Year in Review: 2016

The year of change.

2016 started off on a better foot than 2015.

And looking back I thought 2015 was a roller coaster…little did I know…

January:

January was filled with work, snow, a co-ed indoor volleyball league and WAY too many doctors’ appointments. I won’t go into detail here, but after countless tests, ultrasounds and visits, I was diagnosed with bladder spasms and have been in physical therapy since March working on it. It was great playing volleyball with my co-workers and remembering how much I love competition (luckily I had kept my kneepads from my high school days!)

February:

I participated in Habitat for Humanity with my co-workers the first weekend of February and loved it. We had the opportunity to work on the house with Kayla, the future owner, and it was wonderful getting to know her story. I headed back to Toledo for Valentine’s Day weekend so we could surprise my cousin for her 29ish birthday 🙂

Later in the month I had a tripped planned to Savannah, GA to visit my friend Abby (and escape the snow in Michigan), but the snow ended up ruining my plans. I had booked my flight out of Cincinnati because my best friend Alie lives there, and she and two of her friends were flying with me. Unfortunately, Grand Rapids got hit with a massive snowstorm the day I was supposed to leave and I ended up being physically unable to get to Cincinnati in time for the flight. Since I already had the days off work, I took a mini staycation in Grand Rapids, and we did end up heading to Crystal Mountain to ski for two days. February was also a whirlwind, as I applied for, interviewed and accepted my job in California at the end of the month.

March:

March was quite the challenge. I hadn’t told my current job I was moving, so it was hard to stay quiet. That, combined with telling friends and family, was a job of its own. I spent a lot of time researching apartments, looking at maps and trying to coordinate this move. I had to say goodbye to two wonderful groups of people; my SPIN class at the YMCA, and the team at HexArmor.

April:

I had about 10 days off between finishing at HexArmor and starting training at Dematic Grand Rapids. We took this opportunity to go visit the Upper Peninsula (I had never been there), and while it was still freezing, it was absolutely gorgeous. My best friend also made the trek from Cincinnati to Grand Rapids for a weekend – and Grand Rapids greeted her with snow, of course.

I spent a weekend in Toledo right before I left; spending time with my parents and helping my two sisters get ready for prom.  The last week of April was actually spent in a hotel in California – I trained for a week and met all my co-workers before moving. During all this, my physical therapist cut me off from weightlifting, which I was definitely not a happy camper about, but I obliged and stayed away from lower body weights until early August.

April was one of the most stressful months for me. I could barely sleep, and if I did fall asleep I would wake up 5-6 times a night. I was in tears 3 days a week and my jaw was so sore from constantly clenching. (Clearly my body wasn’t handling the stress well).

May:

May started out with a bang, as we took the entire first week to drive cross-country. The first day was a “power through” day – starting in Grand Rapids, MI and not stopping until we reached Kearney, NE, where we stayed the first night. The highlight of that day – The Flying Mango – where we stopped for dinner in Des Moines, IA (highly recommend). We then spent time with a friend in Denver and Colorado Springs, CO, stayed in Moab, UT for 2 days and hiked Arches National Park, spent a quick 18 hours in Las Vegas, and finally arrived around 7:30pm on May 9th to the new apartment. We learned the hard way that when driving from Vegas to Orange County you either leave at 8am or 5pm, but NEVER 12pm. Lesson learned.

I went to work the next day, and spent the month trying to figure out what the heck I was doing and spending WAY too much time in Target and Costco getting items for the house.

We visited Venice Beach and Santa Monica one weekend, and I flew up to San Francisco for the long Memorial Day weekend to spend time with my friend Lizzie, where I immediately fell in love with SF.

June:

The beauty of my company is that they’re based in Grand Rapids, which meant I got to fly back for work a few times and I extended the trips to see my people. I went back in mid June to train for one week at the corporate office, then took the following week of vacation to visit Lake Michigan, see my friends, finishing cleaning out my rental in GR and head to Electric Forest with my friends. Lake Michigan is my favorite body of water, so being able to go back and spend time there was amazing.

