2016 goals

the other day i talked about my one little word for 2016-STILL. i am really excited about it, and i have a few goals i want to focus on for the whole year.

1. morning and night quiet time-drive to the gym with no music/spend a few minutes each night reflecting on the day and writing 3 good things about the day

2. attend the temple monthly

3. color once a week-i might not keep this up all year, but i got a coloring book a couple of months ago. i haven't used it, and i know i will love it and feel very relaxed

4. prayer book-keep list of people i need to remember to pray for

besides my goals for the year i plan to set monthly goals that may or may not go with STILL. this month (and maybe for the next few months) i am focusing on my body/health/fitness.

1. wake up at 5:00am to go to the gym

2. clean up my diet

3. no treats for 60 days

i love a new year and the chance to be better. i really like working on goals and pushing myself to do hard things. i love the sense of accomplishing those hard things. what are you working on this month?

blogging the bach 20.1

after a few months break from the bachelor, i'm excited to be back for another season of blogging the bach. i liked ben on kaityln's season. he seems like the kind of guy i would want to date in real life, but i'm a little afraid he might be boring. either way i'm sure the girls will more than make up for it.

i'm excited to team up with life of mrs. otts and semibalancedmama for a weekly linkup.

who's watching: celsey and sisters in law amanda, alicia, lacey

what i saw
meet the parents
chit chat with former bachelors-we all agree jason looks old
lots of sparkly dresses
and a lot of lace being crazy already and drunk
what i heard
guys, this is so sad. we would have been perfect--amanda wishing she was with ben
it's getting more and more scripted i figured out--lacey
why are these unsuccessful people even there?--cel
she needed to be on chris' season. know your bachelors.--cel about chicken girl
bad idea-you took away the mystery and took away his man card.--amanda about lace
my friends call me red velvet, and by friends i mean the "girls" i work with--cel about laura
unique is not always a good thing--cel
unique usually means crazy--lacey
their title is twins. it doesn't say what they do because they do nothing--alicia
it's hard to meet people..in college--cel about twins
don't say unemployed. some girl put dog lover. you could have put that--amanda about rachel
it looks like she has a diaper on--cel i feel so bad for her. there is nothing worse than that--amanda about LB. and they he watched that walk away--amanda
she'll find another news anchor job. her face is perfect--amanda about olivia
i love their ooo something's about to happen music--lacey
have you ever watched this show? you're going to get so much more out of it if you try to be friends with the other girls--cel about lace
why is he already having a this is hard talk?--lacey
welcome to the lace show--lacey
what i thought
the parents are adorable
i love a catch up with the former bach stars, but this is getting a little ridiculous.
he thinks everyone is beautiful
he's going to have to get rid of some of the lauren's
i wish they had amber and becca come with the other girls instead of making a big, dramatic interest
it's hard to have too many thoughts this early on. i'll have more as the season progresses.

first impressions
lauren b-nervous, flight attendant/wings-i kind of like her i think
caila-jumped up, sparkly dress-maybe a little too much
jennifer-ben and jen
jami-cream 2 piece dress, Canada, bug heart
sam-big red dress, boxers or legal briefs-i might like her
jubilee-tight dress
amanda-looks like jenna from ben's season-he likes her
lace-kissed him, black lacey dress-bold, probably going to be the villian
lauren r-social media stalker
shushanna-speaking something besides english
leah-football-not a lady
joelle "jojo"-unicorn head
lauren h-caught the bouquet
laura-red velvet-is that her stripper name?
mandi-weird dentist
haley&emily-no just no
meagan-cowgirl
breanne-gluten is satan
isabelle "izzy"-onesie for me-terrible but he's not going to forget her
rachel-skateboard, unemployed and on cloud nine
jessica-dress looks like britt, cute
tiara-chicken girl
lauren "LB"-butt things in her underwear according to alicia
jackie-save the date
olivia-can i hug you? dimples, sparkly dress
amber & becca-amber's hair looks way better than on paradise, i'm excited becca is back.

