This year has been a crazy one. Life has thrown curve balls at all of us and it made us better people. People have come in and out of my life just within this short amount of time.

I would just like to thank the few people who have stayed with me throughout the year and will most likely stay with me through years to come.

This year was full of a lot of surprises that I hoped would make me a better person. And it did.

This year I finally joined the Odyssey. I have been saying I will do it for the longest time and yet never pushed myself to do so. And being a journalism major, I should have written stuff sooner. Now that I have joined, I am overwhelmed with the amount of support that has come from me writing every week. It is something that I love doing and seeing all the people being touched by what I have written makes me excited for my major even more.

I got three dogs, all in one year. Although it was after my first dog died that we got Lilo and Fiona, I do not know what I would do without them. Yes, I still miss Ella, every day, but I know she is watching me. And to bring in the new year, we got another puppy, Boo. Having all three around the house has been eventful, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I also realized that not everyone is who they seem to be. 2016 has given me a lot of great things to be thankful for, but the tough lessons are the best ones. People walked out of my life pretty frequently this year. But it doesn’t matter. I learned that they do not matter, because they chose to leave. They may say that they miss you or want to spend more time with you, but it is a lie. The people who walked out only want to come back in after they realize you are better off without them. So, thank you to the ones that stuck around, even after all the hard times.

As 2016 ends, I just want to thank you all for looking at all my articles and continuing to read them, pushing me to the responsibility of having to take care of three other living things and for sticking with me through this tough year.

Happy New Year, guys!