Soundtrack to My Year: A year in Review

Soundtrack to My Year

Update: Was working on writing this for the past couple days, but couldn’t get through it because I kept falling asleep (thank you stomach flu). So, I’m finishing it and posting it today because I did have a great year and still want to recap it!

Hi friends! If you are a blogger, then you are probably well aware that many people have been posting yearly recaps and reflecting on what 2016 has brought them. I wanted to do a little recap post as well, but I thought it would be fun to choose a song that embodied each month of 2016! Each month was a little bit different for me from studying for big exams, training for big races, spending time with my family and friends, and celebrating the holidays.

My year has been super great….except for the last two days because I caught a stomach bug. I am pretty bummed that I am spending the end of the year and the end of my little time off from school on the couch barely able to move. I haven’t been sick like this since high school! (aka over 5 years ago- am I old now??). That being said, the rest of my year has been super great-I had lots of energy, felt healthy and happy, and had a lot of fun. Hey- at least I can work on some content for the upcoming months on my blog while I am down for the count. I’ve also gotten really good at seeing the silver lining this year, and dusting myself off when things don’t go my way.

This is my first time doing a post like this, and I hope to venture out and write more creative and new posts during this next year.

Here’s some kickasss songs that described how my year went:

January -“Ignition Remix”- R. Kelly

*Sometimes I trade in the running shoes for heels and a nice dress!*

It was a little bit of a slow start to the year last January before things really started to pick up and get busy. School started back up again, and I started my training for my first marathon. My school had its big dental ball which was super fun and probably the highlight of January. They even hooked me up with a gluten-free, vegan meal! Sometimes all you have to do is ask! I of course broke it down on the dance floor and probably looked ridiculous, and of course Ignition Remix is one of the best dance party songs of all time.

February “Ice, Ice Baby” – Vanilla Ice

February was so uneventuful that I don’t even remember one significant thing that happened- except for it being freezing cold out and doing a lot of running on the treadmill.

March – “Birthday” – Katie Perry

March is my Birthday month and also was the month that I am blessed with a spring break. I again, do as I always do on breaks from school and spend a lot of time at a yoga studio and a lot of time running. My birthday also fell on spring break this year so I went wine tasting with my family. My birthday is usually pretty laid back and uneventful, but my mom did make me a GF-vegan chocolate cake this year.

April – “Dog Days are Over”- Florence and the Machine

April brought with it many, many miles as I ramped up my training for my marathon. I opted for earlier nights to give myself the required energy to get through my long runs. Lots of the long runs definitely were not easy and I had to fight hard at the end! “Dog days are over” was one of my favorite songs on my long run playlist- it always gave me a little extra pep in my step when it came on. Also, two of my lifelong besties came to visit me at school! We went out to a couple of bars and had some great bonding time 🙂

May – Fight Song- Rachel Platten

May was a fun month for me. I finished my first year of dental school, ran my first ever full marathon, and moved into a new apartment. I love Fight Song by Rachel Platten, and it is fitting since it was the final song that played as I was coming into the finish of my marathon. I had my playlist on shuffle and when it came on as I was entering into Lambeau Stadium for a final loop before entering into the finish shoot, I almost started to cry. I had to tell myself to get my shit together so I could finish strong and be able to breath still lol. I could not believe that I was actually finishing a full marathon. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears but I finished with a Boston qualifying time! Oh yea, I’m running Boston in less than 4 months- woop woop!

June 2016- “Summertime Blues” – Eddie Cochran

June was a bit of a realization for me that I would no longer have as fun of summers as I had before. I now have to go to school year round, and this summer was filled with lots of time spent in the lab at school working on projects. That definitely made me have the summertime blues for sure. June was uneventful and really did feel like the “dog days” of summer for reasons other than the heat. I thought my school workload would ease up, but in actuality I spent more time in the building than I ever had before. But- I got through it and still was able to workout consistently, spend a little time with friends, enjoy the warm sun, and eat lots of delicious watermelon!

July 2016 – “If It Makes you Happy”- Sheryl Crow

July brought with it more school, but also the chance to visit my sister in Nashville for the Fourth of July! We ended up going hiking, canoeing, and went to see a free concert on the fourth with Maddie & Tae and Sheryl Crow. It poured rain on us and the concert was delayed, but you can’t beat a free country concert on Broadway! This photo was actually from the year prior when I visited since we didn’t get any good photos this time around.

August – Orange Sky

August brought with it a lot of chill time for me. I did TONS and TONS of yoga. I was home for 3 weeks for a “summer break” from school and went to yoga every single day- sometimes twice a day! I am lucky to have some great studios by my family home and spent a lot of time at Hot Yoga Naperville and Yoga By Degrees. I was able to zen out and really improved my flexibility during those months (even though I lost a lot of that now :0). This song has become one of my favorite songs to do yoga too, and I often play it while I do a little bedtime flow at my apartment.

September: LandSlide- The Dixie Chicks

September brought with it lots more studying, my Mock Boards exam, lots of running, but more importantly the Dixie Chicks concert. I have loved country music my whole life and The Dixie Chicks remind me of my childhood. I went to the concert with one of my besties and her cousin and it was great! The Dixie Chicks put on a great show and I was excited that I was able to take a break from studying for a weekend and go to Green Bay for the concert.

October – “Work”- Rihanna

October was all about the WERK. I was studying like crazy for my National Boards Exam, and trying to keep up with work for the semester. I scheduled my boards exam right in between two big exams for school, so basically I am a little bit crazy. I also raced a half marathon in downtown Chicago the weekend before my exam so I think this song is extra fitting. I managed another 1 min PR and 1st female aged 20-24, so that was pretty cool! The day after my boards exam I had a pharmacology exam and then celebrated the end of a big round of tests at my school’s Halloween bar crawl. I think it is safe to say that October was the busiest month of the year for me.

November – “Just Like Fire” Pink!

November was the month of burnout. I was burnt out and sick of school, and in kind of a funk. I didn’t want to study anymore, was tired of spending all my waking hours studying, and just felt kind of “blah”. But, I dug deep and found that fire I knew I had inside me and made the best of the end of my semester. Also, this was one of my favorite songs to run on the treadmill to- which became a very common occurrence for me as it got colder outside and too dark for me to run safely outdoors. I have no photos to represent the month of November for me except this photo of my dog- ha!

December – “Mountain Music”- Alabama

December was probably one of my favorite months this year. I finished out the semester, and celebrated by taking a trip to Arizona with my sister. We hiked the Red Rocks, Camelback, the Grand Canyon, and lots of other little mountains in between. We treated ourselves to massages, went wine tasting, zip lining, and to an old mining town. It was definitely a trip for the books! No better song to represent this month than “Mountain Music”- no matter how cheesy that may be. The hikes were breathtaking and challenging – I literally felt like we were rock climbing (without being belayed) on some of the hikes!

Well there you have it- that was my year in song!

If you could pick one song to represent your year what would it be??

What are you looking forward to in 2017??

Let me know in the comments! I’m looking forward to hopefully getting a lot more content out on my blog, creating more healthy recipes, and getting a nice camera for food photography!

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