Life Lately {vol. 15}

I have had a pretty incredible Christmas break, and I still have a few days left. I got to see my family for most of it, J for all of it, and my mom even visted Iowa City earlier this week! I've had so much down time, so I've gotten a lot of fun reading done and watche a bunch of new movies.

Tomorrow, J and I are going to celebrate my (very early) birthday! We're going to get sushi for lunch, then see "Her" in theaters later in the afternoon. I'm so excited! :)

At the same time, I've had to prepare for leaving and starting my second semester of law school. I bought my books earlier this week, so I'll hopefully have them all delivered by the time I get back to New Hampshire on Sunday. Abby and her husband, Andrew, are going to pick me up at the airport. We've already gotten homework for two classes! Ouch, right?

How has your Christmas/Holiday break been? :)

2014 Resolutions

I know some people aren't big fans of New Years Resolutions, but I like them! I love new beginnings and I'll take any excuse I can to try and better myself. And trust me, there's a lot of bettering that I should be doing, haha.

Last year, I chose several resolutions to stick to. I think I did alright with them, though I certainly wasn't perfect in 2013. It's taken me a few days to decide what my resolutions for this year would be, but I'm really happy with the ones I picked!

• Find a church in Concord

This has been a goal I've had since I moved to Concord, but that got swept to the side once law school started. During school, I'm constantly exhausted, and it's hard to convince myself to get up early on Sunday morning. I also majored in religion in college, so it's difficult for me not to judge a service while I'm experiencing it. I also am very biased against contemporary services, so finding a liberal, theologically-sound church with a traditional service tends to be a difficult task. Despite all that, it felt SO good to go to my home church with my family and J this break, and I know I need to make an effort to find a church home in New Hampshire.

• Read 12 new books for fun

This is the goal that I am most excited about this year! Last year, I probably read 3 books for fun. I am so embarrassed about this, but between working full time and then going to law school, my brain was too fried to deal with adding literature on top of that. I also tend to re-read books rather than reading new ones, because I get attached to the stories and characters. This year, I want to make a huge effort to read instead of just turning on Netflix or watching a movie. I also want to read books that I haven't read before - I have tons of them, so I'm excited to choose those books once I get back to school!

• Be encouraging towards J and myself about getting fit

J and I decided that we both wanted to work harder on getting (and keeping) fit this year. This is definitely an easier task for J than it is for me, but we will be encouraging each other to work out more often. He wants to start running more often, and I want to make time each week to workout using my workout videos. I also want to do a 5K in April, so I'll have to start running again!

• Say "Yes" to social occasions more often

I am a self-described homebody and nothing is quite as appealing to me as a night in bed, watching movies, drinking wine, and hangout out with friends. However, this doesn't happen very often. A lot of my law school friends go out downtown on the weekends, but I hardly ever go with because I'm always tired. I've also wanted to go to "meetings" for the music group on campus but never gone. I'm going to start going this semester, and hopefully I'll get some of this musical rage out of me one way or another!

• Get rid of 200 things

I did this last year and absolutely loved it. We accumulate so much junk and unnecessary stuff over the year. I plan on going through my closet, bathroom, and room and donating (or throwing away) things that I don't need or want anymore. I have the whole year to do this, though I did it last year in less than a week!

• Do at least one craft a month

I'm not a particularly "crafty" person, but I am very creative. However, especially when I'm stressed or overwhelmed, the creative stuff gets put on the back-burner. I'm going to try to do one "craft" a month, whether that's a recipe, sewing, or doing a Pinterest craft. I need to do fun little things for me more often, and what better way than doing crafts?

• Try to live more in the moment

I'm a planner and I like knowing that everything is in its place before I make a move. Not that I'm not spontaneous or relaxed, because I totally am… but I'm the kind of person who worries about the logistics of how something will work before I've even done something. I've been worrying about what I'm going to do this summer since almost the first week of law school, which was not helpful or useful in the slightest when I was supposed to be worrying about the classes I was taking. So, this year, I am going to live in the moment more and try to avoid worrying about the future or how things will work themselves out before I have to worry about those things!

What are your new years resolutions? Do you believe in making resolutions? Do you think mine are do-able? :)

2013 {post 3 of 3}

This year, I…

• Celebrated Halloween at law school as Jess from “New Girl”
• Got my bangs cut (Still obsessed with them)
• Fully embraced my status as a crazy cat lady
• Passed out Halloween candy with Penina & Adam
• Cuddled with James every night
• Experienced my first winter in Concord
• Learned how making bread was like legal writing
• Went to some house parties
• Travelled with James to Iowa
• Had the most amazing Thanksgiving weekend with J
• Became a redhead (and partially a pinkhead)
• Put up Christmas lights and listened to Christmas music nonstop
• Studied for law school finals
• Made homemade tom yum soup for the first time
• Got a Christmas present from my Grandma and Grandpa!
• Had my red hair touched up at The Beauty Lounge
• Saw "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" with Abby, her husband, Andrew, our friend Matt, and one of Andrew's friends
• Somehow survived my first law school finals!
• Flew to Des Moines and met J there that night (we stayed at my mom's apartment in Des Moines)
• Was reunited with my kitty babies!
• Celebrated J's 24th birthday on Christmas Eve
• Had Christmas at J's house with his family! Santa even visted me from South Carolina! ;)
• Received so many amazing and thoughtful presents
• Watched "Les Mis" and read "Game of Thrones" while J worked
• Drove with J to Des Moines to see my family!
• Spent time with family friends and celebrated several little Christmases!
• Visited the side of my family in Atlantic, Iowa
• Watched "The Hobbit: 2" again with my family and J
• Celebrated New Years Eve in Des Moines with my family and J! We went to a really cool restaurant (Alba) and watched movies in our hotel room!

2013 was quite a year! It was full of challenges and setbacks, but I can say with certainty that I grew up a lot, learned more than I could have imagined, learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses, and learned a lot about J and I as a couple! 

Where 2012 was full of hopes and possibilities (I had just graduated and J and I had just moved in together), I think 2013 taught me more about the realities of life and the difficulties of being a "grown-up." That's not to say it wasn't full of love, fun, silliness, and wonderful things! It probably didn't help that 2013 was the year I started law school, which I've heard isn't the easiest experience, haha.

It's been quite a year… Though I hope 2014 is a little more fun and a little less stressful! ;)

Did you do anything fun for New Years Eve? How did 2013 treat you?