Trippin, Flipping, Stumbling still Bubbling!! - 2017 what a year you were!

Whoa! It's time again for a review of a year that was post! And, what a year it was!!!

2017 subtly, gently but surely nudged me out of my comfort zone in so many ways.

I did travel as much as I would have liked to, but almost none of them were alone. 5 domestic - Fort Kochin, Pondicherry, Wagamon, Tirunelveli and Mumbai (the one day trip - the only one I went alone on) and 1 international - China. Most surprisingly (probably only to myself) I immensely enjoyed the different kinds of company I had on each of those trips, and even feel that I wouldn't have liked/ enjoyed/ covered half as much had I been alone! Be it covering all the exhibits of the Art Biennale which I definitely wouldn't have done without my companion, Figuring our way through a foreign land, not knowing the language, feeling lost - that day, if it hadn't been for my friend who was able to keep a cool head, I would have broken down for sure or Lying in a tent on a hill that's almost where the clouds as the sky cracked open and poured down on us, as a girl friend and I giggled and laughed at our love stories, with no care about the downpour outside.

I was given incremental roles at work - things that required me to learn SO much more than I would have ever imagined, and more importantly, about things that I once believed were so far out of my scope of interest. If you'd told me just a couple of years back that I would be writing statement of works for drill kits, vices and what not (with the help of an engineer of course) and be able to do basic repairs in 3D printers, I'd have said you're high on imagination - but well here I am!
At the end of the day, as challenging as it was, I completely enjoy it!

Serious relationship! Now this one was and is a roller coaster - but I'm not alone, and hence it's so much fun! Yes I've been in relationships before. Even this relationship started last year, but it was just this year - almost starting from a conversation we had on January first, did the seriousness sink in. What initially seemed almost impossible is now a beautiful reality.
Long distance relationship - I've got a year of that left, so I'm going to just say that as long as there's enough love, it's not as bad I expected it to be at all!

Writing fantasy - this one was a pleasant surprise! I actually started working on my fantasy novel last year. I wrote about 5000 words then and paused. I realized this year that I was trying to extrapolate too much from my life experience and had to let that go. The world that opened up post that is extraordinary! I hope I do it justice in 2018 :)

All this, however, would not have been ever possible without the support system I had!
My family - old and new who have been sweet and great, My friends - they're rock solid and the best ever, My team - Best team ever!

Now moving on to some of my favorite moments of 2017:

1. Getting engaged. Funnily enough, the engagement of July 5th sunk in for me only on September 4th. ;)
2. The great wall of China, making it to there by train. Watching the sunset from there. Being there when it was pretty much empty - just about 5 others were there, and having a marvel and greatness of the endless wall sink in. That was fabulous!
3. Holding the hands of the tiny, minutes (less than an hour old) daughter of my close friend, after having stayed with her through the labor, calculating the time between contractions and waiting in front of the labor room. That's an experience that cannot fully be described! Got to mention that I went for a walk with the mother just the evening before :) 
4. Getting a phone as a gift from my sister! The little thing is all grown up, earning and even giving expensive gifts!!! Time flies. Proud moment :)
5. Getting picked up to go to a certain dinner by a certain someone. I had decided against going to that dinner because I didn't know them too well. However, I was picked up, and taken and made to feel at home. That car ride still makes me smile :)
6. Sitting on a cliff somewhere in Wagamon, watching the clouds pass by below and the sunrise above, as the plot of what happens in a world created within my head came to life 
7. Getting paati a new earring with Jeffy. It's sweet how proud grannies are of being gifted by her grandchildren.
8. Sitting on a swing and catching up with a friend of mine after almost 5 years. That was happiness. 
9. Meeting my team face to face in China this year :D
10. Craft - This year I crafted a lot of things beyond just dream catchers. It's been a whole load of fun. I hope I continue to do so!

Biggest regrets of 2017:

1. Mixing friends and money - lesson learnt: DON'T
2. Not going to Vascos for lunch :( I don't know why I don't do some things that I want to so badly sometimes
3. Putting on weight *cries*
4. Not writing more
5. Not taking better care of myself. Be it dressing up or staying fit. 

Hopes for 2018:

1. To not get lost in the vortex of wedding planning. Still have a wedding I enjoy.
2. To finish writing ATU
3. Go to at least one new country (please please please Travel Gods)
4. Find the gentle balance between Us and Me in relationships
5. Learn to wear make up
6. 58

If you stayed on to read all the way till here - Big hug and thank you :)

I hope you had an amazing year as well!

Do share a memory of your year here if you like :)

See you in 2018 ❤