A Year to Rejoice In

This post is always so daunting to write, because how do you sum up one whole, action-packed year in a few short paragraphs?? Overall it was a year where I juggled a lot, challenged myself in a few ways, and am slowly but surely striking a better balance between my work and rest– which I’ve always struggled with, as my work is literally to share my life. 😂

When I decided last December that my word for 2022 would be “rejoice,” I had no idea how appropriate that word would be. Looking back at my photos and videos of the year, I’m so humbled to have been celebrated so much and even more honored to have been able to celebrate my best friends! It was very much a year of love-filled weddings, engagements, trips, and monumental birthdays for the people I love most. There’s really nothing more fun than that.

Here are a few major highlights–

Signing with a management agency that I LOVE. My dearest (and oldest!) friend’s wedding. Asking my best friends to be bridesmaids. Our ‘engagement-moon’ in Paris. Finding my wedding dress. My best friend getting engaged. Traveling to Italy and Greece! Celebrating my 28th birthday. Starting my DanceBody journey! My BACHELORETTE IN ST. BARTS (life peak??). My mom’s 60th birthday. My bridal shower and our wedding shower! A girls’ trip to Paris for my sister’s 25th. Enjoying one whole year of being engaged. Hosted our first holiday party…

Whew, there’s so much celebration, travel, and excitement in all of that, which I’m so beyond grateful for. But at the same time it was a LOT, and in all honesty it wasn’t without my fair share of over-scheduling, night sweats, good cries, and even many days where I just felt blah, and like my mood wasn’t matching up with how well my life was going.

Definitely always keep it top of mind that you only see .01% of my life across everything that I share, and that it’s much more difficult for me to share the real struggles than the frivolous pretty outfits. So what you may not have seen was that this year was also filled with a lot of self betterment and really working hard to get to my healthiest self (in mind, body, and spirit), before I marry the love of my life on February 11, 2023.

I continued my Christian life coaching with Alexandra (we’re years into doing this and I don’t think I could manage my life without her anymore), also did a year-long Christian engagement coaching series with Johnny and Alexandra, began taking Lexapro for my anxiety (absolutely life changing. I wish I started when I was in high school), and most importantly, I now start and end every day by reading my devotionals and praying.

Looking at the year from a bird’s eye view, per usual, I’m in constant awe of how God works everything out for the better– in ways that are often super unexpected but far better than I could have ever planned myself. I’ve seen it literally time and time again– when I face an issue or a challenge and then by God’s grace it ends up working itself out or having a greater purpose that I realize later on. I’m almost dumbfounded at how awesome He is, and that I can take a step back from whatever I’m facing, and rest easy knowing that He takes the burden off of my shoulders and has a perfect plan.

And the greatest part?? I’m not anything special to receive all of that (in fact I’d argue the opposite haha)–but that kind of grace is available to everyone.

My Word for 2023

Looking forward to 2023, I wanted to select a “word of the year” that could direct where I want my goals, actions, and mindset to be. I was actually trying to think of this word for weeks and happened to be scrolling through an email that Alexandra sent me and caught the word “bliss” written out. It immediately piqued my interest and I looked up the definition:

That was IT. The meaning behind the word sums up the feelings and mindset I want for 2023 better than anything else. And the part about marital bliss?? Couldn’t be more perfect. And when I thought about it more, I realized that it’s almost like ‘bliss’ is the next step after ‘rejoice’ (my word for 2022), which is also very fitting.

So next year I’m aiming for complete happiness, which means prioritizing rest, becoming a wife to the man I adore and love the most, and most importantly, being rooted in God’s word, love, and light. What could be more blissful that that?

2022 Favorites:

Sharing the top blog posts, Instagram posts, purchased items, Amazon items, and my personal favorites of 2022 in this post!