who's left- olivia, lauren b, LB, caila, amber, jami, jennifer, jubilee, amanda, jojo, leah, rachel, samantha, jackie, haley, emily, shashana, lauren h, becca, mandi, lace

celsey and lacey made us the cutest treats I've ever seen-roses from melted jolly ranchers. also, we're doing a bracket for the first time this season. i'll post my picks next week.

tear tally-(we decided it counts as another tally if the scene changes and comes back and there are still tears) 5
word tally (common bach words-am i missing any?)
husband/wife-9
love-35
journey-1
connection-1
amazing-5

judging by the previews, it looks like we're going to have a lot of crying and a lot of drama this season. i'll have my predictions for the season next week. what are your thoughts so far?

do you blog about the bachelor? grab the image, link up, and hop around, we're not big on rules, but no spoilers please.

An InLinkz Link-up

one little word for 2016

for the past few years i have picked one word to guide my year. i've picked words like fun, balance, and last year focus. some years i have had a lot of success with my word, and others years...well, not so much. with the beginning of a new year, i am excited to think about the year ahead, and what my life needs. this year i'm joining a few friends (love ashley, my new lines, and one hoolie mama) for a monthly linkup. 

i've been thinking about my word for 2016 for the past few months. my life hit an all time crazy in october, and i talked about not having time for anything important. it really made me think. i have been filling my life so full of good things, but those good things are getting in the way of the best things. this year i want to make more time for the very best things.

my word for 2016 is STILL

i want to take more time to be still. i'll be back later in the week to talk more about my goals, and how i plan to take more time to be still.

did you pick one little word (or a few words) for 2016? grab the button below and linkup. hop around and see what other people picked for their word. come back the first monday of each month to update us on your one little word

An InLinkz Link-up

2015 goal update...FOCUS

my word for 2015 was FOCUS. at the beginning of the year i felt like i was all over the place. i felt like i was doing so many things at one time and not accomplishing much of anything. i picked a different area of focus each month and accomplished a lot of what i wanted to. 

january-i started out the year with a focus on fitness. i got back into some better habits and plan to continue

february-focus on love

march-focus on the blog-something i constantly focus on

april-focus on work

may-focus on moving-i wasn't planning to move and it naturally took over

june-focus on settling in-after the move and other craziness i needed to slow things down a little and get settled

july-focus on myself and improving myself

august-focus on slumber soiree which i did and ended up changing to october

september-focus on health-i did a 21 day reset that helped this goal a lot, and  now i need to do that again.

october-focus on finances-i kept track of my spending which really helped me to be more accountable. now i need to focus more on long term things like investments possibly with glanmore investments

november-focus on why- i spent time thinking about the why behind the things i do.

december was focus on ...the holidays

1. finish Christmas cards early-check-i did really well with this. i was completely done before i left for christmas break

2. take advantage of holiday activities-lights, activities, etc.-check-enjoyed lots of holiday activities

3. enjoy the holidays rather than stress-check- i got things done early enough to enjoy the holidays rather than scrambling to get everything done.

overall i am really happy with my focus for 2015. it really helped me to narrow my focus each month, i accomplished a lot of my goals. did you pick a word for 2015? how did you do with your goals?

are you picking a word for 2016? come back on monday for a linkup with your word for 2016.

