{coffee date no. 3}

It's been three months since my last coffee date post... and goodness a lot has happened! I try to keep y'all updated but sometimes life just gets in the way :) I'm excited that this is the first "coffee date" of 2016 because it wraps up last year pretty well!

This year is already shaping up to be one for the books: I've got one more exam to pass for my certification, lots of weddings, fun trips planned (February in particular - NYFW!!), and some pretty big milestones happening at the end of this summer! I've been putting my resolutions and goals together so I'm hoping to make things better across all aspects of my life.

Did you catch last week's posts?

Warm and Cozy // Kendra Scott Bethesda Event // Out of the Woods

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October // This was a really rough month for me... I'm not quite sure how to describe it but I was tested in so many ways, both professionally and emotionally. Work was tough, I spent every weekend studying before I took another exam, I barely got to see Jon, I fell into a rut with blogging, and I overall was really down on myself - not feeling like I was good enough. One morning at work, I finally thought to myself: you know what? If things aren't going to go my way then I need to tell someone and do something about it. I'm not going to sit around and watch other people make decisions for me. This got the ball rolling!! Then November came and I was able to breathe...

November // To start off the month I did something that's very near and dear to my heart. I created a Movember Team in honor of my dad - Some of you may know, but two years ago he was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. We've had a lot of changes and hard times but creating a team to raise not only money but also awareness was a light in the darkness. "Team Welsh Man" raised $2,860!! Incredible!

My office does a thankful tree every year and it's always my favorite thing we do out of the whole year. People write things they're thankful for ranging from their dog to chocolate to having a roof over their head or their friends. It makes the month start off in a really grateful way.

I had the opportunity to hear Andre Leon Talley speak and then meet him during a book signing. It was so much fun to hear him speak about Oscar de la Renta, working with the first ladies and how he got his start in the fashion industry.

After a wonderful weekend in Blacksburg to see Frank Beamer's last game I headed to Jon's hometown to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family. Normally, it's a big ordeal with 40+ people and my family comes down from Baltimore to join. This year, it was a bit smaller with just the immediate family (still around 20 people haha) celebrating over a delicious turkey meal.

Finally home for Thanksgiving... it was a quiet weekend because it was just my parents and me. Samantha couldn't fly home because she had to work so I spent a lot of my time makeup-less and in big sweaters with my favorite bralettes ;) I ate way too much and read even more!

December // A month full of celebrations, food, drinks, and lots of friends and family!! Two of the best things that happened this month? I passed my big exam in October (YES!) and Jon graduated (double YES!!)

I started off my December by making some delicious s'mores cookies for a cookie swap with some bloggers. Boy, were they taaaasty! This was how I cooled them quickly (so that they would' fall in on themselves) as seen on my snapchat: jennrog3.

Off to dinner with my best girlfriends one Friday night - wearing my new favorite vest and pattern mixing with stripes and leopard.

We finally got a true Christmas tree this year! A beautiful frasier fir :) It was so much fun driving out to pick a tree with my roomies. After we strapped it to the top of our car we drove around the neighborhoods and looked at all of the giant houses and picked out our favorites!

The BEST part of last year was Jon's graduation. He has been working for 2.5 years to become a Physician's Assistant and now he's finally finished!! It was so incredibly special to see him get his white coat and then be hooded and presented his diploma! We had a wild weekend celebrating in Roanoke with all the Barlow family and two of Jon's best friends, Dave and Mac. I can't wait to take the next step in our lives together (even though we're still long distance) and see where we end up.

Packing up my favorite plaid scarf and some fun Christmas jewels :)

The first present of Christmas ;) Benson just looked so pretty in the Nordstrom bow! (Not sure why I took zero pictures while home... I really unplugged from social media!)

January // Jon and I packed up the car early Thursday morning (7am people...) and headed down to Smith Mountain Lake for New Years Eve. We spent our weekend playing board games (I'm awful at Trivial Pursuit... yikes), corn hole, air hockey, and hanging out in the hot tub. There was no ESPN or football so we really put that hot tub to the test and had an amazing view of the lake! Some of the pups that came with us didn't last until midnight ;)

First day of 2016! Wearing my new Aerie blanket scarf I got for Christmas and Jon's bean boots... I forgot to pack normal shoes (7am wake up call really left me unprepared) so I rocked the big foot look all weekend. I'm amazed at how warm these shoes are - I don't know why I haven't gotten a pair for myself yet!

Cheers to all of you, my dear readers. I'm so grateful to be going into another year with you all by my side. This year is already looking to be better than the last! I have a lot of goals and resolutions for this year but I'm still fine tuning them. I'd love to know if there's anything you want to see from me or if you have any suggestions! My doors are always open to you - southernanchors@gmail.com

Love Always,