My goodness! 2012 has come and gone already?! Where did the time go? Today marks the beginning of 2013--a year full of change and adventure in my life! To start off with I'd like to give you a few highlights from 2012 (no specific order of importance or timeline).
1. Justin and I bought our very first home! We love it!!!! We love our little community and our neighbors are amazing. We have been extremely blessed. This home was purchased by a realtor who flips houses so it had been completely remodeled (still in the process the week we signed papers!). It's gorgeous. I love my kitchen. Enough said! haha! A little bit about it--it's a three bedroom, one bathroom home. The kitchen is open, the living room and dining room are attached. The hardwood floors are original, just refinished and they're gorgeous! There is also a sun room attached to the third bedroom. It's a small home (approximately 1,200 square feet) but it's the perfect starter home for us and we just love it! Even though it has been remodeled, there are still improvements we can and plan to make on it to increase it's value and improve our quality of living.
2. I completed my second half marathon (which I plan to run again this coming July). It kicked my butt, but I actually enjoyed myself this time around. I ran it with my brother, Steven, so it was fun to have the constant reminder to train and be successful.
3. I made it through both the education block and the English core block of my degree (plus a few summer courses to finish the English portion of my degree) all with 4.0's! That's what I'm talking about! Justin managed to make it through the hardest semester he has ever taken as well. He really does amaze me with his abilities to stay on top of things. He works full-time and goes to school full-time, but his work doesn't allow him to do homework there like mine does, so his is all done at home. Plus his drive time between Salt Lake and Ogden back to home everyday is time-consuming. Not sure how he maintains sanity, because I want to shoot everyone on the road in my mere 15 minute drive!
4. I chopped my hair!!!! AHHH!!! I know, right? I have ALWAYS, my whole life, had long hair. I decided I wanted to donate it, and so I cut it into a bob. I love it most days. It's a lot easier to maintain, but it doesn't really allow for lazy days, which I often need :)
5. Justin changed positions at work. He is now in the drafting department (which coincides with his degree perfectly!).
6. I registered for my very last semester at Weber State University! I will be student teaching next semester (which starts next week....AHHHHHH!) at Viewmont High School in Bountiful.
7. I started tutoring and love it! I tutor two 3rd grade twins. They are hilarious! A handful, yes, but I just love those girls to pieces! I have enjoyed watching their progress over the past couple months.
8. My family survived the scare of my nephew Skyler being diagnosed with cancer, then coming to find out it was some rare form that is benign. He's doing great!
9. Justin's family has been undergoing the remodeling of their own home since Carrie retired in April from Chevron Refinery (lucky woman!). Their house is coming along great!
Those are just a few highlights for us.
Things to be looking forward to this coming year:
1. GRADUATING FROM WSU!!!!!! This long, awaited day cannot come soon enough!
2. Student teaching at Viewmont...I'm terrified. Absolutely terrified, but I have good cooperating teachers, so hopefully it will be a good experience.
3. Wait for it...wait for it...my dream of traveling is coming true!!!!! Justin and I are going on a Mediterranean Cruise with his family this summer! We will be going to Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, and Greece. It's a 14 day cruise, plus a two day flight there and back. Pretty much the vacation of a lifetime!!! So super excited! It seems surreal right now, but so does everything else! haha!
4. Decisions of career changes. I will probably be posting all my thoughts of staying at Watson's or moving on to different things all the time. Best of luck to any readers! I tend to change my mind several times a day and all for various reasons! haha! But it's a huge decision and one that I don't intend to take lightly.
5. Teaching a new curriculum in church. Justin and I are team teachers for the 14-18 year olds in our ward. We will be learning a new way to teach and practicing it this year, so lots of adventures there as well!
I have several goals this coming year. The most important is to smile and laugh more often and worry less. I know, easier said than done, but I really am going to work on it! My main goal is to smile and laugh every single day. Try to be more optimistic. I tend to worry about the small things, when I really shouldn't. So maybe if I focus on smiling and laughing more, the small things will take care of themselves. I also want to get into a routine. This past year has been extremely hectic and the next four months won't be any different, but I think if I have a better routine in place I will be able to keep my first goal more readily. I would really like to figure out some kind of recipe system and menu planning system. That, I think, will help with keeping a routine, because eating out every night is not good for our bodies or our wallets! I plan to make a better system for paying bills too. I found that pinterest is my dear buddy in getting organized, and that is something I WILL do dang it! I love being organized, and my house is a disaster zone right now...AND WE JUST MOVED HERE! So I want to work on getting organized, one step at a time. I don't want to start too many projects at once and never finish any of them (which I'm very well known for!). Exercise is always on my list. I also want to add read and write daily. Nothing in specific, just do it!
There are always more things I want to accomplish, but the most important is to be happier and bless my home with joy instead of stress and worry.
On a side note: Justin surprised me with a gift he made last night. He compiled a play list of songs and played certain lines from each song to create a paragraph of what our relationship means to him. It made me cry, of course. He's just so good to me.
Here are the lines he "stole" from the songs:
"Bring on your sweet love; pour it all over me,
Cause its days like these that you want to make them last.
I just thought we could go get lost, down some old back road, in a song on the radio, in your deep [brown] eyes, what do you say girl, me and you go get a little lost?
Cause I like it, I love it, I want some more of it, and I can't get enough of it!
No one gets me like you do when you kiss me! I've never found anything that makes me feel like I do about you!
You've got it all! My heart, my soul, everything that means anything at all.
I'd do anything to see you smile!
I can take it from there,
Cause I just got a lot of lovin' you on my mind."
I'll have to get the playlist from him too (he just sang them all to me from his iPhone).
Oh! I almost forgot! I have been very blessed! I got a phone call yesterday telling me that I have been selected to receive two scholarships for next semester. Both totally the full cost of my tuition and fees! I couldn't believe it! What a huge blessing! Especially since Weber State informed me that the government was denying me of any financial aid for next semester because I have too many credit hours. I sent in my appeal, but I won't hear back before tuition is due. I can't work full-time during student teaching, so money was kind of an issue. But now it's not! Yeah!
Well, I'd better go wake up Justin and get ready for the New Year's Day party at my parents!
Ciao for now!
PS When I figure out how to fix my iTunes and update my phone I'll work on figuring out how to post pictures on here! haha! (That's where all my pictures are of my hair cut and my house, etc.)
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