LINDSEY'S BOOKS

one of my very earliest memories is of my mom reading to me. she read to us everyday, without fail, and dozens of books at a time. i remember sitting on the floor next to her, my baby brother in her lap, and a big pile of library books next to us, and she would read the entire stack- sometimes twice! she wasn't big on playing barbies or trucks or other toys, but she loved to read to us. she definitely passed that love on to me. reading has been one of my favorite things my entire life. i used to sneak away from my chores and hide somewhere in the house with a book. and i can't count the number of times i've stayed up until 5 am because i just HAD to finish what i was reading. when i finish a truly good book, i immediately want to read it again, and when characters i love die or endings don't turn out how i wanted, i will mope for days. i get REALLY in to my books. 

since having kids, i've added children's books to my addiction, and THERE ARE SO MANY GOOD ONES! i could spend a million dollars at barnes and noble and still find more books we need. cue my discovery of usborne books. it was my best friend stacy who first told me about them, and i've been hooked ever since. these books are colorful, fun, full of facts and beautiful illustrations. the quality is EXCELLENT, so they hold up really well, and my kids LOVE them. there are flaps to life, textures to touch, and so many fun, silly stories. those train books in the picture are possibly the most read books in our house... well at least they were until we got All Better a few weeks ago. my kids are both obsessed with that book, and i read it at least 6 times a day.

i can't recommend these highly enough, and i've been buying them for several years now. over a year ago, i attended another usborne facebook party, and the consultant mentioned that i'd be good at selling them, because my passion for them was contagious. i considered it, but decided not to... and then for months and months it stayed on my mind. i really wanted to do it! but i had a long list of excuses, and put it off for months and months. then about 6 weeks ago, i attended yet another usborne book party and decided that i'd waited long enough- it was time to give myself and my love of books a chance! plus, as a stay-at-home mom (which i absolutely love) sometimes i find myself looking for a project to call my own, for something to do on the side that I WANT to do, that i do for myself. so signed up! and it's been 4 days and i am so so glad i did. i'm having so much fun so far, and i really think i can be successful at this! it's fun to have something to do on my own that i'm passionate and excited about.

so all this to say, i'm an usborne books consultant! and i have an official shopping link! i've had a lot of support and encouragement so far from family and friends and i really really appreciate it. and if you need any books, or want to get FREE books, let me know and we can party together! follow me on instagram as @lindseysbooks for all my favorites, and good deals too! 

seriously though, you'll get hooked, i promise :) 

2015

painting by caitlin connolly

2014 was like two very different sides of the same coin for me. one side wonderful, happy and full of accomplishments, and the other side frustrating and exhausting and really challenging. it was a year of big mountains, and while i am proud of us for making it through, let's be honest- i hate hiking.

i must say- the wonderful parts greatly outnumbered the frustrating parts, and the feeling that comes the strongest now as i look back over the year is sheer gratitude. gratitude for all the help and love we received from our families and friends. gratitude for countless heaven-sent blessings. gratitude that orlando and i had each other and luc and baby sister to keep us smiling. so much gratitude that we made it through. and even more gratitude that we are where we are now.

but looking back, i feel like i epically failed at being grateful during the challenges. i was petty and small-minded and i allowed myself to care more about what i lacked than what i had. but even that doesn't encompass what i struggled with. i'm not sure how to adequately describe what i've been feeling, except to say that i found in myself a 'littleness of person' this year. not sure if that makes any sense to anyone but me, but it's been on my mind constantly the past month.

as i've thought about how i can change for the better, the one thought that has come back to me over and over has been that if i work, really diligently work, on my spiritual health and cultivate an attitude of gratitude in all things, everything else i want to accomplish/be will fall into place. so although the list of things i want to accomplish is long, my goals this year are simple and centered around gratitude and my spiritual growth.

this year i want to:

-live more simply. stop comparing myself and what i have/don't have to others. stop coveting and wanting what they have instead. be content with what i have- or even better, be content with less! it's just stuff and somehow it became way too important to me recently. a big part of this one is our goal to get out of debt this year {minus the student loans} and i want to contribute by spending less and not being grumpy/whiny about it. i want to enjoy it even!

-be a more patient, enduring mother. correct what is important and let the rest go. teach and nurture with the spirit. toddlerhood is fun and crazy irrational, and soon there will be two little niños over here- and my threshold of patience needs to increase accordingly. and i want to enjoy the everyday moments more. i want to be more grateful for this time of my life, to embrace it and enjoy it more fully.

-find a better balance between my roles of self, wife, and mother. i want to thrive in all three! discover or develop what talents and gifts i have, and then use them to find personal fulfillment and bless my family. i want to appreciate who i am and what i have to offer, instead of always wishing i was different, or like someone else.

so i'm going to:

1. start each day with an attitude and prayer of gratitude.

2. keep a gratitude journal. write something new everyday.

3. attend the temple monthly. 

4. personal prayer, 365 days in a row. 

5. continue to make time for personal scripture study.

these are my goals, and i feel promised that if i do these things, i will be blessed to accomplish everything else above. either way, i will come out of this year a more grateful person, and that is someone i really want to be.

