2016: A Year in Review

December is halfway done which means that 2016 is coming to a close very shortly. This year, like any other, saw a lot of ups and down for me. It also had a lot of change for me. But it was definitely necessary change for me. I started the year as a New York Resident and am ending it an Illinois one. I started it as a teacher and coach and am ending it as a Lululemon educator and substitute teacher. I started it quite unhappy and discouraged and am ending it renewed and hopeful. Sure, some things remain the same for me (body issues and loneliness to name a few), but this year I really tried to look at the positives a lot more because I was sick of the same negatives continually bringing me down.

When I sat down and set my annual personal goals for 2016 last December, my major goal was to be happy again. I spent a majority of 2015 in a funk and needed to take some risks and make some big changes in order to find my happiness again. Part of that was a shift in mindset which I am continually working on. And part of it was was a professional and location change. It took a lot of thought, a lot of tears, and a giant leap of faith to finally make the decision to leave my teaching job in NYC and move back home to Chicago. It was something that was mentally in the works for a while and was bound to happen eventually, but in order to live my best life now, I had to bite the bullet. And while that didn't happen until mid-year, lots of other stuff went down. Lots of good stuff actually. As the year progressed, I actually kept tabs (in the notebook on my phone) on the highlight of each month as if to remind myself that positives do indeed happen each month.  Each month when I went to enter the new highlight, it really brought a smile to myself looking back the previous month's accomplishments. I kind of got to pat myself on the back each time, thank you very much. And now I will make it official in a blog post and share my monthly highlights of 2016 with you.

January: My basketball team won our MLK tourney. After losing in the championship game in overtime of this very tournament last year to a team we previously easily beat (and giving us our first and only loss of the regular season), we got our redemption and the trophy this year.  Basketball is so important to me and I am just as intense and competitive coaching it as I was playing. To win this tournament and getting over the hump of winning a close game that would probably affect our playoff seeding later in the season proved to use that we were indeed better and stronger than last year. It was awesome.

February: Earning a 4-mile PR (sub 9 minute-mile). One of my goals of 2016 was to get faster. That's a goal I set every year for myself, but I decided to try and do something different this year in order to see a real difference and improvement. Instead of going out and running 5-6 miles at a comfortable pace during my usual morning runs, I was going to do shorter distances at faster paces. I hoped this would pay off in shorter races which I also planned to run more of. On Superbowl Sunday I signed up for a 4-miler that I hadn't run in a couple of years but wanted to do again because I had been running so well at that point and wanted to test the waters. However, two days before the race I came down with food poisoning and wasn't sure I'd be able to get the PR I wanted. I was feeling better that morning and decided to do the race anyway and if I had to walk,I would, but I would push myself if I felt up to it. No pressure at all. Turns out as soon as I started the race I felt confident and so I kept pushing. My iPod died by mile two and I was still feeling good and focused. By the time I crossed the finish line I realized that I had run faster than a 9-minute mile and that was most def a 4-mile PR for me so I was more than happy. Sometimes those no pressure races are the best ones for me because of the lack of expectations. If only I could have that frame of mind going into all my races and not put unnecessary pressure on myself to do well.

March: Winning the New York State Basketball Championship. This was probably the highlight of my year and will be one of the highlights of my life. I had set out this basketball season with the goal of winning a city title after our heart-breaking loss the previous year in the city championship ranked as the #1 team. I cried for days after that loss and couldn't let that happen again. This year, as our season progressed, I realized what a special team I had. We were winning and winning and winning. When we won the city title, I broke down hysterically crying happy, relieved tears. We had done it. I didn't think I could be happier. Then it was off to Albany to do something a girl's city team hadn't done in a long time: win a state title. We were the top rated seed but knew again not to be too cocky and just to play our game. We knew we were better and we proved it and we won. And yes, I cried those happy tears again. Having an undefeated season that included a city and a state championship was truly amazing and a feeling I will never, ever forget. 

April: My impulsive trip to London for Spring Break. As a reward for myself for working so hard and going beyond my wildest expectations to the basketball season, I wanted to do something for myself. I usually would go back home to Chicago for Spring Break but wanted something more special than that and could save Chicago for a long weekend. So I went for it. I booked myself a ticket to London, one of my favorite cities in the world. For me traveling is just pure bliss and brings me a ridiculous amount of happiness. It was a glorious week of solo traveling and seeing new places and visiting old favorites and I wish I could travel like that all the time. 

May: Our flag football team success. This year was my third year coaching the girls flag football team and I loved it from the day I started. Our first season, the inaugural one, we went 7-3 and won our division but lost in the first round of playoffs. I remember going home and crying because I was so upset and hate losing so much, but also felt bad for our senior girls. The second season we went 8-2, improving our record from the first year, again winning our division and even making it to the second round of the playoffs, but losing a heart-breaker there. I was sad we lost, and shed a tear, but was honestly so relieved that the season was over because it was my third sport coached that year (in a row) and I was ready for some much needed time-off after work. This season, after an absolutely incredible, but super long basketball season, I jumped right into flag football. I wasn't that motivated because I just wanted some time to finally relax, but as I do, I got to work because I certainly didn't want to risk losing games. No way was that happening. Luckily, we ended up going 9-1, again improving from the previous year and earning a number ten seed in the entire city. Unfortunately we lost in the playoffs in the first round to a team we should have beaten, but our improvement over the last three seasons was something I was very proud of. 

