My 2014 New Years Resolutions

2013 is almost over and I can honestly say this was one of the craziest years of my life. I started out the year with multiple jobs that I loved, engaged, making lots of money, enjoying life, living with my parents, etc. Then in May I got married to my best friend and the love of my life (Best day ever!) We enjoyed a fabulous, but eventful, honeymoon to Disneyland (and Ogden). We moved to Logan so we could finish college at Utah State (go aggies!!). I had a medical procedure done that I still haven't written about on this blog, but it was a big deal for me. I spent all summer looking for a job and finding myself very unsuccessful. I became horribly depressed (not my new husband's fault, I SWEAR!!!). I realized I had no friends in Logan and felt very much alone and focused the majority of my time on this blog. When school started I got my old job back as a janitor and had mixed feelings about it, but now it's going great. I worked really hard in school but felt extremely stressed most of the time. We ran out of money and couldn't get our bank account back in order and had to ask for help. We had to move to save money on housing. We were struggling for months until our financial aid paid us some money. And now here we are. 2014.

I can already tell 2014 is going to be a great year! It will be my first full year as a married woman and (hopefully) we won't be moving again so we'll be in the same place for the full year. Things already feel like they are looking up! I'm excited for what the year has to bring and I am so excited for 2014!

Before I get into my 2014 New Years Resolutions, let's take a look at my 2013 Resolutions and see how well I did (because I deserve a little shaming). Keep in mind that I haphazardly threw together my New Year's Resolutions last year and didn't do much thinking about them, although that's no excuse for my massive failures... Anyways, let's get into it.

My 2013 New Years Resolutions:

1. To limit my income of sugar and salt. (FAIL. I did really well at the beginning of the year because I had to fit into my wedding dress. But after that I massively failed and gained weight... a lot of weight.)

2. To learn to love cooking. (FAIL. I don't cook. I never cook. I've made some crockpot recipes but is that really cooking? I made cookies! But I did not in any way learn to love cooking.)

3. To become more flexible. (FAIL. I didn't just fail, I greatly failed, because not only did I get more flexible, I lost the flexibility I already had! I'm not flexible at all anymore! And I'm very very ashamed of it.)

4. To become a better friend. (Fail? I don't have any friends... so did I fail? All these failures are getting so pathetic!!)

5. To work harder for my education. (WIN! I count this as a win. There is always room for improvement, but I'm definitely working harder than I have in previous years. I've done really well this past semester and hope to do even better in future semesters.)

6. To learn ways to spend less money. (WIN! Yay! Winning streak! Last month I wrote a whole post about all the things I've learned to spend money, sort of, I'm planning another, better one in the future, but for now I'd say this is a win.)

7. To (finally) get a six pack. (FAIL. Pathetic again. As I said previously, I just gained weight, so this is a definite fail. (And for those of you who are confused, I meant six-pack abs, not beer.))

8. To be more organized and clean. (FAIL. I don't consider this a massive fail, but it's still a fail. But it's something I hope to continue to work on.)

9. To blog more. (WIN! This is a definite win. I've blogged so much more this year than last year, not only that, I've gotten a much bigger response than last year. So many page views and followers! It's been a fantastic year for this blog!)

10. To love Chris more each and every day. (WIN! This is a lifelong goal that can always be worked on, but I feel it's still a win this year.)


So as you can see, I didn't do very well this year. 4 out of 10 aren't the best odds, but we can still work on these right? After looking over these goals again and thinking about what's going on recently in my life, here are now my New Years Resolutions for 2014.

1. To gain 100 blog followers. (This can be through Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin', etc. So share this page with your friends to help me reach this goal! As a special incentive, soon I'll be doing a giveaway exclusively for my Facebook followers!)

2. To run a 5k. (This may not sound like a big deal, but I've never been a runner in my life, so it's a big deal for me.)

3. To get six-pack abs. (Yes, I'm bringing this one back. It's something I've wanted for a long time and I'm going to continue working towards it.)

4. To improve my math skills. (I'm being forced to take more math classes as a part of my new major, but this time around I'm going to have a better attitude about it and work harder to get better grades.)

5. To make school more of a priority. (Don't tell my mom, but sometimes I skip class. It's just hard for me to wake up early sometimes! But this year things will be different, I'm going to work harder in school and really earn my grades by working hard.)

6. To eat healthier. (Because popcorn for dinner tastes good, but I really should stop doing it. Also, how else will I get my six-pack abs?)

7. To save up more money. (We've had a lot of issues with our bank account lately but things are starting to look up. We want to make sure that our bank account never goes through that again and want to save up as much money as we can to keep us financially safe.)

8. To not procrastinate. (I am the worst at this, but I'm going to get better this year.)

9. To read more. (I started my Book Club but haven't even been reading the books! This year I'm going to prioritize my time and make sure I read the books I pick so I can't keep up with my followers.)

10: To pray and read my scriptures everyday. (I have been majorly slacking on this and I'm very disappointed in myself because being LDS has blessed my life in so many ways and my Father in Heaven deserves to hear my prayers and all the things I'm grateful for in my life.)

These are my goals of the year. Feel free to chastise me if I you ever hear about me slacking off. I'd love to hear about your goals as well! Leave a comment below to let me know!

I WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! THANKS FOR READING! 

December Review

December is over? When did that happen? When did December even happen? I don't remember December actually going on... True story.

Basically nothing happened this month. We had finals. We moved. We struggled to pay bills. We celebrated Christmas. Our new place is still unorganized and chaotic. And that's basically my December. So this post will be incredibly short compared to my other Monthly Review posts.

