I recently did a 2019 review that was thorough and had plenty of details. With today being the first of the year, I decided to do a more essential, less is more, review of the last year.

I’m going to break down the year into threes.

Early 2019—Things happened the way they were supposed to. Giant Eagle didn’t work out for me, so I went back to WIS full time. We got Target back. I jumped back into Toastmasters and helped out with the contests.

My grandma was diagnosed with cancer in February but early on it looked like she would fight it. I attended all four division contests and heard some great speeches. I also attended the District 13 Conference and celebrated with many great friends as they got their Distinguished Toastmaster medallions. Grandma had her Easter dinner despite her health. A bad night at work results in the resignation of a colleague and great friend.

Mid 2019—I enter into a period of loneliness and mourning. Grandma has a bad fall and has to go to the hospital. She is later put into hospice care.

I complete the final two requirements for my own DTM award. We visit Grandma at St. Anne’s over Memorial Day weekend and it was my last time seeing her. I learn that she passed away after I got back from a weekend trip to Hershey.

The summer of 2019 is one of my loneliest periods of my life so far. I go on vacation and celebrate my birthday. Not much to take from this summer. However I am surprised when I reunite with someone at the end of August.

Late 2019—Things will eventually start falling into place. I retire the traditional homecoming trip to Slippery Rock and sign up to attend the Toastmasters Fall Symposium. I also start to build a little family at work.

I make plans to move back home. I am presented with my Distinguished Toastmaster award at our club’s open house. The county commissioner even presents me with the award and a proclamation.

I move back home in early November. After a bad first week, things really begin to turn around. I get back into blogging full time and make plans to launch my present blog, The Stylish Traveling DTM.

I have a great Christmas and do an awesome gift exchange with my friends.

In conclusion, 2019 was a sad year as I lost a couple of family members. But this year also saw me grow up and I plan to take that positive energy from the last third of the year and apply it to 2020.

Well, after weeks of hype and so many status updates on Facebook, my new blog is up and running. I posted a small blog earlier this afternoon highlighting some exciting plans for the Stylish Traveling DTM.

There’s already some scheduled style and toastmaster blogs for the winter months. I’ll be documenting my TLI makeup on January 18 and the upcoming area contests in February and March. I’ll also be documenting my stylish wardrobe updates in January and February, plus I’ll be taking pictures of me trying them on. Plus I’ll put together some nice outfits and blog and photo op that too.

My TV has been the best Christmas present and I’m making the most of it by binging my favorite shows. One that has been a surprise is the Gilmore Girls. I never liked the show when it was on the WB but now it’s really grown on me. I’m drinking coffee like a Gilmore and talking as fast as I can. Places like Ligonier and even downtown Greensburg have that Stars Hollow feel to them.

I might have to talk my friends or family into a Gilmore Girls night once I get to Rory’s Chilton graduation. Coffee at Luke’s–I mean White Rabbit, anyone.

I’m finishing up the Good Place on Netflix and then it’s on to How I Met Your Mother on Hulu. I’m looking forward to watching all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies on Disney+. This TV was a great Christmas present.

I’m looking forward to taking my friends out to Red Robin 🍔 🍺 when we decide to get together for dinner. I’ll look into that later on this winter but we’ll play it by ear.

The end of one decade and start of another means it’s time to leave some things in the past. I’ll still go to Pitt Johnstown for Toastmaster events but other than that I’m going on a college moratorium. I treasure my Alma maters 👨‍🎓 but it’s time to let them go. I’ll always have my memories though.

The ball is dropping in less than three hours in New York City 🌃 and it’ll be a new decade.

Happy New Year 🎆🎊🎈. ❤️ you.

I am looking forward to taking this journey and inviting you into my world. I just started blogging regularly this past fall and the response has been so great that I have decided to take it public. 

You have likely read my blogs under the Slippery Rock Toastmaster name. While that name is nice, I wanted to go with the times. I like to look good when I go out, hence the Stylish part of the blog. I enjoy traveling (whether for pleasure, Toastmasters, or work) hence the Traveling part of the blog. Speaking of Toastmasters, I received the highest honor in my Distinguished Toastmaster award, hence the DTM part of the blog. 

There’s a lot of fun things coming to the blog. I’ll talk about my daily life. I’ll provide you with upcoming wardrobe updates as I get ready for Toastmasters speech contest season as well as the upcoming Spring conference. I plan on doing food reviews and making some classic dishes. I’ll also get into some new hobbies that will help me better myself in the new year and new decade. 

I’m ready to take 2020 by storm and I hope you’ll join me. Exciting times are ahead.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.