Reflect upon your present blessings—of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.

2016 was...interesting, to say the least. Many people hated 2016; granted, a lot of negative things did happen this year. A large number of influencers and artists passed away, an election divided our country, and violence and hate continued to tear our world apart. I'm not going to try to sugarcoat it: it was a tough year for a lot of people. But I've never been one to focus on the negative. I always try to see the positive, especially in difficult situations, so I'm looking back at the positive highlights of my own 2016.

—To start 2016, I started this blog! It's been so much fun to do, and I have some great projects in the works for the new year.

—My nephew and godson turned one, and I got to spend another incredible year watching him grow and learn. He also said my name for the first time this year (both as "Rah-Rah" and as "Sarah")!

—I got to go on two amazing trips to New York City. The first was in April with Ed on Campus during which we visited a number of magazines and got to visit with editors. The second was in July for Her Conference, which featured great speakers and workshops. During this trip I also bonded with three Her Campus Iowa girls, and they are now some of my best friends.

The world was hers for the reading.

I have loved to read since the day I first learned how. I fell in love with the excitement of meeting new people, traveling to new places, experiencing new things, all through the words on the pages of the books I picked up.

I didn’t read as many books as I would have liked to last year, but I did read a few fantastic ones. Take a look at what I read in 2015.

For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.

It’s that time of the year when everyone makes promises to themselves for the year to come. Whether we all keep those promises is another story.

Since I was little, I’ve always tried to write down resolutions or keep track of my year somehow. For a few years I wrote down my resolutions and hid them in a book. There were a couple of years when I wrote down all of my big moments or accomplishments on little slips of paper and put them in a jar on my desk.

This year I’ve decided to finally start a blog.