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The month started out with finals. My finals were incredibly easy this semester and I am so grateful for it. I worked super hard this semester and plan on working even harder this next semester! Here are my final grades for the semester:

Yay me! Passing grades! I really think I can do better by working harder. I'm happy with these grades though. I passed! :)

We moved and I have no pictures of our next place yet because it's not ready to be seen yet. It's a work in progress and I hope we all get settled soon.

And then suddenly it was Christmas. I had a fantastic Christmas! I wrote about it in THIS POST. But we actually did a lot more around Christmas time as well. We went to Zoo Lights, we visited Temple Square Lights, we played countless games, we rode Trax, we hung out with my grandma and Nana, we went to my cousin's baptism, I got my haircut, we ate so much good food and gained lots of weight (much to our enjoyment), and we had a fantastic Christmas break! ...and it's not over yet! We're going to my in-law's condo on New Years to snowboard, for my first time! I'm so nervous and excited! Here are just a few (okay, a lot) pictures from our break so far:

Driving around to see Christmas lights (although Logan doesn't have any)

My favorite Christmas treat: Candy Cane Kisses, BEST CANDY EVER!! 

Finding a house barricaded with snow! 

Going down the stairs Christmas morning to see what Santa brought us!

Christmas!! Yes, we love our onesies! 

Posing with a rhino at Zoo lights!

Zoo lights

More Zoo Lights!

Nativity scenes at Temple Square

The Salt Lake Temple! So beautiful! Also, check out our new coats! 

The temple does the best tree lights. 

Love this temple! 

Light tree

Having fun! 

Oh, and yes, my hat is a cow, and yes, I did get in for Christmas. Thanks Michelle!!! 

Giant Christmas tree!! 

I don't know why I love this picture so much! 

After my haircut my cousin curled my brothers hair. 

He looked so beautiful! ;)

Love you Nick! 

I love my new haircut and my Pikachu shirt! 

For some strange reason this month I've gotten more page views than any other month so far, and for this I am super grateful to you, my readers! You are so fantastic and I love you all! Thank you for making Things I'm Good At my most popular post this month. For me it was very personal and eye opening. I loved writing it and I'm glad you all enjoyed it. Thank you so much for the support you give me! You keep me writing! 

Did you have a good December? What would be in your December Review? Please leave a comment below and tell me all about it! 

THANKS FOR READING!! 

New Haircut

I have had long hair for a long time. A very very long time. Because I very much enjoy long hair because you can do so much with it. I'm good at playing with long hair and doing long hair and I think long hair suits me very well.

But there's a time when zipping up your long hair every day in your coat gets annoying. Or having your husband accidentally pull it... all the time. Or having your purse tangle the right side of your hair every time you put your purse over your shoulder. Those things are the problem with long hair.

So while I love long hair very very much, I wanted something different. And for me it's very different. I chopped off a lot of my hair, or rather, my amazing cousin did (she also did my hair for my wedding and is the greatest hair stylist I know). And here is my drastic change:

It feels super short right now and I miss having long hair, but I absolutely love it at the same time! It will make my life much easier and I think it's really cute. And the fact that my husband couldn't stop staring at me hours after I got it cut is certainly a plus (he's always wanted me to have short hair, but this is probably the shortest I'll go despite his pleading).

Are you changing your hair for the new year? I'd love to see it! Please leave a comment below! 

THANKS FOR READING!! 

The Best Christmas Ever

My dad says that I use that phrase too much. He says every birthday I say "this is the best birthday ever!" But honestly, every holiday as I get older gets better and better. And while this week's Christmas may not actually have been the "best Christmas ever" it's definitely one I'll remember.

This Christmas was my first Christmas being married to Chris. And that meant change. And when it comes to Christmas, I was NOT ready for change. I wanted MY Christmas. The kind of Christmas I've always had with my family. I wanted to buy all my family members multiple gifts like I always do. I wanted our Christmas Eve sibling sleepover where we read How The Grinch Stole Christmas and watch Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I wanted to spend all day with my family in my pajamas. Because that's the Christmas I knew and loved.

But being married meant I didn't get to do all that. I have a husband now and not only did I have to include him in my plans, but his family as well. I grew very upset when I had this realization last Sunday and may or may not have cried. I loved my husband and his family and I loved spending Thanksgiving with them, but I wanted MY Christmas. And it was becoming clear that wasn't going to happen.

My amazing husband became incredibly selfless (Abnegation ) the second I began expressing how upset I was (possibly with tears). He rearranged his own family plans to make me happy, and I cannot express how happy I am that he did that and also how much I love him. He loves me more than anything and will do anything to make me happy and I owe him so much for letting me have my Christmas.

So Chris arranged his family plans, changed his work schedule, and we were able to drive home Christmas Eve afternoon, as opposed to late at night, to see first his mom, then my family. We spent Christmas Eve with my family and we were able to relive my sibling traditions, like singing "Santa's coming tonight, tonight" every chance we get.

We had shrimp scampi for dinner, and played games with my family, my favorite being 5 Second Rule. Then we all went upstairs for our traditional sibling sleepover, being locked in the bedroom so Santa could come (yes all the siblings are over 18 but does that really change anything?). We read How The Grinch Stole Christmas as a group. We then got into our beds: my brother and sister on the king size bed and Chris and me on a mattress on the floor. We turned on Santa Claus is Coming to Town and slowly went to sleep.

We all woke up around eight and left the bedroom to find our parents, careful not to look into the living room at what Santa brought us. We gathered as a family in the front room and read together the Bible story of Jesus's birth, because that's the reason we celebrate Christmas. Then my dad read a poem that he wrote (which is amazing and I really want to share it on this blog someday) about Christmas and giving. It was fantastic.

