2014 Year in Review: Life, Work and Blogging

The last day of 2014 is here and I feel equal parts ready and nostalgic to close the door on this year. If I had to choose one word to summarize this year for me it would be growth. I truly feel that I grew in unprecedented ways both personally and professionally. I feel stronger, more confident and more comfortable in my own skin than I ever have in my life. And that’s a trend I would like to continue into the new year and for many more years to come.

Before I get into the statistical “top posts of 2014,” I wanted to give you a more personal take on 2014 and the memorable points of the year for me.

• From January through May I assisted with my first 200 hour yoga teacher training. It’s been a long-standing goal of mine to lead a 200-hour training and this was a big step towards that.
• In May I turned in the final manuscript for my first book, Ultimate Plank Fitness: 101 Plank Exercises for a Strong Core, Killer Abs and a Killer Body. After many rounds of copy editing and revisions in layout…the book went off to print in November and will arrive on bookshelves in March 2015.
• I celebrated the “Summer of Yes” and worked on friendships and coming out of my shell in a bigger way than I ever have in my life. And I can’t even begin to tell you how much this exercise changed me. I highly recommend it if you have similar introverted tendencies.
• In July I accepted a six-week freelance position with the Charlotte Observer to write a new running website, Run Charlotte Run. This ended up becoming an ongoing gig that has now transitioned to a new home at Charlotte Five. I will still be contributing stories in the new year but in a more limited capacity.
• In August I signed the contract for my second book, The Complete Guide to Yoga Inversions. And thinking about, writing about and photographing yoga inversions, arm balances and advanced asanas took over the rest of my year (and forced me to take a step back from the Observer).
• This fall I left the studio where I taught for nearly four years to assist with the rebrand and relaunch of Charlotte Yoga and accepted the role of creative director and lead teacher.
• I fell back in love with running. I don’t even know how to begin to describe it but 2014 was the year of running for me. After a long hiatus, I reconnected with running in a way that is better and stronger than it’s ever been for me in the past. In August I set a new 5K PR with a 21:55 finish. It was my first sub-22 minute 5K. I spent the fall training for the Thunder Road Half Marathon and set a new half PR as well with my first ever sub 1:45 finish, shaving nearly eight minutes off of my previous PR.
• I welcomed Zoey to our little family in November!

And here are the top 14 posts I published in 2014 via the blog stats. As always, recipes and workouts top the list so I’ll keep cranking on those for you in the new year.

1.   Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
2.   3 Yoga Poses for Tight and Rounded Shoulders
3.   AllWhites Egg Whites Protein Packed Breakfast Recipes
4.   Four Variations of Pigeon to Stretch Tight Hips
5.   1,000 Rep At-Home Workout (the most popular workout on my blog by far!)
6.   Total Body Dumbbell Superset Workout
7.   Reebok Skyscape Review (my grandmother even ended up buying a pair of these!)

8.    Sculpted Summer Arms Workout
9.    3 Reasons Women Should Lift (a topic I will FOREVER stay passionate about)
10.  No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
11.  Skinny Limits Juice Cleanse Review
12.  Man Maker Complex Workout
13.  The Running 500 Workout
14.  The Best Homemade Chicken Enchilada Recipe

And that’s a wrap! Cheers to an amazing 2015 full of more growth, abundance and love. Thank you all for following along as I share my journey.