Goodbye, December.

To be honest, I’m kind of sad to see 2017 leave. If you caught my Instagram story the other night, I reviewed some of my favorite moments of from the past year. I traveled, I ate, I jumped out of a plane…but more about all of that in my letter to myself.

In December, I completed 6 out of 8 items on my bucket list. Unfortunately, due to an untimely grounding of my little brother, we were not able to go to Zoo Lights. It just didn’t feel right to go without him since it was initially his request. In addition, I still did not tackle finishing a book for pleasure…one day perhaps.

Any who, here are a few of my other reflections about this month:

One

I was absolutely in LOVE with having a Christmas tree in my place. Every day I looked forward to coming home, burning my Christmas candle, and lighting my tree. It added a touch of cozy that I didn’t realize I was missing in my life. Can’t wait until next season!

Two

The holiday spirit also inspired a couple of DIY Crafts. One failed miserably, (maybe I’m not as gifted with a hot glue gun as I thought) but the other two were successes. The first craft was a simple bow tree topper with ribbon and hot glue. The second project were salt dough ornaments that I made to commemorate my first Christmas tree. I also made one in the shape of a butterfly as part of my mom’s Christmas present. It was nice to get a little creative during my time between semesters.

The bow topper was a simple craft, but I loved what it added to my tree.

Three

What’s a holiday without a ton of good food? I did my fair share of indulging and I made a few new treats as well. A couple of my favorites will be shared in January in my next installment of “Tried It, Loved It.”

Four

Guys, I did not go to Starbucks ONCE during the month of December. Though I was definitely tempted a few times, I found a way to curve the urge: new kcups! One of the biggest advantages to getting coffee on the go was that it was literally a two-step process. You order (I use the app), then pick it up: done. With my new kcups, I was able to reduce one step in my usual Keurig routine. If you were wondering, I like to think of myself as efficient, not completely lazy. Stay tuned for my “Tried It, Loved It” post to see exactly which kcups I am so excited about!

A huge shoutout to all of you who have supported me this year as I launched Ambitiously Cierra. While it’s only been running for the last quarter of the year, it certainly added to a lot of the joy that I experienced in 2017.

Thanks for the memories, 2017. 2018, let’s do this.

♥ Cierra