Then we got to go downstairs and look at gifts. We dug through our stockings to see what Santa brought us. Santa even had a stocking for Chris with just as many items as the rest of us. Then we all split up the gifts under the tree and handed them out. My family always opens gifts one at a time going youngest to oldest. So Nick opens a gift, then me, then Chris, then Michelle, then mom, and finally dad, and then the cycle starts all over.

We got through two cycles before Chris's missionary brothers called us on Skype. My amazing family waited patiently through our nearly two hour phone call before opening any more gifts. We ate our cinnamon rolls and they watched the Disneyland parade as Chris and I talked to his brothers that we haven't seen in six months. It was such a touching experience.

After the call we were able to open the rest of our gifts. I got so many wonderful things, none of which I asked for (I didn't ask my parents for anything this year). I felt so spoiled and blessed knowing my parents love me, and Chris so much. After opening gifts we played some of the games that we had gotten for Christmas. Then Chris and I got dressed and left my house to go to his parents house.

At the Farnes house we got a second Christmas. We opened up stockings, we opened up gifts, and we had an amazing second Christmas! Again, we felt so spoiled and loved! We ate dinner and played games with Chris's family and had a wonderful night. I was truly happy even if I wasn't with my family, because they are family too.

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We are currently at my parent's house, we haven't gone home to Logan yet and I have much more to write about my Christmas week, but I'm going to wait.

I was seriously doubting this Christmas. I was so upset that things would change. But it ended up being such a wonderful and memorable Christmas! My husband and my in-laws are so incredible and I loved spending half of my Christmas with them! I was being selfish before by not wanting things to change, but I shouldn't have been selfish, I should have been selfless like my sweet husband and made it a special Christmas for him.

I absolutely loved this Christmas! I have been so spoiled and blessed and have felt truly loved by everyone I spent Christmas with. I don't know if it was truly "The Best Christmas Ever" but I loved it and will cherish it in my heart forever. I love my husband and I he did to give me a wonderful Christmas! But most of all, I am grateful for the reason for the season, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Was your Christmas wonderful, unexpected, memorable, special, crazy, etc.??? Please leave a comment below and tell me about your Christmas! 

THANKS FOR READING!! 

Song of the Week: Auld Lang Syne

I love Barenaked Ladies. The band. And I particularly love this album,Barenaked for the Holidays, it has some really great Christmas songs! But I love this song because it's a great New Years song and this version I really like.

Your Christmas Gift

Every Saturday I put up a Song of the Week and as my Christmas gift to you, here is the Spotify playlist of all the songs for this year! I am still new to Spotify so let me know if it works or not, but in theory, you can just CLICK HERE and find the playlist.

Here is the track listing for the playlist in case it doesn't work and you just want to find the songs on your own:

1. Don't Need to Worry Bout Me, Dave Moisan
2. See You Again, Carrie Underwood
3. Downtown, Lady Antebellum
4. Almost is Never Enough, Ariana Grande
5. Atlas, Coldplay
6. Roar, Katy Perry
7. Dust to Dust, The Civil Wars
8. We All Need Saving, Jon McLaughlin
9. Wrecking Ball, Chester See
10. Still Into You, Paramore
11. The Zombie Song, Stephanie Mabey
12. Zombie, The Cranberries
13. Let It Go, Demi Lovato
14. Run Run Run, Celeste Buckingham
15. Compass, Lady Antebellum
16. Human, Christina Perri
17. Happy, Pharrell Williams
18. Something About December, Christina Perri
19. Last Christmas, Ariana Grande
20. All I Want for Christmas is You, Michael Buble
21. Auld Lang Syne, Barenaked Ladies

Thank you so much for a wonderful year on this blog! My readers are the absolute best and I love you all! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

A very Merry Christmas from my husband and me to you! I hope you all have the best Christmas ever! 

Why I Celebrate Christmas

I love Santa Claus. I love giving and receiving presents. I love decorating Christmas trees. I love hanging stockings. I love reading How The Grinch Stole Christmas every Christmas Eve with my siblings. I love Christmas! But I also love the reason for the season.

Our Savior, Jesus Christ was born on Christmas day. He is the reason we celebrate Christmas. It's not about all the materialistic things, it's about celebrating the birth of our Savior and what that means for us.

I love giving gifts at Christmastime because the Lord has given so much to me. Giving gifts for Christmas reminds me of how my Savior gave his life for me. He blessed me with so many gifts throughout my life. It's only fair that I give freely to others as he did.

Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day. 

That is why I celebrate Christmas. 

I Support Phil Robertson

Hi friends! Today I have a very special guest blogger. Coming from his soccer blog, Utah Scouser, my wonderful husband, Chris!! Our views on this issue are a little different, but I support him in this and we support Phil Robertson.

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Hello everyone, as Kaylee said I am her husband Chris. I love to write about soccer, which I am very passionate about, but I am also passionate about my religion. I must admit that my passion for the LDS faith is not as strong as it was during my mission to Scotland, but I still defend my beliefs when they are questioned. I am a journalist student and I am one of the most conservative guys in my class, so I get my fair share of liberal...views on a regular basis.

I wanted to write about the sudden social media war that was sparked when Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson, the family's grandfather, spoke out about his concern for America's loss of morals especially when pertaining to homosexuality. I had my Mormon friends liking "Support Phil" memes and then my liberal friends condemning him. I have also seen many memes showing horrible things that have occurred on television like Miley Cyrus's shenanigans and yet many Americans believe a man who states his beliefs and quotes the Bible is much worse and should be banded from television. Simply put Phil Robertson has lost his job because of his religious views.

