I started with a base of Darling Diva Polish Forced Family Fun. I applied a matte top coat to the middle two fingers, and Firecracker Lacquer Drop the Ball on the other two. From there I painted on white in a gestural fashion. Once that was dry I used the remaining Firecracker Lacquer colors to create fireworks. 

• Darling Diva Polish- Forced Family Fun
• Firecracker Lacquer- Drop the Ball, Potassium + Strontium Love, Strontium + Copper 4ever
• Sinful Colors- Snow Me White
• Essie- Matte About You
• Bohemian Polish- Flash Dry

So much has happened over the last year that it would be difficult to sum it up properly. Do I divulge personal info, or should I keep it strictly blog related? Let's start off by reading "The Bully" on Polished Pathology. My situation was much more private than Jenne's, but I was bullied by that same person. The Bully and I were friends at one point. I hate to admit that, but it was true. The turning point happened when she berated me for contacting an indie maker to resolve minor issues. In so many words she told me that I was being disloyal to my readers because I wouldn't put said maker on blast. As someone with a customer service background, I wanted to give that maker every opportunity to make things right before I spoke with you guys. This is someone's business, and quite possibly their only source of income. Who am I to ruin their business over a simple mistake. 

To sum up the damage The Bully created would be to neglect the broad scope of what happened. I am only going to do it for the sake of brevity. I lost friends, missed swatch opportunities, and was not allowed into Facebook groups this person managed. With the exception of the loss of friends, the rest sounds petty and small. Oh boo, poor Courtney couldn't get into Facebook groups. Normally it wouldn't be an issue, but in this case we are talking about 8+ groups for indie makers I truly loved purchasing from and working with. Suddenly my hobby became work because I was trying to defend myself as a good person. It was extremely tiresome, and not something I ever want to deal with again.

Not all of my experience in the polish world has been negative. I want to make that entirely clear before I move on to my personal life. I met some wonderful friends in person (finally!) and got to spend time getting to know them more. I am extremely grateful for all of the friendships that have been created thanks to blogging, and the nail world. 

A Year In Review- The Personal Side

Remember how I got engaged back in May 2014? We took a quiet trip to the courthouse that November. The idea was to legally get married, and then have a ceremony with friends and family later. After doing extensive research and attempting to plan a small wedding, it never panned out. Weddings are expensive (on average $26,444 according to Google), and not something we were willing to shell out at the time. After three months of planning a budget wedding, I finally realized that my heart wasn't in it. I wanted to have a nice wedding like everyone else, but the thought of draining our bank accounts for one day gave me anxiety. At that point we had been legally married for three months and absolutely nobody knew about it. I had to make the dreaded phone calls to both parents to let them know that I had tied the knot. That phone call was met with anger from one parent and some minor disappointment from the other. It was supposed to be a happy time, but it definitely took an emotional toll if I'm being completely honest. Despite everything, I'm happy with our decision, but I still wish it could have gone differently. 

Aside from post-wedding drama this year has been decent. I've done a great deal of hiking, went on my first vacation of my adult life, and managed to rehab my weightlifting injury. 

I'm not a resolution kind of person, but I do have some things I would like to work on over the next year. Here's my list improvements:

• Polish- I want to focus less on basic swatches, and more on composition. I love swatching, but I want to challenge myself to do more.
• Weightlifting- I want to continue my weightlifting rehab, and build on the strength I've regained. In the past I've set actual weightlifting goals ie: I want to deadlift "x". This year it's simply going to be about doing more. It doesn't matter if it's one more rep, or 5 more pounds. As long as I'm making healthy progress, I'm happy.
• Mobility- This played a huge roll in why I was injured in the first place. I am going to spend more time stretching, and working on myofascial release. 
• Knitting- I'm going to learn how to use dpns or a magic circle this year. I'm sick of putting off great projects because I fear the circle. 
• Friends & Family- I want to spend more, uninterrupted time with the people I care about. I'm going to put my phone down and separate family time from screen time. I may pull my phone out for a photo or two, but I want it to stop interfering with the things that matter the most.

My Top Manis of 2015

I wanted to reflect on the manis that I really enjoyed this year. As you can see, most of them are nail art based, but a few are simple swatches. I know I said I wanted to do more nail art next year, but your input is important to me. What would you like to see from me in 2016? Leave me a comment, and I will do my very best to accommodate it.

Lastly, I want to thank all of you who read and comment. This blog wouldn't have been nearly as fun without you guys!