2016 begins in about an hour and a half. Kody and I went to dinner and then came home, played cards and watched Breaking Bad. One of the best things about being married is being able to relax and be warm @ home on nights where everyone is out partying, and not even feel lame about it because you have a buddy being lame with you! :) It is great. BUT I still haven't gotten around to actually writing my goals down for this year. Sometimes I forget about my goals, but having them in the back of your mind is always a good thing! About every few months I make new ones...I don't know, it is always just good to evaluate your life and see where you can make improvements, even if it's not new years :)

Physical

1. Do better w/carbs

This is probably on 50% of America's resolutions, but it really is a struggle for me! I am OBSESSED with crackers and pretzels and bread! I want to try to avoid them all week, with one cheat (because otherwise I'll go insane).

2. Meditate

I have been doing very well on working out and running a lot, but I don't stretch or meditate near as much as I should! I don't mean to sound nutty, but it is super important! Life is crazy and whenever I take time to stop and relax for a few minutes and breathe, it makes things so much better. 

Personal

1. Smile, make eye contact & remember names

I feel like my communication with other people has gotten a bit lazy. For some reason I avoid making eye contact (I am afraid to be awkward or something?) and I always forget names!

2. Build up Resume

Write more, find internships, jobs and experiences that build upon my achievements and experiences and things for my future career(s)!

Spiritual

1. Attend the temple once a month

Kody and I are usually pretty good about going to the temple. I first went through about a year ago and I have absolutely loved going there. Just lately, though, we've been so busy and haven't gone as much as we want so this is one of our together-goals.

2. See the good in myself & build confidence

This is one of the biggest things I want to work on this year^. Lately I've had a hard time w/confidence (I guess we all do sometimes). And when I am confident I do so much better in everything (gospel, school, relationships), and I really would like to find ways to work on that.

So there ya go!! Now that I have it figured out, I am ready to go.

Happy 2016! :)

xo

2015 has been SUCH a crazy, fun, amazing year that has been full of all kinds of changes. It has been, by far, the very best year of my life thus far. I usually say that every year, and I hope that year after year they just keep on getting better :) 2016 has a lot to live up to because this year has been absolutely awesome. Here are some highlights by month!

January- I MARRIED my best friend in the very best place on Earth. We were surrounded by family and friends and had the happiest day ever. It was everything I had dreamed it would be. We then went down to Mexico for the greatest honeymoon ever! January 2015 was easily one of the best months of my life, and the very beginning of the best days of my life :)

February- After our honeymoon we headed up to the awesome little mountain town of June Lake, California where we lived with Kody's Grandma Connie and worked at her resort! IT WAS SO FUN. I miss it so much. Kody also took me snowboarding for the first time!



March- We continued working at the resort, riding atv's around in the mountains and enjoyed small town life. This is also when I began my journey from brunette back to blonde. It was an awkward one, especially in the beginning when it was more of an orange than blonde, but it was okay :) We also took a few trips down to southern California and even went to Disneyland once! (hair getting more awkward...it's ok).




April- We were sad to leave June Lake, but it was time to start school again so we moved back to Provo and into our first apartment together! It is so teeny but it is cute. Spring term also started and that was a very difficult one. Actually, both spring and summer were super hard, but still enjoyable. Also this is when my hair finally went good (all thanks to Heather @ Seasons Salon in Orem).



May- May was more school, more work, but more fun with my cute husband :) I am sure something great happened in May but I don't really remember.

June- It was my birthday and Kody got me tickets to Toby Keith! That meant a LOT because he hates country music more than anyone I know. But he was so nice and came with me anyway (and he grew a mustache). Something way crazy happened that night but it is too embarrassing to put on my blog so ask me in person :)

xo

I think we are all in agreement that Christmas > anything else ever. 

I am so happy that I have my own place to decorate this year (even though it is about 500 sq feet, its cool).

I was so excited when we bought our first tree! It is about as tall as me and is plastic, but it is still my favorite. (Fun fact- growing up we ALWAYS had fake trees and it wasn't till I got older and watched National lampoons Christmas Vacation that I realized that people actually get real, live trees! It is still neat to me, but I don't think I'll ever actually go get one that I can't save for next year. Okay, story over).

Let the Christmas-ness begin!

xo

We just got back from spending about a week in Arizona and now I am in one of those weird funks where I am having a hard time getting back into the swing of things + getting used to no longer being able to freeload off my parents and eat all their food.

We had so much fun over Thanksgiving! We went on hikes, went shopping, ate lots of yummy food, played video games, slept in, played hours of card games and literally drank an average of 3 diet dr. peppers/day each (no shame). 

If that isn't the perfect week, I don't know what is.

We also took family pictures...why would you pay someone to do them when you have a tripod and self-timer? Minus the fact that I had 10 seconds to run up in heels and jump in the picture, things went well!

Also, it was SO WARM! Every time I go to Arizona in the winter I seriously wonder why I ever left. My body was NOT designed for any whether below 60 degrees, so life in Utah in December is rough. I have a love/hate relationship with Utah but right now it's definitely in the hate phase, even though the snow is super pretty.

Anyways.

Next time I go to Arizona it will be to run in a marathon that I signed up for when I was feeling cool, and I am kind of freaking out about now but we'll save that story for another day.

xo

This past weekend Kody went to California to go to a football game with his dad.

Rather than stay here alone for 5 days, bored with no work/school, I decided to grab some last-minute flight tickets (thank you Allegiant!) and head down to good 'ol Arizona. 

I hadn't been home since March, so about 9 months! Too long without my az sun and brown desert. 

