One Year From Today.

The year is wrapping up in a little under one month, so of course I'm getting nostalgic. I'll probably write several of these types of blog posts before 2016 rolls out but I'll be honest... 2016 was not my best year. Maybe because 2015 was such an important year for me, an UNBELIEVABLE year for self growth and exploration, that 2016 felt so stagnant. And also like I regressed a little bit in some areas. But I am so so so much stronger and sure of myself this year than I was this time last year. November 2015 was the shittiest month I've had in so long. I was just in a car accident, L's grandma died and he was extremely depressed, I had no reliable vehicle, I couldn't work out because I'd fractured my sternum... it was a mess. I don't want to jinx it but this year is ending so much better. So much better that I can look toward a solid future in 2017 and hope that...

One year from today I'll be in a grad program. 
I decided officially that I want to go back to school for Dance/Movement Therapy. The programs that I'm applying to would also allow me to earn credentialing for Mental Health Counseling. They're in Cambridge and New Hampshire but I'm leaning heavilyyy toward the Cambridge one.

One year from today I'll be OUT of CT.
Connecticut is the place I grew up, where almost all of my family and friends are. But Cambridge isn't that far away and it's high time for me to spread my wings and fly fly fly away. I spent four years in Rhode Island and they were the most important years of my life for gaining independence and freedom. But I was living in student dorms and apartments and not really fending for myself. In big, bad Boston, I'll be the small fish in the big sea and it's scary but it's something that I need.

One year from today I'll have some more travel under my belt. 
2016 didn't bring me to many new places and I think that's the thing I'm most upset about. I didn't leave the Northeast once. This was coming off of a year when I'd traveled outside the country for the first time, to the deep South for the first time, and spent a week sunbathing in the Carolinas with my extended family. In 2017, I need that to change desperately. In March I'm planning to visit my aunt in Atlanta again, but road trip down so I can see some East Coast sights and also visit Savannah, GA. And in August, Shawn and I are trying our hand at international travel again with a trip to... Norway. Why Norway you ask? I'm not sure, I brought it up once and we developed a strong fixiation and now I'm spending my free time researching the shit out of how to travel Norway on a TIGHT budget. Any tips?

One year from today I'll be out of credit card debt. 
Credit cards are a necessary evil, but the absolute devil. I can't wait to get all my balances down to zero, and then shred those stupid little pieces of plastic.

Where do you hope you'll be one year from today? Do you have any travel plans already in the works for 2017? Gotta plan ahead!