Hello 2019! I am really happy to see you! I have officially completed my first full year of blogging! Woohoo! The blog took a big leap forward these past few months and that is all thanks to you! I probably sound like a broken record but thank you for opening that email when I pop up in your inbox or swiping up on a blog post from Instagram. Thank you for trusting me with your style and using my links when you see something you love here! I hope to continue to be a resource for you and put out content that is relatable and that you enjoy reading! With that, here are some favorites from 2018 all determined by you!
Top blog post – Amazon Haul – Everything’s Under $35! Amazon posts have been the most viewed blog posts! I love searching and searching and searching for great items to show you. 
Top item (s) – there was actually a tie between this sweater blazer and this cowl neck sweater!
2018 Highlights
One of my favorite things I did was host the launch of the Joules Collection at Dillard’s!
I introduced you guys to one of my very favorite brands, Cabana Life and worked on a few campaigns and giveaways with them! 
Andrew and I took 3 really great vacations this year! Charleston, celebrating Dockery’s 3rd birthday in Disney World and Napa Valley!
The talented Nikki B Photography captured the most memorable pictures for us that are now framed in our home! I shared them all in a blog post here. 
Looking back on 2018
This post was a hard one for me to write. Andrew and I both agree 2018 was not the best year for us. There were challenges we had not dealt with before and anxiety crept in the 2nd half of the year in a way that I had not experienced before. I’ve learned so much about myself this past year from staying home with a toddler and working from home. I had times of wanting to give this little space up because it just became too stressful trying to do everything at all times. But once I learned to give myself some grace, take a step back every now and then, I felt ready to jump right back in and get started again. Taking care of a 3 year old everyday and working at home is something that I am still adjusting to. I learned not everything has to be perfect and when I am feeling the pressure of life, work and everything in between I really need to focus on 1 or 2 things that are really important and the rest can wait. It is all still a work in progress that I am looking forward to working on more in the new year. I love how the new year is a refresher where you essentially get to start over and try to be a better version of yourself than you were the year before. Don’t set your expectations too high or there will be lots of times you feel like you didn’t succeed.
At the end of 2017, I set a word to live by in 2018 – that word was grow. I was excited to see our lives here in Florida grow. We made new friends, Dockery started his 2nd year at a new school, he had his first hair cut, we took a few trips home to Louisiana and had family and friends visit us here in Florida. When that anxiety started to creep in, I started to realize my outlook on the day is a big determining factor on how I felt. I can chose to be sad about this or feel overwhelmed with that, but when I really looked at the big picture of things, took a step back and realized what we do have then I felt so much better. I never want to come on here and pretend my life is perfect. I think coming here and sharing outfits with you let’s me forget about the hustle of life just for a little bit.
Looking forward to 2019
After a year of many highs and lots of lows, I am so excited for what’s to come for 2019. Andrew and I both agree that 2019 is going to be a great year! So after all of that my word for 2019 is BALANCE. I need to work on trying to balance it all and not trying to do it all at once. Know when I have those days and I need to step away and take a break.
Routine is so important for balance and I am going to work hard on setting a routine for us. Our days are basically all over the place which is a huge change from what they used to be. When Dockery was around 3 months old we set a schedule that we stuck to and adjusted for almost 3 years depending upon him. When he dropped his nap last summer, routine quickly went out the door and that’s when I started to feel out of sorts. Today when I woke up, I wrote down my to do list of just 4 things I needed to get done today and scheduled out quiet time for him while I get work done. Writing down those 4 tasks will help me feel more accomplished at the end of the day rather than feeling like I have to get 100 things done in one day. The other things can wait. Letting go of perfectionism is something I am going to strive for really hard this year in all aspects of my life.
Keeping up with this blog is one thing that is super important to me. I never imagined that I would love sitting down at the computer, writing about our life and putting content together. I am so thankful that I get to do this and cannot wait to see where it takes me this year. I am excited to keep my head down, keep learning and working hard in 2019! Cheers to a new year! Let’s make it a good one!
xo
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