✨ 2021 Recap & 2022 Goals ✨

What’s up fam!? It’s been a long minute since I last posted at all and a really long minute since I made a real post. And let me be honest: life has been absolutely crazy but I didn’t want to skip over one of my favorite posts of the entire year and also I love looking back over the years to see what’s changed and also what’s the same! Oh and I’ve loved reading all of your 2021 recaps so thanks for sharing your year friends. It’s so fun to kind of get an update on everyone and hear all the highlights from their year! 🤍

My 2021 Highlights

Decorating & setting up my room. & helping my family set up our house & renovate things *we moved in December 2020* This was crazy madness sometimes (especially considering how many renovations there were to do and how little time we had to do them, lol) but somehow we got so many of them done and are planning to finish most of them up this summer!

Got into a routine of consistently working out & eating (mostly) healthy. I’m so grateful this year that I really didn’t have any injuries or anything (see last year’s recap, haha) and I really found a groove with working out and eating healthy. This is definitely a highlight, but also something I struggled with in some ways. I think that there was definitely times this year when eating healthy & working out has become a perfectionist thing and has become an unhealthy obsession at times. Thankfully, over the past couple of months, I’ve really worked on balance and finding a healthy medium between working out and eating food that makes me feel good & gives me energy, but also enjoying holiday food and getting food with friends etc.

Started a Poshmark business, kinda lol This is kind of a funny story! So I bought a prom dress that was two sizes too big, thinking I could get it altered bc I really liked the dress and I think that my size was out of stock?? Then when I finally got it my size was back in stock and I decided to just buy that one because I figured it would fit better. Lol Long story short, I was stuck with two of the exact same dresses just one was two sizes too big. Anyway, I decided to try selling it on Poshmark because I didn’t have another use for it, then it sold so I was convinced that I had a future in selling my clothes on Poshmark. Haha! I did sell a couple more things but it’s super time consuming for me to do it and I never made much money so I’m not really doing it anymore. 😂

Went to a spring formal/ prom with friends! This was fun! Some of my friends and I went to a dance in April together and it was super fun to get all dressed up. It was super fun too because we all went together and just hung out and had fun!

Did a running challenge in April. If you’ve been around for a while you might remember me talking about my running injury in 2019, where I couldn’t run almost all of 2019 and actually most of last year as well. I’ve worked super hard strengthening my leg this year so hopefully it will be 100% for track this year!! Anyway, in April I did a challenge running 3 miles every day which was difficult bc it was freezing so many days but I think it did help me start to get into a routine with running again and I’m super excited for this year!!

Expanded my business and moved into a semi warehouse in our poolhouse basement. I have to say if there is one thing I think I am most proud of this year it is probably how much my business is grown. I literally had 3,000 sales this year which maybe doesn’t sound like a lot but for me that means the world! Honestly, I cannot even believe that I packaged over 3,000 orders this year and I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has supported my business this year. It truly wouldn’t be possible without you! When we moved, I originally was using part of our laundry room for my business, then when I started selling t-shirts I knew that I was going to have to find a better solution. I ended up moving to our poolhouse basement which really is just used for storing stuff & workout equipment (and now my businesses). This has worked out so perfectly and I’m so grateful! I’m hoping to either make a video or do a least a picture tour of it once I get it finished (hopefully in the next month or so). I’d love to make some more behind the scenes stories down there as well!

Met so many amazing friends!! Another big highlight for me was meeting one of my now best friends this past summer and also just meeting so many amazing new people this year in general. I’m so thankful for amazing friends and people in my life who are encouraging and just the absolute most fun! I love you guys! 🤍🤍🤍

Lots of days spent hanging out by the pool getting tan with friends & late night swims. Haha! We tanned and talked during the day, then swam and talked some more at night 😂 Honestly though, night swims are one of my favorite things in the entire world and sharing them with good friends (and conversations 😉) makes it even better!

Literally the most fun birthday ever!!! This was the best! Thanks so much to my family for making it happen and also to my friends for showing up and making it the best day ever for me! 🤍😘

Got my drivers license! & survived driving school, haha!

Worked so many long days getting my small business ready for Christmas, then got way to many orders to handle & stayed up wayyyy too late. Honestly, the weeks between Thanksgiving & Christmas were some of the craziest and busiest of my entire life, but I’m so grateful for the sales I got during that time and also that I have the opportunity to run a small business. It was definitely a ton of work and I stayed up for almost 24 hours several times, but in the end it is so worth it and I LOVE my job!

Fun shopping with friends. Not too much to say here, but as I’m sure you know shopping is like 110% better with friends, right!?

Grew out my hair. The past couple years I’ve had this almost “tradition” to grow out my hair then chop it off lol. This year I grew it out but it hasn’t been chopped off and I’m planning on keeping it long for a while. I still love the short look, but I don’t love how it looks growing out and it just takes so long, so at this point I don’t think it’s worth it!