July:

July was full of visitors and celebrations. We enjoyed a co-workers 4th of July party on the Peninsula, I turned 24 on the 21st, and the following week my sister flew in for 5 days to celebrate her 17th birthday. We went to Disney, kayaked, played on the blow up swan, visited Santa Monica and Griffith Observatory, shopped, ate, beached and met some of my cousins who were visiting LA for dinner. Then, the day after she left, our friend Isiah came to visit for 5 days, and we started the beach, eat, explore, shop cycle once again. 🙂

August:

Another work trip back to Grand Rapids made me a happy lady. I met my parents and sisters in Holland, MI for a beach weekend, trained at the corporate office for a week, got to see old friends and classmates, and last minute went to Up North Music Festival in Northern Michigan. I remember saying how much I missed summer rain out in California, so Michigan was a doll and it poured the entire weekend of Up North Music Festival. And let me tell you, I sure love camping in the rain (haha). We made it back to CA to check out one day of Nocturnal Music Festival in San Bernardino (and for the record, I wouldn’t recommend).

I also got cleared to start lifting again (WHOOP!) so I began with my online personal trainer, Annie.

September:

I finally felt like I was settling in to life in OC in September. I started personal training part 2 (with my in person trainer, Cami), found a physical therapist I loved,  joined a weekly beach volleyball league with Katie, had a girls day trip to Malibu, kayaked, met my friend Natalie in Long Beach, and attended the Fashion Week events at Fashion Island. I also learned first hand that September is one of the HOTTEST months out here. Temps of 95+ were normal and it was HOTTTTTT.

October:

October and November were an adventurous whirlwind. Our beach volleyball league continued every Saturday through October, and I worked my first trade show in San Diego (way better than the office), camped in a dried up lake in the desert with 150 people I didn’t know, and flew back to Grand Rapids for an extended Halloween weekend.  We stayed in an awesome hotel downtown a few nights and at friends’ houses the others. I got to see my friends (sadly not everyone) and we had out of town friends come in for two consecutive nights of Bassnectar. I was happy to get my fill of cider, donuts and colorful leaves. I landed back in California on October 31, and didn’t stop moving until Thanksgiving.

November:

The first weekend in November I was lucky enough to collaborate with Vanity Belle Beauty Boutique for a complimentary makeup & hair session (see more HERE). Since I NEVER look that good, it only made sense to shoot blog photos with Jess afterward. We had a blast shooting in Laguna Beach and enjoyed a girl’s dinner afterward.

The next 3 weekends I was either on a plane or in a car. I spent November 11^th -13^th in San Francisco and man, I LOVE that city. I had a blast hanging with Lizzie, Kyle and Kenny all weekend. The following weekend we road tripped to Arizona to meet up with some friends for Global Dance Fest in Tempe, AZ, and then 4 days later I hopped on another plane to head back to Toledo for Thanksgiving. Being home for Thanksgiving was EXACTLY what I needed. I spent so much time just relaxing and hanging out with my friends and family, and I even took my sister back to Kent State (where she goes to school) Sunday night before I flew home Monday. It had been a while since I slept in a dorm haha.

I came back from Thanksgiving more peaceful than I had been all of 2016 (no joke). I hoped it would last me til Christmas, but alas, life gets in the way.

December:

December was more relaxed; we explored Pasadena one weekend, and checked out Christmas lights near our apartment. I also took a few walks to the beach, and baked way too many goodies. I secured a side job teaching SPIN classes again that starts tomorrow! The studio is less than a mile from our place (thank goodness – since I agreed to teach a 6 am class). I also committed to train with Annie for the next 12 months and I am PUMPED for that.

I got the end the year on an AMAZING note, thanks to my Aunt & Uncle. I’ll be covering the entire trip in a blog post this Friday, so here’s the abbreviated version. The weeklong trip included stops in Mammoth Lakes, CA, Reno, NV, North Lake Tahoe, CA, Truckee, CA, and Sacramento, CA where we skied, snowshoed, explored, ate, relaxed and spent time with my family.

Whew, that was one hell of a blog post. If you read this entire thing then THANK YOU. You’re great (or just nosy), but we’ll go with great.

I’m ready and curious for 2017. I have a feeling more big changes are coming my way so I will be doing my best to embrace them and cherish them.  I love following Humans of New York, and one specific post really stuck out to me.

With that, my goal for 2017 is to dive deeper.

 

xo, Maddy