November 2017 Favorites

Hello friends!! November is over, which is crazy, but I'm also just kind of thinking it's already 2018 so I'm not really that surprised. Also, I am totally into Christmas this year because it's my girl's first Christmas, it's a big deal, and I already have my tree up which is something I'm typically against. No Christmas before December!! ...But I broke my own rule this year.

This past month flew by and I'm just a little confused at where it went, but at the same time I feel like my birthday was months ago. Here's a quick recap of the highlights this month (since I didn't blog all month so you wouldn't know).

November 4th: My birthday!! Kneaders breakfast, Olive Garden dinner and Thor Ragnarok.
November 5th: My baby girls got blessed.
November 9th: I went to the dentist in tons of pain, learned my crown had cracked and my tooth was completely dead, got this large mass in my gum drained, scheduled to have my tooth removed.
November 10th: My girls turned two months old and got their shots.
November 13th: Went in to get my tooth pulled out, got to see the cyst that was on it, got a bone graft. Didn't realize how much pain I would be in/how the drugs would affect me and had to call in my dad to help with the girls. (Thanks, dad!)
November 15th: Took my girls to get their hip ultrasounds (a typical thing for babies who were breached). They're both fine and they had no issues!
November 23rd: Thanksgiving!! Had a lovely Thanksgiving with the Farnes family. Made green bean casserole.
November 27th: Went back to the dentist to get my stitches out. Set up another appointment. (The whole thing is like a nine-month process, which sucks so bad.) Also started my 30-day workout thing (more info below).
November 29th: Went to Festival of Trees, saw BB-8, went to the mall, walked through the "Harry Potter Christmas in the Wizarding World" display, bought new boots.
November 30th: Wrote this blog post.

So yeah, this month consisted of a lot of dentist stuff. For all my readers, DO NOT PUT OFF GOING TO THE DENTIST!!! It had been way too long for me and they haven't even checked the rest of my teeth yet, which I'm positive I have at least one cavity, but I'm known for going in and they find five, and this time it's been so long that there will probably be like thirty. Is that even possible? Anyways, I'm not looking forward to that appointment where they check all my teeth, but I'm planning it for January when I know my new insurance is all good and ready.

Anyways, this post is supposed to be about my November favorites yet I'm talking about the dentist, which is one of my least favorite things (which is why it has been so long). So lets get into the favorites!

ALMONDS

I have been loving almonds this month! I've always loved almonds, but since I'm trying to get healthier, lose weight, etc., almonds have been such a good snack for me. I typically get the Blue Diamond Lightly Salted ones. That's just my preference, but honestly, all almonds are good.

CITRUS BLISS INVIGORATING BATH BAR by DOTERRA

This soap smells amazing, makes my skin feel great, and even has a slight exfoliating factor. I'm really enjoying it.

LASH SENSATIONAL LUSCIOUS FULL FAN EFFECT MASCARA by MAYBELLINE NEW YORK

Ah, Maybelline. I love you. This mascara makes my lashes look ah-mazing!! I'm obsessed. I'm planning on doing a full review at some point so that's all I have to say for now, but I do love it and if you're looking for a new mascara you should consider this one.

PEACH HAND CREAM by TONY MOLY

I got this is my last Ipsy bag and am so obsessed with the smell! With winter here and constantly cleaning bottles and changing diapers and washing my hands, I'm using a lot more hand lotion lately. I told Chris to buy me this lotion for Christmas because I love it.

MINERAL HAND CREAM by AHAVA

Another Ipsy product and hand cream. I need them lately and while this one doesn't have a peachy smell like the last one, it is a great one to stick on the nightstand to use after middle of the night diaper changes.

*Quick note, I promised a great Ipsy post this month but I had a whole credit fraud issue, my card didn't work, and long story short, I didn't get an Ipsy bag this month. It should be all worked out to get one for December though.


TRICK AND TREAT CREAM CONCEALER by HEY HONEY

I've now gotten two Hey Honey products in Ipsy packages and I've loved them both so much. This is a company I definitely what to try more of. This is a great simple, light concealer to just throw on when I'm feeling insecure about my dark circles even though I almost never leave my house anymore. I love it a lot!

 ADVANCED CARE CLEAR TONE DEODORANT by DOVE

I may have talked about this before because it's my go-to deodorant. It feels great on my skin, smells great, and keeps me dry and stink-free. I love it a lot and am really grateful for it.

LOSE WEIGHT IN 30 DAYS by SIMPLE DESIGN LTD.

This is an app that I downloaded on a whim. I've been working hard to lose weight since my twins were born but I didn't have much structure and I just did whatever I wanted. I've been using this app for the past week and it gives me exercises to do every day, it goes through them all with me, makes it really easy to get a fast, strengthing workout in, and overall is a great app. You don't need any equipment (but maybe a mat) so it's easy to do anywhere. I've also gone to the gym and done some cardio as well to get more of a workout in, but the exercises they give me have already made me sore and I struggle each day to get through them all. It's fantastic and I'll be happy to share the final results when I reach day 30, but if you want to see a more day-to-day look at my weight loss journey, check out my health and fitness Instagram account, @kayleeshealthylife.

Let me know in the comments what your favorites for the month were and if you also love any of these products. Love you, you're a hero!

April Is Over!!

Hello friends! Are you as happy as I am that April is over? It's been a weird and difficult month for me. I can only hope yours went smoother. But I'm excited for May. I love this month, my anniversary is this month, I'm starting a work weight loss challenge this month and hopefully can get happy about my body again, and have some other exciting events to go to. It'll be good.

