My 2015 review

I’ve thought a lot about this last year.  I’ve truly changed, and for the better (in my opinion, and that is what counts, right?) if I may say so myself.  I went through and purged my blog of negative posts in the beginning of the year, realizing what a drag I was for SUCH a long time.

So I thought what fun would it be to highlight my POSITIVE posts for my year in review?

This post is where I beam with pride for my husband taking his first command position in the Army.  Now, as he prepares to deploy for a year I NEED to focus on this pride and not sadness.

And then there is this post, where I talk about my once hated birthday, and how I finally started to celebrate life and all the wonderful blessings I’ve been given.

As we hit the second month of the year, I found myself feeling sorry for myself as I caught my aging reflection in the mirror, and I spoke about the truth. And how important it is to BE TRUE to yourself and others always.

My world was barreled over and changed in the blink of an eye when on St. Patrick’s Day, my oldest daughter was in a life threatening car accident.  This post was (and still is) my most viewed post since the beginning of my blog.  (Thank goodness, she’s is A-OK and you’d never know the accident happened minus a couple scars).

What would a runner be, without thoughts about running the Boston Marathon?  I share my thoughts, here.

Here, on the eve of my Grandma’s Marathon 20 mile (SOLO) training run, I found myself on the crazy train, and I tell you what, it nearly derailed, ROFL!!!  note: I not only survived, but I ROCKED my last training run!

My current half marathon PR race can be found here, all full of tears and fun balled up in to a great big sweaty mess ROFL!!!!  Throw in a recipe for short ribs, and you’ve got a winning post, right?!  LOL

My year in review wouldn’t be complete with out the recap of the race I trained nearly half the year for: The Grandma’s Marathon, in Duluth Minnesota.  I ran/walked this race with my sister, and I can honestly say it was one of the toughest races I’ve ever ran.  Guess what? It was also a life changing, relationship building and character testing event that I’ll never, ever, forget.

We headed to the beach in July, and I finally found where I believe home will be once the kids get a bit older.  We started out in Marco Island, but got rained out!  So my hubby saved the day, and the last 2 days we road tripped to Miami and I was instantly in love.  You can see our adventures in my picture post recap, HERE.

One of my favorite Friday Five posts can be found here.  I love it when you have an “Ah HA!” moment.

I ran my last official race in October, the Prairie State half marathon.  Check it out here!  It was all about fun, friends, and food that day and I had such a blast!

And then, the news came that my husband was deploying.  Overseas.  To an icky place.  For a year.  And some days, even now that I’ve had a couple months to digest the news, I find it very hard to even breathe. #sigh

So we made the most of our anniversary, knowing we’d be apart for our next.  And just writing that sentence brings more tears to my eyes.

Lastly, one of my favorite weekends of the year, every year, is our annual Christmas Staycation in Chicago.  This year we went all out, and it was AH. MA. ZING.

As I said, I learned so very much about myself this last year.  I hope and pray I have the continued strength to get through this next year on my own without my husband.  My girls need me.  My husband needs me to be strong for them.  I need to be strong for ME.

How was your year?  Did you meet all the goals you set for yourself?

Cheers to a great 2016!!  Thanks to you all for following along and supporting my journey!

❤ Michelle