My Big Announcement

No, I'm not engaged, pregnant, or quitting my job to blog full time. So if that's what you were looking for- sorry to disappoint! But in my life, this is equally as exciting. I've been alluding to a big life change over the past few weeks, but I wanted to dedicate an entire post to it and wasn't able to fit it in before 2016 began. So here it is. I'm moving!

For those of you who have been around/reading for a while, you're probably aware that I moved up to Virginia for a job opportunity a few years ago. It was something I just couldn't pass up, although I was completely intimidated because I didn't know anybody in the metro-DC area when I moved. I'm a creature of habit (and human!) so this was a really difficult decision to make and an even more difficult transition to adjust to. But I couldn't be more excited that I took the plunge. I was slowly but surely able to make friends, become more independent, and really focus on my budding career.

In October it was brought to my attention that there was an opening in my company back home in Georgia! Y'all know that I'm a Christian and I can't explain the situation better than saying it was absolutely a God thing. The territory that opened up happens to include the town that I grew up in- that my family still lives in- and is close enough to Atlanta for me to live within the city near my friends. To put it plainly, I WANTED this position with every fiber of my being and began the process to pursue an interview immediately. Many conversations, tears, and plans later- I accepted the opportunity with a start date of January 4th!

Things basically transpired in a tornado-like fashion. I broke my lease at my apartment, signed a lease at a (BEAUTIFUL) new apartment in Atlanta, set-up a move, MOVED, and got my stuff settled into a storage unit all before Christmas. My apartment isn't ready until this weekend, so I've been lucky enough to be able to stay with my sister and brother-in-law until I can start getting settled.

This is a HUGE AMAZING WONDERFUL LIFE-CHANGING answer to my prayers and I'm so appreciative to have the opportunity to return home. I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep up my momentum here on the blog, but if things slow down for a little bit- y'all know why. I'll be back. Thank you for your support and Happy New Year! :)

2016 Blogging Goals

Happy New Year lovelies! There's something so magical about NYE. I find myself consumed with it as soon as Christmas passes and I'm always excited to begin the year on the 1st. I really love starting fresh! I'm not one for resolutions, but I'm always excited to work towards a new set of goals. After reading some awesome goal-oriented posts from several blogging friends, I decided to try my had at it! This is my first time actually setting goals for my blog and I hope that putting it out there in writing helps me be held accountable throughout the year! Here are my current goals for A Peachy Sonder in 2016:

Consistency. I've had a ton going on this year (read this recap if you missed it). I don't expect that to change too much in 2016, as I have an entirely new set of responsibilities and challenges that I'm facing, but I do hope to cope with it better. I'd love to be able to post 2-3 times a week, every week, and make an attempt to schedule out posts when I know I'll be away/unable to write.

Diversify my posting. With the exception of gift guides, I try to stay away from posting a ton of collage posts. However, I found myself resorting to these to share fashion posts and ideas since I didn't have access to a photographer to take my own style photos. I no longer want to let this be a barrier for me and am excited to try to incorporate more fashion posts. I also hope to include more recipes. You have no idea how much passion I have for cooking based on the amount of food-related posts on my blog. It's a huge part of my life and I hope to share more of that with y'all.

Finish my current courses and enroll in more. You may or may not know this about me- but I'm a huge nerd. I love to read and learn. Blogging has become a wonderful hobby for me because there are so many unknowns that provide learning opportunities! I've participated in several free webinars and am enrolled in 2 paid courses, Quit Your Job to Blog and Instagram for Success. I hope to take a DSLR course at some point this year to improve my photography skills- both for this blog and for my personal use of my camera!

Increase my social media presence. I am a lover and habitual user of twitter, instagram, and pinterest- yet I let life get in the way of regular posting. I hope to make this more of a priority over the next year, and in turn increase my followings across all platforms. Are we connected yet? If not, please give me a follow! I'm active on twitter, instagram, pinterest, facebook, and bloglovin'. I'd love to link up with you!

Blog Sponsorship. So far, I have had the opportunity to work with wonderful brands to create sponsored posts for y'all. I want to take this to the next level by focusing on ads and affiliate links this year. On the flip side of this, I'd like to sponsor other bloggers to see what that experience is like. If you have any sponsorship opportunities currently available, please shoot me an email so that we can discuss further!