Anyways, let's get into a rather brief review of the month of April, in no particular order.

April had some really great events, between seeing my favorite singer Jon McLaughlin and having him Tweet me saying this blog is nice... well that was basically the highlight of my year. You can read all about my concert experience HERE.

Chris and I also had the amazing opportunity to see Kyle Beckerman, captain and midfielder of the Real Salt Lake team, when he came to speak at USU. He talked a lot about how he was able to reach his goals and his dream of playing in the World Cup. I was inspired by a few of the things he said and have tried to add his wisdom into my own life.

I've gotten really into podcasts this month and have been inspired by those as well. I listen to funny podcasts, podcasts about writing, podcasts for bloggers, podcasts for YouTube, and podcasts about being happy. I have a rather brain-dead job and I can sit at work all day and listen to podcasts while still getting all my work done. It's been a rather exciting experience and I hope the lessons and inspiration I've received from listening to these podcasts will carry over to this blog.

I've also gone into major writing and planning mode. This September I will be releasing a series of short stories onto this blog, and I want them to be good. I still have a lot of writing and editing to do, but everything seems to be on track for the release date of September 17th. I really want to hype this up and get more followers to my blog beforehand so when it comes out there will be a larger response. Me releasing my stories is a big deal. I normally don't let anyone read my writing, so I'm hoping this all goes well.

*On that note, I am in need of illustrators who would be fine working for free. Any art style is welcome and you'll have a lot of personal input on how it's done. I also want a few readers to read my first drafts and fill out a form with their input. If you are interested in either of these things email me at thedancingcowblogger@gmail.com.*

Continuing on, my April started with me being sick for a week. It was a terrible week and it was the same week my baby was due. I honestly didn't even think about my baby on the due date because I was so sick. But I want to thank everyone for the response to "A Letter to My Miscarried Child".  That post was written about a month before the due date during a particularly bad moment. I have not been able to go back and read that post again since I wrote it. I have loved hearing your responses to that letter though. A lot of my pain stems from feeling so alone, like no one understands, but so many of you have addressed me personally with your own stories and it's been incredible to listen to your stories and to help give me hope for the future. So thank you, I love each and every one of my readers, and I am always looking out for you.

I believe that's it for my April review, not too much went on, and it wasn't too exciting, but I'm excited for May and everything it brings. I love you all!!

January Favorites [2016]

So we are bringing back monthly favorite posts this year! I will probably switch back and forth between a written post or a video post (like my 2015 favorites) to add a bit of variety and fun to these monthly posts. I have a better layout and categories so hopefully this year they won't be as sloppy...

However, today's is not going to be good at all. I just can't think of any favorites. But we'll go over a few things that have made this month great.

To start off, I'm going to make monthly playlists of the songs I've listened to most that month, or possibly themed playlists (like for Christmas). These will all be on my Spotify account, so be sure to follow me on Spotify to see my favorites throughout the month instead of just when I post it. I have a wide variety of music I love, so it's difficult to categorize what genre you'll see in these playlists. But for this month they are just recent favorites. So you can get listening to my favorites as you browse through the rest of this post.

(And I want to both warn you and apologize that this particular playlist is more calm/sad songs. I absolutely love sad songs, those are my favorite kind, but also it's been a difficult month for me.)

Firstly I want to talk about my favorite/most popular post on my blog this month, which would be "My Dog Almost Ate My Ultrasound Pictures Today". This was quite possibly the hardest post I have ever written. I don't believe I've ever been hysterically crying while typing up a blog post before, even when I talk about my depression. My miscarriage was the hardest thing I've ever had to face in my life and I'm still healing emotionally from it. Thank you to everyone who supported this post and supported me.

BEAUTY

I seriously cannot think of favorites for this month! But I can say I've been loving my new makeup routine. It's very dark around the eyes, but I'm obsessed. Also, all my makeup products are pretty amazing because a few weeks ago at work I cried for about an hour and a half and my super dark (slightly emo) makeup didn't smudge at all. I think they should make makeup commercials about women getting dumped and crying, because isn't makeup that stays what we're all really looking for?

MOVIES AND TELEVISION

This month I had the incredible opportunity to see Sherlock: The Abominable Bride in theaters. To be able to see a BBC television show that I'm obsessed with in a theater in my hometown was the highlight of my month (although I came home from that to Zoram almost eating my ultrasounds). It was so insanely good!!! I love Sherlock so ridiculously much!!!

This month I've also been able to see the latest seasons of New Girl and Parks & Recreation, as they were added onto Netflix. These are two of my favorite comedy shows and I love them both. Nick Miller is amazing, he's my favorite thing... like ever.

SHOUTOUTS

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom today!! I don't know where I'd be without you! I love you so insanely much and hope you have the best birthday ever!!

Fiona M. wrote the most amazing comment on yesterday's post (How Social Anxiety Makes Me Feel). As I'm transitioning this blog to talk more about my mental health disorders, it is my sincere hope that something I say can help someone else. Fiona has already made me feel that way, and for that I am truly grateful. Love you Fiona!

Kate of Kate the (Almost) Great has been my teammate this past month. She was gracious enough to allow me to advertise this blog on her own blog, and she's been given me Twitter shout outs the past few weeks (and loving Zoram almost as much as I do). I truly love her blog and her, so please, please click the link to read about her. She's an incredible, strong, beautiful person, and she deserves all your love and kindness.

