HOLY CATS! Can you believe that 2016 is almost over?!? What a year this has been! The Cubs won the World Series, creepy clown sightings were a thing and don’t even get me started on the presidential election.

Even though this year has been a bit, well, let’s just say odd, there have been a lot of really awesome things too. The highlight of my year had to be the family vacation to Hawaii that we took in March–especially since it was FREE. Yes–you read that correctly–I actually won a seven night, all expenses paid trip for four to Hawaii. It. Was. Awesome. You can read about that adventure here.

I’m also excited because FabYOUlous Life experienced a TON of growth in 2016. I am so grateful to my readers and humbled that people have taken the time out of their busy lives to spend some time with me here in this little online world that we’ve created together. So, if you are reading this–THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart–your support means so, so much to me.

Here at FabYOUlous Life, we shared 74 new posts in 2016 (this post is number 75 but I’m not counting it) and each one was well received by our readers. Our most popular posts were our monthly questions series posts. I had many people reach out to me to tell me that they were using the daily questions as journaling prompts or as conversation starters around the dinner table. Because these twelve posts were so popular, I am going to be bundling them together and offering them as a free download after the first of the year–be sure to watch for it!

The popularity of our monthly questions posts got me curious as to what our other popular posts of 2016 were so I dove into the site analytics and came up with this list of the

TOP 10 FabYOUlous Life Posts of 2016

1.) Lessons Learned While Running (and Training for) my First Half-Marathon. Yes-2016 marked the year that I ran my first ever half-marathon (that’s 13.1 agonizing miles). It was hard but also incredibly rewarding. It was also a huge learning experience. In this post I outline all of the lessons that I learned while training for my race–a little about running but A LOT about life.

2.) Meditation for Non-Meditators. Apparently there are a lot of non-meditators out there who are wanting to become meditators because this beginner’s guide to mindfulness got a lot of attention from FabYOUlous Life readers. If you are looking to add some tranquility and mindfulness to your life, this post is a great place to start. It lists 10 simple ingredients for a sustainable meditation practice.

3.) D.I.Y. Jenga with a Twist Game. FUN! FUN! FUN! I just love the fact that so many people downloaded the template to make this super simple, family friendly game. This game is one that even my uber-cool, nearly grown, young adult children don’t think is cheesy (and they think pretty much everything is cheesy so…) We’ve played it several times and always have lots of fun because different people pick different blocks each time therefore the game never gets stale. Best of all, the assembly is super-simple so you can make and play it all in the same day–just make sure that you allow enough time for the Modge Podge to dry. Or…if you are looking for a more grown-up version of the game, check out our template for Drunken Jenga— it’s a hoot.

4.) Shake Up Your Chakras-Balance Your Life. Just as many FabYOUlous Life readers are interested in meditation, so too are many interested in the powerful energy that is manifested through our chakras. In 2016 we did a series of introductory posts on understanding chakral energy and each post in the series was very well received. This post is the final post in the series and outlines several simple strategies for optimizing your chakral energy so that it can make a positive impact in your life. It also includes links to each of the previous posts in the series.

5.) Goal Setting & Goal Getting. What can we say? FabYOUlous Life readers tend to be highly motivated, ambitious types who enjoy the challenge of setting lofty goals for themselves and the feeling of accomplishment that they experience when those goals are successfully attained. This post outlines a simple goal tracking method that has helped many FabYOUlous Life readers stay on pace with their goals–PLUS–it includes a free, printable goal tracking sheet to help measure daily progress towards important goals.

6.) D.I.Y. Vacation Map Photo Frame. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, my family and I took a dream vacation to Hawaii this year. On that trip we took some wonderful pictures that I wanted to showcase in our home. This simple DIY photo frame idea was just the ticket. Not only did I end up with a wonderful souvenir from our trip–I also ended up with a post that FabYOUlous Life readers fell in love with. The simplicity of this project will make it one that you’ll want create for each of your future travel destinations.

7.) 33 FabYOUlous Ways to Find Peace of Mind (right freakin’ NOW!) Even for the most FabYOUlous among us, life can get a little crazy sometimes–especially in a year as wild as 2016 has been. I suspect that this is why our posts on mindfulness and peace of mind were so popular with readers. In this popular post, we outline 33 simple ways to find peace of mind when you need it RIGHT. FREAKIN’. NOW. I’m sure that we can all relate. Be sure to bookmark this post so that you’ll have it handy the next time you are feeling especially frazzled.

8.) Your A to Z Guide to a FabYOUlous Life. Who knew that living a FabYOUlous life was as easy as ABC? Readers of this post–that’s who. This fun post is chock full of ideas to give you an instant FabYOUlousness boost. With twenty-six fun suggestions, why not spend 2017 trying a new one every other week.

9.) Detox Your Spiritual Life. Just as our physical bodies can begin to feel sluggish and unhealthy when they are subjected to too many environmental toxins or poor dietary choices; so too can our spiritual/mental state suffer when it is subjected to too much negativity, stress or all-around ugliness. That’s why it is crucial to our overall well-being that we take steps to detox our spirits on a regular basis. In this popular post, we outline ten FabYOUlous ways to detox your spiritual life and get rid of negative B.S. (belief systems).

10.) Find Your Ideal Work and Ditch the Sunday Night Blues. I find it interesting that the analytics show that this popular post gets the most hits on…Sunday night. If you dread going to work on Monday morning so much that it sucks the fun out of your Sunday nights, this post that outlines ten FabYOUlous ways to find out what your ideal work is.

Whew! There you have it–a wrap up of our most popular posts of 2016. These posts are just a small sampling of all of the FabYOUlousness that FabYOUlous Life has to offer so please stick around and check out the rest of the site. Also, be sure to check back often as we kick off 2017 with even greater FabYOUlousness and new things that are in the works–trust us–you DON’T want to miss out.

May each and every one of you have a joyous wrap up of 2016 and a glorious kick-off to 2017!