Resolutions.

Farewell, 2010. A much better year than 2009
and a year that ends with hope and many promises for the next.

At the end of each year, everyone makes resolutions, most of which go unkept . The idea of becoming a “new person” or starting over at the beginning of the year seems like such a great idea at the time, but it usually doesn’t last past January. This year, for me, I don’t want to change who I am as a person, or start anew, I just want to make a few changes in my life and focus on myself. I want to be a better version of myself.

I’m beginning to realize that I have exactly one year left of college before I graduate and move into the “real world.” Have I spent the last 3 ½ years living this experience to the fullest? Have I put myself out there and experienced new life-changing things that play a part in shaping who I am? I don’t think so. Not that I haven’t had some really important experiences or challenges that have changed me, but I don’t think I have taken a ton of risks or had as many experiences as everyone portrays college as holding. Sure, my journey has been anything but traditional with a year as a student-athlete and a transfer of schools, but I didn’t study abroad, I didn’t join a sorority or any interesting clubs or have a job or make millions of new friends that I’ll always keep in contact with (and that’s not to say I haven’t met some really great people that will always be my friends, either). I just feel like I may have taken more time than the average college student to come out of my shell and make it count. So part one of my New Year’s resolution is about taking chances. I want to say yes to more things, put myself out there, meet people, go places, and enjoy my last year of school. At this time next year, I’ll be going through some intense changes and probably wishing I had another year to postpone the inevitable, but if I start to open myself up now my hope is that I’ll be open to so many incredible possibilities for the future.

Part two of my New Year’s resolution is to write more. Writing is the one thing I can lean on for everything. It gets me through everything and makes me feel creative. But I want to expand my writing. I want to find things that inspire me and use them to write in more ways, through more mediums. I want to build up my blog while still writing for myself. I want to share more and get better and make it a bigger part of my daily life.

Part three is about happiness. I want to find a level of happiness that I haven’t known in a long time. I want to feel better about myself and put my worth at a higher level. I want to get back into working out so I can feel healthier and have a sense of accomplishment every day. I want to be a more positive person and not let negativity get the best of me. I want to stop being passive about things and stand up for myself more. I want to be more honest with myself about things and be more honest with others. I want to do things that make me happy and to find comfort in being out of my element while learning to be ok with change.

Most of all, I want to use my last year of college to grow as a person. I want to take risks, do things I haven’t done, write more, find happiness, and prepare myself for the changes ahead. I’m going to make these things a priority in my life this year by reminding myself every day. I’m not going to let myself stray because now is the time. Now is the time to be the best version of myself before I leave this chapter of my life behind and start an entirely new journey somewhere else.

So, I welcome 2011 with open arms
and hope to make it one of the best and most memorable years of my life this far.

Happy New Year.

I'll set the world on fire.

I'm usually looking for some form of inspiration in my life, and I have definitely rediscovered something that inspires me so deeply. Josiah Leming is an absolutely incredible artist and his music speaks right to my soul. Every time I hear one of his songs or see a video of him I am just struck at how passionate he is. You can hear it all the way from his voice to his fingertips. He makes me want to write and sing - yet all I can do is stare and listen. I've liked his music for a long time now after being turned onto him by a friend a few years back, but recently it started hitting me in the heart again and I can't not share.

This is the first song I ever heard of his, and he blows my mind in this video. At the moment, his song "Angels Undercover" is inspiring me beyond words (though the video for it was disabled on youtube, so I'm sharing this one instead). I can't describe it, but I'm hearing something that makes me want to do big things.

The Christmas Wrap-Up & Recap

[The Christmas Anti-Climax has begun.....]

All the build up to the holiday season is slowly coming to an end. I must say, with as much drama and craziness my family holds, I still enjoy every second of spending the holidays with them. We don't all get to spend it with each other every year, so when we do it's really awesome. Things change, people get married or move, so being able to spend Christmas together is really happy.

After Christmas dinner, my Uncle Mark brings out his guitar and we all sit around and sing songs - James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles...anything you can imagine. It's something we have been doing since I was a little kid, so my family of singers always looks forward to it.


And of course, my Grandma had to get a few pictures of all the grand kids because this is the first time in years that all 7 of us were together for Christmas.

[From left to right: Chad, me, Connor, Ashley, Sara - and in front Kyla and Brianna]

I didn't take as many pictures this year, or get to see as many people as I usually do, but it was a great Christmas and I realized over and over again - as I do every time I'm with my family - how appreciative I am to have them in my life. This next year is going to be filled with more changes than I can possibly stand to bear, but I know I will always have them by my side.

I hope you all had a very happy Christmas filled with love and laughter.

Merry Christmas!

The day has finally arrived!

Merry Christmas
I hope you all have a magical holiday.

I conclude the Christmas Countdown with a few festive things.

1. The Yule Log.



2. Merry Christmas from Michael Scott.



3. A Christmas Message for you.

Countdown to Christmas: 2 days!

[So close, people!]

