I started 2015 quite miserable. My vacation in Australia was coming to an end, and I was getting ready to head back to my home, Toronto. The forecast was -22 degrees celsius and I was not looking forward to it at all. Before I left Australia, my Aunt had told me that I could apply to University in Australia and move in with her. I kind of laughed it off, not really taking her too seriously, and continued reluctantly packing my bags to go home. As I was leaving Australia, I made a decision with myself that 2015 would be my year to make things happen. 

Part of a journal entry I wrote in February, 2015.

On my way back to Toronto my connecting flight between New York and Toronto was cancelled. I was travelling alone, had been awake for about 36 hours, and all I wanted was to be in my own bed. Let's just say at that point in time 2015 was looking like the absolute worst year of my life. 24 hours, a $200 hotel room, and a few tears later, I finally ended up on a flight back to Toronto. Once I got to Toronto I wasn't even happy to be home because it was freezing cold and I slowly sunk into a deep sadness. I was absolutely miserable. I woke up every morning with zero motivation to do anything, but had to find my way to work or school. That's when I remembered what my Aunt had said as I was leaving Australia. So, within a week of being back in Toronto I had applied for a transfer to the University of Wollongong. I didn't really think anything would come of it, but I applied and then continued on with my miserable, freezing life. 

About a month later I received an email from the University of Wollongong telling me that I had been accepted as a transfer student, and that they were willing to give me enough credits that I would only have to do 2 years of the program. Again, I kind of laughed it off thinking that there was absolutely no way I could just move to Australia. I began to tell a few of my friends that I might move to Australia, and they also laughed. There was no way I was actually serious. But, as the Canadian winter took its toll on me, I really began to take it seriously. By March, I had officially made my decision to move to Australia. 

The rest of the year, between March and July at least, revolved around my preparation to move to Australia. The first step was telling everyone. It was amazing to see the reactions of my friends and family. My favourite though was the reaction from people I barely knew. Even they knew moving to Australia was my biggest dream and were sharing their excitement with me. I had never really done anything "big" in my life, so this was crazy to see the reaction from those around me. 

Once I had made it official that I was moving, two of my best friends, Maddie and Tori, and I planned a trip to New York. In May we flew to New York for 3 days. You can see my posts about that here and here. I made an internal plan with myself in 2012 that I would go on an airplane at least once every year, and I was definitely living up to that in 2015. 

I did a lot of sight seeing around Toronto, visiting friends and family, and pretty much doing everything there is to do before you move to a different country. On top of that I was working A LOT so that I could save as much as possible for the move. The month before moving I was crazy busy, but I was the happiest I have ever been. 

Finally the time came. July 8th, 2015. The day I moved to Australia. 

I don't want to go into depth of every single thing I've done since that day because I have written blog posts about it all, and by the time I type it all out 2015 would be long gone. So, I'll just keep it really simple. Ever since I moved things have been falling into place. The program that I transferred to at Uni is exactly what I want to be doing. I got a marketing internship which I absolutely love. I have moments where I just sit back and think about how happy I am to be here. I spent the beginning of 2015 in absolute misery, and I have not even felt the slightest bit of that since stepping foot on Australian soil.

2015 really has been the best year of my life... so far. I moved to Australia, got an internship, it was my first full year of being vegan, I got to cross Mumford & Sons off of my concert bucket list, and I even stopped biting my nails! Most importantly I have gained a lot of self confidence this year and have become comfortable with myself. I have spent a lot of my life fighting off insecurities and I never really loved myself, but 2015 has been huge for my own personal growth. Hopefully it will all pour into 2016, making it an even better year.

I think I'm ready... bring on 2016.