2013 In The Rearview

It is the start of a new year! WOOOHOOO! The start of a new year means a fresh start,
 the chance to make resolutions to do things better in the new year (in the hopes that we'll actually keep them), and a chance to reflect on the previous year- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

This year, I've decided to take on a deeper meaning for my New Year's Resolutions. In the past, I really haven't taken them very seriously and therefore, didn't keep my resolutions throughout the year. But this year, I have a better appreciation for the tradition of New Year's Resolutions. This year, I want my resolutions to not reflect the person who I am now, but the person that I want to become. Resolutions are meant for bettering yourself, so here are some things that I want to do better this year...

Stop feeling guilty, or letting people make me feel guilty for the things that I truly want. This is my life. I shouldn't have to worry about how people are going to judge me based on my choices. I need to stop letting people who do so little for me, take up so much of my feelings, mind, and emotions.

Learn to accept the apologies I never got. I'm sure that everybody can relate to this one. Everybody has been hurt by somebody else, but that's in the past and I need to start focusing on the future. This reminds me of a quote by C.S. Lewis, "Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing the monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward."

Don't be so afraid of the unknown. Take baby steps and watch how things unfold from there. This is a huge one for me. It makes me feel so much more comfortable knowing what's going to happen and when. But especially right now, when I'm getting ready to start applying for grad school's in different states, I need to just have faith that everything will work out and that I'll end up being where I need to be, when I need to be there.

and of course, the ever so present resolution of...

Working out at least 4 days a week and eating healthier. I don't really think this one needs an explanation, everybody want's to look and feel the best that they can!

As I look back on 2013 and remember

• Celebrating my first anniversary with my husband 
• Transferring to BYU
• Moving to Provo
• Getting accepted into the Communication Disorders Major
• Sharing memories with friends and family
• And making many important life decisions

I welcome 2014 and hope that it's filled with lots of love, laughter, memories, friends, and happiness. Happy New Year!

Food, Family, & Football

Well bloggers, I'm back at it. After an extremely stressful week of finals that involved multiple nights of Mountain Dew Code Red, (which is the good stuff for helping me stay awake, reserved only for special occasions) staying up until 6 am to study and waking up at 8 am to go take tests, and having absolutely no time to even think about anything other than studying, I am finally home. And by home I mean Pennsylvania. I haven't been to Pennsylvania since I got married, about a year and 4 months ago. Is it horrible of me to say that the thing I missed most was the food? Cause it's totally true. Other than my family, of course. Since I've been back, we've been making the rounds between all of our favorite restaurants. For all of you out there that are reading, Old Forge, the town next to where I grew up, has THE BEST Italian food and pizza. It's unbelievable and I totally crave it when I have to resort to domino's in Utah. 

Other than food, we've been doing some fun things as a family. Since 5 out of the 6 of us kids are still in college, it's pretty rare when we're all together. This Christmas, we were all able to be in Pennsylvania for the holidays, so it has been pretty fun. We had a family game night a few nights ago, playing one of our favorite games, pegs and jokers, and by the time the game was almost through, we all hated each other haha. We get pretty intense when we play games. We've also kept up with some family Christmas traditions, like going to the movies on Christmas, opening a present on Christmas Eve, having our family Christmas party the day after Christmas, going ice skating, etc. It has been pretty fun so far. The only thing we haven't done that was the only thing I REALLY wanted to do while I was home was go to New York City. I am so bummed about it. I wanted to go see the Christmas lights, go to Serendipity, and go ice skating at Rockefellar Center. Oh well, there's always the next time we're here for Christmas. Hopefully that same year we can go to Times Square for New Years Eve... Crossing my fingers that I can get Taylor on board for that one so I can check it off the bucket list. 

And right now? Well, right now, the hubs, dad, and myself are eating boneless wings and watching the BYU vs Washington football game on tv. Really hoping that BYU comes out on top! Fingers Crossed! Merry Christmas bloggers!

Today I am Thankful

So I know this post is about 2 weeks too late, but better late than never right? I just wanted to share an experience that happened on Black Friday when I was at work. Right after we closed, I was sweeping. Under one of the tables was a notepad with a child's handwriting that said, "I'm thankful for the great life I have and just for breathing." It was just so humbling to me to read those words and know that a child wrote them. For children, it's so simple. I think adults need to have that kind of mindset. How often do we stop and think about the simple things, like being thankful for every breath that we take? If you're like me, a full-time college student, worker of 2 jobs, and a newlywed, probably not very often. Life is busy, but it's important to pause and be grateful for all that we have. So today, I'd like to take the opportunity to list just a few (in a very large list of things) that I'm thankful for.

Freshly fallen snow

Family

Friends

Good books 

Laughter

The sweet boy that I tutor

My amazing husband

Christmas music

The gospel

Oversized sweaters/ shirts

Boots

Scented candles

Netflix & cuddling

Hot Cocoa with marshmallows

What are you thankful for? Happy Monday....Well I guess Tuesday, everyone!

Guess Who's Back?

I'm baaaack. Did you miss me? Don't answer that. So I have totally fallen off the face of the earth for the past few months, sorry bout that. But what can I say, life happens. I cannot believe that tomorrow I'm gonna be starting school again. I am totally dreading the thought of going back to school. However, I am really excited that I'll be taking my major classes that I'm actually interested in. No more generals for this girl, woohoo!

Life has been so busy lately, but I have had an awesome summer. I got the best job ever, working as an ABA Instructor for a 14-year old boy with language impairment. It is honestly the perfect job because I get to be creative in providing rewards/ incentives for when he does an awesome job or when I can tell he's trying really hard. I've only been working with him for about 3 months but I feel like I can already see him improving and it is awesome! He's also probably the sweetest kid you'll ever meet, which makes working with him that much better.

An exciting thing happened a few weeks ago, my best friend/ college roommate Roxanne was in Provo so I got to spend time with her. It had been far too long since we'd seen each other and we had a lot of catching up to do. We went for lunch and then went shopping :) It was nice to actually go shopping with another girl. Taylor despises going shopping, but he's the best and will come with me anyway- as long as I provide him with an incentive (a big Dr. Pepper). Once he has a big gulp in hand, he's like a little kid on Christmas. But Roxanne would actually tell me what she really thought about the clothes I picked out rather than saying, "Yeah that looks great" without actually looking up haha. But it was really nice to see her and remember all the fun things we did our first semester of college together. And the best thing about our friendship is that even though it had been forever since we'd seen each other, it wasn't awkward seeing each other again and finding things to talk about, it's like we were still roommates. That kind of friendship doesn't come around often and I am so blessed that I have a friend like that.

The hubs and I also took a roadtrip to Vegas last weekend to celebrate our (drumroll please) 1 year anniversary! 1 year of wedded bliss with this stud. ---------------->

 I am one lucky gal. :) We've both been so busy this summer that it was nice to just get away for a few days and spend time together. AND we got to see my mom and my sister, so it was a win-win. We saw the Bellagio Fountains, went to an art gallery, went to Count's Kustoms!, saw Caesar's Palace (huuuuge!), went ATV riding (funnest thing ever, check it out- http://americanadventuretours.com/), and Taylor and I got to do a helicopter ride above the vegas strip at night, which was awesome! We also discovered Thai food in Vegas, thanks to my cousin Brooke and her husband Troy, who took us to Lotus of Siam for dinner. Yummmmmy. We were sad to come back to work after such a fun weekend away, but it was definitely a good way to end the summer.

MORE exciting news is that my cousin Abby is now attending BYU and is on their gymnastics team! Woohoo, that is incredibly cool and Taylor and I can't wait to go see her meets! We were able to see her and her family over the last few days as they were moving her into her dorm and I'm so excited for her to be out here, she is going to looooove it and I'm going to love having her out here. :) Catch ya on the flipside!

Truly Inspirational

In the past week, I have been brought to tears more than once by things that have inspired me.
1. I was at the grocery store with the Mr. last week and we were looking through some movies and came across the movie "Fireproof." Taylor had seen the movie before, but I hadn't, so we decided to get it. For the last 30 minutes of the movie, there were continuous streams running down my face, but they weren't tears of sadness. I was so inspired by what the husband in the movie did for his wife, even when it seemed that all was lost. I don't want to say too much and give it away, but I kid you not, whether you are married or not, this is a MUST SEE movie, trust me.

2. Today as I was on Facebook, I came across a video clip that my cousin Janie shared. If you can spare about four minutes of your day to watch the clip, please do. It is so touching and I have included the video below. :) Happy Tuesday!

I'm Gonna Make This Place Your Home

Change is good. I have come to that realization. It takes some adjusting to, but it is good nonetheless because it allows us to get out of our comfort zones. These past few days I have learned that it is harder for me to accept change than it would be for somebody else. Taylor and I just recently made the move from Rexburg to Provo. It was a bit of a reality shock to come to Provo because it's unfamiliar ground. I know where nothing is, there are lots of mountains, there's a Cafe Rio right down the street (which I am totally okay with by the way), and BYU actually has sports teams rather than intermurals. It's also weird that I really don't know many people that go to BYU. BUT I am so happy to be here and to start this new adventure. I saw a quote once that said "Be where you're supposed to be, when you're supposed to be there," which I feel is very relevant to right now. This is the place for us to be right now and I definitely know that and though there are still some nerves about living in a new place and going to a new school, I am definitely excited to say the least. :) Music has a strange way of making tough situations a little bit better. On our move to Provo, the song Home by Phillip Phillips came on the radio and as I listened to the lyrics, it was the perfect song for our move. Needless to say, it has become my current music obsession since.

Another thing that was a definite change this year was that I wasn't able to spend Christmas in Pennsylvania with my family, seeing how we moved just a few days before Christmas. It was a lot quieter with just myself and the Mr. (I'm used to chaos on Christmas morning with all of my brothers and sisters and seeing tons of family.) We did decide on having a traditional Christmas breakfast every year though. I let Taylor pick between many options, and the winner was, drumroll please!.... Cinnamon Roll Waffles! So that delicious breakfast will be gracing our table every year on Christmas morning. :) Later on, we had my brother and his girlfriend over for Christmas dinner. The menu consisted of:

Grape and Cashew Salad with Vinaigrette dressing

Stuffed cheese rolls

Ham with an orange glaze

Twice Baked potato Casserole

Sparkling Cider, and cookies for dessert. 

All of which I made and was very proud of for it being the first Christmas dinner that I cooked. :) After dinner we played two rounds of sequence, which got pretty intense! Then I recruited Jared and Kelly to help me hang decorations in the apartment and later we went to the movies to see Here Comes the Boom. Going to the movies on Christmas is kind of another Christmas tradition that I love dearly because I LOVE the movies. :) 

One reason why we are VERY excited about living in Provo because they have so much more going on than Rexburg did! We want to go to the Sundance Film Festival, go skiing in Park City, hike Y mountain, go to the Utah State Fair, go to the zoo in Salt Lake and feed the giraffes! (birthday present, wink wink ;)), they have much better shopping here, and there is a Cafe Rio, an In N Out, and countless other places we want to try in close proximity to us. :) I have a feeling that we are going to LOVE it here!

Life Lately

It has been far too long since the last time I've blogged! So here's what has been happening in my life since the last post...

1. I got HITCHED! (finally!) And to this cute guy. --------->

I LOVE weddings. I always have, and I always will. I'm biased, but my wedding has been my favorite one. :) Besides some minor hiccups, like forgetting my bouquet at the hotel on our wedding day, right before we took bridal pictures, things went very smoothly. My best friend Lauren was able to be at my wedding, which I was so happy about! She flew in from going to school in Idaho, and I am SO happy that she did. She was the perfect bridesmaid. Anytime I needed an opinion, she was there to help, and she gave our wedding toast on very short notice! Such a good friend! Right before Taylor and I got married, we were sitting in this beautiful room that was so peaceful, that's when I started to get emotional. I don't know why, but I kept looking at Taylor as we were sitting there and the thought came into my mind that eyes are the windows to the soul, over and over again. If you've ever met Taylor, you know that he has the prettiest blue eyes. That was just so comforting to me because I know that Taylor also has the biggest heart and that he would be the perfect husband and father.Our wedding ceremony was short, but nothing less than perfect, and we were able to share that special moment with our families.Once the ceremony was over, my Aunt Julie told me that we kissed at 6:26, so that's when we were officially married. I'm so glad that somebody took note of that, because I will remember that forever. :) The next day we had our reception at the Montdale Country Club, which was beautiful. After taking pictures and walking into the reception hall for the first time, I noticed how all of the ideas came together so nicely, it really was my dream wedding and I'm happy I got to share that with friends and family. :)

