What A Year: 2014 Edition

A grey, rainy day seemed like the perfect time to sit down and write my usual "year in review" post for y'all. If you've been around the blog for any amount of time, you know I tend to write a little write up of how each year went. In case you haven't seen them, here's 2011, 2012, and 2013. It's quite fun (at least for me) to see how much life (and my photography skills, apparently) have changed!

Without further ado, here's what life looked like in 2014:

January was a month of organizing and crafting, with my three biggest projects being making home made laundry soap, organizing all of my recipes, and creating a cork board for my office (which still isn't hung yet... oops!)






























Of course the Malden made an appearance with my 2014 set up. We also spent a few beautiful days outside exploring the Kentucky wilderness.


February was a quiet month on the blog - mainly a few recipes and photos. I did get a job in February though, after TWENTY SEVEN applications!

I also shared a post on setting up priority spaces in a house - only about six months after we moved in!


I got a grown up snow day in March, which was quite confusing for this Chicago native since we only had two inches of snow on the ground.


I took that snow day to catch up on some blogging, including sharing my planning system for my new job.

My planning system received an update in April, starting a summer of self-designed insert updates.


Brian and I also got away for a weekend of climbing this month, complete with amazing views like this:


May (and the rest of the year, really) was quiet on the blog, though I did share a time capsule-esque post about spending three years in one planner, my beloved Malden.


Outside of getting a promotion, June was a month of Filofax videos! I posted a mid year set up, a Uni Style Fit review, and version 3 of my custom inserts.

I struggled with work quite a bit in July, the foreshadowing of what was to come later that year. And after a few months of minimal posting, I provided a life update, ironically on another rainy day...


We also traveled nearly every weekend that month, but at least one trip was pure relaxation - a weekend at the lake. Days were full of kayaking and bike rides. Perfection.

August on the blog was nothing except Photo Friday posts. My bad. But we did get to celebrate the birthday of one of my heroes: Nonnie. 


September was emotional in many ways - in sharing thoughts on dealing with death after the five year anniversary of my Mom's accident and my reaction to witnessing domestic violence first hand while on a trail run. 

October was a month of activity and adventure - starting with a mid-month trip to California that left us both dreaming of the beach. 


We also completed our two biggest races in October, first a 10k and then a Half Marathon. I still can't believe I crossed the finish line of the half, and can't wait to get a few more races on the calendar this year. 

November was another quiet month on the blog, but was crazy in real life. After months of pros and cons, feelings of failure, and stress, I finally decided to quit my toxic job in November. And in a moment of complete grace, I had another opportunity open itself to me the very next day. I still don't quite know where I'm heading, but I do know that I am happier than I have been in quite a while. More stressed, probably, but happy. 

Then there was December. Only four posts made it onto the blog in December, my quietest blogging month all year. That could be because I worked 19 days straight, or perhaps because of a road trip that had us at over 2,100 miles, in 8 states, and at 10 holiday gatherings. Other than a quick life update and a few Photo Friday posts, the blog ended the year with barely a whisper. 

There may not have been an engagement, a wedding, or a big move this year, but I did end the year with five job titles, four trips to the lake, nine trips to Chicago, 10 different states visited, and four races run. Not to shabby!

Here's to whatever 2015 has in store!