Life, however, had different plans for me. As you may know, I have been madly studying to achieve an insurance designation, the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU). If you're not familiar with the insurance industry, the CPCU is the most prestigious designation and the most difficult to obtain. It is said to be equivalent to having a Master's degree in insurance. For the education component there are eight two-to-three hour exams to pass. After passing four exams, I scheduled my fifth at the end of January, on the 21st. I wasn't very confident this time and went in with a poor attitude. For the very first time, I walked out of the testing center with a piece of paper that read "non-pass."

I have been terribly upset for allowing myself to receive a "non-pass." The high of my previous passing streak suddenly wore off and I felt like a complete failure. I felt like I had wasted the $270 I paid for my exam slot and was kicking myself in the butt for all of those nights I spent on social media or going to sleep early instead of studying.

After letting my "non-pass" marinate for the past week and a half, I've come to realize that one of my biggest drawbacks is my attitude. I went into my exam with a poor attitude and I came out with a poor attitude, and that got me nowhere. It's been a struggle to come to terms with this, but I decided that I need to pick myself back up and use this experience as a positive building block on my way to achieving my long term goal of attaining the CPCU designation. I need to change my attitude completely and actually believe that I can achieve what I set my mind to. I need to persevere.

Not only with my studying and exams, but with all of my goals. I had to reminds myself of my 2016 goals (posted here) and reflect on the importance of perseverance for each one. Persevering in 2016 means I will be healthy, I will be happy with my blog, I will give birth naturally to my second child, I will be financially stable, I will make time to put my family first, and I will be content with myself. 

And so, my word of the year has been confirmed: Persevere.

Of course we were still able to get a few cute moments out of our time. Liana helped me bake the cookies in the top picture, which I brought into work to share with my coworkers. Ashton squeezed her into her Christmas pajamas from last year which is why they say 'my first Christmas'. They are size 9-12 months and last year they were way too big on her (she was eight months old) and this year they were too small (she was twenty months old), but they are super cute and have her name embroidered on them! One of Liana's favorite Christmas gifts is her toy kitchen. She has played with it every day since Christmas morning and, as you can see, she likes to stick her head in the microwave! Finally, in the bottom picture Liana is rinsing her toothbrush after brushing her teeth. She slides her potty over to the sink and brushes her teeth all by herself. She loves it! Also, how cute are her little slippers that I got her for Christmas?

How did you and your family fare this holiday season? I hope your family had better luck than mine! x

Looking back at this past year, 2015 was filled to the brim with adventure: I became an Auntie, Liana had her first birthday, I began studying for my insurance designation, Ashton achieved his project management designation, Liana learned to walk and talk, I became pregnant with sprout #2, Liana has been mastering arts and crafts at daycare, Liana had her first sleepovers and twice spent a full week at Grammy's, we went apple picking for the first time as a family, Abel taught Liana the joys of leaf jumping, we picked out our Christmas tree for the first time as a family, and we got to watch Liana's face light up as she saw her play kitchen set on Christmas morning. After typing that list I was hesitant for a second that 2016 could get any more adventurous than that, and then I remembered we are going to have two littles to keep up with. The fun is just beginning!

With all of the craziness that is about to be unleashed, I've decided to keep myself grounded and narrow down a small list of goals that I hope to complete in 2016, and then revisit them at the end of the year to see how I did.

Here's what I've got: