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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014 year in review

back in october i got an email from nicole about her year in review link up. she's smart and gave us all a big head start on the post. i am not as smart and didn't take advantage of the time she gave us. it's been fun looking back on 2014. i can't believe today is the last day. it's a link up so head on over to nicole's blog and link up.


What did you do in 2014 that you’d never done before? ran a rock n roll marathon

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions? Will you make more in 2015? yes and no and yes

Did anyone close to you give birth? one of my fave friends had a baby girl

Did anyone close to you die? i didn't blog about it, but my college roommate lost one of her twin toddlers at the beginning of december

What countries did you visit? i traveled to st george, las vegas, missouri, nashville, california, california again, st george again and again, hawaii, st george again and california but never left the US this year

What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014? come back tomorrow for my 2015 word reveal

What date from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory? december 22-i turned 35 and instead of freaking out like i thought i would, i felt so loved

What was your biggest achievement of the year? finishing my 10th marathon

What was your biggest failure? not finding the balance i hoped for

Did you suffer illness or injury? thank the heavens no, but i probably will always have hip issues

What was the best thing you bought? plane tickets

Whose behavior merited celebration? brassy apple launching the brave and beautiful movement

Where did most of your money go? travel

What did you get really excited about? visiting family and traveling to hawaii with friends

What song will always remind you of 2014? all about that bass

Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder? definitely happy

Thinner or fatter? probably about the same

Richer or poorer? about the same 

What do you wish you’d done more of? sleep

What do you wish you’d done less of? stress

How will you be spending Christmas? in california with my sister and her family (recap coming next week)

Did you fall in love in 2014? i wish

How many one-night stands? totally not my style

Who were your best friends? i'm lucky to have blog friends, church friends, running friends, work friends, college friends, old roommate friends, friends of friends, travel friends, neighbors, etc. i'm blessed to have many friends

What thing did you do that was meaningful to others? 35 days of something for others

What were your favorite TV shows? the bachelor, bachelorette, bachelor in paradise

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? i honestly don't hate anyone

What was the best book you read in 2014? the power of full engagement

What was your greatest musical discovery? i basically follow the crowd with music

What did you want and get? a new camera lens, blendtec, silhouette

What did you want but did not get? a husband:)

What were your favorite films this year? i only saw one movie in the theater this year-meet the mormons, and it was very well done

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? i turned 35 (yikes) and flew to california that morning

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? my year was already very satisfying. the one main thing missing from my life is a husband/family

What kept you sane? exercise+spending time with friends and family

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? i usually keep up on celeb gossip, but there isn't one that i care more about than others

What political issue stirred you the most? issues regarding the family and religion

Who do you miss? my family

Who are the best new persons you met this year? i met a lot of great people, but the best story is meeting jacque in the bathroom at bright night. we stood in the front of the bathroom and chatted for 20 minutes. i'm still not sure why we didn't walk out of the bathroom and keep talking

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014. i can do hard things

Quote that sums up the year: my all time favorite quote is perfect for the year. "we must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us" --joseph campbell 
i loved looking back on the year. the link up is open until january 6 so there's plenty of time to link up.
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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

looking back...2014 goals

one of my favorite things this time of year is looking back on the year. i like celebrating the accomplishments and moving forward from the disappointments. although we don't need a new year to take that inventory, the start of a new year naturally causes that to happen.

do you pick a word as your theme for the year? i usually spend the last few months of the year thinking about my word for the coming year. by the time the year starts i am ready with a new word and new goals. this year followed the same pattern. i picked BALANCE. i talked about my feelings on balance a few weeks ago. throughout the year i have felt pretty discouraged with the inability to achieve the balance i hoped for. 
i started the year with one simple goal-get to bed by 12:00. i decided not to set any other monthly or other goals related to balance until i mastered that one simple goal. my life is very full/busy. we all make choices of how we spend our time, and i definitely fill my time.

i never figured out how to consistently get to bed by 12:00 so looking back on the year feels a little frustrating. i also realize that not everything about the year revolves around my failure at one goal. sometimes looking back at the year helps me realize how much i did actually accomplish.

i love engaging with readers through comments and social media. yesterday's post made me stop and think about the year. maybe i didn't accomplish my bedtime goal, but i did have a great year. one of the best comments ever made me think more about balance.

I love how much balance you've had.. Exercise, friends, family, fun stuff. But man you've been everywhere!!
at the beginning of the year balance to me meant making more time for things that are important. exercise, friends, family, and fun are all things that are very important to me. thank you sharlee for helping me realize that balance isn't all about getting to bed on time.

looking back on 2014 i'm very thankful for the year i have had, and i look forward to 2015. how was your 2014? did you accomplish your goals?

i'll be back on thursday with my word of the year for 2015. since i love to hear about everyone's word, i'm making a link up. i'm always inspired by other people and their goals.
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Monday, December 29, 2014

2014 in months

i really can't believe we are already at the end of 2014. this year went by faster than i can even believe. this week i'll be looking back on the year and looking ahead to 2015. the year was fast but also very full.
in january, i went down to st.george to run a 1/2 marathon (to get into the full in the fall) and spend the weekend with friends.
i also blogged about running and the bachelor.
kimberly and i continued our monthly link-up in february, and i started taking more outfit pictures.
in march i went to arizona to visit friends. i went to the new gilbert temple, spring training baseball game, a blogger meet up, and caught up with friends.
in april i went to nashville to run the nashville rock n roll marathon with robyn and alli. i flew into missouri and spent time with family and met up with blogger friend carrie before going to nashville.
laurann and i went on an impromptu tanning trip to vegas for the weekend.
i also wore blue every day for autism awareness month.
chelsea and jeff decided to take the kids to disneyland one more time before moving to northern california so i decided to join them in may.
in june we had a family reunion with my mom's family for the first time in 10 years. we all had a great time together.
in july i went back to california to help jeff and chelsea move. we celebrated the 4th there.
in august i stayed in town and trained for more marathons and planned for the fall.
in september, i ran the big cottonwood marathon to prep for st. george.
i also hosted a blogger sleepover/mini-conference.
in october i ran the st-george marathon. i had a pretty rough time and decided it's time to take a break from full marathons until i can get a little faster.
i spent a week in hawaii in november and ended the trip with a few days in california. i also spent thanksgiving in st.george.
december has been busy as usual but also very enjoyable. i got things done a little earlier this year so the holiday were nice. i spent the holidays in northern california.
i also turned 35 and celebrated many times.
this year has been busy for sure but also very fulfilling. i can't wait to see what 2015 has in store. how was your year?
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i'm linking up with silver lining and a cute angle

Friday, December 26, 2014

birthday celebrations

i hope you all had a very merry christmas. things were pretty low key around here. i'll be back with a full recap in a couple of days.
i complain a lot about having a too close to christmas crappy december birthday. christmas time is pretty busy, and it's often hard to celebrate. because my birthday is so close to christmas, i really love celebrating birthdays for other people.
i was totally blown away this year. people were so nice. my birthday this year was still too close to christmas but definitely not crappy.
i walked into my office the last day before the holiday break to a decorated desk
the decorations included a diet coke cake. my co-workers are the best! they also gave me several presents. so many of my co-workers contributed to the group gift. i'm pretty close with people at work, but i was completely shocked and felt so loved.
my morning friends put together a basket of small gifts.
trying to celebrate the saturday night before christmas is tricky, we changed our plans from city creek to gateway to avoid the 2 1/2 hour wait.
i left the morning of my actual birthday to fly to california for the holidays. my roommate put up a few decorations before we left.
chelsea and the kids made a banner
i opened presents with the kids. they were so excited about opening presents.
we ate dinner at red robin

my birthday this year was pretty amazing! i have the best family and friends. let's hope this year is as great as that day.
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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

celebrating Christmas

i love giving gifts, sending cards, making treats, decorations, and all the other fun things this time of year. on this day before christmas i want to take time to forget about all those other things. i want to take time to think about the reason we celebrate this holiday. i posted this video at the beginning of the month, but it is definitely worth watching again.
you may have seen this video on facebook, but i can't help feel the christmas spirit from watching/listening.