I have to say that this is just silly. First of all Americans need to wake up and grow up. Oh no, someone in the backwoods of Louisiana said he doesn't have the same beliefs as me! Burn him at the stake! Kill the beast! Grow up for crying out loud. If you don't know that practicing Christians believe that gays are going to hell then I'm sorry you're a moron.

Lets break down why Christians condemn homosexual behavior. Phil said himself that he is a sinner and has done a lot of horrible things in the past but that he and all of God's children (including homosexuals) can be saved through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. True Christians condemn all behaviors that are not in line with God's will, or His commandments, with sexual sin being the second worst type of sin a person can commit. The leaders of the LDS church have urged its members to help protest the legalization of gay marriage in order to help keep our nation a God-fearing one. As Phil said, "if we lose our morality, we will lose our country. It will happen."

Let me clarify a little bit though. I do not hate homosexuals, but I must say that I know they are going to hell unless they repent, just as all of us must repent of our own sins in order to go to heaven. But Mormons and Christians who say they support gay marriage are only kidding themselves. If we tell people: "eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die," we would only be saying we don't care if you go to hell, just enjoy yourself!

I myself have an uncle who is gay which I must admit has made me think more about this subject ever since I learned last year of his change in sexual orientation. He has and always will be my favorite uncle and the last thing I would want to do is hurt him but I can't hide the fact that I believe he will go to hell if he doesn't repent.

I hope that one day I will have the opportunity to be a column writer for a newspaper and have the opportunity to write on topics like this on a regular basis (though I know I will have to tone it down a little bit :p). I would like to thank my beautiful wife for allowing me to rant for a little while and I would love to hear your views on the Phil Robertson comments and the reactions. I'll leave you with a quote from Phil Robertson in his interview that sparked this whole fiasco: "It seems like, to me, a vagina- as a man- would be more desirable than a man's anus." I couldn't have said it better myself Phil.

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[Kaylee again] I just want to add to what my husband said. While my views aren't quite as extreme as Chris's, I do support Phil. I have many friends who are gay and I love them and wouldn't treat them any differently than I do my other friends, because we're all human beings and deserve love and respect from everyone, despite our sexual orientation, gender, skin color, race, etc. But Phil is an honest Christian man who knows the Bible and knows it well. We can't hide from the fact that what Phil said is true and honest. He did not say anything that was untruthful. 

As a Duck Dynasty fan, I know that Phil and his whole family are very kind and loving people. They do a lot to help others and I think they are an ideal family to be on television (as opposed to other celebrity families on television who aren't nearly as loving, such as the Kardashians). I don't just support Phil because I love the show, but because I know he was telling the truth. Yes, those different than us need our love and support, but we can't just put on a mask and hide from the truth. 

I hate putting controversial things like this up on my blog, but I do think this is an important issue and I promised my husband he could write about it. Ha ha. But really though, I do have an opinion on this as well.

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We would love to hear your personal views and reactions to this story. Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think! 

THANKS FOR READING! 

Pinterest Sunday: Christmas Edition

It has been much too long since I've done a Pinterest Sunday post! But I'm excited to do this one because it all has to do with Christmas!! Christmas is coming up so soon and I'm not even ready for it! But it'll be great! It's my first Christmas as a married lady and we're super poor, but I really am excited to just spend some time with family and my wonderful husband. So anyways, here is Pinterest Sunday, Christmas Edition!

This awesome sweater is from Buzz Feed's 13 Ugly Holiday Sweaters That are Almost Too Ugly to Wear. I will be talking a bit more about holiday sweaters after Christmas and hope to make a good one next year. 

Family Tree Skirt

I think that this is the cutest idea! And you just add hand prints with each new child or maybe evenwith a visitor. I think I'll be making this next year as a part of my new crafting segments I'm hoping to do.

I think this wreath is so adorable! This is another craft I'm hoping to pursue this next year. I'm so behind on my crafting, but with the move, lack of money, and school everything has been crazy lately. 

DIY Ornament Garland

This is adorable. I don't know where I would ever be able to put it but it's super cute and very do-able.

This is the cutest idea ever and I absolutely love it!! I didn't mean for all these pictures to be crafts because it's a little late for that at this point, so I do apologize, but I'll find some non-crafting pins from my Pinterest for the rest of this post. 

Christmas for Christopher

It occurred to me this morning as my sweet husband was asking me what I wanted for Christmas that I haven't even thought about what to get him. I was so concerned (upset) about the fact that I can't afford to buy great gifts for all my family, in-laws included, because we just don't have the money. And somehow I forgot about the most important person in my life.

So later while taking my shower (because all great ideas come to me in the shower) I knew suddenly exactly what I had to get him and it it by far the greatest idea ever and I am so excited!!!

... but I can't tell you yet. Because my husband occasionally (but very rarely) looks at this blog and I can't risk letting him see what it is. But I can tell you that it's amazing, cheap, mostly homemade, and I will be doing a tutorial of it after Christmas. So be prepared for that!

I realize this post is so short and pointless but I just got so excited about this gift and had to tell someone! The only trouble now is finding alone time to make it... and a car to buy the necessary items for it... with only four days left till Christmas... This will be fun.

Have you ever given the most perfect gift? Tell me about it below by leaving a comment! 

THANKS FOR READING!! 

Song of the Week: All I Want For Christmas...

This is by far my favorite version of this song... EVER. This version just makes it seem so much more romantic, and I absolutely love that! Michael Buble is the greatest! So I apologize I've been gone all week I just barely (literally five minutes ago) got internet in my apartment. So now I can write more! Yay! Anyways, this is the song of the week. I hope you're all as excited for Christmas as I am. It'll be great! :)

Updates

Hey friends! It's been forever since I've written and I do apologize for that. We've been moving and everything is chaotic right now and we haven't moved our internet over to our new place yet. But we should have it by tomorrow so I'll be able to write daily again.

