It just wouldn’t be a New Year if you didn’t read thousands of posts about resolutions, successes, and memories. Normally I’m the last person to rave about my year and all that I did or accomplished. However, there was something very different about 2017. It was draining. It was exhausting. It was painful.

Those really difficult times, though — they made me struggle to remember all of the great ones. You see, in 2017 there was a lot of unexpected health issues, loss, and realizations. For the first time in my life I had to focus more on my personal well-being than ever before. Sometimes it’s hard to do that. It’s hard to admit that you’ll have to invest time into something you never thought you’d need to. I had to take a lot of time away from Mixed Up Money to focus on mediation, therapy, and personal relationships.

Having a ton of plans and business goals is commonly what we spend our entire year focusing on. You want to outdo everything you did the year prior, and you’ll do anything to get there. However, as you know — life often has other plans. 2017 was the year that those plans totally flipped my projects and goals on their side. But I wouldn’t change a thing.

So, for the first week back from my winter vacation from writing, all I wanted to do was reflect on my last year and all of the things that happened or changed my life for the better.

As for resolutions, the only thing that matters for me this year is being happy and staying healthy. It doesn’t always have to be specific, overwhelming, or unachievable when you plan a goal for the year. It can be as simple as letting yourself be happy and doing everything possible to keep things that way.

Never the less, here are my monthly highlights for 2017:

January:

• Spent New Years in Phoenix with the family

• Started freelance writing

• Started uploading to YouTube regularly (as “regularly” as possible)

February

• Flew to Manitoba to celebrate brother in law’s last university game

• Spent a weekend with friends in Bragg Creek

• Started investing more aggressively

March

• Was a judge for a Capital One Enactus event with Money After Graduation

• Amped up freelance clients and added on multiple sources of passive income

April

• Started therapy for my anxiety and depression

• Celebrated my husbands birthday with a surprise dinner

May 

• Watched my brother in law & new sister in law say “I do” in Canmore

• Did a ton of weekend hiking in the mountains

June

• Spent a weekend hiking and relaxing in Fernie

• Flew to Portugal for our honeymoon

• Flew to Madeira for a firework festival

July

• Started to see major results from my therapy sessions

• Stampededed my heart out

• Saw Usher in concert

• Turned 27

August

• Moved to Fort McMurray

September

• Celebrated my neice’s first birthday

• Celebrated a best friends engagement

• Celebrated another best friends engagement

• Hit 4,000 followers on Twitter

October

• Went to the Calgary Flames home opener

• Went to Dallas and spent every waking hour with Half Banked

• Hit over 500 newsletter subscribers (you should totally sign up)

November

• Started a new job at Zolo

• Spoke on a panel at a financial conference

• Won a 50/50 raffle at a gala

• Hit 200 subscribers on YouTube — which is literally the biggest accomplishment ever

December 

• Spent a month in Calgary over the holidays and with my family

• Spent a few days in Kananaskis pretending we weren’t completely frozen

• Had my first ever fondue dinner on New Years

Major highlights

• Mixed Up Money had over 130,000 visitors in 2017 with the best month being November (thank you)

• I crushed my side hustle income goal by September

• My husband and I saved over $40,000 in 11 months

• I was published on some amazing sites such as PopSugar and Lowest Rates, featured in some amazing sites such as Flare and Globe and Mail, and was interviewed by some of my favorite bloggers and companies

• Met some amazing Internet bloggers and seriously boss women at FinCon

• Was nominated for a Plutus Award — still shocked people think my blog is worth nominating

• Got to communicate with some of my readers and hear their comments about my writing (which was truly the greatest highlight of all)

What posts were read the most on Mixed Up Money?

• The Secret to Finding My Magic Number

• How I Went An Entire Year Without Buying New Clothes or Makeup

• Can You Afford to Save $5 A Day?

So, cheers. Cheers to a New Year filled with plenty of positivity, exciting surprises, and moments you’ll never forget. I hope that 2018 allows me the ability to spend more time on Mixed Up Money — but if it doesn’t, I still appreciate having the opportunity to write about my financial goals and share my seriously embarrassing and real mistakes that go along with those finances. There will always be a new story to tell and another Tuesday to post.

What were some of your favorite highlights from 2017? Let me know in the comments!