I feel like this is a great place to start and I'm confident that I can reach these goals (with y'alls help!) if I keep my focus in the right place. In addition to my goals, I want to help you reach yours too so if there's something I can do to assist you, don't hesitate to reach out to me! Welcome to 2016!

What are your goals for 2016? Do you have any advice on staying focused on your goals throughout the year? Do you have any tips to help me reach my goals?

2015 in Review

I seriously cannot believe that 2015 is over. This has been such a roller coaster of a year for me. I'm thankful to have the opportunity to reflect on everything, and that I'm able to be so excited for what the future has in store for me. Today, I wanted to take some time to look back and share some of my 2015 happenings!

Starting at the beginning of the year, I fell into a more comfortable stride with blogging. As I have mentioned before, I had no idea what to expect when I started this little space. And I sure as heck didn't have a vision of what it would look like after I did! I began writing posts that were more personal to me and had the opportunity to work with some lovely brands to do sponsored posts! I was able to shoot a sponsored outfit post and tried a few on my own. If you want to see some of my sponsored posts, you can check them out here! 

I have some exciting things lined up for 2016 so far and can't wait to share them with y'all. Now for me, blogging is more than just writing reviews in exchange for items. I truly love being able to express myself freely and have found my way into the best communities out there! I didn't realize how much finding the right group of blogging friends would impact my online experience. I feel supported and know that I have an awesome group of witty, kind, and helpful people at my fingertips whenever I need. That's an incredible feeling in my book! For those of you wondering, I've found these lovable bloggers through different groups. Primarily, I have found the most assistance within the Millennial Blogger Network, Show Your Blog Love, and Style Collective communities. I recognize that these are specific to me and my needs, but I highly encourage you to find where you feel supported within the blogging community. It's changed my experience drastically!

I also took a leap and invested in two courses to learn more about blogging: Quit Your Job to Blog and Instagram for Success. At this time, I don't intend to take my blogging past a hobby level- so I had serious hesitation in dropping some cash to learn more about blogging. But I cannot express how happy I am that I did! I'm still working my way through my first course and can honestly say that I've learned enough to up my blogging game already. I can't wait to get further into this course and begin my second one.

Although I still write anonymously- mainly due to the fact that I don't want my blog to pop up through internet search for professional purposes- I feel as though I've still been able to connect on deeper levels with y'all online. I hope to increase that next year and look forward to seeing my current relationships blossom. I've also decided to post more photos of myself and aim to be more open with y'all in the next year.

Lastly, I wanted to share a couple of personal happenings for 2015. (And thank you for sticking around if you're still reading! I know this is a long-winded post.) For those of you who had been reading for a while, you may have heard me talk about my long distance relationship that I was in for the past 5 years. And you may notice that I haven't mentioned it over the past 6 months. Over the summer, things ended. At first, this was so devastating for me that I had to take time away from many facets of my life, including blogging, to take care of myself. And to be honest- I wasn't sure that I would ever find the energy to continue blogging, but healing proved to be a gradual process for me. Thankfully I was able to slowly get back into the swing of things. I am sending my SINCEREST thanks to the sweet girls who noticed my absence online and thought to reach out. That really helped to inspire me to continue writing. Also, in the more recent months I've had a whole lot going on with work. I've taken on new responsibilities and been able to participate in a few programs that have helped me to be more successful at my job. It's kept me busy but has definitely been worth it!! Also on this topic, I have some exciting news to share with y'all, but it deserves a whole post to itself so stay tuned for that next week.

While this blog may not be viewed as successful by some in the community (in terms of social media followings and pageviews), I couldn't have dreamed up a more perfect space of the internet for me. Thank you to each and every one of you who has taken the time to read, comment, pin, and/or tweet to interact with me! I wholeheartedly love y'all and look forward to growing together in 2016! See you in the new year!

What sticks out most to you about 2015? What are you excited for in 2016?

A 2015 Round Up- My Favorite Posts!

