2013 definitely taught me a lot about myself. For the first time in my life I found out that I have hobbies outside of “liking animals.” {I don’t think that actually counts as a hobby, but I never had anything better to tell them.}

Tone It Up introduced me to a world of fitness and clean eating. This time last year, I’d have laughed at you if you told me there’d be a treadmill in my family room, and I’d have weights under my TV.

I also discovered hoop dancing. I knew that I was going to try it, but I didn’t realize how much fun I’d have with it, nor did I ever think I was going to be any good at it. For anyone who ever thought they couldn’t hoop as a kid, I highly recommend trying an actual hoop made for adults. I can hoop for hours with a good hoop, but I can’t hoop for 5 seconds with the one I had as a child.

When I wasn’t exercising, cooking, or hoop dancing, {and I wasn’t at work…} I was probably reading for most of the year. Sitting outside with a drink from Starbucks and my Kindle became the norm for a while there.

Not all my hobbies were great though. I seem to have developed a bit of a shopping addiction. I wore a uniform from the time I was 6 until I was 17. I owned maybe a total of 6 pairs of shoes and wore a t-shirt and jeans every day. Now, I have a whole closet full of just shoes and an overflowing walk-in closet with more clothes than I know what to do with. I may have a problem…

I think I grew the most in terms of my career though. {And considering how much time I spent on it, I suppose it should be…}

When I was in college, I did my best to be invisible which is pretty hard when your super-outgoing mother’s worked there for your whole life. This year it became clear that I’ve unknowingly managed to undo all that hard work though. Maybe it’s the training demos I’ve been doing, or maybe after 5 years, my name is finally getting out there, but I find myself saying “Hi” to people quite a lot now. In fact, I even found myself introducing my mom to a few people at this year’s holiday party {again a pretty big deal when she’s been there for over 20 years…} I think the most surprising part is that I don’t mind this as much as I thought even being as awkward in social situations as I am. If anything, I’m pretty proud that I’ve managed to somehow stay connected despite being on the other side of the pond {aka my University’s pond that sits between my building and the rest of the main buildings on campus}.

I also realized Instructional Systems Design was not the right program for me, and I’m now in the process of pursuing another path that will hopefully lead me back into technology NOT training. {Note to self: If you don’t want to teach, don’t take courses related to designing teaching programs…}

I think the most important thing I learned this year however was to just be me. I may not be planning a wedding on Pinterest. I may not be posting baby pictures on Facebook. I may still be looking for Mr. Right, and still in school, and I may be living at home to help my mom pay bills – All things that I thought I’d have figured out by now, but I do have a wonderful, well-paying job that’s willing to pay for graduate school. I have some pretty great people in my life who have stuck by me no matter what, and I have some amazing animals that wake me up with kisses even when I look like hell and don’t want to get out of bed. I’m happy and grateful for what I have and what I can provide for others, and that’s what really matters.

Here’s to the end of a wonderful yet unexpected year!