I'm at my parent's house, sitting in the same bed I wrote all my blog posts in last year. Such a sentimental moment. ;) We drove back today (and today only) for my brother's band concert. It was super good, my brother is a very talented tuba player and I loved going to a Christmas concert to get me more in the holiday spirit!

We aren't fully moved in our new apartment yet, in fact most my clothes are still in boxes, but we are slowly but surely getting there. We've had a lot come up recently that took us away from unpacking. Things are stressful and chaotic, but we're figuring it all out and getting things settled. That's incredibly vague but I don't want to go into the details.

It's super excited to log onto my blog after so long and see all these new comments and page views! My readers are honestly the greatest and I love you all so much!

Can I just say how much I love my husband?! Today my husband was so much fun (although he usually is) and he was so kind to my grandma and family and he's just a perfect fit in my family, which is seriously the greatest blessing in the world, because my family means the world to me. I love my husband so much and can never fully explain how much he means to me. He makes my life infinitely better and I am truly blessed by him everyday. I LOVE YOU CHRISTOPHER!!

I don't have much else to say. Right now at least. I have a lot to say about the move and my new apartment, but it's bedtime for me right now so it'll wait until tomorrow... or whenever our apartment gets internet.

If you have any suggests for future posts leave a comment below! 

THANKS FOR READING! 

Song of the Week: Last Christmas

I'm so obsessed with Ariana Grande and this version of Last Christmas is fantastic! Although yesterday Chris and I were discussing how it's the most/only depressing Christmas song there is and it's just weird. I'm getting so excited for Christmas!!!

Again, at the end of the year as my Christmas gift to you I am going to make available a Spotify playlist of all the Song of the Week songs I've done this year. I only started doing it in August so the list is smaller than it will be next year, but in my opinion it's still a great list of songs! Get excited!!

It's moving day for us! Today we're moving into our new, cheaper apartment. So things will be a bit crazy for us this weekend and next week as we get everything settled. I'll be doing an apartment tour next week to introduce you to our new place.

If you have any suggestions for what I should write about please leave a comment below.

THANKS FOR READING!! 

Web Video Wed... Thursday: First World Problems Anthem

Okay, I'm sorry I forgot to do Web Video Wednesday yesterday. I was busy with my last final. But now I'm done with the semester! Yay! I also have a cold so I've been lazy. So your getting your web video of the week on Thursday, sorry.

I started this blog to help others. I was raised by my wonderful parents to always treat others with kindness and respect. I still believe that and I believe that since I am so privileged in my life, it is my right to help those in need. That is why I started this blog and do Charity of the Month, because I alone won't make a difference, but if I can get my readers to help me, together we can help change the world and make it a better place.

The following video touched me and I wanted to share it with you. One of the things I hate most is that there are people in this world who don't have food. It honestly breaks my heart. Especially in my job where I see how much the restaurant on campus throws out every night. They throw out tons of perfectly good food and it honestly angers me because there are so many in this world that have nothing and we just throw away what we don't want.

I think that this video is incredibly important for everyone to watch because some people don't understand what's out there and all they care about are their "first world problems" without knowing or understanding just how privileged they are.

So I hope that this video inspires you as much as it inspires me. Please share it with your friends, spread the word, and donate to my Charity of the Month to help others. And if you can't donate, please participate in 12 Days of Service to help the people around you and in your community. Even the smallest acts of kindness help. Thank you!

Things I've Learned From 7 Months of Marriage

HAPPY SEVEN MONTH ANNIVERSARY TO ME!! I wanted to do a post like this for six months of marriage because that's half a year, but I was much too busy with school so you're getting an extra month of knowledge. ;) But actually that extra month really does make a difference because it was this last month that we decided to move and that changed a lot of things.

I love my husband more than anything in the world and I am so happy to be married to him for time and all eternity! I learn something new about myself and about marriage all the time. "Life's a dance you learn as you go" and everyday I'm learning something new. I'm happily married for seven months now, and here's what I've learned in those seven months.

I lose my will to clean when focusing on school. 
It's disappointing really. I struggle with balancing school and keeping my apartment clean. I think a big part of it is the fact that I work as a janitor. So everyday I clean for four hours to get money, but at home cleaning doesn't give me money so I lose that desire to work harder at it. I've been struggling with keeping things clean since school started, but new apartment equals new rules so we will be working harder to keep things clean.

My husband can gut a fish, turn it into fillets, shoot an animal, skin an elk, watch bloody zombie shows, but put him in front of rotting food and he'll throw up. 
Yeah... wasn't expecting that. I had cleaned up moldy food that day and was fine. I told him he had to clean up his salad mess, he opened the bowl and starts gagging for a good long while, throws it in the sink, dumps in dish soap and turns the water on, then went and threw up. But he cleaned up his salad, so I'm proud of him for that. Apparent he gets sick with smells, which means it's a good thing he doesn't work as a janitor like I do.

Money is hard.
It really truly is. We're moving to spend less on rent, we have to donate plasma to make extra cash, we can barely afford food. It's hard.

Sacrifices have to be made.
Like I said above, we have to move to save money. I will miss this beautiful apartment. Where we're moving isn't quite as beautiful, but it's a blessing that it's bigger and cheaper. Things will be difficult at first and it's a big sacrifice, but we are both grateful and have the feeling everything will turn out perfectly.

There are lots of different ways to make money.
We donate plasma, I use Inbox Dollars, I blog, we sold some clothes (and still have some to sell if anyone in Logan is interested), and we do everything we can to make and save money. We are very creative about it.