what are your plans today? how are you focusing on the real meaning of the season?
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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

book club...christmas edition

i like to read, but i rarely find the time to do it unless i'm on a beach somewhere. when i'm on vacation i read a book every day or two. even though i almost never read the book, book club is one of my favorite nights every month. we started a tradition a few years ago of exchanging books for our december book club. this year we chose cookbooks. we had a fun night talking, laughing, exchanging books, and planning for next year.
kathleen, clarissa, mauri, courtney
kelly, natalie, aly, me
my present matched my outfit
i'm excited to try some new recipes
clarissa has this cookbook and marked some of her favorites

i love these girls and i'm so lucky they let me come even though i never read the book.
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Monday, December 22, 2014

random rambling...on turning 35


i've talked before about age and getting/being old. i've been dreading turning 35 for several years actually. no one ever thinks i am as old as i am, but i really am 35...today. when i turned 30 i made a big list of things to do before i turned 30. the list worked. i felt a major sense of accomplishment as finishing my list. i thought about doing something similar for turning 35 but decided on something different.
for the past 35 days, i have done something small for someone else. i didn't even keep track of all of the things. my whole point was to take the focus off of myself and help others. the small random seemingly insignificant things we do, usually mean a lot to the person on the receiving end.
so, instead of being sad today, i am happy. i am happy i was able to forget about myself and help others, and i am happy for the great life i have. here's to another year...


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Friday, December 19, 2014

foodie friday...peanut butter ice cream pie

when i was in california last month, we wanted to make a dessert with leftover ice cream, but we didn't have anything specific in mind. my sister LOVES peanut butter so we started thinking. have you ever made scotcheroos (we call them devil rice krispies)?!? we used the same sauce, and made the most delicious and simple pie.

ingredients
graham cracker pie crust
reese's peanut butter cups
vanilla ice cream
peanut butter
sugar
corn syrup




1. cut up peanut butter cups in small pieces
2. cover bottom of pie crust with peanut butter cup pieces
3. mix 1 c sugar, 1 c peanut butter, 1 c corn syrup on stove over medium heat
4. spread vanilla ice cream over peanut butter cups
5. layer more peanut butter cup pieces
6. drizzle with peanut butter sauce
7. return to freezer to set
enjoy!

this is perfect for your holiday parties, work pot luck, family dinner, etc.

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Thursday, December 18, 2014

captain andy's sailing

*this post contains sponsored links. all opinions are my own.

i've been back from hawaii for a month and still haven't finished blogging about it (monkey embarrassed emoji).
with 8 people on the trip, people had various ideas of what they wanted to do. some wanted adventure, some wanted to relax, some wanted to explore, and some wanted a mix. somehow all 8 of us decided to go on a catamaran tour of the island. the weather on the trip (and especially that day) wasn't exactly stellar. we had a lot of rain and clouds. the weather the day of our boat tour was stormy so we couldn't make it around the whole island, but we still had a really great day.
the sun was out when we first got on the boat
laurann, me, tiffany, kristi, cheryl, julie, jessica






after being on the boat for a little while, it started getting cloudy 
julie, cheryl, kristi, me, tiffany
and then rainy
julie, cheryl, laurann


tiffany and laurann

once we got to a certain point in the ocean, we sailed for a while

 my favorite part of the day was seeing a lot of dolphins right beside the boat






i was sad we missed the nepali coast, but 20 foot waves didn't seem worth it. the parts we did see were really pretty



gabe going to secure the boat for snorkeling

jessica, cheryl, laurann, kristi getting ready to snorkel
the rain made everything cold and the water a little murky so tiffany and i skipped snorkeling

laurann and kristi

 we saw a big sea turtle also right beside the boat
even though the weather wasn't as good as we hoped, we still had a really fun day. 
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