June: I got my first article published. Writing has always been something I enjoyed and something I thought I was fairly good at. I never wanted to be an author or an editor or even an English teacher, but I just like sharing my opinions and ideas and anecdotes with others in my unique writing style. In late-May I decided to send out some cold-call emails to some blogs and magazines that I read often and see if I could get any bites about writing for them. Women's Running Magazine emailed me back and after a few correspondences and pitches, they gave me a chance to write for them. The first article of mine they published was about being a middle of the pack runner and I was beyond ecstatic when it went live on their website. After that, they published two more articles of mine and I'm hoping for some more in the future with them or other publications if possible.
 
July: I checked a lot of my NYC bucket list. Although I've seen and done an insane amount in twelve years living in New York City, there were still some things that I had never done. I had always put them off because there would eventually be time to do them, but as things would have it, that time was now. I sat down and wrote out everything I've done and still needed/wanted to do (or things to eat) in my time in NYC and made shit happen. Luckily some of my friends were down to do some of the stuff with me which made it even better. Checking things off my NYC bucket list was so much fun and made me realize how fucking lucky I was to live in one of the best cities on this planet.

August: I made the move back home to Chicago. The time finally came to leave NYC, my home for the last twelve years. The place where I built my entire adult life. I was leaving behind my apartment, my job, my friends, and my comfort. This was a huge step for me and total life change. It was scary but it had to be done. My mom found me an awesome apartment in Chicago right by the lake and I was just ready to start fresh.

September: I finally found employment. Woohoo! When I moved to Chicago I had an idea of what I wanted to do work-wise. I wanted to substitute teach to keep my hand in the education game, I wanted to work at Lululemon because I liked the culture of the company, and I wanted to teach spin because its something I really love to do. Well I went 2/3 for this stuff and because this is a happy post I am not going to mention the spin instructor rejections that I got here besides that singular statement about it. Okay, okay, moving on. I love the school I'm subbing at and have been doing classes from pre-K and Kindergarten to 2nd grade to 7th grade to all high school levels. It's been kind of cool seeing all the different grade levels and although eye-opening and new to me, reassures me that I was right in teaching high school all these years. Lululemon has also been a great fit because not only do I love their clothes, I really like what the brand stands for and the culture that it has created for itself.

October: I ran my 11th marathon. It was my 5th Chicago marathon and my first as a Chicago resident. After battling a hamstring injury since May, I wasn't even sure I'd toe the start line let alone cross the finish line, but to be able to do it feeling strong and happy the entire race was totally incredible and I can't wait to do it again, hopefully healthy.

November: Being home for Thanksgiving. In my twelve years living in NYC I only came home three times for Thanksgiving. It was just so much of a hassle to fly in the Wednesday night before with every other single person in NYC and then fly back that Sunday with the same crowded situation. It was too insane and stressful for me. So instead of going home, I'd stay in NYC and have a pretty great 4-day weekend relaxing and wandering the city, but I did miss being with my family. This year I was finally home on Thanksgiving and was able to spend it with my family. It may not seem like a big deal but I just loved being able to watch some football on the couch with my dad during the day and then going to my aunt's for dinner with everyone. It was nice to have a "normal" Thanksgiving and be with the ones I love.

December: I "won" three race lotteries that I really wanted. I got into the New York City Half Marathon, the Chicago Marathon, and the DC Cherry Blossom 10-miler. I haven't run the NYC Half in four years so I was pumped to get in because it is a notoriously hard one to get accepted into. The Chicago Marathon was obviously on my list again and I do plan to enter the New York City Marathon as well once that lottery opens. And finally, the DC Cherry Blossom 10-miler is a race I've been dying to do for years but always missed the lottery. It's only open for two days and I never found out about it until afterward. Getting accepted into these races not only got me excited to travel to two of my favorite cities (NYC and DC), but it also fuels my winter training fire. This will be my first full winter in Chicago as a runner and I am a little nervous about the severity of the cold and these freaking polar vortexes. I will basically run in just about anything, but if the temps or the roads are unsafe, I know better. With races on the calendar, I will figure out a way to get the miles in so I am ready for Spring race season.

So there you have it, the best of the best of my 2016. A lot of good stuff happened. And although it was a year of change and uncertainty, there were definitely things to be proud of and things I can still continue to build upon in 2017. While I still feel quite new to Chicago and am still finding my own here (and occasionally missing NYC), I do think I made the right decision. I don't have it all figured out (not even a little bit) but I did what I felt needed to be done for me to get on the right path to happiness again. Hopefully 2017 will bring just as much, if not more accomplishments, happy times, and goals crushed.