Holidays with the in-laws can be fun too.
I spent Thanksgiving with the in-laws this year. I had such a good time! The food was delicious, the company was so kind and friendly, and I got to see Catching Fire! It was such a wonderful holiday and I absolutely love my in-laws!

Love only grows stronger.
Honestly I never imagined that it could be like this. I mean, you hear all these stories about love growing stronger but when you actually experience it, it's absolutely incredible! I don't know how to fully describe it, but everyday I love Chris more and more. We have always clicked. We've been together for two years and know each other really well, but to see how our relationship consistently gets better and better is the most amazing thing in the world. I love being married to the love of my life and love that it only gets better everyday.

What about you? What have you learned in your marriage? Leave a comment below and let me know!

THANKS FOR READING!!! 

My Christmas Wish List

Last week I posted my 2013 Holiday Gift Guide... which was a joke. I hope people were aware that that was a joke. Although some of the products you have to admit were pretty awesome. :)

With Christmas coming up I think it's time I put up my personal Christmas Wish List, and if you would like to buy me anything from the list please send it to... just kidding. Please don't buy me anything. But leaving comments on blog posts would be a great Christmas gift! And if you do that for me you'll get your Christmas gift from me, a Spotify playlist of all my Song of the Week Saturday posts. Which is actually a pretty cool playlist, but I could be biased. Hey, if you want your favorite songs to be on there you have to share them with me first.

Anyways, this year I have two lists: things that I want and things that I need. These lists are obviously very different. Also, this list is for my family and friends but I still hope it's enjoyable to my regular readers. If not, leave a comment to let me know.

THINGS THAT I WANT:

• A sewing machine 
• I really do, I don't know why... Pinterest probably
• Clothes
• Because what girl doesn't need more clothes? And I'm incredibly sick of my current wardrobe.
• iTunes gift cards
• Because music is incredibly important to me and I always want more!
• Beta fish 
• But my apartment technically doesn't allow it... But honestly, there are beta fish at my work in the offices and I just love to sit and watch them swimming around, it makes me happy. I need one!!! 
•  A new laptop
• Because this one is incredibly slow no matter what I do and it's just incredibly frustrating to use.
• iPod
• Because I love my iPod nano, but it's full and I can't add more music and I can't find any music from it to get rid of and it's just sad that I can't put my new Ariana Grande CD, Yours Truly on there. 
• iPhone
• Or just a smart phone in general. I know this is not going to happen, but I am so bored of my phone and just want to join the smart phone club. Also, I've been stalking my friend's Instagram pages and would like to join that club too. 

I understand I most likely won't get anything on this list. Except maybe clothes. And I'm totally fine with that. I honestly don't need these things and I will (eventually) be able to buy them myself. I'll be happy whether I get them or not because here is the list of what I actually need. 

WHAT I NEED:

• A good snow coat
• I have a lot of really cute pea-coats and I love them to death, but it gets really cold here and I need a good, warm, water/wind proof, sturdy coat for winter. With a hood. Because I have a fairly good snow coat right now with no hood... and it's short... I want something I could play in the snow in. And I found all my gloves and hats so I'm good there. But I want to be able to pick it out so I don't know if I want someone just buying it for me...
• Snow boots
• I also have a good pair of boots but for some reason the designer was like "Let's make the best snow boots with great traction and warmth... but we'll add a three inch heel to it". And I love heels, but for running around in the snow sometimes I'd rather do without the heel. I'd also want to pick this out myself so...
• Money for the above two items... or school or rent or food
• Actually things are looking up for us money-wise, but some extra money in our account is always worth it, because we just eat soup or pizza from Chris's work every night and I get bored of it. 

This post ended up much longer than I expected and I admit it's not the most exciting. But regardless, what's done is done. 

What's on your Christmas Wish List? Leave a comment below and let me know!

THANKS FOR READING!! 

Things I'm Good At

I got the idea for this post from a Jenna Marbles video on Youtube. I would share the video on here but part of it is inappropriate and I don't want to have that on my blog. So feel free to look it up if you want.

These past few weeks have been difficult for me with school, moving, constant stress, and depression. But things are starting to look up... slightly... I'm still insanely poor and have to pay college tuition on Wednesday... stressful!

Anyways, in an attempt to make myself feel better about myself, here are the things that I am good at. 

I'm really good at driving in the snow. This is good because I live in Northern Utah where it snows a lot. I learned yesterday that some Canadians don't know it snows in Utah. Well, it does. In fact, our license plates sometimes say "Greatest Snow on Earth", although I don't believe that's true. But it does snow a lot, usually from October to May. This year we got a late start on the snow and it's just barely starting up, but that means it'll probably last till summer. There's a saying that there are only two seasons in Utah, winter and road construction, and that's basically true. But yeah, it snows here, today it was -24 degrees when I first went outside. And it's real surprising how many people in Utah cannot drive in the snow, so I'm proud for being good at it.

I'm fairly good at writing papers quickly. Like I should be doing right now. I have my final essay due at midnight tonight and I haven't started it yet. Let me clarify, I haven't started writing the paper, but I've done tons of research and wrote out notes for my paper. It only has to be at minimum three pages so I'm fairly confident I can whip out a good essay before midnight.

I'm good at dancing. It's true. I was in the Ballet West Nutcracker three times, I danced half-time at the Poinsettia Bowl in 2010 (which I will be writing about soon because it's such a good story and my school is in the Poinsettia Bowl this year, GO USU!!!) and I just absolutely love dancing! I've done ballet, jazz, tap, and both Latin and standard ballroom. I'm currently looking for a dancing teaching job because that's one of my main goals in life, to teach dance.

