Looking Back: A 2016 Reflection.
Hey all!! So my original plan was to post a "How To Start The New Year Off Strong" post. I wrote the whole thing up, and was super happy with it.
I pressed save.
I pressed reload, as my laptop had stopped working.
It reloaded...
AND EVERYTHING HAD DISAPPEARED. ALL MY HARD WORK FROM THE PAST HOUR DISAPPEARED. JUST. LIKE. THAT.
That was two days ago. I was super upset, and didn't have the energy to redo it in that moment. Then yesterday, I went shopping with my mum, which was super fun, and I got some pretty cozy clothing, magazines...and a new book!! So that was super fun, but needless to say, I didn't have time to rewrite it then.
And now today, is New Year's Eve. So I thought instead of doing a starting the new year post, I'd do a 2016 reflection. Cause you know what? This year hasn't been as bad as everyone made it out to be. Well, at least not for me. I had my difficult moments, sure, but that's life. I'm not going to write off the whole year as unbearable just because I had a few tough moments. So this post is gunna be a (mostly) positive send off to the year.
January:
I was plunged right into musical rehearsal in January. I personally loved it - I'm not much of an actor so I learned quite a bit from this experience - as a musician and dancer as well. I used to just make up random moves, so it was quite cool to have a choreographed routine to learn. One highlight from January specifically was getting a solo in the musical! My friend and I were "husband and wife"...I was the husband, of course. LOL, my voice is lower than hers, especially when I sing, so I was the husband in this situation. And I was super pumped about it, too! I also got a monumental haircut (for me, at least...most people didn't even really notice haha). Man, was that really January? I feel like it was more recent than that haha. But yup, I just checked my blog post. It was a year ago, just about. Wowza. I also had stressful tests, and I debated twice. I was quite proud about debating, since I don't normally. I'm a little bit shier, so I normally steer clear of opportunities like that. But I didn't have much of a choice in either case, and in the end, it wasn't even that bad!!
February:
Not much happened in February. Musical rehearsal continued. I joined my school's newspaper...and got an article by me published!! I did an interview with my music teacher. That was so much fun, honestly!! And it was a really cool experience. Oh, and I obsessed over American Idol. Love that show. It's over now, though :'(
March:
Not sure if I blogged about this, but I actually got the opportunity to spend two weeks in France on exchange!! That was an amazing experience for me. Yes, that is where I rode a scooter for the first time, lol. (You can read about that here.)
April:
Musical happened! Super scary and fun and exhilarating. But I blogged about that so I won't go into detail haha. You can read that post here. Oh and my obsession of Irish punk rock music began. It's actually pretty good, but I would say this: don't change yourself for other people. Someone I knew was listening to it, so I started a little, and yeah, I was probably heavily influenced by said person. I wish my reason for getting into this music was different, but though I do like it either way, I beg you, please. Don't change just because you think this person may think differently of you. They won't. Trust me. They should like you for you.
May:
Stress! Tests! Stress! Assignments and too much homework! Stress! I did ace some tests then though, which I was pretty proud of. But other than that, not much happened. In fact, according to my journal, I found out how NOT dramatic I was. I was like OMG YOU'LL NEVER GUESS THE DRAMA THAT HAPPENED. THE KETCHUP RAN OUT. Yup, #mylife. I'm pretty lucky, and I know that, and am so grateful to have the life I'm living rn :) In other news, I started my more frequent library study sessions. I basically walked down to the library a lot, and studied! Sometimes with a friend, sometimes alone. It was a good change of scenery that I may start again in the new year. Oh, and we planned our Italy trip.
June:
More stress! And more! And exams! And any last minute things my teachers had to fit in! Then...SCHOOL'S OUT!! Then piano exam. THEN ITALY :)))))
July:
More school. That's what I get for wanting to get ahead and do a course in the summer instead of the next year, I guess. Overall it went pretty well though. And I was super glad once I was done :D Oh, and I also went to a concert. I was working on an assignment for the course on the way to the concert, haha. But it was a super fun and chill night, which was nice in the midst of all the work that was being given to us, since it was a regular course that they fit into three weeks. Oh, and I also hung out with friends.
August:
My summer officially began. Yay! I started singing lessons, went to another concert, got a new guitar, watched interstellar (MINDBLOWING MOVIE. It's so good if you haven't seen it you should!!), went on the occasional run, and watched the olympics!! As well as hanging out with fam and friends :) All in all, August is probs one of my fave months this year haha.
