Happy New Year

A new year has started. 

I am SO ready to turn over a new chapter.

The last year has been hard for us, that's for sure. 

A rough pregnancy and the shoulder alone was plenty, 

but adjusting to 2 kids was more difficult than I anticipated!

And this stubborn cough of mine is really driving me nuts!!

But there were some really great times too! 

Like having Hayley join our family!

I can't believe that she's ours but I don't know what we did without her.

She's such a sweetheart!

We are looking forward to a fun 2016! 

Lots of preschool, friends, and growing up!

And its a BEACH year! 

Can't wait to take the girls there this summer!!!!

We didn't do much celebrating this year... 

Trevor was working New Year's Eve, 

(From home! but still working) 

so I enjoyed a quiet night alone with some sparkling cider and Netflix.

Now off we go into 2016!

I have set some goals for myself, but they mostly have to do with my health,

I've got a bunch of post-baby weight to lose. 

(I gain it after the baby comes... you know, when food tastes good again...

and stress... and all that!

And I really need to get this cough figured out. 

Its been almost a year. ugh!

But here we go! 

Can't wait to see what this year brings to our family!

(I'm REALLY hoping for some Disneyland, but we will have to see!) 

My 2015 Goal

For the next year, I have a handful of little goals that I'm going to be working on.

Most of them are pretty personal, and I don't feel like sharing them here.

But I do have one big goal for the year.

It is to play more and be on my phone less.

This is something I've been working on for a long time,

but I've decided to do even more to make this change in my life.

I've moved ALL my technology things up to the kitchen at night to charge and be put away.

I hope that this will help me get better sleep at night, and all that.

And during the day, I leave my phone in the kitchen. 

In the past, I usually leave my phone on silent during the day,

but now I'm leaving the ringer on and keeping it in the kitchen. 

That way, I can hear it if I need to, and I can always walk in there if I need to.

Blah, blah, blah.

I don't need to go into all the details. hahaha

Part of the reason I made this goal, is because of Piper. 

I've been pretty sick over the holidays with bronchitis and the flu and other crud,

so our tech-time has gotten a bit out of control. 

I'm trying to reset things and get back into playing and teaching her instead of sitting around 

and playing with technology and things.

The first few days were rough. She just wanted to play games on my phone 

or tablet, but its going  better now.

We are limiting our tech-time to an hour a day now. 

I usually let her play on my phone for a bit in the morning when I jump in the shower, 

and them some more time in the evening when I'm trying to get dinner on the table.

She has a few games that she likes, mostly puzzle ones,

but usually she watches something on Netflix. 

She finds some weird things on there, but I feel like she still learns from these silly little shows 

she watches. 

But, that's kinda it for today. 

Nothing too exciting!

Sometimes I like posting this kind of thing online, because it holds me a 

little more accountable. 

Sorry for the long, wordy post. haha

Happy New Year to everyone! 

Good luck with setting your goals, but even more luck keeping them!

 

2014

2014 is going to be a big year for me! 

I'm really looking forward to some of the things that are coming up in my life and 

can't wait to share them all with you.

I have a lot of goals and things that I'd like to accomplish over the next year,

as I'm sure most of you do.

But, my major ones revolve around my personal health and my music. 

I really, REALLY want to lose the rest of my pregnancy weight. 

Like everyone else, I'm starting the new year renewed and ready to crack down and really get this weight off. 

Mostly, I'm motivated by the fact that this is a family beach year and I only have 

7 more months left to get going! 

haha

 I don't know if I'll say much about my weight loss and things on this here blog, 

but who knows....

With music, I will probably be posting a lot more. 

I've decided to start doing more with my violin.

I am planning to audition or join an orchestra.

There are a couple in our area that would work out with my schedule.

I have a few new students starting over the next week (wish me luck!) 

and I'm starting to work on building up my repertoire and all that good stuff. 

I'm also going to start posting a recording of a tune a week.

Just for fun and to keep me motivated to keep learning and growing musically.
Look forward to my first video in the next couple days! 

 

photo cred: Lissa Chandler Photography

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday and are ready to welcome the new year!

I know that I am!

2013

For the last few years, 

We have had a family theme for the year.

