When I was in high school I would always share a year-end roundup post on my LiveJournal consisting mostly of coded (in case mom ever found it!) recounts of the number of times I got drunk, lists of inside jokes that were never actually funny, and melodramatic musings about boys.

I turned 27 this year, and my life has a little bit more going on for it than “that one time we dressed up at the park OMG HAHA” and “that one party where we watched Family Guy and then… those who know, know!!! lol!” Although, in case 15-year-old Cheryl time travels and sees this, you got drunk LOTS of times this year, kiddo. Too many to recount. Congrats?

Here are some of the things I am most proud of from 2015.

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speechbubbble is thriving. The company I started three years ago with no grander aspirations than to let me work from my house in my pajamas accumulated an office, its first (and fantastic) full-time employee, and record revenue in 2015. We added some truly terrific clients like Smokehouse Brewing, Celebrate Local and Destination Grandview to our roster (plus several smaller projects), and I am still in awe every day that I get paid to produce content for some of my favorite small businesses.

Drink Up Columbus is also thriving, and celebrated its four year anniversary this Spring. We claimed one of the top three local blogger spots in (614) Magazine for the fifth consecutive year, and I just found out that, according to web traffic data, Drink Up Columbus is among the top 15 beer blogs in the WORLD, which is pretty damn cool.

I helped launch the Columbus Ale Trail, which has arguably been one of the best things to happen for Columbus breweries and craft beer enthusiasts. The project has received a ton of regional and national recognition, and I have yet to visit a brewery and not spotted at least one person holding an Ale Trail book or wearing the t-shirt, and every time I smile.

The Beers and Board Games Club, which “started” two years ago as a half-assed attempt to get some strangers to meet me at a bar for a game of Catan, now has almost 500 members, hosts five monthly events and was able to raise over $5,000 for Nationwide Children’s Hospital at our 24-hour board game marathon. I now count many of the members among my closest friends. 

I was able to give back using my own unique skills for causes I care about, serving on committees for the Gay Softball World Series, the Columbus Museum of Art Wonderball and The Columbus Literacy Council’s Literacy Project.

I entertained (aka “made people uncomfortable”) as a guest on Hashtag Comedy’s live comedy news show, performing my finest Nicki Minaj impression in the Columbus Lip Sync Battle, and emcee’ing a charity Scrabble tournament.

I was awkward on camera, on the radio and even awkward in print (which is hard to do, you know) a LOT in 2015, all of which you can watch/listen to/read here if you are so inclined.

I traveled a bit, namely to Portland for my third Craft Brewers Conference, to Buffalo/Niagara for some destination drinking, and to Tennessee for Christmas.

I loved this dork, every day. Even — maybe especially — on the days when I wanted to throttle him.