This was a crazy year for me. If I had to summarize 2015 into one theme, it was the year of challenges. Challenging beliefs on things I never thought I could accomplish, both physically and emotionally. Challenging the way I have always viewed myself. Challenging my comfort zone at work. Challenging myself creatively. Reading through the last year of posts to pick out my favorite posts of 2015, I was astounded to realize just how far these challenges have brought me.
I can’t tell you how excited I am for 2016.
First, a Resolution Review
This is exciting for me, as my post on 2015 Goals was my first ever Mad Like Alyce post! This was before I went through with the full site launch, but was the official start of this crazy blogging journey and I have loved every second of it. I checked in on these goals and made a few adjustments in my Mid Year Goal Review, and here is how it all panned out.
1. Read 45 Books
I killed this goal. I passed 50 books sometime in September, and just stopped counting after that, although I don’t know if I quite hit 60. Regardless, it was a great year for reading. It is a great self care for me, and I want to make sure I keep it up.
2. Share 1 new song or artist each week
I was OK at this one, It did spawn a feature (Friday Favorites) that I really would like to bring back, but have had so many things on my plate that I just haven’t gotten to it. I think I might shoot to post my top tracks of the month on the last Friday of the month moving forward.
3. Lose 20 lbs
Sigh. This one didn’t happen. On the plus side, I did end the year technically down 4 lbs from where I was last year. Small silver lining. I am not getting too hard on myself for this one though, as I feel like I made some huge strides in changing how I look at health, fitness, mental health, and self image in the last year. So overall, I think 2015 set me up to really make some healthy overall life changes in 2016.
4. Post at least 1 post each week
OMG I’m so pleased with this goal!!!! I didn’t realize just how much I had posted until I went to put up my favorite posts review on New Years Day, and saw I did a total of 116 posts in 2015!!!! AHHHHH You GUYS I’m so ecstatic. The Month of Halloween did wonders for those numbers and really started to get me pushing the envelope on my DIY, photography, and general editing skills. Even with the level of insanity this caused, I defiantly want to do this again in 2016.
5. Learn to speak Bosnian
I’ll call this one done, but I’ll be clear… I really can’t. My mid-year goal was to speak it well enough to communicate when necessary to Damir’s dad while he was here. There was lots of gesturing and miming out actions, and lots of looking to Damir to translate, but we had a great time! I just love his dad to death, and I did manage to be able to communicate the basics with him, and even took him to the farmers market to shop… without Damir! Took me forever to realize that “Paradice” meant “Tomato” but ultimately I had such a fantastic time.
Looking Forwards
I have some really great things on the Horizon for 2016, and I am so excited to be able to share this all with you. I can honestly say I have never looked into a future year with so much anticipation and excitement, and so little apprehension and anxiety. I cannot tell you how much this blog has done to inspire this change in me, and to all of you reading… thank you. From the bottom of my heart.
Onward to 2016!!!
Hi! I'm Alyce. 