This was in place of some family resolutions (I have some personal ones).

I have wanted our theme to be simple, easy to remember, and applicable to almost everything.

Last year, our theme was "re-commit" 

We wanted to recommit to EVERYTHING.

From work and school, to family time, to our gospel studies, etc.

I'm not sure how well it stuck.

But, I think it worked for a while (12 months is a long time!)

Right now, we are still choosing between two possible themes for the year.

(I kinda want to do both, but who knows!)

I will post it as soon as the finally decision has been made!

As far as personal goals..... Some are very personal for me and I won't post them here..

And I'm trying not to do too much since I still have my Project 25 to work on :) 

But, over the next year, I want to:

Lose all the baby weight

Get into a better scripture reading habit

Make more meals

Spend less time watching TV or on the computer

Go to bed with all the dishes done and the house clean EVERY night

Take at least 1 photo a day

... and a few other things.

Just basic stuff I guess.

I'm really looking forward to 2013! I can't wait to see what adventures it brings our little family!

(Praying Disneyland is somewhere on the list....)

xoxo

Inspiration

I came across this quote the other day, and it hit home with me.

"First of all, I do not want you to give in to the pressure of the moment. Whenever you're hurting bad, just hang in there. Finish the day... Second, take it one day at a time. One phase at a time. Don't let your thoughts run away with you, don't start planning to bail out because you're worried about the future and how much you can take. Don't look ahead to the pain. Just get through the day, and there's a wonderful career ahead of you." -Elder Christofferson

This is something that I have seriously been struggling with over the last few months.

I worry a lot. I worry about the most absurd things.

Seriously.

I'm out of control.

This quote reminded me to really just take things a day at a time.

As much as I have been struggling with motivation and self-determination, I know that taking it one day at a time is the only way to have real success.

My "theme" for this year is to "re-commit."

I'm trying to dive face first into my life and take hold of myself again.

I want to "re-commit" myself to school, work, my family, taking better care of my home, the Gospel, music and violin, along with many other things. I made myself little signs that are on my mirror and fridge to remind myself of my goals. (This actually WORKS! Not kidding)

I want to rearrange my priorities and actually feel like I am capable of success.

I'm not doing as well with this whole "re-commit" thing, but I'm just trying to take it one day at a time.

I'm not perfect. In fact, I'm so far from it!

But, I do feel like I am closer to achieving my goals and to becoming the person who I really want to be.

This semester seems to be killing everyone I know. I'm literally dying for classes to be over and hoping that I can make it out alive and mostly unscathed.

I just can't wait for it to be over.

8 months until I graduate! I will have a degree in History with (most likely) a minor in Music!!!

I often need to remind myself that despite how much I HATE school and all that it encompasses, the end goal will be worth it!

I will graduate and be able to successfully provide for my family as needed!

I will have FINISHED something.

Something that has been super hard for me to accomplish!

I will have had success!!

(Even though the grades and test scores won't necessarily show it)

I will finish this and I will finish it strong and I will be a better person because of it.

Keep Calm and Carry On

I tend to worry a lot. It's just something that I have grown to live with. I stress about being on time to something, finishing homework, taking tests, even just walking to campus can stress me out a lot. Way more than it should.

Basically, I stress. Often. More than most people probably know. There are a lot of little things that I completely lose it over, that I don't really even mention to people.

Then the explosion happens. Everything comes out with a BANG! It can get really ugly.

This semester/year/the rest of my life... I am trying to be better about this. I have found that I just have to let things go and happen as they may.


My new philosophy:

Well, its not exactly new. Its actually one of 3 posters from England during WWII which has kinda stuck around in England and is sort of their motto in a sense.

But, in my life it is new. I'm really striving for patience with myself and to have a more calm and collected attitude.

Yes, this is very difficult for me. Especially now when I am surrounded by circumstances out of my control everyday. My goal is to "keep calm and carry on."

This doesn't mean that I am just going to sit around and not do anything with my life. I will still work hard and probably stress a lot. I have other goals that I will not let pass by me. But, the stupid, pointless, little things that don't matter in an eternal perspective I am going to try my best to let go. I want to, in a way, be back to my laid back, old self like back in the high school days. But, only kinda.