Changes!

If I have to pick just one word that is going to describe the upcoming year it is CHANGE! I am so dang excited for this upcoming year and all the new things that it will bring!!

- My husband will graduate from law school!
- New careers
- *Hopefully* purchasing our first home
- Free time (for the first time since meeting my husband, we will be at a place in life where neither one of us will be students!)

As I sit here enjoying the last day of my two week break I can't help but to think where I might be at this time next year. However, it is my goal this upcoming year to stop and enjoy the moments. I'm not sure about any of you, but I spend a lot of time focusing on the future, so much in fact that I often miss out on my present. Since this year will contain so many memories, lasts, and opportunities I want to really work on being present.

I know people say not to make New Years Resolutions and I have to disagree with them. When I was a senior in high school I read somewhere that successful people write down their goals and are more likely to achieve them. So that day before my senior year I wrote down everything I wanted to accomplish, and at the end of the year I had accomplished all but one of them. Even looking back at last year's goals I would say I was successful on each of them.

In 2014 I want to....
1.) Live in the Moment
I want to enjoy the moments as they are happening. To me this means spending less time on social media, less planning, and more fun.

2.) Run a half-marathon
Every since I moved to Lincoln 7 years ago I've always thought, 'I need to run the Lincoln Marathon'. But every year I had an excuse why I shouldn't sign up. Well last night I have officially registered for this years half-marathon. I am excited to start training and check this item off my bucket list!

3.) Be Healthy
Isn't this on every one's list? I'm not talking about dieting or losing weight. Recently I've realized that I am not in a good place health wise. It takes me longer to recover when I don't eat the right foods, sleep, or am lazy. Being healthy to me means drinking more water, getting at least 8 hours of sleep, and moving more--which should be pretty easy with my marathon training.

4.) Accept Change
Change is the only constant in life and it will happen. Most of the time change happens and we don't expect it. I find myself lucky in the aspect that many of the changes coming up in the next year I know about, and I want to handle it gracefully :)

5.) Continue to save
Last year Kane and I exceeded our savings goal by quite a bit- which for us, was a huge deal ! It's no secret we have student loan debt, however, for having 14 years of combined schooling (7 for me, 7 for Kane), we are actually at a really good place. With that being said, I still want to save so that when our student loans start coming due we are at a place where its not overwhelming.

6.) Take more time for us
I often times take Kane for granted, but this year that will change. To me this means eating more suppers together at the table, maybe more date nights, or a short vacation. I just don't want to regret wasting this time in our lives where it is just the two of us.

7.) Celebrate
This is something I've started incorporating into my life lately. I need to focus on celebrating life. The celebration I'm most looking forward to is my husband's law school graduation- I'm thinking this deserves a vacation.

I can honestly say I am SOOOOOO excited for 2014 and all that it has in store for us. It is going to be a great year :)

2013 in Review

Just like every other year, 2013 was one of many ups and downs. Lots of challenges, many victories, and many lessons were learned. I wish I would have taken more photos so I had something tangible to look back on, but hopefully this will serve its purpose to look back on some day. My top memories from this year....

1. Graduation- Finally after 7 years of being a student of higher education I graduated with my Masters of Management. This year was particularly tough for me as a student as I wrapped up all my regular classes and started the final part of my program. The last 9 months I have written and turned in close to 500 pages of papers/projects/proposals. It took up so much of my time, tested me in ways I've never experienced before, and made me lean on my family and friends in new ways. The thought of giving up crossed my mind many times, but ultimately I made it, and I can say that it was one of the happiest times in my life thus far!

2. Vacation!!- Kane and I decided last New Years Eve that we wanted to do a big vacation, so in February we booked a trip to the Riviera Maya. It was my first time out of the country and I had so much fun. I constantly find myself amazed at how lucky I am that I get to experience life with my best friend- we have so much fun together :)

3. Kane's Marathon- I could not have been more proud of my husband as he finished his first half marathon. I was so inspired by his dedication to training.

4.  Our 1st Anniversary- A day celebrating one of the best decisions I have ever made. Don't get me wrong I loved my wedding day, however, celebrating the 365 days after it (is it possible to have that many favorite days??) was great. We grew a lot as a couple during our first year of marriage- we had many disagreements, fights, surprises, and wonderful days. I can't wait to see what our future holds! We spent the afternoon celebrating at one of our favorite places- James Arthur Vineyard.

5. 4th of July- This year we spent the 4th at Harlan County Lake (one of my favorite places) with family. Kane and I both participated in the Alma 4th of July race (I did a 5k and Kane a 10k). It was so much fun! This is something we hope to make an annual tradition. 

I loved what 2013 gave us- many memories with friends, family, and life lessons. I can't help but look back on the past year and smile, and see how far we've come since last January. I can't wait for 2014!!

Two weeks!

So I have officially two weeks left of school. I don't officially graduate until December 15th, however I present my final project on the 24th of this month and I'm done. I'm done with four hour long night classes during the week, I'm done buying textbooks, writing papers, doing tons of reading and research every night. I'm done with spending my lunch break trying to finish homework, done trying to work full time and go to school full time.