One last shoutout to all those who have added me on Snapchat because they want to look at Zoram. That's the trial of having the cutest puppy in the world I suppose. But if you would like to look at daily pictures and videos of Zoram (and some of Chris and myself too) you can follow me @cowgirlkaylee22.

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Ugh. Sorry this post is so short and boring. I can't think of favorites, it's been a weird month. Please check out my Spotify, I've been going crazy making playlists lately and I personally think they're awesome. Don't forget to also follow me on all my social media, because I'm trying to post more on those. 

Thank you for reading!!! 

May Review

I debated on doing a review this month, but when I realized it was suddenly the end of the month and I hadn't written like any blog posts I felt like I needed to get a review done to kind of explain where I've been.

So if you've been completely out of the loop, I am now in Texas. My husband decided to take a summer sales job here so we packed up the car and moved to San Antonio, well technically right outside of San Antonio. It was so crazy the drive here took us three days (because we chose to stop each night) and then we got here and had to sleep on someone's floor, and then I got offered a job as an office help for the company Chris is selling for and then our lives just turned into working like crazy.

Okay, I only work three days a week so that was kind of a lie, but it is for eight hours a day which is much more than I've been doing in the past. Chris on the other hand works six days a week... all day. I pretty much only see him for dinner, sleep, and on Sundays. He does get off a bit earlier on Saturdays but we've been hanging out with his new work team so we haven't had a ton of alone time.

May 11th was our one year anniversary!!! I honestly am still in shock we've been married a year. Time has literally flown by! We didn't do much to celebrate. We decided not to do gifts and we just wrote letter saying why we love each other. We read them to each other and it was just really sweet and a memorable moment.

And then the month disappeared. I worked out a lot, until recently. I'm working on losing some weight this summer. I want to lose enough to fit back into my wedding dress, that's the goal. And I have been working on a special project but I'm not ready to reveal that to the world because it still has a lot of work to go through. But actually, this "special project" is part of the reason I haven't been blogging on here as much, so I do apologize.

I feel like we're finally making money instead of digging ourselves more and more into debt. It's been fantastic! Sure we still have a lot of money in student loans to pay off, but this summer we're just working hard to create a stable financial base for ourselves, and it's been working really well in our favor.... and thank you so much to the company we work for for paying our rent, because I don't know if we could afford this awesome place without you!

Oh! I've been obsessed with Pokemon lately. Yes, I'm such a dork, but I watched something scary and Chris was sleeping so I wanted to watch something silly to help me forget the scary thing and Pokemon was the first thing I saw, and I've always been secretly in love with Pikachu so I decided to give it a shot. And now I'm obsessed. I even bought myself a plush Pikachu online. Literally obsessed.

I'm going to try to take more pictures, I don't know why I haven't been, Texas is gorgeous, so hopefully you'll be seeing more pictures of our new home up on the blog soon.

Alright, was there anything else? Not that I can think of. Well, this review is short and sweet, but so was the month of May for me. Thank you for reading and have a fabulous day!!

April Review

Isn't that the cutest little chick? He's on there for two reasons: Easter and the fact that I went to Baby Animal Days. Good times.

So for the first time this year, my Monthly Review post will (hopefully) be more exciting. I'm actually going to write about what happened this month! Shocker for something called a "Monthly Review". Unlike my lengthy reviews last year, I'm keeping things short and sweet and labeling all events by the date they happened. Be sure to leave a comment and let me know if you like the new outline of my monthly review! And be sure to stick around till the end to see how well I did on my New Year Resolutions this month!

1st: I watched the finale of How I Met Your Mother and was truly disappointed. You can read all about that HERE. I also just had an incredibly emotional day and I can't even fully describe how awful the first day of April was. And that's no April Fools Day joke.

5th: Chris and I visited Baby Animal Days!!! You can read about it HERE. I GOT TO PET A COW!!!! It was such a fun event and I hope we can go back every year!!

7th: Happy Birthday to my friend Lauren!!! On this day I began really freaking out about our move to Texas. There was only four weeks left and so much left to do! I was feeling completely overwhelmed!!

10th: I donated plasma for my second time. You can read about my first, disastrous time, HERE. This time was a bit better. I tweeted through the whole experience. I still got lightheaded and they had to bring me juice and crackers, but I made it through okay.

12th: I donated plasma again and I didn't get lightheaded or dizzy or pass out or anything!! I did great! The guy who helped me earlier that week brought be juice and crackers before they even put the needle in me. And anytime he passed me he would make sure I was doing alright. It was nice. Because of my two plasma donations that week I was finally able to buy groceries! Yay! Now we have food in the house and we hope it lasts us until our move.

13th: There has been a duck living right by our front door just sitting on some eggs. On the 13th the eggs were hatched and we got to see three little ducklings! Even though ducks scare me, these little ducks are really cute. But I'm still paranoid about them living right outside my door. (PS, they were gone the next day and have never come back, only leave pieces of egg shells and tons of feathers.)

14th: I had an idea. An ingenious idea that has the potential to change my whole life.... but I'm not yet ready to share it yet. You'll have to wait a bit longer.

15th: I am not doing a Monthly Favorites post this month so I'm adding a few things on here. And on this day I wrote the most popular post of the month: 10 Weird Things About Me.

19th: We went to the aquarium and OH MY GOSH I'M IN LOVE!!! I have always been obsessed with aquariums and zoos and the new aquarium in Draper is absolutely amazing!!! There were so many incredible fish there and I had so much fun with my hubby, brother, brother-in-law, and mother-in-law. It was the best and, since there is no Monthly Favorites post this month, this was my most favorite event of the month! So much fun! And it got me super excited for our Texas move and going to SeaWorld!!