Happy Monday y'all! I hope you had an amazing Christmas and weekend following. Although mine was busy, it was fabulous! My holiday season is filled with tradition. On Christmas Eve, we enjoyed a family dinner before church. We go to an old, tiny Methodist church every year for their evening Christmas Eve service. I've never actually attended any other services at this church but I couldn't picture going anywhere else on the 24th! We have a traditional service that wraps up with candles and 'Silent Night'. That is the epitome of Christmas spirit to me. On Christmas day, we do brunch at my sister's house with my mom and open presents together. This year we made gluten-free cinnamon rolls from scratch. They were DIVINE. I've never made a bread or dough before and it seemed very time intensive. Absolutely worth it, though. After brunch, we cleaned up and head over to my dad's to open presents there. We spend a few hours just as the family, and then my step-mom's family comes over for dinner and the White Elephant gift game. It's always a hoot!

Saturday my sister and I hit up a few after-Christmas sales to spend some stocking cash. I got a new watch and a few Christmas decorations that I'm excited to use next year. More than anything, I enjoyed spending time with my sister and running into family friends. It's always nice to be home.

As 2015 draws to a close, I wanted to gather up some of my favorite posts from the year. I've had some awesome collaborations and put together some posts that I'm really proud of! I truly hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have, and I hope you enjoy them a second time if you've been with me all year.

How to Appear Confident (even when you don't feel it!)
7 Bible Verses to Ease Anxiety
How to Prioritize "Me" Time
My Fall Bucket List
5 Packing Tips for Business Trips
The Leather Jacket
4 things you should try alone
Why I Stopped Taking My Coffee to Go
Current Coffee Table Books
French Toast for One
What I've Learned from Living with Awful Roommates
My 7 Workday Essentials
The Perfect Fringe Cardigan 

I also did my first guest post over on Seashells and Sparkles! I love Rachel's blog, twitter, AND instagram, so I was thrilled to get to work with her. Check out my post here: 3 Tips to Nailing Your Next Interview. Thanks again Rachel!

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a special year-end post! I'm really excited to share a more personal year-end post with y'all. Have a fabulous Monday!

A (Different) Christmas Story

 
Earlier this week, I was one of the crazy people who ventured out to do some last minute shopping before Christmas. This is the EXACT opposite place I prefer to be in during that time of year! I'm a planner, to the extreme, and usually start shopping early so that I can be finished by the time I head home for the holidays. This just makes things easier and allows me to be with my family completely while at home.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, life has been hectic for this little peach as of late. Work is busy, my personal life is crazy, and my family has had a lot going on. The sheer amount of things bouncing around my head at any given point is scary, but my circumstances lately have put things into overdrive! Complaining out of the way, I was less than thrilled to finish up the large amount of shopping I had to do among the masses a mere 3 days before Christmas.

That's definitely another perk of shopping early- there's no mad rush in the stores!! I can't stand crowds and have a low tolerance for people who are rude. It seems like everyone turns into a shopping grinch around the holidays and I just prefer to stay at home away from it all. My final gift that I was purchasing happened to be a Starbucks giftcard and travel mug. Oh boy was I relieved to be finished shopping AND at the mecca of caffeine. It had been a long day of loud chatter, long lines, and complaints constantly swirling around me.

After waiting in the long line, I was grateful when my turn rolled around. I placed my complicated drink order and stepped to the bar to people watch as I waited for my bright red cup of joy to pop up. I'm so glad that I was watching my surroundings, because I saw the sweetest act of selflessness. I witnessed a man buy coffee for the frazzled young mom in front of him who was struggling to find her wallet in her large purse and balance a baby on her hip. It was so small, but seeing the unexpected happiness on her face reminded me what this season is truly about. It's not about buying the perfect gift. It's not about perfect wrapping, or the flawless picture for the card, or staging the perfect Instagram.

It's about giving. It's about showing love to everyone, even the lady delaying your turn to order a your caffeinated beverage in a long line. For me, it's about celebrating the birth of Jesus by mimicking his behavior. I hope that you have a lovely Christmas, and regardless of your beliefs, I hope you find the true meaning of the season and carry that with you even after the lights and trees come down.