What's been your favorite year of your life so far?

My year as a 22 year-old, also nicknamed as the "Taylor Swift" year, was a time in my life that I experienced a lot of learning and growing as a person. I was a student going to college and had been spending almost every weekend that summer traveling a few hours to visit an amazing guy I met earlier in the spring. It wasn't soon after my birthday that I had to begin preparing for one of the biggest trips of my life! I was lucky enough to be selected to spend 3 months on an internship in the Philippines with a few fellow classmates. I was absolutely terrified to go somewhere that was on the complete opposite side of the planet. It would be my first time out traveling out of the country. I was crazy about this guy I was dating and was really unsure if things would be the same when I came back, but in my heart I knew that whatever would happen would happen for the right reasons. I had to focus on the internship ahead of me.

I still remember the night before I left the country. I remember every moment so clearly from boarding the plane, landing in the Philippines and the cramped car ride home in the most humid air I've ever experienced. After getting over the first initial culture shock of a foreign country, I fell in love with the Philippines. The music, food and people who were always so welcoming and friendly to me and my group. They loved touching my face and my hair and were kind enough to offer cooking lunch for us during our meetings. Once December came around it was time for us to leave. I was so sad to say goodbye to this beautiful country, but I was excited to see my family and friends. 

When I came home, I was really anxious to meet up with the guy I was crazy about. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he felt the same way about me and I couldn't be happier! We took a trip to his home state and I formally met his siblings and parents to spend some time getting to know them. A few months after that, he decided to get down on one knee in the place where it all started and asked me to marry him. I was shocked and surprised. We only talked briefly about marriage but I was already in love with him at that point so I already knew my answer. I spent that summer packing up my things, moving into an apartment with him and planning our wedding. It was a pretty monumental year for me with life changing events and choices that has shaped me greatly as a person.