But I have to admit, I'm kind of sad. I mean--I have been a student for the past seven years. I've loved the people I've met in my program. I'm going to miss challenging myself and proving to others that I can do it. I'm not sure what I am going to do with all my free time.

I'm also going to miss nights like this.....

(disregard the face my husband is making)

Nights where we spend locked up in a study room, just sitting across from each other working on our homework. The other night when we were in here I actually got kind of sad that I wouldn't have an excuse to tag along to the law school with him after I present this project.

Wish me luck to get through these next 2 weeks with my sanity intact!!

Should I even make an excuse?

Life has been busy. And every now and then this summer I would think to myself that I should try and blog a little bit when I had free time, that way I had something to look back on in a couple years to remember this summer. My last summer as a student, the summer I lived by myself and had a 'commuter marriage' with my husband, the summer that I spent soaking up all the free time I possibly could.

I know I had mentioned at some point I was working on a big paper for one of my classes. Well....I finally finished it.

115 pages. 35, 600 some odd words. 3 months and hundreds of hour of my life later it is done. I am not going to lie when I was working on this I could not wait to be done. However, when I turned it in I felt a little sad. I put some much time and energy into this assignment, needless to say, I was extremely proud of myself for getting this done.

My husband has been out of town quite a bit this summer for a clerkship he is doing. To say it has been tough is an understatement. However, even though this sucked--the whole experience has only made us closer. I am very excited for this week to get over though so he can finally be home!

I've also been making a conscious effort to spend more time with those I love. Saying yes to last minute invitations for nights out with friends. Planning endless lake trips. And dancing with my love late into the night.

Lately I've been finding myself feeling so grateful and blessed for the life I've been able to live! So if I don't pop in for awhile it's because I've decided to start living life again :)

Till next time,
D

Balancing Act

Life has been so hectic lately, I feel like every time I look at the calendar I'm exclaiming how I can't believe it's already March, April, and now May! I feel like I am spending so much time trying to catch up so I can finally slow down that time is flying by without me. 

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before but I am in the final stages of finishing my Masters degree and will *hopefully* graduate in December 2013. When I first started the program my official graduation date was May 2014, however I'm at a point in my life where school is the last of my list of priorities. You see I have been in school (nonstop) for the last 7 years. I took a full course load every semester and summer session offered and during my time at undergraduate I worked 3 different jobs to help pay for my schooling. When I graduated undergrad I accepted a full time position and started grad school full time 2 weeks after I graduated.

Since I moved my graduation date up by 5 months I've been doubling up on classes and it is finally catching up with me. I am currently finishing up a 'pre-assingment' that will end up being 120 pages in written response--and it is taking up all my time! I miss cooking supper, cleaning my house, playing with my puppy, and spending quality time with my husband.

Because I have been so busy I feel like I am missing out on the little things in life-the things that make life worth living. I've decided that I am going to make time for those little things...

- I am going to make time to cook supper with my husband

- I'll get up a little earlier to take Lola for a walk. And get up early on Saturday mornings to take her to the dog park

- I'll accept that invitations from friends to catch up and hang out and not feel guilty about not studying on a Saturday night

- I'll spend my lunch breaks reading the paper instead of reading homework assignments

I'm so close to being down, I just need to keep reminding myself that to keep sane the next 7 months I need to make time to enjoy life as well.  

How do you balance work/school and personal commitments? This is something I've always struggled with!!

Weekend Update

I can't believe another weekend had come and gone. The past week was so busy (just like all the others) that it flew by!

My little baby graduated from puppy training...

 Proud parents!

Lola did awesome and passed with flying colors!

We went and saw some basketball with my best friend and her husband.

Even though we lost, it was still a fun time! When I was in undergrad I never went to a basketball game (we are a football school after all) however, I went one other time when Nebraska played Kansas- the games are ok, but I much prefer Memorial Stadium to the Davaney Center any day!

And last but not least, went to Winter Fest! I always love trying new brews and there were so many this year! My favorite was by far an apple ginger beer---simply amazing! I'm still trying to find where they sell it in town so I can stock up.

Weekend Update

I usually never say this but thank goodness it is Monday. Last week was so exhausting! Since moving up my graduation date a couple months I have been trying to get as many classes completed as I can before I start my last 4 classes of my capstone. In order to knock one out before I started a new term Tuesday I decided to take a flex term=an 8 week term completed in 6 days. Last week I worked 40 hours at my day job and spent 35 hours in class. That equals one very, very, very exhausted Dani come Saturday evening!

However, to brighten my mood two of my favorite little kids came over to hang out and we had a fun night of watching Power Rangers and goofing off. Sunday I spent all day laying around, getting caught up on chores, and going to bed before 10.

I’m so excited to get back into a regular routine of work, class, and meals every night. I have so many different things going on this week, I am so excited! Tomorrow I start my most dreaded class of the program (International Economics and Business), Wednesday a Husker basketball game with my husband, best friends, and her husband, Thursday Lola is graduating from puppy kindergarten, and one of my favorite events of the year is on Friday—Winter Ale Festival.

I started Jillian Michael's 30 day shred last night....holy soreness!!! This lady knows what is up!!