2. We went on our honeymoon to...the BAHAMAS!  

I would totally add a picture, but I haven't uploaded them yet. But anyways, we were all decked out in newlywed clothes. I was dressed in my Bride sweatshirt, my awesome bride flip flops,(thank you Aunt Paula!) and my bride hat, and Taylor had his Groom hat on. :) So, funny story. There was this little boy sitting behind us on the plane who had a very creative imagination. We were getting closer to landing and he said that he spotted "whale tracks" in the water. Then he started talking about Atlantis and said that he saw it. Of course, Taylor and I thought he was talking about Atlantis, as in the lost world, but we soon figured out that he may have been talking about the Atlantis hotel in the Bahamas. Needless to say, he kept us entertained while in the air. So, we got off the plane and went through customs and then we checked in at the Sandals desk. A few minutes later, we were getting picked up in a ROLLS ROYCE! So cool right!? So we get to the resort and it is absolutely beautiful! We were shown to a room that they upgraded us to, which was pretty big and had a mini bar that was restocked daily, and we opened the sliding doors, which led us right outside to a little porch that overlooked the ocean! Can I just say how nice it was to be at an all-inclusive resort. We didn't have to pay for anything while we were there, unless it was something in the gift shop. We were able to eat anywhere, any time of the day, and they had some really good food! This resort was so relaxing, I wanted to stay there forever. They had palm trees all over with hammocks, they had fire pits everywhere, they had a swim up bar, they had live entertainment at night. I loved it! Oh, another funny story. Upon our arrival, we were to receive champagne. So, the lady brings some over to us, and Taylor tells her that we don't drink. She made this face and was so surprised and started offering us wine and other alcoholic drinks. Every time we went to a restaurant, we had to ask if they had anything non-alcoholic and everybody thought we were crazy because we didn't drink. So our favorite drink while we were there was the virgin Bahama Mama, a really fruity drink that I couldn't get enough of! I can't say enough good things about this resort, we were so sad to leave, and while at the airport, we decided that were going to go back, but next time we're going to stay for longer! YAY! :)

So, those were the two major things that I wanted to tell the world about, but here are some of our favorite things lately:

Favorite Book: Happy like Jesus


I seriously LOVE this book. We have been reading a chapter a night and every time we finish, I just feel so uplifted. I would highly recommend this book! Last night, we read the chapter, "Be spiritually minded." There was one part in particular that I really liked. It told a story of Boyd K. Packer's family and how they lived on a poor farm. His father was plowing one day and broke the plow, which was an essential part to farming. His father told his mother that he needed to go to town to get the plow welded. She was very excited to go because she didn't get the opportunity to go to town very often. She got all of the children ready and as she was about to climb in, she stopped and decided that she didn't think she was going to go to town because she had a feeling that she shouldn't go. Only moments after she made the decision not to go, she smelled smoke in the house and noticed that the house was on fire. She had been praying all the time, asking the Lord to bless their family that they would have enough money to food and clothe their children. So  they started saving money to pay for the farm and all of the money was inside of the house. If she had gone to town, everything that they had would have been lost in the fire. That's just so powerful to me and testifies to me the importance of prayer. Seriously, READ THIS BOOK. I promise, you won't regret it.

Favorite TV Show(s):
The Voice

We LOVE this show. It's on every Monday and Tuesday night, but since we don't have cable, we watch it every Tuesday and Wednesday on our Hulu plus account. Out of all of the singing shows out there, this one is definitely entertaining, AND there's a new twist this season. For the battle rounds, when the coach picks which member of their team performed the best, there is an opportunity for the other coaches to steal the person that otherwise would have been sent home! And, coincidentally, Maroon 5 and Blake Shelton have been on the top of my playlists recently. :)

Once Upon A Time

This is another favorite of ours that just started season 2! If you haven't heard about this show, watch the first episode of season 1 and I guarantee you will not be disappointed! I'll just give a little bit of a rundown. This is a story about all of the story book characters that we know and love, living in their world. But, the evil queen (from snow white) puts a curse on all of the characters, which transports them to a town called StoryBrooke, where they don't remember which characters they are. Slowly, we are able to discover which characters they are. I'll leave it at that :)

Favorite Snack: Sour Punch Bites 

These are sooo addicting! They have been my go to snack everytime that we decide we're going to watch a movie.. As for Mr. Taylor, he has rediscovered his love for Abba Zabba's when he noticed that Horkley's started selling them. :)

I also found this workout on pinterest. We've been doing it for the past week or so and it is intense! If you decide to do it, you can expect to be sore the next day. But, that's always a good sign, right?!

Full Body Meltdown

• 40 jumping jacks
• 15 squats
• 20 lunges
• 40 mountain climbers
• 5 burpees
• 50 bicycles
• 20 second superman
• 5 push-ups
• 40 high knees
• 20 vertical leg crunches
• 30 second plank
• 40 mountain climbers

Happy Wednesday! :)