I'm good at making minute rice. And Ramen, and toaster items, and other microwave items. But that's about the extend of my cooking abilities. Oh! But I am good at making cookies!!

I'm good at finding good music. At least I believe I am. Jon McLaughlin and Christina Perri are my two favorites and they are a billion times better than what's popular right now. Like Miley Cyrus? She can't sing. Or all those rappers? They can't sing at all! But Jon and Christina are not only talented singers, but also play the piano, which happens to be my favorite instrument.

I'm good at giving gifts. I absolutely LOVE buying and giving people gifts! It's one of my most favorite things in the world! It's why last year I spent over $200 on Christmas presents for my family, why I gave my husband 24 all Star Wars themed gifts for his 24th birthday, and why I love doing giveaways on this blog. But, alas, I currently have no money so I'm super disappointed this year that I can only give each person on my list one gift, and it has to cost less than $10. I'm so upset. But don't worry because...

I'm good at making cards. I love making creative cards! It's so much fun! I just love crafting really. And, according to my sister, I'm good at writing cute and meaningful notes to people inside said cards. So I will be making special cards for all my family for Christmas in an attempt to make up for lack of good gift giving.

I'm good at sleeping. This is only partially true. I occasionally struggle with falling asleep, but once I'm asleep I'm out and I can sleep forever! That's why I struggled so much with my 8:30am class this semester and why I never look good for 9:00am church. I'd much rather sleep than do anything.

I'm good at making future lesson plans for when I become a teacher. I find it so much fun to explore Pinterest and different teaching blogs and find ideas for school lessons. Not only that, I create my own and save them to an external hard drive. Even though I won't graduate for three and a half years, there's nothing wrong with being prepared, right? :)

I'm good at doing hair. It's true! I am! And I absolutely love doing it! I love playing with my hair and love testing out new styles I find on Pinterest. The only problem is I have super shaky hands so I can only do my own hair, don't ask me to do your hair because it won't turn out as good, but I'm used to it on myself.

I'm good at using Pinterest. Well duh, I mentioned it in the past two things! I'm on Pinterest ALL THE TIME and am super good at pinning things. Not as good at actually doing the things, but I'll get there someday.

I'm good at being neutral. Every year of college my roommates would end up splitting into two groups and hate each other, but none of them hated me and I somehow avoided having to pick sides. I don't even know what I did but it's a talent. I think it's because I don't really care what other's do and am very accepting of others, I'm also super good at never letting my emotions show. So I could hate someone and they would never know. That's totally a talent. But I currently don't have any friends so maybe I'm too neutral...

I'm good at helping others. I have this inner desire to love and help everyone I meet (why don't I have friends again???). I use Charity of the Month on this blog to help others, I volunteer with an elementary school twice a week, I started 12 Days of Service this month, I love doing anything I can to help others and make them happy and I only wish I could do more.

I'm good at being a janitor. Is that something to be proud of? Maybe not, but it pays the bills so I'm happy about it. I'm really good at my job and work hard to make sure I'm one of the best. I've always been a hard worker, no matter what the job and consider that an additional thing I'm good at.

I'm good at people watching. Not a talent, just something I'm good at. I'm also good at not getting caught. I hear the best conversations sometimes and no one even knows...

I'm good at eating French Fries. Put French Fries in front of me and I'll eat them all. Every last crumb, every last grain of salt. I love French Fries! They are quite possibly my favorite food and I crave them everyday.

I'm am incredibly good at talking myself out of buying something. Only with clothes though, with food, not so much. But with clothes I rarely buy new things, even though I hate all my clothes, because I can quickly talk myself out of it. It's a fantastic trait considering I have no money but I'm hoping I can control this ability once I do have money and start to work on a new wardrobe for myself.

I'm good at writing. Or at least I consider myself to be good. I make mistakes, I know that, but everyone makes mistakes occasionally. I believe that we continually learn from our mistakes and when I make a mistake writing on this blog I want for my readers to point it out so I am aware and work harder to avoid doing it again in the future. Not only am I good at writing, but I absolutely LOVE writing. So while I previously said that I was too depressed to write, I'm continually learning that I have to write to keep myself happy. I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be writing on this blog as much as I possibly can because it genuinely makes me happy.

Sunday Meals: Chicken Curry FAILURE

Martha Stewart recently said:

“Oh – oh I DO have a minor gripe about that too. Because WHO are these bloggers? They’re not trained editors at Vogue magazine! I mean there are bloggers writing recipes that aren’t tested that aren’t necessarily very good, or are copies of everything that really good editors have created and done. So, bloggers create a kind of um, a, um, popularity but, they are NOT the experts! And we have to understand that.”

And my favorite blogger from Grasping for Objectivity said that she was right. We bloggers are not experts, we make mistakes, we aren't perfect, but in a way, that makes us a more reliable source. The recipes seen in magazines have been tried and practiced again and again to perfection until decidedly perfect. You never see the mistakes that they make, everything is edited to look perfectly.

Because I'm just a blogger, I make mistakes. And I'm happy to share my mistakes and failures with my readers, because you deserve to see that I'm not perfect and that I make mistakes too.

So I occasionally, but rarely, write these posts about my Sunday meals. Sunday is typically the only day of the week that I can really try to cook something. I work 5-9 every night and am a full-time college student, so Sunday is the day I attempt to cook... attempt being the key word.

I've never loved cooking. I like making cookies sometimes but I'm more motivated to make cookies because I love to eat them. I am never motivated to cook a meal. My husband, quite honestly, is a better cook than I am and is more willing to cook as well. So I only attempt to cook. But I am very skilled in following recipes.

