2015 Reflections

I titled my first post of the year, "2015: A New Era," and that has certainly been true. It was a transition from full time student to full time employee, and I finally gained a huge amount of independence that I had been dreaming about for so long. This is what the new era of my life brought me:

*Lost my dear cat, Puss on the second day of the year. It's a devastating blow I'm still trying to overcome.
*Experienced my first collision when I drove the bug into a highway guardrail after hitting black ice. It was a scary experience, but I was able to drove home from it okay.
*Moved out of my parents' house on my 20th birthday! Granted it was to a semi-permanent house sitting gig down the road, but I had an entire house to myself. As 2015 comes to a close, I have since moved an additional two times. Ugh. Now I'm living with Shelby in a lovely apartment in Bethlehem. Yay!
*Enrolled in WREN's Business and Entrepreneurial Technical Assistance program and gained more relevant knowledge than I learned during my entire business degree program. It was an amazing course and I feel significantly more confident in running my business than ever before.
*Competed in the first annual Littleton Area Capital adVENTURE Challenge and made many new connections and experiences.
*Left my job at the Chamber and was offered a marketing assistant position in Plymouth. I left that job a few months later and am so happy to be past both of them. I took a leap of faith and am now working for Emshika, owner of Chang Thai Cafe and M-ZO Tea & Co. in Littleton, and I absolutely love it. I'm her assistant and marketing coordinator, which basically means I'm her errand runner, writer, photographer, travel companion, etc. It's awesome!
*Traveled to Nova Scotia with Mom. The province is gorgeous and so peaceful.
*Adopted two playful and adorable cats from a hoarder situation. They came named Guinevere and Lancelot- could it get any better?
*Had my first full gallery show at 42 Maple.
*Was able to spend more time with friends and family.
*Acquired so many new life skills. I learned how to be a teacher (at the Littleton Studio School!), design websites, make lattes, live alone, manage restaurants, and more.
*Took AHEAD's Secrets of Homebuying class with Shelby. Between that and my experience as a residential loan assistant, I feel confident and ready to buy a home. (And I have a good credit score!)
*Experienced incredible business growth that is carrying into the future. I invested all of this year's income back into the business and am pleased that 2016 will be my first year of profit.

What a roller coaster year this has been. I look forward to consistency and upward growth in 2016.