out before I go back to school!

I usually pick out a yearlong devotional at this time of year, but this year I opted for a book instead. It's titled Girl Meets Change by Kristen Strong. I'm planning to read a few pages every day. I'll probably finish it before the year ends, but that's okay. The author has a blog called Chasing Blue Skies that I'm excited to binge-read. She's also leading a 2016 Change Challenge, which I'm already signed up for! You can sign up here if you want to join in.

'Til next year! Goodbye 2015!