20th: Easter Sunday! I had a fabulous Easter with my family. I always feel so spoiled by the Easter Bunny and this year was no exception. I love my parents and all they do for me and now for Chris as well. Easter is about remembering the resurrection of our brother, Jesus Christ. I love Easter and what it truly means. And I apologize for not doing a blog post about my Easter. If you would like one leave a comment below and let me know. Also on this day, happy 19th birthday to my sweet cousin Cami! I love her so much!

23rd: I was given a free dinner on campus for cleaning up after the Howl! It's nice to go to the all-you-can-eat place for cleaning up after college students at 1:00am. The Howl is one of the many reasons I do not like my job... But (when this post is published) I am no longer working there. We're moving to Texas and I get to find something new. I'm excited!

24th: HALLELUJAH FOR TAX REFUNDS!!! That's all I have to say.

25th: I finally got to see Divergent and I was so insanely happy and I loved it so so much!!! I just want to go see it again and again!!

26th: Chris and I went to the temple with my cousin Cami (and other family members) as she went through for the first time to prepare for her mission! It had been a while since we went through the temple and it was good for us as we are preparing for our big move. Afterwards we went to my cousin Nate's house and had lunch and I got to hold his adorable baby Will. He's the cutest! Then Chris and I went home and fell asleep for hours. Seriously, Chris slept in until like 7:00. It was weird, but I felt incredibly caught up on sleep, so that was a plus.

28th: We got our storage unit so we could start moving the things not coming to Texas with us into storage. It's insane how soon we're moving!!

30th: Tomorrow is my last day of work! What??? Two years ago I thought I was done with my janitor job forever but then last year after three months of unemployment I had to take it back. This past year (school year) of working as a janitor was really hard. It's been four years of being a janitor and that's just not what I want to be doing with my life. I love my boss, I love my coworkers, and it really isn't a bad job. It's just not me, and I'm happy to be leaving and hopefully I don't have to go back again. It's weird to be leaving the same job twice, but I'm excited for new adventures in Texas!

Also, on May 2nd, we move to Texas! This is one of the craziest things I've done in my life but I'm so excited and Chris and I are just happy that we get to try out this new adventure together! As you can guess, I will not be writing on this blog until we're all settled, so it may be a while til my next post (besides scheduled posts about Book Club and Charity of the Month) so I'm sorry that I won't get to talk with you for a while. I love all my readers and wish us luck and safety on our journey to Texas! When I get back I'm sure I'll have lot to say about the longest car ride of my life!

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And now onto how I'm doing on my New Years Resolutions. You can read all about my New Years Resolutions HERE.

To gain 100 blog followers: Again, technically I do have over 200 when I add up all my social media sites, but I'm focusing on getting 100 on just one site. I haven't been doing much this month to get new followers but this summer gaining more followers is definitely a focus as well as giveaways for my new and old followers!

To run a 5k: I am no longer doing the Color Vibe, which makes me sad, but I have this big goal thing I'm working towards so maybe I'll be trained enough to run a 5k soon. I just have to find one. Maybe I'll do the one in the fall that they do at Thanksgiving Point. We'll see.

To get six pack abs: Definitely have not been working on this this month. I've been eating ridiculously this month but starting in May I have some big plans.

To improve my math skills: I honestly just want to kick this goal out of the mix. I don't really want to improve in math, no matter how bad I am at it! Ugh. We'll see I guess.

To make school more of a priority: This goal is complicated right now. There is a lot going on with my college career that you don't know about yet and it's changing lots of things. I have big decisions to make and so much to think about so this goal is on hold until further notice.

To eat healthier: Major fail this month. Peeps have been my favorite snack. I eat like four big meals a day. Bad, bad, bad! But as I said, May is my month to make a change and I have lots of goals for next month.

To save up more money: Can I just say how grateful I am for tax returns? Thank goodness that payment was able to help us get everything in order for the big move. We don't have a lot saved, but we're hoping this summer job will help us get lots of money to save up for school... and finally getting me a new laptop.

To not procrastinate: I have been slightly been procrastinating this month with packing. It's just so overwhelming to pack up our entire apartment for a second time. Also, this move this weekend is the third place we will be living since we've gotten married... and we're one week shy of a year. I know this has nothing to do with my goal, but it's ridiculous how many places we've lived in one year. But yeah, I've been fairly organized about a packing schedule, but I put it off till like last week.

To read more: I am super excited because Book Club starts back up next month!!! AKA, tomorrow!!! Be sure to check out the Book Club page on my blog to see what we'll be reading. Also, I'm happy for our long drive to Texas in a few days because I can finally read Insurgent which I bought months ago but haven't had the time to read yet. I'm happy that I'll get to read more now that school is out!

To pray and read my scriptures everyday: It makes me so sad every month to get to this goal and realize I'm not doing it. I know it sounds like procrastinating, but I truly believe this move to Texas is a chance to change my life for the better. I'm starting new things, I have new goals, I have new life plans, and so much is changing and I truly hope I can make a change for the better and work on this goal.

This Monthly Review post was much longer, but what did y'all think? If you have any suggestions for how I should do my review posts please leave a comment below. And please feel free to tell me all about your April! 

THANKS FOR READING!! 

March Review

Unlike January and February, March did not fly by. In fact, March was incredibly long and eventful. In a day everything would switch. My life was changing every second and each new day was a different event some stressful, some exciting, some life changing, some tiring, I could go on and on.

