2016...it's gonna be big

i know it's like......mid february, and everyone already did their "new years goals" and "new years posts" and such but..i'm pregnant....so......moral of the story, things get done at a slower rate around here. 

i thought about writing a post for my goals for 2016, and i even looked at the questionnaire i did last year for 2015 (interesting to read back and see what i actually did didn't do...oops). and then i thought about 2016...and all the changes that will be taking place....and i decided i'm not really a "yearly goal" type of gal. my goals have to be a little more immediate than that so i can focus on it clearly. so 2016, i'm just gonna power through you!!!

but before we do that, lets look at 2015. 2015, you were a good year. as i initially think back, it was a pretty normal, mediocre year.  

grant got his helmet off (remember those helmet days??? i almost forget about them)

i turned a quarter of a century old!!

grant turned ONE!

grant and i quit nursing (waaaah)

grant and i went to priest lake without norman (waaaaah)

we got a little surprise and found out i was pregnant at priest lake without norman (waaaaaaaaaaaah)

norman finished his last summer ("spring semester" in byui terms) semester at byui! (only two more semesters to go at this point)

went on an OUTRAGEOUSLY long and fun and exciting and exhausting 3 week road trip through 22 states with my parents

my sister got re-married to a fabulous man who we all love!

we found out that our little surprise baby was a GIRL!! :)

AND

ended the year spending lots of time with family over the holidays!

and the rest of the time all i can remember is just...being pregnant. haha. that's usually how that goes right??

and actually...looking at it now...it was more than just a mediocre year! it was pretty event-filled! but 2016...i KNOW....is gonna be a big one.

a: we are adding a BABY GIRL to the family. always a huge event for a year.

b: norman is GRADUATING!!!!!!! best sentence ever.

c: norman will be getting a job (fingers crossed)! an actual CAREER kind of job. doesn't that make us sound so grown up?....it does.

d: we will be moving to wherever said job is...

and

e: norman will most likely be starting his masters program!

i mean, those five things alone are enough to make an exciting year...am i right??? i have a love/hate relationship with change and moving on to different stages in life. a big part of me craves the new adventure and gets restless doing the same old things. but another part of me loves the routine and the people, places, things i've come to know and care about. as much as i have wanted to be out of the "married college life" world, i know there are things i will miss. being poor married college students/family isn't all that bad. we are happy. living simple is quite nice. but in the same breath i am excited for the new adventure and the new stage in our marriage and family.

so, lets bring on this year of 2016!

happy late new year, errbody!

some goals, i guess

like i have said....2014 was such a bomb year. but new year means new experiences and new goals and crap. ;) no, but really...i am a little excited about this new year as a little fresh start for some things i want to accomplish. i saw this little New Year's Questionnaire on a blog i follow and i thought it was a fun way to think about some specific things you want to do in the new year! so here are my answers:

A bad habit I’m going to break: my innate laziness. i really am naturally lazy. and my husband is so not...and i'm pretty sure i drive him a little crazy sometimes when it comes to that. goodness, i drive myself crazy. so although i don't mind being lazy....i need to not be lazy so often. how's that?? :)

A destination I’d like to visit: Ah I want to travel the world you guys. but alas...we are poor and trying to get through school with a young child...so where i would like to visit...and where i will actually visit are two very different things...i would like to go to new zealand....but this year...it'd be nice to take a trip down to st. george and see one of norman's favorite mission family's that moved there. OR head down to "the bay area" (you know how they say it down there....) and visit one of my bestest friends Ali, her husband Will, and their cutie son, Nixon.

I’m going to work harder at: hmmm...i could put the lazy thing here too....but i shan't. so i am going to say i want to work harder at being a better parent. I want to read books and study and really be invested in my child and helping to form him. Parenthood is so daunting. 

A project I’d like to finish: so, guys. i got a sewing machine for christmas from my oh-so-talented mother-in-law who could sew a coat in her sleep...or something that's hard to sew. and i have to admit...i'm not even sure i know how to sew on a button. but! i am determined to learn to sew grant some cute little leggings, and i really want to tackle some leather moccasins for him! i know that's kind of a steep goal for a beginner like myself....but i feel like i can do it!

A class I’d like to take: swimming!! not for me...i know how to swim. but i am planning to do a mommy-and-me class with grant this summer and i'm really excited about it.

I’d like to spend more time doing: i really want to spend real raw time making memories and having adventures with the husband and little boy and spend less time being "connected". and on an even more serious note, getting to know my Savior a little better, developing my relationship with Him and my Heavenly Father.

A food I want to eat more of: well...really...mexican and chinese. but if we're being "goal-y" about it...probably vegetables and more healthy foods. i'm the LEAST healthy eater of all time and i really do want to change that. but not all the way....cause unhealthy foods are da bomb, tho.

I want to wear more: accessories! i never accessorize, and i feel like it really pulls an outfit together. aaaaand lipstick. i'm always so scared to wear lipstick...but i think it might be time...

Books I’d Like To Read in 2015: religious-wise...i want to tackle the doctrine and covenants this year. there's some excellent stuff in there that i really want to get in to. personal-wise...i really don't have any on my list! any ideas of fabulous books i should read this year?? it's been a long time since i felt really captivated by a book so....give me some good ones, you guys!

NYE & 2014

 

this year's new years eve was oh so great and fabulous. as every new years celebration is in our family. normally, we start our new years eve with my family and then head to a friends for some sort of celebration that is always happening. however, this year...because we live in the hotel that we're night managers of, we had to be in our apartment in Idaho falls at 10 pm. so....we decided to move to the party to us. my parents and sister and brother in law came to our apartment and we had a smashing amount of food and played games of course...what else. games with my family is always a treat. we were so excited to have my parents home this year for the holidays. they were on their mission last year and the holidays just aren't the same without them. we rang in the new year with red grape sparkling cider and kisses from our spouses. just how we like it.