2015 month by month top 12

i seriously can't believe today is the last day of 2015. it seems like the year was just starting, and now it's over. 

if you've been on instagram the past week you've seen everyone posting their top 9 photos of the year. mine was a little ruined by some popular giveaways i participated in so i decided to do a monthly review here instead. this year definitely flew by so quickly, and these are just a few of the highlights.

in january i started the year by setting goals with friends for the new year. i picked the word focus and chose a different topic of focus each month.

in february i went to the ice castles with tiffany and sage. it was the first time going to the ice castles, and it really was so cool. it was also our first real time hanging out which ended up leading to a lot of fun memories this year.

it actually happened in february, but in march i blogged about build your blog conference. i decided to go at the last minute and found out the night before that some of my friends were going. i had the best time and learned some good things to help my blog continue to grow.

i went to california in april to meet my new baby niece and visit my sister and her family.

in april/may, tiffany, sage, laurann, and i took a roadtrip to mexico. it sounds a little crazy, but we were totally safe and had the very best time. we can't wait to go back. in june i got together with girls i worked with a BYU forever and ever ago. we have so many memories of our time together in college, and it's always fun to see each other. i celebrated the 4th of july in hot, sunny california.  in august tiffany, sage, and i saw the kelly clarkson concert, we enjoyed the late summer evening. in september i went to the state fair and rode the big slide for the first time ever. it actually was a lot of fun. in october we made a spur of the moment decision to dress like a herd of animals. we weren't sure if jeff and chelsea would make it to st. george for thanksgiving in november, but it all worked out. it was a fun time with extended family. in december i celebrated my birthday with friends and family
this year has been absolutely amazing! i have many great memories of 2015. i am sad to see the year go, but i am also excited to see what's coming in 2016.
how was your year? what was your favorite?

beauty time tuesday...skincare

today is the last beauty time tuesday for a while because the bachelor starts next week. do you watch? what are your thoughts on ben h? i think he's the kind of guy you want to date in real life, but i'm a little worried he might be boring. i'm sure the girls will be entertaining enough, and he can't be worse than some of the other previous guys.

back to beauty time. i've had the same basic skincare routine for several years. my skin is decent-not the best but certainly not the worst. i've spent a lot of years in the sun-many of those years without sunscreen. i am much more diligent about sunscreen now, but i know i've done some damage. now that i'm getting older i feel like i need to take better care of my skin. 

is it really true that not washing your face ages your face 7 days? i don't know if it's true, but i'm scared that it is-scared enough to wash my wash every night. i'm also scared enough to step it up a little.

i started using the clarisonic a few years ago. i swear by the thing. it is the best, and i really love it. my skin has improved so much since using it.

i got the PMD for christmas. i used it for the first time last night. maybe i should wait to post after i have used it a few times, but so far i really love it. it's been a while since i've had a professional microdermabrasion, but i love the way it makes my skin feel. i'm so excited to have an at home option.

what's your skincare routine? is there anything else i need to know about?

birthday celebrations

sometimes i complain about having a too close to christmas birthday because people are too busy to really celebrate with me. i definitely can't complain this year. i basically celebrated my birthday all month.

i went to dinner with my old roommates. keeping with tradition we went to j dawgs. we had the best time. i sure miss those girls.

i got the most wonderful birthday basket from my running frieds.

i went to rodizio with friends for dinner. laurann made a diet coke cake with a singing candle. we had a delicious dinner, and i was very spoiled with the perfect gifts.

tiffany and sage have a tradition of buying each other a new outfit for their birthdays and included me in the tradition this year. they bought this cardigan, v neck shirt, and another shirt. 

i flew to california the night before my birthday. the kids were so excited, and that made me really excited to be there. they wanted me to open presents first thing. chelsea and i went to lunch and shopping. 

we went to red robin for a birthday dinner. chelsea and i did a little more quick shopping after dinner.

i kind of can't believe how old i'm getting, but i did have a really fun time celebrating this month.

gardner village elves

i think we're all pretty aware i hate winter. i am diligently trying to complain a little less this year. in an effort to enjoy winter (and complain less), we created a winter woes list. the idea is we'll be too busy with our list to be miserable about winter. besides the snow storm of the century last week, it's working pretty well.

we never made it to gardner village to see the witches this year so we for sure wanted to see the elves. they are pretty much the same every year, but it is still fun to see.

part of our list was to ride trax, have dinner, and see the elves. we had a fun night doing all those things.