Seasons greetings from southern California! I love spending the holidays here. My family is slowly trickling in from all over and I love getting to spend time with each and every one of them. The last few days have been spent hanging out with my uncles Prescott and Paul and lots of laughs. Tonight, after dinner we went to the store and found these amazing Santa hats that play music, light up, and dance around on your head (it was a lot more hilarious after a couple margaritas). We were just cracking up at how awesome/ridiculous they looked. I love having these little moments with my crazy family. This is what the holidays are about!

Countdown to Christmas: 5 days!!

[It's the home stretch, people!]

Today my family and I are leaving for our annual Christmas trip to California to spend the holidays with our extended family. It's what I look forward to most about Christmas. Usually when I tell people this, I get some rendition of "sucks to be you, now you'll have no chance for a white Christmas!" But, I've spent nearly every single Christmas since I was born in California, so a sunny Christmas is just fine with me!

So, speaking of white Christmas's, I leave you today with a scene from one of my favorite Christmas movies. Enjoy, and I'll be seeing you again from sunny LA!

Countdown to Christmas: 7 days!

[One week left until Christmas and I couldn't be happier that it's almost here. I can't wait to be surrounded by the people who love and care unconditionally and make this life worth all the hardships.]

With one week left until the big day, I first have a couple happy things to say that hold lots of Christmas miracles and joy.

First, happy holidays to all gays and lesbians who can now openly serve in the United States military! What a seriously happy step forward for this country. The repeal of DADT could not have come at a more perfect time. The holidays are about togetherness, and this is a HUGE step toward unifying this country. It's a Christmas miracle and I'm thrilled :)

Second, usually at this time each year I am filled with anxiety about how my grades for the semester turned out, but this year I can officially, on the record say that I got the best GPA of my college career! I'm probably more excited about it than I should be, but I worked really hard this semester and I'm really happy about it. It's going to make the long break that much more rewarding and happy.

Onto some Holiday cheer! Some of my favorite Christmas lyrics of the season:

Countdown to Christmas: 11 days!

(Although this 70 degree weather in Colorado doesn't feel very Christmasey!)

I found this little Christmas gem hiding deep within the many folders of pictures on my computer and thought it only appropriate to bust it out for the holidays! It's our family Christmas picture circa 1992? We tried to get a good picture for HOURS (literally) but my brother kept crying, causing my sister to get frustrated, and I was the only one smiling for every single shot. So go figure that as soon as I decide to freak out, everyone else looks normal. This is definitely one for the scrapbooks!

(Best Christmas card ever? Or "awkward family photos" worthy? You decide.)

Countdown to Christmas: 13 days!

As I mentioned my hatred for this time of school year in my last post, today I will talk about my LOVE for this time of year as well. I'm not completely finished with finals yet, but I got my 2 hardest out of the way yesterday and made it through with much more pride in myself than I thought imaginable. I can now say I am proud of the amount of work I put into this semester and can leave it all behind with no regrets. One and a half more papers and one test to go and it's nothing but Christmas festivities ahead of me.

(To everyone taking finals right now, good luck, and remember that as soon as this week is over you can breathe a huge sigh of relief and enjoy every second of the long break ahead!)

And now for some Christmas cheer.... a classic.

Countdown to Christmas: 18 days

Today I need the Christmas countdown more than ever. This time of the season is all happiness leading up to the holidays, but this time of school year is nothing but stress, exams, papers, and projects. I must say, there are only a few things keeping me sane right now, and this countdown/having something to look forward to is one of them.

But, trying to stay positive and happy in lieu of a meltdown, so tonight I give you a Christmas favorite courtesy of Saturday Night Live. Enjoy!

Countdown to Christmas: 20 days!

(or are we down to the teens??)

One random thing I adore about the holidays is seasonal drinks! Pumpkin spice lattes, hot apple cider, egg nog (!!!), all delicious drinks you can only enjoy this time of year. When Starbucks busts out their red cups each year I get so giddy and just want to get coffee there all day everyday. I suppose this time of year I start to really notice and appreciate all the little things because you can only enjoy them for so long. I love the hope and happiness the Christmas season brings and I love how such little things like a red paper cup can make my day. I'm in a good place.

Countdown to Christmas: 24 days!

(24? 23? Losing track here!)

Christmas music in general is just a happy thing. But when you combine it with one of my favorite bands ever, you absolutely can't go wrong. Usually I don't like when artists try to write their own Christmas songs because for the most part they don't work and it's much better to stick to the millions of traditional holiday tunes, however this song "Christmas Lights" by Coldplay is basically my new favorite thing ever. It doesn't even necessarily have to be a holiday song, just because it has the word "Christmas" in it, because it's about more than that. Just like everything they write, it has this incredible depth. I swear to God, they get me every time. Every single time! I'll be listening to this song year round.

Countdown to Christmas: 25 days!

(But only 24 if you count today as over!)

It's the first of December which means Christmas month has begun! I put up my Charlie Brown Christmas tree today, courtesy of my Aunt Glenna who sent me this awesome decoration last year. It fits in perfectly with my rinky-dink little apartment. Since my family isn't putting up a tree this year (MAJOR sad face) this little one is all I've got to keep the spirit alive! I suppose my life is actually on the verge of turning into the Charlie Brown Christmas special.

Also (this one's for you, Emily!) it's the first day of Hanukkah, so Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends!