There are only a couple days left in 2016 which is why it is time for me to look back at the year in review. The good, the bad, the ugly, I’ll take a quick peak at it all. Are you with me?
Overall, 2016 wasn’t really a stellar year for us. We have had a ton of ups and downs, including really big downs. Thankfully, GBGV’s are happy, optimistic dogs, and my mom is also one who keeps looking forward, so we survived! At our house we don’t believe in New Years Resolutions, we simply set goals we want to achieve. I’ll include some of our goals in this post as well.
As you know, losing my big sister Katie in June was the worst part of the entire year. We miss her every single day, and Mom still has a really hard time not crying when she thinks of Katie. She was such a precious, wonderful soul, it’s hard to believe she really is gone!
Probably the best thing to happen in 2016 was the arrival of Ethos Intel Inside, our little sister Madison! She is smart, sweet, and super snuggly. Madison is by no means a replacement for Katie, but Katie has shown us over and over that she is still with us through Madison. We firmly believe things happen for a reason, and all the coincidences with Madison have proven to us that Katie is behind them.
Our sports did not go all that well this year. Bailie is proud to have earned her L1V Title in April , and her NW1 Title in May. Unfortunately, she did not get her NW2 Title. We are sure she will get that NW2 Title this spring if she can get a spot in a trial!
Mom and I have had a big disconnect this year. Lots of things have gone wrong, and it put the brakes on our nose work success. I did finish up my Level 1 Elements in June with a L1I Title, but that was my only title this year. We have been working hard and are starting to get back to our old successful ways and hope to get my NW3 Title in 2017. I also did not get a spot in a tracking test, so my certification will expire and I don’t plan to try it again. I will leave tracking to my sisters.
We have a lot of plans for nose work in 2017. There will be quite a few local trials and we are planning on traveling to some trials as well. Having put in a lot of work, and learned from our trials this year, we are confident it will be a much better year for Bailie and me!
Madison was only with us for a small part of 2016, but she did successfully graduate from Puppy Einstein Class. She also has aspirations for 2017 including a Puppy Agility Class, Obedience Class, starting her Nose Work career, and she hopes to earn her CGC Title in the spring.
Mom started her new business in October. It has been slow going, but we can see it is picking up and will most likely start to get real busy in the next few months. Hopefully, she will still have plenty of time for us and the blog!
My GBGV Life has continued to grow in 2016. I’m so thankful to have so many friends and followers! When I started it all back in November 2011, I had no idea how big things would get, and that I would still be working at it over five years later! Thank you all so much for your support! I have put together a few statistics that I find interesting.
- Since starting my blog, I’ve had over 77,000 views! The first year I only had 518 views! I remember the beginning was rather depressing, but I stuck with it! I think Gramma was my only fan!
- My blog fans come mostly from the USA, with the UK in second place, and Canada in third.
- This month I surpassed 10,000 Twitter followers and am currently just shy of 10,300!
- My Instagram account too, has grown! I’m now at almost 2500 followers. The past six months or so, I’ve really started to find Instagram to be the most fun of my social media accounts. I do a lot of posting there that is not on the blog or other social media accounts.
- Facebook is a tough nut to crack. They make it more and more difficult for pages to be seen all the time. I’m thankful for the following I have, almost 3400, as it is a solid following, but growth on Facebook is tough!
- I do love Pinterest, but I don’t do a whole lot of posting there. My follower count has been stuck around 1600 for quite a while. I suppose I post a few times a week, but it is a lot more complicated and I simply haven’t seen enough positive results to spend more time on it.
That is pretty much my 2016 year in review. Nothing really new, nothing really surprising, just the facts. Paws crossed for a more successful 2017!
Great review. We understand it is so hard losing Katie yet she brought you little squirt
Lily & Edward
Life always moves on, but some things are hard to leave behind.
Setting goals for the new year is great.And it sounds like you have some really good goals too. 2016 was not the best year for a lot people, for a lot of reasons. I am all for a stellar 2017!
Mental management should help us have a much better 2017!