Friday night football games with friends! These were super fun and we have a great football team so what’s not to love!?

Fun youth group activities. One thing I’ve really loved this year is just how great our youth group at my church is! All the people there (youth & leaders) are so amazing & encouraging and honestly it’s one of my favorite things. This year especially I’ve been super grateful for it!

Annual pumpkin patch photoshoot with one of my besties! This one is always a highlight! We’ve planned to do this even if we both move far away one day bc it’s such a fun thing we do together!

Christmas shopping!!! I actually did most of mine online this year because I was so crazy busy most of November and December but regardless Christmas shopping is always so much fun & I always end up coming back with a bunch of gifts for myself as well 😂😬

Fun Christmas traditions & making new ones! One of my favorite days of the entire year is Christmas Eve, because my family always works together to make an amazing dinner then we go walking down Main Street in our town (they have luminaries down the sidewalks & it’s so pretty). We usually go to church on Christmas Eve, but this year we decided to do midnight Mass instead which was candlelit & so pretty 🤍

2021 Favorites

I haven’t made a “favorite things” post all year (what!??) so I thought I’d share a couple favorites of mine from this year down below and hopefully I’ll make a “favorites” post soon 🙂

Growing Annanas – at home workout videos on YouTube. She has some of the best HIIT workouts out there in my opinion and I absolutely love how challenging and just all around amazing they are!! I also appreciate how she adds in the cool down & warm ups in so many of the videos bc if they are not included I rarely do them.

Mom Jeans – These have become even more popular this year and I’m totally here for it! I don’t have one best place to buy these, but some of my favorites are from American Eagle, Levi’s, and Madewell. I’d definitely recommend those places to find the best mom jeans. Super comfy, hold their shape well and just cute!

Glossier Makeup & Skincare – I was originally going to link individual products, but I love so many of them so I’ll just mention them and recommend the entire brand 🙂 My favorite products this year have been their exfoliating skin perfecter, cloud paint, balm dot com, eyeshadow palette in the shade Jute (I wasn’t a fan of their liquid eyeshadow product), boy brow, skin tint & concealer duo and also their mascara. I love the natural glowy look of their makeup and the products are so easy to apply!

Celebrating Through Jealousy with Sadie Robertson & DawnChere Wilkerson – I love all of Sadie’s podcast episodes, but this one might be my favorite. So timely and encouraging, I’d 100/10 recommend.

AE The Everything Leggings – These *might* be my favorite leggings!? I love that they have pockets, they’re super thick but breathable, high waisted and just quality! I literally wear these almost non stop and have so many different pairs. If you’re looking for leggings that are great to workout in but also to wear for everyday then these are for you! They also go on sale quite a bit which makes them super affordable!

Gold Initial Necklace – By far my most worn necklace! I love that this literally goes with everything, is so dainty and is just the cutest ever! I did get this sponsored from Maple Lane Jewelry but believe me you guys I totally wear this all. the. time. and it is such good quality!

Aesthetic Christian Wall Collage – One of my favorite decor elements in my room! I always love how it adds a fun pop of color to my room but I also love the inspiring quotes & photos. This was another sponsored item, but it’s definitely something I truly LOVE and appreciate every day! 🙂

The Chosen TV Show – I know it might seem cheesy to talk about or watch a Jesus show, but honestly this one isn’t cheesy and it’s so good, realistic and relatable. It’s helped make the Bible so much more relatable for me – I’d definitely recommend and it’s something great to watch with your family or youth group!

Lightroom – I literally edit all of my photos with this app and I love how it syncs on my laptop & phone! Super easy to use but has advanced editing features if you want to use them. Also stores all your presets and makes them very accessible and easy to access!

2022 Goals

• Grow my small business and continue expanding it!
• Continue journaling (this is something I started this year and I absolutely love looking back even from a couple months ago!)
• Buy a car.
• Have a successful track season and possibly cross country this fall?
• Grow friendships.
• Get into a better system with budgeting and spend/ save money more intentionally.
• Continue working out & working on a healthy lifestyle
• Share posts on this blog (or maybe another platform??) this year.

Those are just some ideas that I’ve been kicking around in my head these past couple of weeks when I think about 2022. Honestly, though, this might be one of the biggest years yet… like at this time next year I’ll most likely know where I’m going to college (help!?), own a car, be working on my business full time, or have another job and I’ll be a senior in high school. Like how is that even possible, lol!?

Anyway, one thing I’ve really learned this year is that being open to growth and change is so important & necessary, and also that so much of life is a response. I want to take this idea of always growing into 2022 as well and I’m so excited for what 2022 has to hold!

Happy New Year fam!! 🥳✨

🤍 Hannah