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Ivy Van Dusen

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
12/31/2015 No sweet note{s}
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 :)



I LOVE HIM :)

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 :)


July- School was still tough, but we enjoyed every minute of summertime in Utah! Especially the beautiful hikes :) I also started my little photography business to bring in some extra $$$, and I was surprised at how busy it has kept me! I did my first few weddings and had lots of fun with them :)


August- All of our schoolwork over the whole summer paid off when we went on a beach house trip with Kody's family! We also went to Tennesse for a wedding and both trips were SO FUN. Highlight of our summer for sure.



September- Fall semester of school started and I didn't take any journalism classes over summer, just finished generals, so I was so excited to get back to my major! I seriously have the most fun major there is.


October- My family came up to Provo and I got to see them for the first time in over 9 months! I missed them so much and we had lots of fun :)



November- We went down to warm Arizona for Thanksgiving and had a blast in the desert :)



December- Our first Christmas together was so fun. It was my first Christmas away from my family, so I was a little sad but then I realized that Kody's family is my family too! We were only down in San Clemente for a few days but it was awesome. Also our Christmas tree was a cutie :)


All in all, it has been a wonderful, wonderful year for us. We are so grateful for our friends and family :) HAPPY 2016!!

xo
12/31/2015 No sweet note{s}
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
12/02/2015 1 sweet note{s}
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
12/02/2015 No sweet note{s}
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