coatigan, pink maternity tee (similar non-maternity here), scarf,maternity jeans, booties

I’m not really one for New Year’s Resolutions, and didn’t make any this year!  My personal motto is to improve myself a little each day. Small steps in the right direction add up after time! Looking back at 2016, it really was a great year and taught me so much about myself. Today I’m sharing a few nuggets I picked up this year, and hope that you can find some inspiration in them! Even though I’ve learned so much, everything below is seriously still a work in progress.

Say ‘No’ more often.

I still struggle with this one! One of my “adult” goals was to say ‘no’ to things more often. I’m not talking about everything, or doing it in a mean way. I just realized that feeling obligated to do things never ended up making me happy in the end. I’d say yes and commit to something, dread the days leading up to it, and then get through it without having much fun. Anyone else? But I finally realized, “Hey, I’m an adult- a mother for goodness’ sake!- and I can do what I want!” Life is all about balance, and at the end of the day you need to make yourself happy.

Who cares what everyone else thinks?

I am SUCH a people pleaser, and obsess when I feel like someone is mad at me (especially if I feel like I didn’t do anything wrong) or I make a mistake. It’s the insecure high school girl inside me. I can’t stand it when someone doesn’t like me,  or says something mean about me. I’m a strong person, but pretty sensitive, too. This year, I learned through too many experiences, that it doesn’t really matter what others think about me. As long as my family and close friends still love me and I’m doing my personal best, that’s all that matters.

Starting this blog has been a HUGE step outside of my comfort zone, and I’ve never felt more vulnerable. I’m working through it, but it’s still so uncomfortable! Like I said at the beginning of this post, I’m still working everyday to make what I’ve learned second nature.

Have a grateful perspective on life.

Like every other person on planet earth, we are all going through our own issues and dealing with things. I know many of my problems are trivial and some are very real, compared to others in the world. While I can’t control what happens to me, I can control how I react. I’ve been working every day to stop myself when I’m complaining in my head or to my mom. All it takes is a quick second to change your perspective, and everything changes. This has been huge for me this year, having to parent a 3 year old and having a husband who is gone working part of the year (fire wife, here). There were times I wanted to cry from frustration, but changing my narrative and being thankful for what I had made all the difference. Being a parent is so hard. But my husband and I are constantly reminding each other about all of the great things, and that encourages us daily. It gets easier with practice, and right now my perspective is through rose-colored glasses. But I know someday soon I’ll be tested again and need to remind myself to be grateful!

This post was so much more personal that just an outfit post (which I still love!). Thank you for reading this far 😉 What was your biggest takeaway of 2016?