I’ve already been reading posts on blogs about the best of 2017 and reflections on the year. I have to say, overall, this was one incredible year. There were many hard times, many lessons and lots of moving around with travel and settling in a new state. All of that though, has brought me here and for that I am grateful.
This post starts with Australia of course. After my first time in Australia, I knew I had to go back and explore more. I told myself I would try to make it back in 5 years and I just made that deadline arriving into Sydney on Dec 30, 2016. I had first gone to Australia in 2011. We rang in the New Year wearing shorts and sunscreen and watching the fireworks over the Sydney Harbor bridge. That was another item on my {lost} bucket list, you can check out my new one here.
We had no itinerary but there is so much to see in Sydney, we opted to stay for 2 weeks.
By the end of the two weeks, we took some rest days lounging around our apartment we had through Airbnb and then hopped on a plane to New Zealand. Our original thinking was that we should go to New Zealand before doing any farm work in Australia due to the high bio hazard control New Zealand has.
We went on the best guided tour to Hobbiton and then rented a campervan for two weeks to drive around the south island of New Zealand.
That brought us to February, hopping on a plane again to Melbourne Australia. We settled there for a week which was wonderful after all the driving. I even joined a pilates/yoga studio and went to the 7am class 5 days.
We loved the campervan so much in New Zealand, we decided to get one in Australia. We ventured to Adelaide, happening upon the Fringe Festival, a festival we would love to go to again. Then we drove to the outback on the Stuart highway, a very long straight road. We saw Uluru and quickly said goodbye to Uluru as we had to get back to Melbourne to return our van.
Next it was off to the East coast, beginning in Brisbane. We took a train ride from there to go to the Australia Zoo for a day and I had my wish come true when I got to hold a koala, even if the mosquitoes were awful and bit my face while I was holding little Peanut.
We took trains and buses up the East coast, stopping to visit one of my friends, then taking a boat trip totally out of my comfort zone, before heading to Cairns while Cyclone Debbie made its way into Australia.
We ended with a visit to the Australia honeymoon capital, Port Douglas, where Brian and I parted ways as he headed back to the US and I headed to London.
April began in London, where I was very tired and hardly adjusted to the time zone in the few days I was there. I mostly stuck to walking around, but I splurged on the Harry Potter tour and was glad I did. I also went to see Kinky Boots on London Broadway which was amazing.
I took the train to Paris. Oh the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and all the bread you could want.
I then took the train down to the Aix en Provence to stay with a family friend. It was my birthday and we got treats from a local bakery. I stayed with them for a week and about half of the week was pretty chill where I caught up on reading, writing and doing yoga in my room. I needed that down time in all the hustle and bustle of traveling. We had some fun day trips to Marseilles and then to see flamingos in the wild which was just incredible.
Soon it was time for another train ride to Barcelona to meet up with my sister’s friend. Thank goodness for her Spanish because I only took French in school. She was also the best tour guide.
My final travel place was Dublin, which was too quick of a visit and I came down with some sort of stomach bug so I lived on cereal and water for the most part in my time there. Thankfully I was feeling better by the time I had my flight home to Chicago.
In May I got to visit my sister in Iowa and cross that state off my “to visit” list. I then moved to Binghamton and was applying to whatever jobs I could find, which I found difficult being in a smaller town compared to applying in Chicago or Philadelphia.
I kept sane thanks to finding an awesome powerlifting gym and going for 5 mile walks on the bike path nearly daily until my ankles were so sore I needed to rest. Finally I had some interviews and started my job in June.
Still working to keep myself busy, I signed up for a yin yoga training in the area which ran through July and August.
I also attended my first BlogFest in July and it left me on a total high. It was amazing beyond words.
August was when the year took a turn with a sudden loss followed by another loss. I did however attend my first state fair.
I thought things in September would turn around and then I had to head home to Chicago for one of my own family members. Though I made the best of my trip supporting my friend’s small business and also visiting the beach because it was so hot for September and the water wasn’t even that bad.
In October, I enjoyed a visit to Penn Yan and some pumpkin carving. We made the difficult decision to put one of our cats down. I also finally decided to get an online coach for my powerlifting. I love having a workout made for me and also working on my nutrition to really build muscle.
November was a less eventful month (thank goodness). Of course we had Thanksgiving, but I’m not into Thanksgiving food much. I did enjoy a wonderful friendsgiving though. We also finally got our deposit down on our wedding venue and I will talk more about that in 2018 and the wedding plans.
Once December came, I was ready for the Christmas movies and music. I had all my shopping done in the first week pretty much. Brian was actually home over a weekend and we decided to go down to NYC for a day and I invited my friend Alicia along. We saw Cats on Broadway and that was really good.
I once again made my gingerbread cookies and ate sooo many of them I think I will be set until next Christmas.
My mom decided she wanted to spend Christmas in Florida because we found out my grandma had lung cancer so my mom, sister and I spent Christmas weekend in Florida. It felt weird with it being so hot and Christmas, but it was also really nice to get sun because we had a lot of grey, snow and rain in New York and I was really feeling those winter blues already.
And now we head into the New Year. I’d say 2017 started at a high high and the middle was kind of the lowest of lows with too many funerals. I hope now we are headed in an upwards direction again with a New Year starting. One of my main goals for the year is to work on my strength. My Florida bikini photo says it all to me. I am so proud of my hard work to get back in shape, but not just in shape, to see my body transform before me and be increasing my weights to a number I never imagined. Investing in an online coach has definitely paid off already in the only 3 months so far.
Wow that was so much to recap. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading. I really appreciate you stopping by my little corner of the internet. I love to write and share my adventures. Cheers to the New Year!! I’m ready for 2018!!
Are you excited for the New Year?
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