trajectory of a life

Nearly 365 days ago, I welcomed in 2017 as a single person — and in bed. The first day of new year was spent cheering on the Broncos to a win, albeit a bit meaningless as their hopes of a playoff spot were already vanquished (seems a story all too familiar these days . . .) and just a few weeks later, I would be savoring my first getaway of the year – which just happened to be a solo trip to San Diego.

With curiosity as my north star, I set out to notice more, take risks and embrace the unexpected. However, nothing could have prepared me for what turned out to be one of the most eventful years of my life as I met the love of my life just a few months later. And then over an unplugged Labor Day weekend, and at a cabin in the middle of nowhere, Colorado, we decided to make it official by becoming engaged.

As I reflect on a year filled with many unfortunate and undesirable events that impacted so many, I’m extremely grateful and humbled by all of the goodness in my life. From welcoming my fiancé and his (now our) pup into my life, to a career I both enjoy and am challenged by and, finally, a supportive and loving network of friends and family (which grew by nine additional humans by way of my fiance’s family), I am truly one lucky human.

explore: solo trip to San Diego; Jackson Hole to see my bestie; 2x San Francisco in one month; girls trip to Portland; SoDak x3; Boston; Finland + Sweden + Estonia cousin trip; Winter Park; San Diego with D + family; New Orleans; Phoenix; unplugged mountain getaway; ticked off most of my travel wishlist for the year

 never stop learning + growing: MBSR course; work meditation; presented at DWG meeting; glass blowing class; painting (x2); community cupping; blogging 101 e-course; new employee welcome facilitator (work); succulent class; one-year anniversary of Denver Creates; treated myself to a DSLR; presented at DWG knowledge exchange; attended Intranet Reloaded conference

give back: led community relations committee for SCAT (work); led two volunteer projects; participated for second year in Pro Bono Challenge; heart walk; sourfest volunteering; wildlands restoration volunteer program; nominated for outstanding community service award; featured on Schwab’s Instagram for Schwab Volunteer Week; Dressember; facilitated Our Local Heroes display (work)

milestones: minimalism; one-year at Schwab + finally feel like I’m “in”; tremendous growth year for my career; many workouts + runs; paid off one student loan + PMI + credit cards; silent meditation retreat; said goodbye to my grandma; big work decision + changed my mind – twice; hail storm + lessons learned on dealing with contractors; discovered how much love one can have for a non-human (Ellie <3); fifth year of book club; successful launch + management of champions group (work); arm pain; mentorship (work); celebrated a decade as a Denverite; submitted personal essay for publication consideration; got engaged; celebrated 37 + spoiled by my love; received prestigious work award; no-spend November; completed challenge of 101 things in 1001 days; tweet featured as Schwab tweet of the week

with the best intentions: Foundations of Well-Being course; readolution

 random facts that shaped the year

• 1,273: visitors to my blog hailing from 27 countries
• 865: dollars made from selling 54 items on Poshmark
• 69: blog posts published + most popular being table for one: a year later
• 22: books read
• 18: concerts attended
• ~15: number of trips made to Goodwill
• 10: years I’ve been a Denverite
• 5: podcasts with which I’m obsessed
• 4: beer festivals attended
• 3: new countries visited
• 2: number by which my household grew
• 1: life-changing albums discovered (thank you, Beyonce)

A look back at past years’ reflections:

• 2016 gratitude
• reflections on 2015
• 2014: A look back
• 2014 intentions
• reflections on 2013
• 2012: A look back
• 11 reasons 2011 was amazing
• A year in review (2010)
• a human being, not a human doing (2009)