What a year you have had! Through the tears and the smiles you girls (and Bert) have survived and grown. Lovely review of 2016. XOXO, Sparkle
Thank you. It was a real odd year that we don’t want to repeat, but we have learned a lot.
2016 was a year what brought big changes… and very sad things to you and to us and to many friends… it’s hard to believe that between all this sad things something good cmae too… but it did… and as long as there is this something good we have hope… hugs to you
No matter how hard loss can be, you have to look ahead and move on or it will really ruin you.
Wowza!! Your Mama (and all of you) are definitely a family of over-achievers!! BOL!!! Well done to ALL OF YOU!!!
This year, we didn’t do so well on the achieving, but we are wound up and ready to achieve in 2017!
Tears of sadness and happiness.
Pretty much. Well said!
It certainly has been an up and down year for your family, with such extremes on both ends. We sincerely hope you have nothing but ups in 2017, and look forward to following along every step of the way (and seeing you at the conference)!
Yay! Are you going this year! It should be fun, and we also hope 2017 has more ups than downs.
Yes, I’m going this year….can’t wait to see you all!
Awesome!
What a great review — mom says we should sit down and do this kind of review of our year. She bets it is a good exercise and a way to get started for the new year. You guys always inspire us!! have a good day Emma! from your doodle friend Dash
Thank you – glad to be an inspiration 🙂 Sometimes looking back is not easy, but it is good to do.
Besides one big loss you have had a pretty great year. Hopefully you will find many successes in your trials next year. Have a great 2017.
We’ve had some bad times this year besides just losing Katie, but hopefully they are now behind us and we will have a great 2017!
Losing dear Katie was awful but there was lots of good too.
We still can’t type a post about her without having a teary mess, but as you say, lots of good came along too.
Momma says me and Brinley were da only good things bout 2016 for her.
Madison is definitely our brightest spot!
I think most of us are ready to kiss 2016 good-bye. We are praying hard that 2017 will be a fabulous year for all of us. I’m so thankful for your friendship. Congratulations on your many successes. We miss Katie too and are loving watching Madison blossom ♥
We wish ourselves and you guys a wonderful 2017 where dreams become reality! We are so thankful to have you all as friends too. Bailie is saving up huggles for May, and Madison is trying to learn how to huggle 😉
Your stats and accomplishments are impressive. Ditto your goals for the upcoming year. I’m planning to knock over the garbage pail and eat pizza crusts…. Less impressive, but potentially yummy.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
I’m not into the garbage pail, but I do love the pizza crusts! Hope you get a lot of them!
We are a big believer in goals, not resolutions here too! This year has had lots of big ups and big downs…we will settle for a level 2017 of accomplishing our goals :-).
I think 2016 was an off year for so many pets and people. Can’t wait to have a clean slate and reach some goals.
2016 was full of ups and downs! Here’s hoping 2017 his more ups!!! 😉
2016 had way too many downs…you don’t even know about all of them. It has been really tough, but we are heading into 2017 with a positive attitude and are ready to tackle the world head on!
I still find myself in tears over my Callie more than a year later, so I feel for your mom, Emma. Shadow misses Callie like you miss Katie. But even without a new puppy in the house, Callie does make her presence known to us in one way or another.
I’m sure you will all get those titles this year. It’s a lot of work and sometimes things just don’t happen the way we’d like them to, but I have faith in you.
Here’s to a happier new year! Love you all – Emma, Bailie, Madison, and Joy!! ❤
I do not have a ton of FB followers, but the ones I have are very loyal and visit my blog regularly. I have bigger numbers on other social media, but they do not seem to visit the blog much. Instagram does not work great at our cabin and that is when I have time to spend with it. Figures…lol. Wishing you the best for 2017.
Facebook we don’t like, but it does provide the most blog views. Instagram is a lot of fun and so simple, Twitter is easy too.
Great review, great year. Keep up the good work with your increasing stats!
We just keep plugging along and it seems to kind of happen. We are thankful for all of it for sure!