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!!

2013

It cannot possibly be the 2nd week of 2013 already....holy cow! Like so many others, this last year has flown by. I realize I am a little late jumping on this band wagon, but on NYE my husband and I sat down and wrote down some goals as a couple and individually.

Couple:
1.) Increase our savings account
2.) Take a trip together-- planning one as we speak for May, June, and August!
3.) Eat dinner together, at our table, at least 3 times a week
4.) Continue to encourage and support one another

Personal Goals:
1.) Write more (blog, freelance, etc)
2.) Become more organized!
3.) Start and end each day grateful for what I have
4.) Get into an exercise routine I can stick with
5.) Graduate with my Masters- DECEMBER 2013!!!! :)
6.) Spend more time with my family

Nothing extravagant, but this year I am focusing on taking the clutter out of my life and living simply- already off to a great start!

Any specific resolutions you have?

Excited to see what 2013 has in store for us!

Giving Thanks

I love Thanksgiving, it is by far my favorite holiday! Mainly because we get to spend time with family without the presents or other obligations that come with Christmas. Plus, Thanksgiving involves all my favorite foods like mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and macaroni and cheese casserole...YUM!

This year I have so much to be thankful for-- my husband and our brand new marriage. We continue to grow and learn from each other daily. My family who supports me in all my life adventures. A puppy that is teaching me about unconditional love. A job that provides for my husband and I as we navigate through school. An education that is equipping me with the essentials to be the best I can be. Friends that push me to get out of my comfort zone. And last, a life that is just pretty darn amazing to live. Some days I get so overwhelmed with all the I have been blessed with in my life I could start crying! It's my goal to stop worrying about the little things and start being appreciative for all the wonderful things I have in my life.

On a lighter note...Kane surprised me with an early Christmas present..a tablet I have been lusting over for a year now!

Asus Tablet via Best Buy

I'm still learning how to use it and all the features its offer but so far I love it! It will come in so handy for school. Also, a couple weeks ago I splurged and bought myself a new camera. 

Fujifilm FinePix S4300 via Best Buy

It is so much better than my last camera (which was over 5 years old!) and the quality of photos is amazing. Below are some of the photos I've taken with it so far...

 Trying to be artsy 

 Miss Lola

 Not quite sure about her Holiday sweater

 My little nephew is so dang cute!

He also loves ripping wrapping paper and bows :)

Hope everyone had a lovely Holiday with their families and loved ones!

Welcome to Nebraska, Wisconsin

Yesterday was a day Nebraska football fans had been waiting to arrive for 365 days. You see last year we played our first Big 10 conference game against Wisconsin. And they beat us. And their fans were really really mean to ours. Don't believe me? Check out Taylor 's (from the Daily Tay) post from Thursday about some of the unsportsman like behavior she witnessed. Yeah pretty unbelievable--and I heard it from every single person that I knew that traveled up there. So this year we had to show them exactly what the 'greatest fans in college football' act like. I mean they don't brand us that just because...

I went tailgating yesterday with friends and family and every Wisconsin football fan we saw we made sure to say, "Hi, Welcome to Nebraska! Hope you have a good day!" Why? Because that's what we do every single time we have an opponent, its just what Nebraska fans do. Anyways, long story short- we ended up winning 30-27 and Nebraska was pumped! We were down for most of the game and it turned out to be the 2nd largest comeback in school history! A few of the photos I took yesterday...

Ha, I only remembered my camera at one of the tailgates we were at :)

Today I have a full agenda-- grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, writing a paper, and getting a presentation ready for class on Tuesday! The joys of Sunday :)

Procrastination

Holy Cow! I swear almost every morning when I get up I think, “I need to update this blog today”, and then almost every night when I get home real life takes over and I have about 20 things to get done on my to-do list. However, I plan on making a conscious effort to blog about 2-3 times a week (like we haven’t heard that one before J )

First things first, I have an awesome recipe I am going to share with you tomorrow. It was super easy to make and the husband loved it—so pretty much a win win in my book. It is one that will be making an appearance in my weekly recipe rotation! I’ll give you a small sneak peak….tell me your mouth is not watering!