September:
School starts! Saw my friends a lot more, and got into the swing of things. As well, I got to participate in a mud run (literally a run through the mud) with my friends. Loved it. However, there was sooo much hw...but I do love most of my classes so it's okay haha. Oh and albums/songs dropped! Shawn Mendes with Illuminate (great album, btw!) and Niall Horan with This Town! Loved 'em both :)
October:
Not too much happened. I saw one of my fave youtubers in person and didn't know it was them cause I didn't really watch their vids then and am still mad at myself for that!! Oh and I got the opportunity to go to a really cool event where a whole bunch of people (youtubers, singers, as well as other cool people) gave awesome inspirational speeches. That was fun. And school continued.
November:
US election happened. I take a politics class, so that was a pretty big event in my life, and took up an hour every couple days. I love that class though :) pretty fascinating stuff. Oh and I discovered light up beanies. And school was super stressful, as per usual. Swimming started. I had a huge presentation, in which my group went first. Like at the very start of class and no one else had gone yet. Super nervewracking. But I made it through haha. And we did half decent :)
December:
STRESS STRESS STRESS...SCHOOL'S OUT!!! YAY!! I had a big gathering with all my friends...I don't want to say 'party' cause it has a negative stereotype, with drinking and all that. I'm not criticizing those who choose to do that, it's completely up to them haha. But my friends and I don't exactly do that. That's not us. We more...have nerf gun fights, go carolling, and sing a whole lot throughout the whole night. You know highschool musical? That's basically us. We randomly start singing a lot. Like, at school too. So my question: if my life is basically highschool musical...where is my Troy Bolton? :P Oh, and I told a couple people I know (like, irl :O) about this blog. If you're reading, you know who you are. Hey :) I also hung out with fam a lot this holiday. Games, laughs, talks, and fun times.
Now, it's a few hours till 2017. And I can officially say that I had a great year, and learned a lot about myself. I learned not to change yourself for anyone. To do what makes you happy, no matter what anyone else thinks. I learned that sometimes, though taking risks can be scary, you'll never regret it. It's better to try than to live with the 'what ifs'. And that's what I want to go into 2017 thinking. Take risks, stay positive, and do what makes me happy...no matter what anyone else thinks. Cause their opinion isn't worth changing myself over.
If you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done, after all. And everything you're doing right now is for your future. Enjoy, laugh, cry and learn, my friends. But most importantly, keep moving forward. One foot at a time.
Till next time!
~Iris xx
I pressed save.
I pressed reload, as my laptop had stopped working.
It reloaded...
AND EVERYTHING HAD DISAPPEARED. ALL MY HARD WORK FROM THE PAST HOUR DISAPPEARED. JUST. LIKE. THAT.
That was two days ago. I was super upset, and didn't have the energy to redo it in that moment. Then yesterday, I went shopping with my mum, which was super fun, and I got some pretty cozy clothing, magazines...and a new book!! So that was super fun, but needless to say, I didn't have time to rewrite it then.
And now today, is New Year's Eve. So I thought instead of doing a starting the new year post, I'd do a 2016 reflection. Cause you know what? This year hasn't been as bad as everyone made it out to be. Well, at least not for me. I had my difficult moments, sure, but that's life. I'm not going to write off the whole year as unbearable just because I had a few tough moments. So this post is gunna be a (mostly) positive send off to the year.
January:
I was plunged right into musical rehearsal in January. I personally loved it - I'm not much of an actor so I learned quite a bit from this experience - as a musician and dancer as well. I used to just make up random moves, so it was quite cool to have a choreographed routine to learn. One highlight from January specifically was getting a solo in the musical! My friend and I were "husband and wife"...I was the husband, of course. LOL, my voice is lower than hers, especially when I sing, so I was the husband in this situation. And I was super pumped about it, too! I also got a monumental haircut (for me, at least...most people didn't even really notice haha). Man, was that really January? I feel like it was more recent than that haha. But yup, I just checked my blog post. It was a year ago, just about. Wowza. I also had stressful tests, and I debated twice. I was quite proud about debating, since I don't normally. I'm a little bit shier, so I normally steer clear of opportunities like that. But I didn't have much of a choice in either case, and in the end, it wasn't even that bad!!
February:
Not much happened in February. Musical rehearsal continued. I joined my school's newspaper...and got an article by me published!! I did an interview with my music teacher. That was so much fun, honestly!! And it was a really cool experience. Oh, and I obsessed over American Idol. Love that show. It's over now, though :'(
March:
Not sure if I blogged about this, but I actually got the opportunity to spend two weeks in France on exchange!! That was an amazing experience for me. Yes, that is where I rode a scooter for the first time, lol. (You can read about that here.)
April:
Musical happened! Super scary and fun and exhilarating. But I blogged about that so I won't go into detail haha. You can read that post here. Oh and my obsession of Irish punk rock music began. It's actually pretty good, but I would say this: don't change yourself for other people. Someone I knew was listening to it, so I started a little, and yeah, I was probably heavily influenced by said person. I wish my reason for getting into this music was different, but though I do like it either way, I beg you, please. Don't change just because you think this person may think differently of you. They won't. Trust me. They should like you for you.
