I can’t believe its December 31st already, where has this year gone. For me this is the time when I reflect on the past year and look forward to what the next year may bring. This year has been amazing with my wedding, celebrating my 1 year anniversary at work and doing lots of traveling.
Highlights of This Year
01. The first has to be getting married on the 22nd July at Farnham Castle. The day was amazing, family came from all around the world to celebrate with us, and the venue couldn’t have been anymore perfect. We were engaged for 23 months and it was so nice to have a long engagement.
02. We traveled to the Cotswolds, Tenerife and Lesvos during the summer months, which we throughly enjoyed.
03. I celebrated my first blogging anniversary, which was amazing to see how far I had come since my first blog post. I also celebrated my first work anniversary too, which came around so quickly.
04. I bought my first DSLR camera, the Canon 77D, and now I can’t imagine not having it. My photography has massively improved since getting it and it makes filming so easy too.
05. I launched my Youtube channel, here, after about 6 months of debating. It has given me a new avenue to explore, filming!
Blogging
2017 has been my first full year of blogging, as I started in july 2016, as it is amazing looking back and seeing how far I have come.
01. The first thing that has really changed is my photographs, my old camera wasn’t fantastic, and I was still trying to understand how to compose my items in a photograph.
02. I feel I now have a good balance of work and blogging, with blogging not suffering anymore. At the beginning of the year I was struggling to balance a full time job and fit in blogging around that. Now I come home from work and blog in the evening or weekends and it doesn’t feel like a struggle anymore.
03. I have started working with brands this year and have had a few companies contacting me to work with them, which feels amazing. I also attended my first blogger event back in November.
Photography has become a big part of my life, which means I end up taking 100’s of photographs by the end of the year. I did photography as an A-level so I think that’s where my passion for photography started but I now feel I have found my photography style.
This year I have concentrated on improving my blog photographs but also building my social media account. Instagram has grown a lot slower than the rest but I find it has the most rewarding.
Some Personal Goals
Every year I try to set some personal goals whether it’s trying something new or just something I would like to achieve.
01. Getting organised and managing time effectively. This year consisted of a lot of different things going on; full-time job, blogging and planning a wedding, so staying organised was key. It took a lot of lists and writing everything down in a calendar but in the end we managed it. Our wedding day all came together and I now can blog along side a full-time job with hardly any problems.
02. Believe in myself. This is something I think is good to always include in goals, especially with blogging as you can get quite disheartened at times with views or comments. The first set to achieving is believing in yourself, thats how I feel anyway.
03. Finding my own style. I have never really explored my fashion style. This year I have worked out what my style is and then made a capsule wardrobe, video here. I know my style will evolved but having a capsule wardrobe is a great base to start off.
04. Being more spontaneous. I love having everything planned and knowing exactly what we are doing week to week but over the past year I have tried to let go a bit and just enjoy going along with what ever comes up. I still like have a plan but if things change it doesn’t bother me as much, making me feel more relaxed.
Looking towards 2018
I am really excited to starting a new year and seeing what 2018 brings. I have set myself a few goals, rather then resolutions, as goals are things to work towards and can always be carried over to the next year if need be.
01. Read more books. I spend so much time blogging and watching youtube that I never have time to sit down a read a book. I want to buy a few new books that I am interested in and make time to read them all. I can’t wait!
02. Travel More. I love traveling to different countries, which we did a bit this year. This goal is more a general item but I want to explore new countries and make lasting memories.
03. Up my blogging game. I feel it is time to up my blogging game starting with my photography. I want to get to a level where my photography level is consistent and I don’t have to compromise on quality due to lack of time. I am also planning on updating my blog, making it more me.
2017 has been a very busy year with so many amazing memories made along the way. I look forward to next year! Bring on 2018!
Happy New Year!
Steph x
Sounds like 2017 has been really good to you! I am glad! Congrats on your wedding! I hope 2018 will be even better! xx corinne
Author
Thank you, yeah 2017 was definetly one of the best years I have had. Hope you have a great 2018 and Happy New Year x
Huge congratulations on your wedding! The photos you’ve shared here are absolutely gorgeous, you look like a princess exiting the church and your husband looks like the luckiest man alive! A DSLR camera is really a godsend when blogging, I couldn’t live without mine either! Your Instagram is lovely and I’ve just followed you over there, looking forward to seeing where 2018 takes you in terms of Insta content! Best of luck with all your goals! If you ever need some reading motivation, I run a blogger’s book group which you’d be so welcome to join!
Abbey x
Author
Thank you, I felt a bit like a princess on my Wedding Day as we got married at Farnham Castle, which was a stunning venue. Yeah I really couldn’t live without my DSLR, nothing really bets it for me. I can’t wait to see where 2018 takes me either, I hope you have a love 2018 too. I might end up taking you up on that offer with your blogger’s book group x
I absolutely loved this post! It was so lovely to delve in to all you’re highlights of 2017, such a wonderful year you seem to have had. I too, have set lots of resolutions/ goals and also happen to have ‘being more spontaneous’ on mine. My sister always tells me to do so and I’m trying my best to live by it now.
Zara xx
Author
I’m so glad you enjoyed reading this post. I didn’t do one of these last year but I really enjoyed writing it, it made me realise how much I had achieved in 2017. I think it’s hard to be spontaneous when you loving planning everything but it gets easier the more you do it. x
Firstly, congratulations on getting married last year, your photos look as if you had the loveliest day, just as it should be. And secondly, still on your photos, they are amazing, I don’t just mean the quality but the compositions are beautful too, I’m off to stalk your Insta feed now, haha. I hope 2018 is good to you and you achieve everything you want to this year! X
Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com
Author
Thank you. I’m so glad you like my photography, I feel over the last year my photos have improved massively. I still want to up my game but it’s lovely to hear you like them so much. I hope you have an amazing 2018 too x
2017 sounds like a beautiful year for you! Glad you took the time to reflect over it & I hope 2018 is just as wonderful. Your photos are STUNNING xxx
Author
It really was, lots of amazing memories. I love reflecting on the past year, it makes me so excited for 2018. Thank you! x
Congratulations on your wedding! You’ve had a really great year.
http://littlemissmelanie.com
Author
Thank you, i hope you had a good year too x