School is back in full swing for both my husband and I and it has been keeping us so busy! Most of our nights are spent either in class or studying (more for my husband than me). Only 1 ½ more years till we are done! I don’t know if I have mentioned this before but if all goes according to plan my husband will graduate from law school on a Saturday in May 2014 and I will graduate from my graduate program the next day—pretty cool!

Other than that I have just been keeping up with my newest form of procrastination...Lola

She's precious!

Updates

Wow...life got the best of me this past summer. Grad school, full time job, and planning a wedding take up a lot of time (Just in case you didn't know). Well I come back to you all as a MRS.!! (Still so weird!)

Kane and I were married August 11, 2012...and it was an absolutely, amazing, wonderful, perfect day! I hope to share more on this when I get my professional photos back :)

We spent a week in Estes Park and it was exactly the relaxing laid back trip we had in mind.

And in other unrelated news....our tiny family of two has grown and we adopted a new puppy Friday!

Her name is Lola! All I got to say is I feel sorry for our future children with the amount of photos Kane has been taking :)

I promise an update soon (and more frequently)!

Hey everyone! Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blog world today. Today I an recovering from the 4th... It was super relaxing and we spent it with friends grilling, swimming, and watching fireworks.

I promise to have a full recap either tonight or tomorrow! Till then make sure you say hi... I love meeting new people and finding new blogs/inspiration!

Life Update

Holy cow... has life been busy as of late or what?!?! Like I've mentioned about a thousand times before but my best friend got married.

She is gorgeous!

I can't believe she is married!

The fiancé and I

Other than that I have been addressing invitations for my own wedding, working, trying to work out, and going to classes.  

Life is busy...sometimes I wish I could just lay on a beach somewhere and sleep in the sun and drink fruity drinks all day.

Sigh...until that happens I will just continue to day dream.

Sometimes life just isn't fair

So in my quick post the other day I mentioned how I had been extremely busy lately...what I failed to mention is that one of the reasons I had been so absent is because I was angry. Angry that sometimes, the kindest, most inspirational, good hearted individuals get taken from this Earth too soon.

Last Friday I was on the way to the lake to celebrate my in-laws anniversary when I got a text from my mom that read, "Anthony was killed in a car accident this afternoon". Anthony--the same Anthony who graduated a year above me in school. The Anthony that made me laugh with his silly antics during high school play practices. The Anthony, who our whole community loved because of his large heart and his uncanny ability to see the best in anyone. Anthony and I weren't friends, but we were acquaintances. We had many mutual friends and found ourselves in the same place throughout high school. I am thankful I was able to experience what a great person he was.

You see Anthony was 24 years old and had just completed his first year of teaching, where he was the FBLA advisor, and head basketball coach. He was bringing his boys basketball team back from a basketball camp when 15 miles from home a pick up crossed the center line and hit the school van head on. Anthony, the assistant coach, and pick up driver were killed, while all 9 students were transported to the hospital.

Life isn't fair. How could someone who had made such an impact in one year of teaching and had the skills and ambition to change the world be taken from us? It makes me so angry that there are people in this world who do drugs/drink, get in a car, drive, and are perfectly ok. They get away with testing the limits. People who do awful things like murder, cheat, and other horrendous crimes--but they are still here. And yet someone who wanted nothing more than to impact the lives of those around him is taken from us. Life just isn't fair.

This whole tragedy has been weighing on my heart lately. And today I woke up and felt an achenes in my heart-wanting to be home with those who I grew up with to say our final goodbyes. Life doesn't always make sense and it doesn't do any good to question it. I guess this event is a reminder to pick up the phone call those closest to me and remind them how much they mean to me. To hug them a little closer and always say I love you.

Don't take a moment of life for granted. And don't forget to live life to the fullest, and to always take the chance and not live in fear. Because you never know what will happen and you no longer have the chance.