2016 was the weirdest year ever. It was both the best and the worst, a year where you could be on top of the world one minute, and the next you were knee-deep in your own failure. In times like this, it's important to have a friend who truly understands and appreciates how weird life is. Enter my friend Ellen.

Ellen and I met on our overnight trip to Elmhurst way back in the day when we were seniors in high school. I thought she was crazy when I met her and absolutely nothing has changed. The thing you need to know about Ellen is she has the most insane unbelievable life where the strangest things happen to her.

2015 was a rough year for the two of us, and we decided 2016 would be the year we got out of rock bottom and did something with our lives. We kept telling ourselves that we made it, even though I'm not 100% what that means.

Throughout 2016. Ellen and I had some of the strangest conversations through Snapchat. We saved a lot of them (because they were hilarious), and looking back through them I realized how many accurately sum up the year that people had.

1. We tried to avoid it

Erase it from your memory or tear it out of the history books. There were an abundance of tragedies so we tried to stick our heads in the ground and wait for it to be over.

2. Some alcohol was involved

I turned 21 this year, which explains the excessive amount of drunk snaps Ellen got. But a lot of people did some self-medication this year. Whether it was alcohol, mac n cheese, Tinder dates, or online shopping, everyone had a way of coping this year.

3.We didn't stick to our goals

We had these lofty goals in mind of how the year was going to turn out. But then it was June and your life was going in the complete opposite direction that you meant it to.

4. There were points when no one thought this was real life

David Bowie? Prince? Alan Rickman? What was this horrid time?

5. Mostly because NOTHING made sense

Is Donald Trump really the president? What did I do in my past life to deserve this?

6. Seriously, was 2016 even real?!?

Orlando, Trump, Brexit, Trump, Shootings, Trump. 2016 made about as much sense as this snapchat sentence did.

7. So we gave up trying to understand it

At some point, everyone put their head down and just focused on getting through the year. When things get unbelievably screwy, the best thing to do is just rock out to it.

8. A lot of things didn't work out but we got through it

2016 was like opening your Christmas presents and getting nothing that you asked for, even though you had been good the entire year before. But instead of crying and not believing in Santa anymore, we learned to love what we had been given.

9. We learned how to persevere

Now everything is going to seem easy. You made it through 2016, you can make it through anything!

10. Even in impossible situation, we never gave up

This text was actually about setting me and this guy up, but really it can be applied to anything. You have to try against the impossible odds to make our own luck.

11. We gained confidence to do whatever we wanted.

The world was going to hell in a handbasket, so the normal rules didn't apply. So we tried to dream bigger, reach higher, move faster. If all of these very bad things happened, then very good things had to happen too right?

12. But there were still a lot of bad days

There were a lot of days that I didn't want to get out of bed, or go to work, or do much of anything. And that's okay, because one bad day doesn't ruin the rest of your life.

13. But we learned to use the bad days to keep us going

"Bounce back days" are the best, when you focus your time and energy on making today a GREAT day. You learn to focus on what your accomplished, no matter how small or insignificant.

14. We learned the importance of falling

Remember what Alfred said in the Batman movies, about falling so we can learn to pick ourselves up? That was 2016, understanding that life can't always be sunshine and rainbows. Hitting a low point (or several) sucks, but I like to think it happens for a reason.

15. Every year is our year

The fact is, we're always evolving, always changing. We have new goals, dreams, friends, and memories. This conversation honestly made me realize that every year is our year. We're just cosmic dust with a brain and an expiration date, so we need to take advantage of what we got.

16. We all survived 2016 together

What I've learned is that being a trainwreck isn't that bad when everyone else is a trainwreck around you. And I don't mean this in the "well at least I'm not as bad as that guy" kind of way. But more so in the "hey, everyone is struggling so let's struggle together" kind of way.

So there you have it. 2016 is about over, and 2017 is looming over our heads. I have no idea what life is going to look like, no one really does (unless you're psychic then tell me where I end up for grad school). The only piece of advice I have to leave you with is to make 2017 your bitch.

See you next year!