Sitting down to write this year in review remains one of the most daunting things I write all year. It's incredibly difficult to encapsulate 365 days into a single post without making it as long as a George R. R. Martin novel. I have this constant fear that I'll miss something, or mis-represent something. And yet just like I have for the past eight years here I am to try and put a bow on what was one of the best years of my life. 

Welcome to our sixth annual favorite things. Its an opportunity to look back on all of our favorite things we've watched, ate, and experienced in the year that was. Each year you can see our tastes begin to change, our bodies grow older, and our hearts younger. It was a great year and I'm excited to share with you our favorite things from 2016. 

I began last year tracking a lot of my daily activity to help get in better shape. Among the things I've begun tracking on a daily basis are steps, weight, sleep, and workouts. I also have a daily to-do list using the app Productive to make sure I do the basics (take vitamins, wash my face, brush my teeth and floss twice a day, etc.). It's not something that works for everyone but for me its a way to stay accountable to where I want to be in my life and I can't tell you how proud of all these stats in 2016. 

Each year I put together a list of a handful of goals for the upcoming year. I try to make the goals realistic but also things to better me as a person whether physically or mentally. For goals I've found that looking back on how I did, not only at setting goals, but also achieving them can be just as important as actually accomplishing them. So how did I do?

Last year Jenn and I started a new annual tradition to write up and rank our favorite shows of the year. It began with 18 shows last year and ballooned out a little this year to 24 for me and 21 for Jenn. This list does not include the multitude of political shows we watch (Last Week Tonight, The Daily Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Full Frontal) or reality shows (The Amazing Race and Top Chef). This list only includes scripted shows where we completed at least a season in the year.

There's something magical each year when Jenn and I bring the multitude of Christmas boxes out of storage and into our home. This year we decorated (like we have for many years) the Saturday following Thanksgiving. After renting out the freight elevator and taking up our boxes of Christmas trees and decorations Jenn went to work on making our home beautiful. I helped where possible (building the trees and lugging boxes up and down from storage) but for the most part I stepped back and let Jenn work her magic.