It was so nice to go home. Even though I had been gone for so long, it was like I never left! I got to see all of my family and friends that were there and it made me so happy. I am so grateful to have such wonderful people in my life, even though they're far away.

We went to the Arizona state fair. Sooo I can check that off for the next five years. I seriously always want to go to fairs and about two minutes into them I am wanting to leave, but it was still a super fun time, mostly b/c I went with these dudes. We are all teenagers now (-ish, I'm 20 so I guess I don't count, but still) and so we don't fight anymore and we just have so much goofy, dumb fun. It is the best.

I got to see my newest little cousin Krew (how cool is it that I have over 25 younger cousins?! SO MANY BABIES TO PLAY WITH :) :) :)

my old man beat the record on this game (only took a few quarters!). I have the coolest dad.

I got to see my sweet friends Allison and Maizy! So bummed that we are so far apart. Why are none of my girlfriends in Provo?! :( 

I also got to be reunited with my HALEY!! Yet another person I wish was in Provo (come on guys, just move up here so I have friends. I am really bad/lazy/awkward at making new ones).

I was kind of bummed to leave the 75 degree desert and come to the mountainous 30 degree utah (I am really not a fan of the cloudy days+snow). But it was the first time kody and I have been apart longer than a few hours since we got married (I have officially decided I hate sleeping alone, thanks) so I was soooo happy to come back to p-town and see my best friend again (major respect for military wives who have to sleep alone for much longer than 5 nights).  

See ya in 2 weeks AZ! :)

xo

I absolutely LOVE holidays.

All of them, I think that it is so much fun when everyone has fun celebrating something, even if it is as meaningless as something like Halloween :) So fun.

For the past 4 or 5 years I have started months before, planning exactly what I/we would be for Halloween. Every year my ideas are super awesome and I am so excited for them. Buuut then slowly Halloween gets closer and closer and I get super lame realize that I'd rather spend $50 on cute clothes I can actually wear all year. Then Halloween night finally comes and about 10 minutes before a party, I quickly draw cat makeup on my face and Kody puts some kind of jersey that he has. 

And that's exactly what happened this year!

I think dressing up it fun, but I was absolutely dying with how hilarious/cute the baby costumes were this year! Like seriously, Halloween is fun but I think it will be 1,000x better when we have a little cutie to dress up! Or a dog. That would work too. 

Now I am off to make my Christmas playlist on Spotify! :)

xo

This last weekend was great because it was conference weekend,

the weather was amazing,

and I got to see my sweet family for the first time in over 7 months!

Yes, 7 months.

Guys, that is a LONG time.

Especially for a girl who came home early from/didn't go to/absolutely hated 4-day long girls camp every summer because she missed her family so much (I literally could not stand girl's camp...let's just say I have made a lot of progress).

I have loved almost every second of growing up, going to college and being married but I have had a really hard time getting used to the fact that I hardly ever get to see my family. Distance really stinks :( I can't tell you how many nights something has reminded me of either my two funny brothers or my parents and I have just started crying out of nowhere. Luckily I have the sweetest husband in the whole world who always hugs me and asks what is wrong, but all I can say to him is that I miss my family sometimes. 

So, it is needless to say that I was SO HAPPY to see them a few days ago. My brothers are even bigger and taller than last time I saw them...now even Gunnar has passed me up in height. I am officially the shortest person in my family.

We all had a wonderful weekend watching conference, watching byu football, going to dinner, watching the Martian, swimming in the hotel pool, watching over an hours worth of funny vines, and just having fun.

I was so sad when they left, but it was so nice to be together with all of the people I love most! Yes, sometimes growing up and moving far away sucks, but it is a part of life! And it is definitely a reminder of how blessed I am...distance really does make the heart grow fonder and I am so very lucky to have something so wonderful to miss :)

xo

Lately I have been doing so good at not eating too many sweets.

Buuut yesterday I gave in and grabbed my favorite candy and my favorite guy and we drove up the canyon and watched the super moon!

I didn't even attempt to take pictures of it (you can't accurately capture something like that), so we just sat on the car and soaked it all in...I believe that the very best things in life cannot accurately be photographed (and shouldn't), but candy can so I did that.
Cheers to life's simplest, un-staged, wonderful moments.

xo

You guys the class I am in right now is soooo boring.

You know those classes where the professor is so nice and is teaching and doing their best but you feel bad b/c no matter how hard you try you just can't.pay.a.single.ounce.of.attention?

That is this class right now!

Professor: So does anybody have any thoughts about this court case?

Class: ....

Professor: anybody? at all?

Class:....
Professor: I know there must be someone who has something to say
.....

 yes, sir are you raising your hand?

Kid in the back: no, I was just stretching.

Everybody: ....

Literally just now happened ^

But rather than start a commentary of my boring class, I will tell you all about how fun this weekend was! Because it was so fun. 

On Thursday night we went to a fancy chairity dinner at the Marriott Center for Jimmer Fredette's charity, Jimmerosity. 

omgjimmerwasthere

butmoreimportantlythefoodwasAMAZING

On Friday we went on a little triple date to K1 raceway. So fun! So fast! So painful! 

I now have 3 battle bruises on my back from running into walls and stuff.
Totally worth my 4th place victory.

Then Saturday was the oh so exciting BYU football game!

This also happened to be the exact game that Kody and I met at 2 whole years ago!

xo

xo

Right after the beach house trip, we headed to Tennessee for one of Kody's friends weddings, which also turned out to be super fun! I had never been to the south and I was so amazed by how beautiful and GREEN everything was! I wish I would have taken more pictures. We absolutely loved it!

xo