 

on new years day we headed to poky to watch the bowl game between Georgia and Nebraska. of course Nebraska won...and it was a fabulous game including an all time record made by our very own Nebraska cornhuskers. and because I didn't feel too well (too much food the night before) we kind of laid low most the day and went over to Norman's family's house for some relaxing family time.

 

2013 was a good year.

I graduated from cosmetology school.

got my first cosmetology job.

we moved to Idaho falls.

we found out we were pregnant...best news ever.

norman started at a new school and is doing so so very well.

norman got a long-term internship at an engineering office in town.

we decided to move AGAIN to a bigger apartment.

and we are so looking forward to 2014.

we can just feel that it's going to be a big year for our little family that is growing...literally....my child is growing in my womb as we speak.

for some reason this year i haven't really felt the desire to make any new years resolutions. i really am just focusing on our new baby and getting ready physically and emotionally for him to join us.

i think that's a big enough task for my year, no?

 

last year i made the goal of no sugar....

and to try and be more positive in every situation.

 now although the first goal didn't last longer than a few days....whoops. the second goal i really feel i have improved on. although I'm not perfect at looking on the bright side every time anything happens, i feel like my attitude really has shifted a little. i plan to keep working on that and making myself a better person.

 

i hope all of you have big plans ahead for 2014 as well and i wish you all the best!

 

cheers!!

boards.

guys! guys.....

i have an announcement to make.

i passed all my boards.

written: 91%

practical: 90%

just found out today. :) YAY!!

and guess what else?

i hit my 2,000 hours tomorrow at 1:30 pm.

am i stoked?

yes. yes i am.

these are 3 of the girls i went to boise with to take boards. this was our celebratory meal after hours of testing :) 

i got another confession to make...

 remember that one time...like a couple weeks ago where i made that goal... {maybe not even a week ago....} where we were not going to eat any sugar?

guys...i haven't done it.

we haven't even started yet.

i did it for like a day.

and then i got this ice cream with brownies and cookie dough in it.

and it was so good.

so norman and i haven't really set concrete rules, so neither of us have really followed any of the rules. we were talking the other day, and we decided that we're not really sure what we're gonna do, because a year without any of that sugary goodness? waaaaay too long. and i don't think my hormones will allow it. i mean i was thinkin about this cold stone ice cream for a solid week ... and i finally gave in because that crave was just not going away...at all. nor did i want it to.

so we have decided that we're going to pick a month and go off candy and sweets and cookies and cake and ice cream and doughnuts and such and see how that goes.

i could probably do a month, right?

:)

update on my other goal: choosing happiness

i'm actaully not doin too shabby. we've had some situations occur recently that have been rather difficult and i have consciously chosen to look for the good and try to be positive.

i am still pretty bad at it most the time, but so far it's been alright. i'm gettin there.

anywho...there's my update...how are everyone else's resolutions coming? hopefully a bit better?   

          

2013...its time

{via}

i'm finally in the mood.

i'm babysitting.

kids are fed and put down for naps.

i just finished last nights episode of private practice.

i have a warm blanket wrapped around me.

and a puppy sleeping on my lap.

i'm in goal writing mood.

now i'll just tell ya right now, i'm not very good at goal making. actually...i guess i'm good at goal making...just not so good at goal keeping. like most people around new years...i make a goal at the beginning of the year and by february i've bailed.

on a drive home from utah one girls weekend, my sister asked me what my new years resolutions were....and i didn't even have any. hadn't even thought about it. so we talked and i really thought about what i wanted to accomplish this year.

and i found a couple goals.

just a couple, though. i gotta keep it simple, people.

1. no sugar...or something like that.

  just after the new year, from what i assume was eating too much crap over the holiday, i got the stomach flu. and it lasted a solid 3 ish days. ugh...and during my snuggle session with my husband while sick i said...let's make a no sugar goal this year.

he was all for it, cause he's been wanting to do some kind of food goal this year {he first mentioned going 6 months bein a vegetarian and i vetoed that real quick}.

so, because i was sick and absolutely nothing sounded good to me at that moment...i thought...yeah...i can go without sugar for a year.

well once i started getting my appetite back...i took that thought back. so we just set some basic ground rules. our goal is to try and eat better in general and not eat so much junk. so far some of our set rules are these:

absolutely no candy

no baked goods {cookies, cake, brownies, etc..}

aaaaand that's about it.

we haven't come up with "exceptions" yet. like birthdays and what not. but so far...we haven't had candy or baked goods ALL YEAR!! WOOT WOOT! we'll see how we do.

but our main goal is to be more aware of what we're putting into our bodies.

2. choose to be happy 

i have been reading this blog for some time now and she has some really good insights on life. she's been through a lot and has a lot to share that is so positive and uplifting.

one thing is simply to "choose to be happy"

it seems rather simple. but is so hard. i remember when i was growing up and someone really pissed me off, i would say something like "they just made me so angry!" and my dad would always say "they didn't make you angry...you're choosing to be angry because of what they did."

and i hated it.

i hated that response.

but it's true.

 i want to be in control of me. and my emotions. and i really want to choose to happy even in the hardest of situations. and it takes a lot of practice. somebody does something bothersome and you feel that anger rise in your chest. or something awful happens and you want to sulk and be sad about it.

i want to choose to be happy. to find the good. {easier said than done}. but it's so healthy and this woman has shown me that it's possible. it's hard. but possible.

and i have a whole year to start trying. doubt i'll be there by the end of the year, but i am going to make a conscious effort to attempt to make it a habit, for it to become my natural reaction instead of anger, sadness, fear, etc. etc.

  

so there you have it. my goals for 2013.

good luck to me!

and good luck to all of you!