My husband and I are very poor and don't have very much food lying around the house, especially since we're moving this week. So this past Sunday I tried to create a meal from what we do have. I had a can of chicken, rice, and curry powder. We have made curry before with basically the same ingredients so I was pretty sure it would work.

I started out by cooking our minute rice (which I am an expert and making and often just have a bowl of rice for a meal) and by putting the can of chicken in a frying pan and heating it up. Yes I know I could just eat the chicken out of the can, but I wanted it warm. Everything was going good and was looking really well.

The rice was almost done so I started adding the curry powder to the chicken. I added some extra water to make it blend together better. I knew milk would work better, but we didn't have milk, just water. My husband came over to see what smelled so good (because he loves curry). I gave him free reign to add more curry powder, which he happily did.

Everything was looking good and we started putting everything into our bowls. It smelled delicious and I was feeling proud of myself. We prayed and blessed the food then sat down to eat. I took my first bite...

Too. Much. Curry! And the chicken wasn't that great either! The rice was good, because I'm an expert at that. I took a few more bites and decided I couldn't eat anymore. So I took out all the chicken and just ate the rice with some of the curry powder still there, that was super delicious.

My husband ate his whole bowl and told me he really liked it, but I hated it! So I suppose it's not exactly a failure. If I had used a real chicken breast instead of canned chicken that would have helped it. For me personally, there was too much curry powder and it was just powder, I like more of a curry paste, so that would need to be changed. Vegetables would have been a good addition as well.

Over all I do think that I could fix up this recipe to make it work, and that alone is hope for me. I know I'm not the best cook, but I'm trying to improve that and consider this a lesson learned. I always believe that we learn from our mistakes, and I'm happy knowing that I can improve this recipe.

Do you have a recipe failure? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Thanks for reading!! 

Song of the Week: Something About December

We're going with all Christmas music this December for the Song of the Week Saturdays! Yay! I started it out simple though for those of you who aren't into the Christmas music phase yet. I love Christina Perri, I love this song, it's beautiful and it's just a simple cute song about December. :)

Also, I'm creating a Spotify playlist with all of the Song of the Week Saturday music. I only started doing it in (I think) September so we don't have a full year of songs, but I'm adding a couple extra songs I've talked about or put on my blog. This playlist will be available to you at the end of the month as my Christmas gift to you!

My Darkness // Leave of Absence

Hey friends! So I haven't written in a while, and you're probably thinking "Yeah you did, you wrote a Web Video Wednesday post yesterday and a Holiday Gift Guide Monday." But in all honestly I wrote those a while ago they just were published automatically.

I've mentioned casually in this blog that I have depression. Right now I'm going through one of my depressive phases. The best way I can describe it is that I feel like there is this darkness inside of me and it wants to control me and bring me down. It makes me incredibly moody and sad, I'm so tired all the time, and I have absolutely no motivation (but I've forced myself to go to all my classes and have been to the gym every night this week, I'm trying to push past it all). Basically I'm not myself right now.

My main lack of motivation is this blog. The past week I have not been able to write because I just have this darkness hurting me and even just looking at this blog has been stressing me out because I want it to be perfect but I can't push past the darkness to feel good about this blog. So I'll be taking a short break and focusing on finals and moving next week. Sorry.

I'm hoping to write a post about depression in the near future, because in my experience people just don't understand it and if I tell people I have depression they freak out and don't know what to do. So I want to write about my depression, my experiences, my story, and some tips on how to react to people with depression. I think this is a really important topic and many people should know about it. But don't expect the post to come till January, because I don't want to ruin the fun holiday season.

Okay, so I need to stop writing for a while for my mental and emotional health, but just know that I love all my readers, I love all your love and support, you all mean so much to me, I wish I could meet you all personally, give you a hug and tell you how grateful I am for you. Thank you. I'll be back again as soon as I can. :)

Web Video Wednesday: Holiday Music

I know Thanksgiving is over but this is by far my favorite web video this week. I absolutely love it! I especially like the Ho Hey version and that's still applicable right? :) Also, can I just repeat for like the billionth time, Carrie Underwood has such an incredible voice. Love her!

2013 Holiday Gift Guide

Are you struggling to find the perfect gift for your friends and family for Christmas? Well look no further! This guide has all the best gifts for the odd ones on your Christmas list. So sit back, look through the list and check it twice because you're sure to find something nice. ;)

The "Kneel Before Loki Family Sticker" for the family who enjoyed that attack on New York or the mother who secretly is in love with villains. 

Baby Leg Salt and Pepper Shakers, for all your friends who wish their own child's legs produced salt and pepper.

Happy Feet, for the people in your life with dirty, smelly shoes. 

The Tru-Smart Harness and Auto Zip Line, for the dog lovers who want their dogs to have double the fun on road trips to the vet.

The Bang-Bang Handle, for the hunters, gang members, and jailbirds in your life. 

The Emergency Underpants Dispenser, for the kindergarten teachers in your life (ha ha, I'm going to become one someday) or those who tend to have accidents.

The Barbie Head USB, for the little girls that you'd like to shatter their hopes and dreams. 

The Accoutrements Yodelling Pickle, for anyone and everyone (because who doesn't want a yodeling pickle?).

Obama Toilet Paper, for those who want to get their business done with the President at their side.

Racing Grannies, for the child who enjoys pitting old people against each other. 

Canned Unicorn Meat, for the Chuck Norris's in your life or those who need a little extra magic. (There's also Dragon Meat for the daring ones.)

The Sexy Smart Panties for Iphone 4, for those who hate seeing their phone go naked.

And finally, my personal favorite:

Poo-Pourri, for everyone else on your list.