14 IN 2014- END OF YEAR REPORT

for 2014 i made 14 goals, and i'm happy to report that i did pretty well on most of them! it was a challenging, busy, overwhelming, happy year with a lot of big changes for our family, and though i can't cross every single one off my list, i am happy with what i did accomplish. 

1. read the entire book of mormon by myself. this is one i didn't do in 2013 so it's at the top of my list.
i'm about halfway through, and still chugging away. it's been a VERY slow process, but i have enjoyed my reading more than ever before, and definitely feel a difference on the days i don't make time for personal scripture study. 

2. stay in good shape! i worked hard this year to get where i am and i want to keep it this way.

well, being 8 months pregnant, i can't say i'm in the best shape of my life, but i did do a good job this time around of eating better and being more active {thanks in large part to my littler runner, luc}, and with one month left to go, i'm 17lbs lighter than i was at the end with luc. it's amazing what a difference that makes, i have way more energy this time around.

3. get pregnant with baby #2. wish us luck!

and now we're only 4 weeks from baby sister's arrival! ahh, i can't wait!

4. teach luc his numbers, letters, shapes, and colors in english and spanish. this will be good practice for me too!

this kid is rocking his numbers, shapes and colors, it has been so much fun to watch him learn so much this year. we are still working on letters- he likes to sing the alphabet, but it's just L M N O P and R S T U and V sung over and over haha.

5. write my little brother on his mission every week. he's headed to san jose, california in january and i'm so proud of him! 

confession: i didn't do so well at this during the first trimester, but i have been writing faithfully ever since. i can't believe he's been out almost a whole year! i love and miss him like crazy!

6. say personal prayer daily, on my knees. i've gotten lazy and have started saying them in bed, which means half the time i fall asleep mid-prayer.  

this one i've done off and on throughout the year, and i notice a big different in my countenance, my patience level, and my attitude when i'm spending more time on my knees in prayer morning and night. it's something i want to get into a really consistent habit of doing, so i'm going to keep working on it.

7. reread all seven harry potter books and at least 21 other books. i loved getting back into reading this year and i want to keep it up. 

man, i love those harry potter books. SO GOOD EVERY TIME! including those seven, i read 24 books total this year, which is short of my goal of 28, but still pretty good considering i took 15 weeks off to be nauseous and pregnant. i'll post a reading/recommendation list soon.

8. take my handsome hubby on a romantic overnighter. this one is long overdue!

drat! can't cross this one off, sadly. we had high aspirations, but didn't end up making any of them happen. hopefully 2015 is our year for a romantic vacation of some kind.

9. eat a slushie/shaved ice. did you know cleveland doesn't have slushies or shaved ice?! it's absurd!

thanks to all the wonderful shaved ice shacks in north ogden and san diego AND my constant craving for sweets this pregnancy, i crossed this one off my list dozens of times this summer. it . was. AWESOME.

10. hold regular family home evening. we aren't great at remembering this every week, and i want to get better. 

we have been SO GOOD at this one, especially since we moved here to AZ, and i love it so much. luc usually only sits through about 47 seconds of a lesson, so i've had to adapt and come up with some super short and  often crazy hilarious lessons, but the point is that we do it every week. and we've been so blessed! luc is behaving better in church and nursery, learning primary songs by the dozens, and talks about jesus, the temple. and church all the time. it makes my heart so happy!

11. go to bed earlier. this is going to make me sound old and stuffy, but midnight is starting to feel way too late. i need more beauty sleep!

thanks to this pregnancy AND orlando's crazy long work hours, we've all been going to bed earlier, and it's been really good for us. mostly for me and luc, since i can function before 8 now without wanting to cry.

12. become a more creative, attentive parent. put away my phone. think of new ways to say no or teach principles. use songs and games more often. be silly. have fun! 

i feel like this one is always going to be a work in progress. i was horrible at it this summer, poor kid had an absentee mama for weeks {thanks first trimester} but we got through it, and i've been much better since we moved. some days i slip back into bad habits, but i keep trying. on day, one hour at a time, i'll keep trying to be better!

13. think of the perfect graduation gift for orlando. ideas?!

orlando rocked law school, and when he graduated in may, i rocked his graduation gift. i love him so much, and i'm so grateful for all of his hard work on behalf of our family!

14. no more late night snacking. this goes along with #2 AND #11. i'm too lazy to exercise so i have to lay off the eleven o'clock bowl of ice cream/bag of chips/slice of cheesecake. i should just go to bed instead!

thanks to pregnancy heartburn and #11, i'm rocking this one too. hopefully it's a habit that sticks even after baby girl is born.