May:
Stress! Tests! Stress! Assignments and too much homework! Stress! I did ace some tests then though, which I was pretty proud of. But other than that, not much happened. In fact, according to my journal, I found out how NOT dramatic I was. I was like OMG YOU'LL NEVER GUESS THE DRAMA THAT HAPPENED. THE KETCHUP RAN OUT. Yup, #mylife. I'm pretty lucky, and I know that, and am so grateful to have the life I'm living rn :) In other news, I started my more frequent library study sessions. I basically walked down to the library a lot, and studied! Sometimes with a friend, sometimes alone. It was a good change of scenery that I may start again in the new year. Oh, and we planned our Italy trip.
June:
More stress! And more! And exams! And any last minute things my teachers had to fit in! Then...SCHOOL'S OUT!! Then piano exam. THEN ITALY :)))))
July:
More school. That's what I get for wanting to get ahead and do a course in the summer instead of the next year, I guess. Overall it went pretty well though. And I was super glad once I was done :D Oh, and I also went to a concert. I was working on an assignment for the course on the way to the concert, haha. But it was a super fun and chill night, which was nice in the midst of all the work that was being given to us, since it was a regular course that they fit into three weeks. Oh, and I also hung out with friends.
August:
My summer officially began. Yay! I started singing lessons, went to another concert, got a new guitar, watched interstellar (MINDBLOWING MOVIE. It's so good if you haven't seen it you should!!), went on the occasional run, and watched the olympics!! As well as hanging out with fam and friends :) All in all, August is probs one of my fave months this year haha.
September:
School starts! Saw my friends a lot more, and got into the swing of things. As well, I got to participate in a mud run (literally a run through the mud) with my friends. Loved it. However, there was sooo much hw...but I do love most of my classes so it's okay haha. Oh and albums/songs dropped! Shawn Mendes with Illuminate (great album, btw!) and Niall Horan with This Town! Loved 'em both :)
October:
Not too much happened. I saw one of my fave youtubers in person and didn't know it was them cause I didn't really watch their vids then and am still mad at myself for that!! Oh and I got the opportunity to go to a really cool event where a whole bunch of people (youtubers, singers, as well as other cool people) gave awesome inspirational speeches. That was fun. And school continued.
November:
US election happened. I take a politics class, so that was a pretty big event in my life, and took up an hour every couple days. I love that class though :) pretty fascinating stuff. Oh and I discovered light up beanies. And school was super stressful, as per usual. Swimming started. I had a huge presentation, in which my group went first. Like at the very start of class and no one else had gone yet. Super nervewracking. But I made it through haha. And we did half decent :)
December:
STRESS STRESS STRESS...SCHOOL'S OUT!!! YAY!! I had a big gathering with all my friends...I don't want to say 'party' cause it has a negative stereotype, with drinking and all that. I'm not criticizing those who choose to do that, it's completely up to them haha. But my friends and I don't exactly do that. That's not us. We more...have nerf gun fights, go carolling, and sing a whole lot throughout the whole night. You know highschool musical? That's basically us. We randomly start singing a lot. Like, at school too. So my question: if my life is basically highschool musical...where is my Troy Bolton? :P Oh, and I told a couple people I know (like, irl :O) about this blog. If you're reading, you know who you are. Hey :) I also hung out with fam a lot this holiday. Games, laughs, talks, and fun times.
Now, it's a few hours till 2017. And I can officially say that I had a great year, and learned a lot about myself. I learned not to change yourself for anyone. To do what makes you happy, no matter what anyone else thinks. I learned that sometimes, though taking risks can be scary, you'll never regret it. It's better to try than to live with the 'what ifs'. And that's what I want to go into 2017 thinking. Take risks, stay positive, and do what makes me happy...no matter what anyone else thinks. Cause their opinion isn't worth changing myself over.
If you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done, after all. And everything you're doing right now is for your future. Enjoy, laugh, cry and learn, my friends. But most importantly, keep moving forward. One foot at a time.
Till next time!
~Iris xx
Your year's full of highlights then? I had posted a blog post, in similarity to this one,surprisingly at around the same time. Jeez, that's just... well are there even any words?! The year flies by quickly. It only felt like yesterday when I wrote my post for January 2016 and now I'm planning my next one for January 2017. 2017. Those are digits which I need to get used to.
ReplyDelete#sweetreats xxx
Yup I was very fortunate to have a lot of highlights this year :) And haha omg really? That's hilarious. I'll check it out!! :) And ikr, it went by so quick! And ya haha that's gunna take some getting used to :)
Delete~Iris xx