Yet despite March being long and eventful, I don't have exciting stories to tell you and I don't want to talk about the stressful events and such. So instead of going into details about what happened I'm just going straight into my New Years Resolutions.

You can read over all my blog posts from the month of March by CLICKING HERE. That will give you a general idea of what I've been up to this month.

New Years Resolution Update: 

[To gain 100 blog followers] I just got over 200 in my total! Yay me! But the main goal is to get 100 in a single social media outlet. So while I'm  getting incredibly close and I am really proud of the difference these past few months have made, I still have more work to do. So don't forget to help me out by sharing my blog with others!

[To run a 5k] I haven't been working on this. I went to the gym for a week and worked really hard, but not on my running. And with all these changes going on in my life it's difficult to do this.

[To get six-pack abs] Again, haven't been working too hard on this. Although I did lose five pounds this month so that's a start.

[To improve my math skills] I am haven't a really hard time wanting to do this one. There's a lot going on in my educational path and future right now so this goal is going on the back-burner for a little while.

[To make school more of a priority] Again, there are many changes going on with me and my education (and we're not getting into them right now) but this goal is also going on the back burner for a little while. I'll explain later but read my I Hate College post and the follow up post to get the general idea.

[To eat healthier] I don't know about healthier, but I haven't been eating as much. I've been using the amazing app My Fitness Pal to keep track of my calorie intake and this means I'm not eating massive amounts of food with billions of calories. So I'm doing really well I guess, but I really should eat more fruits and vegetables.

[To save up more money] Things are changing, we're moving to Texas, we're making big life decisions, but we were successful in Money Free March (for the most part) so we are taking steps to saving more money.

[To not procrastinate] It's hard to work on a goal to not procrastinate when you're an expert at procrastination. So no, I haven't been working on this one. But I have planned out all the things we have to do before our move to Texas, so maybe that's a start.

[To read more] I'm procrastinating this one due to school but I have a big list of books to read this summer and will start up my Book Club again in May! Yay!

[To pray and read my scriptures everyday] I've been praying a lot more this month and listening to General Conference talks as I get ready in the morning. I just need to work harder on praying and start getting into my scriptures again. But I'm definitely working on this one.

I do apologize for lack of content and excitement on this post, but honestly as I was looking back over the month I had nothing to say about it. Don't forget to check out my March Favorites post from yesterday! 

THANKS FOR READING!! 

February Review

What? February's over? What is going on here??? I'm sorry but these last two months just flew by and weren't very good for me, so if this is any indication of how the rest of the year will go for me, I'm not looking forward to it.

Anyways, let's step into my brief review of February. Because nothing monumental happened, I'm just making a quick list of events. You can click on the links to read about them from any existing blog posts.

• I struggled in school. 
• I signed up for a 5k.
• I complained about not having a smartphone.
• I got a smartphone. 
• I got humiliated at school. 
• Suddenly it was Valentines Day.
• I learned I probably have Social Anxiety Disorder.
• I went to St. George.
• We celebrated my husband's 25th birthday. 
• We made a huge decision for this summer.
• I got sick again. 
• I had to give a presentation in school.
• I continued to struggle in school. 
• I announced we're moving to Texas. 
• I started my fashion posts on this blog. 
• And tonight I'm seeing Brian Reagan (and I'll write about it later).  

I don't understand why this year isn't going well for me. If you have any advice, please let me know! 

Now onto reviewing my New Years Resolutions to see how well I've been doing on them. You can read more about my resolutions for 2014 by CLICKING HERE. 

[To gain 100 blog followers] When I add up the followers from my five social media outlets (GFC, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram) I get over 150 followers!!! However, I wanted this goal to be more centered towards a single outlet. Facebook, for example. If I get 100 likes on Facebook this year I'll feel like I've fully accomplished this goal. I'm not saying I'm not happy with my current state, because I totally am, but I just want to branch out more. 

[To run a 5k] As I said earlier in this post, I signed up for a 5k! I am super excited for it! It's the Color Vibe in Cache Valley and I'm doing it with my family so it will be tons of fun. I would love to see my blog followers there as well, so don't forget to sign up and I'll see you there! (Read my full post HERE) I wrote this section before the whole Texas thing. Because we will be in Texas we won't be doing the Color Vibe in Cache Valley, but we'll try to find something in Texas or do something here when we get back. I'm upset I can no longer do the run, but I'm excited for Texas!

[To get six pack abs] Not yet, but I've been using the My Fitness Pal app to keep track of my calorie intake. The last time I used this (with an additional diet) I lost eight pounds! So with this app and training for my 5k, I'm sure my six pack will be here soon!

[To improve my math skills] I haven't worked on this one at all yet. To be honest, I'm scared to because I have such a horrible history with math, but it's something I have to do for my resolution, for my major, and for my future career. 

[To make school more of a priority] I don't know if I've done this. I spend a lot of time on campus and I've been doing my assignments, but I don't know if I'd consider it my main priority right now, so there is still work to do. 

[To eat healthier] Major failing here. However, with My Fitness Pal I know I'm not eating too many calories. I eat awful things like pizza and cookies all the time, but I don't go over my calorie intake goal. So that's a start, I guess... 

[To save up more money] Next month my husband and I are doing a "Money Free March", we are going to try to spend no money except for bills, fuel, and groceries. We eat out way too much and we both like to shop so next month we are going to stop and take a break and see how much money we can save up. I'm planning on writing blog posts about it and I'll tell you how it goes. 

[To not procrastinate] I don't think I'm doing very well at this one. I tend to wait to do my assignments until the last minute. (Because why write an essay when I could be working on my blog?) So I'm a procrastinator and being a horrible one at that by procrastinating at this particular New Years Resolution. Fail. 

[To read more] The only things I've been reading lately are my school books and Sparknotes for when I don't read my school books. This semester I really don't have the time to read for fun so this goal (along with my Book Club) will have to wait. 

[To pray and read my scriptures everyday] Once you get out of a habit, it can be so hard to get back into it. In high school I was so good at praying every night. I've never been good at reading my scriptures though. But I really want to work harder at this, I'm just trying to get back into it. 

Well there you have it. My February Review. To read my other monthly reviews CLICK HERE and don't forget to follow my blog on any of my social media outlets to keep up with new blog posts and upcoming giveaways! 

THANKS FOR READING!! 

January Review

This year I'm switching up my Monthly Review posts. Instead of boring you with lengthy stories of everything I did that month, I am going to take a look at my New Years Resolutions and see how well I've been doing. What good are making resolutions if you don't keep working at them throughout the year? I will still tell a few stories from the month but I will mainly focus on the resolutions. So here we go!

First of all, I have absolutely no stories for you this month. This month consisted of me being in school and being deathly ill. And then my laptop broke so I didn't write on this blog for like a week. The only highlight was my first experience snowboarding which was exciting. But yeah, I don't have any stories for you this month. Sorry.

Alright, let's all keep in mind that it's only been one month and I was sick for half of that month, so if I failed on some of these I should be forgiven.

1. To gain 100 blog followers. 
I have not yet reached 100 but I have however increased my followers in the past month. Yay me! Don't forget that if you follow me on Facebook I will be doing an exclusive giveaway for my Facebook followers. I might not even talk about it on my blog so you have to follow me on Facebook to learn about it. That will be coming up after the Ultimate Valentine Card Exchange, which you should also participate in because you could win!

2. To run a 5k.
I have neither done this nor prepared for one. I haven't run at all this month. But hey, again, I was sick.

3. To get six-pack abs.
Also a failure. I haven't been to the gym this month and I ate a lot of donuts this month.

4. To improve my math skills. 
I also have not yet been working on this, but I need to soon. I have to start preparing for the math placement exam because I'm really hoping to get into Math 1050 this summer.

5. To make school more of a priority.
Win!!! I have been focusing really hard on school this semester and have been keeping up with all the homework and reading. My grades are really good right now and I plan to keep them that way. I've also been doing some new studying styles which I will be writing about in a Study Tips Part 2! Be prepared.

6. To eat healthier.
As I previously mentioned, I've eaten a significant amount of donuts this month. I don't know what it is about being sick that makes me crave donuts, but it did. Major fail on this one.

7. To save up more money. 
I suppose I could mark this as a win. We are definitely doing better financially than we have in the past, so that's a win. But there's always room for improvement here.

8. To not procrastinate.
On homework, this is a success. On cleaning my bedroom, this is a major fail. Our downstairs is clean though so I'm grateful for that. But I still have a significant amount of work to do on this one... later. (ha ha that was a joke I promise)

9. To read more.
Because of school I've had to read a lot lately. However, the main point of this goal was to read books other than school books, so it's a sort of success, sort of fail. But this semester it will be really difficult for me to find the time to read for fun, so I might have to procrastinate on this goal.

10. To pray and read my scriptures everyday.
I am sad to say I have not been doing this. However, my husband and I have been going to all our church meetings, participating in class, keeping up with tithing and fast offerings, and really been focusing on making church more of a priority. It's hard to get into the habit of praying and reading scriptures everyday when it's been a while since you've last done it, but we're working on it together. So while I have not met this goal, I have been making progress, and that's important too.

Have you been working on your New Years Resolutions? Tell me about it in the comments below! Don't forget to join in on the Valentine Card Exchange starting tomorrow! 

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!! 

November Review

Okay! This November was full of stress! So much stress! But it was a good month, I suppose. :) Things are looking up now so hopefully this December will be better. But I always love November because it's my birthday month and Thanksgiving was fantastic. To read all about my November, keep reading! To see my other Monthly Review posts CLICK HERE. 

First I have to add something from the very end of October. Halloween night after work one of my coworkers hid in a garbage can and scared me. We then pushed him around in the garbage can, scaring other people as well. It was so funny when he scared this random girl walking down the hall, she screamed so loudly! Later, after I had left, they scared one of the nightshift girls and recorded it. I watched it on Facebook and it was so funny and sad! She fell on the floor, screamed, it was crazy! I wish I could share the video on here, but I can't, it's not mine. So I'll just share this random trashcan scare video:

...Luckily that didn't happen at my work. :)


This month went by in the biggest blur of my life. I had so much school work today I honestly don't remember doing anything but homework. But I'm going to try and do this post as accurately as I can.

November 4th was my birthday and one of the best birthdays of my life. You can read all about it by CLICKING HERE. It was so wonderful and I'm so grateful for my family and my husband for doing so much for me that weekend. I had the best time!

I started up Month of Gratitude on my blog again, this time using my Twitter account to write my daily gratitude. My goal was to write a post at the end of each week with all my Twitter posts of the week, but I was only able to do it that first week. I can't decide if I'll write a blog post with all the other Twitter posts, but leave a comment if you'd like me to.

My husband and I celebrated 6 months of marriage!!! Half a year! That's more than some celebrities. Our marriage only gets stronger every day and more than that I just keep loving him more every day. I love Chris so much and I think I could never love him more the next day, but it always happens. It just keeps getting better every day.

We ran out of money at an extreme level and had to make some major changes. I wrote this post and it became my most popular post this month. I'm glad people enjoy the tips that I put in it. Next year I have another post planned with a similar feel to it on how to save up your money and make extra cash, but it won't be written for a while, so stay tuned. THANKS FOR MAKING THIS SUCH A POPULAR POST!!

On November 13th by brother-in-law Sheldon came home from his mission. Since then he's spent a night with us in Logan, we spent a weekend down there with him and I've gotten to know him really well! He's so much fun and it's great to have another brother around!

On November 15th I developed a fear of boxes due to a traumatic experience at work. I don't think I'm as scared as I was near when it happened but it still was a crazy experience. I didn't like it. But it was nothing compared to the experience my favorite blogger had around the same time.

This month I got over 30,000 page views and I can't explain how much it means to me to see that number! I just feel so continually blessed by my blog readers! You guys mean so much to me and I love that you support me in what I'm doing. THANK YOU!!!

I announced this month that my husband and I were moving. It's a big change for us and the place we eventually found isn't nearly as pretty as where we are now, but it will save us money and it will be good for us. Here's the story though, we were hoping to get into the University Family Housing because it would be the best deal (about the same rent price but utilities, cable, and internet was all included, and it was closer to campus so we could save on gas money). We paid the $150 application fee and filled out the form and were excited to move in. There had been constant ads in the paper so we knew they had openings, but we were wrong. Apparently the ad is just constantly in there and they didn't have anything open.

At the same time our current manager told us that our apartment had been rented out and we had to move out the 20th of December. So we thought we might be homeless. I cannot begin to describe how stressed I was at the time because of this (and a ton of tests, presentations, and essays due in school at the same time). My wonderful husband quickly realized how stressed I was and told me to focus on school and he'd find us an apartment. In one day he visited about five different places and texted me and said "I found our new home!" I'll be honest, it wouldn't be my first choice, I'd much rather stay where we are, but we just can't afford it. We can afford this new place and I figure we're only going to be there till we're done with school in about three years, I can handle that.

So in a few weeks we can start moving into our new place. It'll be a crazy time for us but I'll be happy when we get all settled in and can finally start decorating for Christmas. We have so many friends willing to help us and both our parents have trailers and want to come help. We are truly blessed! But the place is unfurnished, so if anyone has a couch they'd like to give us, that would be fabulous. :)

 On November 26th I donated plasma for two reasons. 1. I love helping people and 2. I am desperate for money. But the experience that happened did not go as planned and I went through such a stressful traumatic experience.

My Thanksgiving this year was fantastic! It was the first Thanksgiving I wasn't with my family, so that was weird, but my in-laws are great too. We had a traditional dinner around 1:00 on Thanksgiving day, everything was very delicious and I loved it all! Afterwards I played ping-pong with one of Chris's cousins and we were jumping around, claiming that it helped us do better. :) Then we watched The Hunger Games so Sheldon could see it because we were going to see Catching Fire that night. I then got to experience Walmart Black Friday... on Thursday... and it was crazy!! I wish I had brought my camera in there to show you all the crazies I saw. We got a ton of movies for way cheap and my in-laws bought them for Chris and I for Christmas. Yay! Then we saw Catching Fire...

I cannot fully describe how much I am in love with this movie!!! When I got out of the theater I was jumping around so happy and wanting more. Yes the movie made me cry multiple times but it was made so brilliantly that I just loved every second of it. I highly recommend seeing this movie if you haven't already! So so good!!!

On actual Black Friday I went shopping with my mother-in-law and she got me a very cute infinity scarf. She's fantastic! Then we got burgers and Chris and I drove back home so he could get to work.

After all that it was the end of November and nothing substantially exciting happened. I went in to donate plasma again but they denied me because I don't have a proof of address, how rude. But they sent me a card so I can get my proof of address and a $10 when I bring it in next week.

I hope all my readers had a fantastic November! I hope your Thanksgiving was amazing! I love all my readers and am so grateful for each and everyone of you! 

THANKS FOR READING!! 

October Review

While October is probably my favorite month, nothing substantially exciting happened this month. In fact, it was kind of just stressful and boring. However it was so beautiful outside! I loved it. :)

The first weekend was General Conference. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! I feel that I learned so much! My sister drove up here from Provo. We went to Rumbi's and ate their delicious soup. We were going to go to a corn maze but got distracted and tired. We spent most the night looking at Twitter's trending topic, #addawordruinamovie. Some of them were so funny! Then we watched The Wedding Singer when my husband got home from work. We all had a sleepover in the living room and watched The Iron Giant as we fell asleep. I love my sister! She's my best friend! It was a great weekend having my sister there and watching conference together and I enjoyed Tweeting through the whole Sunday session. I loved it so much!

I went through an emotional crisis on the 11th. I was sort of angry at my husband and sitting in my room alone, wishing I had someone to talk to and realizing that I don't have anyone to talk to... except my husband. I have no friends. At that point I began bawling hysterically. I ran to my husband and he held me tightly, trying to comfort me as I moaned, "Why don't I have any friends? Why doesn't anyone like me? What's wrong with me?" He couldn't successfully comfort me because I was so emotionally distraught. He then sat me on a mattress in the living room, turned on Tangled, and gave me my cookies. It was the hardest my husband had ever seen me cry and I hadn't felt so emotionally torn apart in so long.

To say I'm better now would be a lie. It's really hard to feel like you don't have any friends, and even worse when no one talks to you; that pretty much solidifies it. We have a framed quote in our little apartment that my best friend gave me years ago (we're still best friends even though we live two hours apart and hardly ever talk, but I still love her with all my heart). The quote says "Good friends listen --Best friends hear." If this quote is true, than I'm in trouble, because hardly anyone listens to me. Certainly no one tries to talk to me. I consider this to be an opportunity to find new friends, ones who will care about me, but since I'm switching my major I've realized recently how much older I am than all my classmates (they were in 1st grade when September 11th happened, I was in 5th). I've always had a hard time making friends and now that I'm married and older than my peers, it's only gotten harder.

So if any of my readers are in the Cache Valley area or even just in Utah, I need a friend. I swear I'm not crazy. I cried because I felt so alone, but I normally don't cry that much. I like dance and music and writing. I like to give service and LOVE buying gifts for people. I think that I'm a good friend (which is why it's so hard that I don't have any). If any of you have tips to getting more friends, please leave a comment. I'm struggling and I need help.

I decorated our apartment for Halloween and it looks fantastic!! It was also super cheap and you can read all about it my CLICKING HERE. Hopefully next year my decorations can be more exciting because (hopefully) we'll have more money then, but with our current situation, these decorations were all we could do, and they were still fantastic. And we are the only apartment in our complex that is elaborately decorated, so I'm proud of myself. :)

On the 12th Chris and I went to Little Bear Bottoms. You can read all about our adventure by CLICKING HERE. I love my husband because even though we're low on money, we find cheaper ways to have fun, and honestly, just being around him makes my life more fun. I love him!

October 13th Chris and I drove through Logan Canyon and I took pictures of all the changing leaves while Chris fished (you can read about it by CLICKING HERE). It was fun spending time with my husband in such a beautiful setting. Afterwords, we went to my Aunt Cherene's house and they fed us dinner. I love having family nearby! It was good to talk to my grandma (who recently moved to Utah and moves between my parent's and my aunt & uncle's house) and to see all my cousins that I'm really close with. I also got to see my cousin Nate and his very pregnant wife Kara, who two days later...

Photo Credits go to my Aunt Cherene

HAD THEIR BABY!!! He is the cutest little baby and I already love him so much!  I'm so happy for the two of them and their adorable baby! CONGRATULATIONS NATE AND KARA! I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH!!

October 17th I first met with a "math tutor". It was really just my friend Kyle... and his baby Kyrani (and Kyle is a real friend and doesn't count in my above rant about friends)! She's so cute! I got to hold her a few times. Back to math, I've been stressing out because it's been four years since I've done math and I absolutely HAVE TO get into Math 1050 next semester, which (because USU has weird math rules) I have to take the Math Placement Exam to try and get into it. (Even though I've already taken Math 1050, see? Weird math rules!) So I was stressed because a few weeks ago I tried to take a test online and couldn't even remember 7x8. I forgot basic multiplication! So I met with Kyle so he could help teach me, but ironically, all he really had to do was remind me of thing. I ACTUALLY REMEMBERED MATH! It was hard and each question took me a long time to figure out but I did it! I still have a lot of work till I feel ready to take the MPE and when I'm actually in Math 1050 I'll still want his help, but I did it! And I'm feeling very accomplished. :)

On October 18th for fall break, Chris caught this monster. It was huge and gross and covered it garbage, but I'm so proud of my fisherman husband because I know that fishing means so much to him, and he's so good at it too! I'm glad he has something that keeps him happy.

Photo Credits

Basically October was filled with school and beautiful colors. The above picture was on the Utah State Facebook page and I fell in love with it! This is my campus and I love it so much! I love going to school at USU! I think this October was more beautiful than usual because of the lack of snow, which I am super grateful for. It snowed in the mountains and it's starting to get super cold, but I'm not looking forward to the snow.

I realized my hair is like the autumn leaves, because for some strange reason, recently my hair is full of reds and blonds and browns, like autumn trees. I don't know why or how this happened because it used to just be dark brown. Although I am grateful that my hair didn't have an awkward growing out faze from dying it. The whole thing just changed colors. I want to color it again though but I'm not sure what color and I don't have the money to do that, but someday it will happen.

On Saturday the 26th Chris and I went to the Pumpkin Walk!! It was so much fun! We went last year and loved it and had to go again. It was super busy this year but totally fun. The Pumpkin Walk is on The Cache Valley Checklist and I'll be writing a post about it soon.

That night after the USU Howl, I had to work and clean up after it. It was disgusting and I was super tired. I've been to the Howl twice and it can be a really fun event if you go with a good group, but otherwise it's just a building full of crazy sluts and alcoholics. Thirty people were arrested this year at the Howl, all alcohol related arrests.

This is my handsome little brother. On October 27th my brother received his Eagle Scout Award! I drove down to Sandy to be there for the Court of Honor. I'm so proud of him! He's such a fun brother and one of my best friends.

So it sounds totally pathetic, but one of my favorite moments this month was on the 28th when these girls from my class invited me to lunch. I've been feeling so lonely and friendless so it was just a wonderful moment to be invited to eat lunch with these girls. They will never understand what that meant to me but will probably never invite me again if they read this paragraph. Regardless, I'm beyond happy that this happened for me!

Obviously it hasn't been Halloween yet, but we don't have anything exciting planned because we both have school and work. However I am going to make cookies and we might carve pumpkins! I'll write a post about my Halloween, but nothing too exciting is planned.

We had such a great October! It is truly my favorite month and it was just so beautiful and wonderful! 

To see my other monthly reviews CLICK HERE! 

I'd love to hear about what you did this October! Leave a comment below!