OCTOBER

i love october. it's a month of change, and i find that more often than not, i need things to change right about now. usually, we'd be bidding our park days farewell and breaking out the soups and sweaters, but this year is a little different. it was 81 degrees today, so we aren't exactly pulling on the layers, but i feel the change in the air nonetheless, even if it is lacking that crisp chill we're used to.

general conference weekend was a big weekend for me. nothing extraordinary happened, but i was really touched by a few of the messages and i have been putting some of the inspiration i felt to good use, including daily personal scripture study and morning prayer. seeing the difference a prayer to start my day has made, i have no idea how i got through so many days without it. i have more patience, more energy, better mothering ideas, and a more grateful heart.

things just feel really good this week. i got into a kind of negative/depressed rut over the long summer, and i have taken my sweet time shaking it off. i'm sure i can chalk most of this up to hormones and the stress of being a single + pregnant mom for most of the summer, but it sure has been hard to get over. i'm finally feeling like the giant load of stress and worry and frustration i was lugging around is gone, and i am happier and lighter than i have been in weeks. i'm putting on lipstick and laughing over spilled apple juice {instead of crying} and letting go of all the have-tos and trying to just enjoy today. arizona seems to be feeling the same way, as the weather has turned into perfection this week- 77 degrees all day and night- and we have been soaking up every minute of daylight. i watched the cloudy sky split with streaks of the deepest blue yesterday and i had to fight the impulse to throw my arms out and twirl, everything just felt so good- the air, the sky, my soul, luc's grin and dirty knees, baby girl playing kickball in my belly- i felt a peace and contentment i have been missing for too long.

i think that's how it goes sometimes. life gives us trials and times of stress, but to help us through, heavenly father has given us this beautiful earth, personal revelation, and really special people to call family.

and they really do help us through.

to love them and be loved by them is my life's greatest blessing and dearest happiness.

JULY ALREADY?!

did anyone else look at the calendar in shock when july arrived? or was it just me? somehow this year is flying by faster than i can wrap my head around, while simultaneously being the longest summer of my entire existence. i'm still not sure how that works.

more than halfway through 2014 and i'm slowly crossing things off my 14 to-do in 2014 list. a few i can proudly say are done:

3. get pregnant with baby #2. wish us luck!
woo hoo! baby #2 is coming in january 2015, in case you missed the news!

9. eat a slushie. did you know cleveland doesn't have slushies?! it's absurd!
done and done- more than once! thank you kirts for making glaciers- slushie with soft serve ice cream in the middle. one of my favorite treats of all time. {if you're ever in north ogden, ut this is a must have!}

11. go to bed earlier. this is going to make me sound old and stuffy, but midnight is starting to feel way too late. i need more beauty sleep!
pregnancy #2 fixed this one in a heartbeat. as soon as luc is asleep, so am i! here's hoping it becomes a habit, even after baby arrives. i'm sure i'll need it.

13. think of the perfect graduation gift for orlando. ideas?!
a custom made johnnyville slugger bat with his favorite team logo and a love note engraved on the back. safe to say, he was super surprised and super happy about it. he totally deserved it!

4 down, only 10 to go- and while that may not sound like i've been doing much over here, most of them are a work in progress and will probably take me the rest of the year. wish me luck!
how are you doing with your resolutions/goals?

NEW NEW NEW, WOO!

it's a new year! hooray, hurrah, i love a new year! 2013 was pretty darn great, but 2014 is bringing so many exciting changes to our little family that i can't help feeling more eager, excited, and nervous for the coming year. orlando will graduate from law school, pass the bar and find a job, we will move across the country and settle into a new {unknown!} neighborhood with a new ward, friends, house, etc. i can't wait to get started AND i'm terrified of it, all at the same time.

last year i did 27 things as my resolutions/goals and it was a really great year for me. i feel like i did a lot of growing and i accomplished a few more things than i usually do. so this year, i was all geared up to do 28 things {cause i'm old now} but when i sat down to write the list, i started to get cold sweats. 28 just seemed like a lot to add to my already very full 2014. so i decided to cut myself come slack and only do 14. 14 things to do in 2014! phew, that feels MUCH better!

here they are, in no particular order:

1. read the entire book of mormon by myself. this is one i didn't do in 2013 so it's at the top of my list.

2. stay in good shape! i worked hard this year to get where i am and i want to keep it this way.

3. get pregnant with baby #2. wish us luck!

4. teach luc his numbers, letters, shapes, and colors in english and spanish. this will be good practice for me too!

5. write my little brother on his mission every week. he's headed to san jose, california in january and i'm so proud of him! 

6. say personal prayer daily, on my knees. i've gotten lazy and have started saying them in bed, which means half the time i fall asleep mid-prayer.  

7. reread all seven harry potter books and at least 21 other books. i loved getting back into reading this year and i want to keep it up. 

8. take my handsome hubby on a romantic overnighter. this one is long overdue!

9. eat a slushie. did you know cleveland doesn't have slushies?! it's absurd!

10. hold regular family home evening. we aren't great at remembering this every week, and i want to get better. 

11. go to bed earlier. this is going to make me sound old and stuffy, but midnight is starting to feel way too late. i need more beauty sleep!

12. become a more creative, attentive parent. put away my phone. think of new ways to say no or teach principles. use songs and games more often. be silly. have fun! 

13. think of the perfect graduation gift for orlando. ideas?!

14. no more late night snacking. this goes along with #2 AND #11. i'm too lazy to exercise so i have to lay off the eleven o'clock bowl of ice cream/bag of chips/slice of cheesecake. i should just go to bed instead!

here's hoping its a rather splendid year!

27 THINGS: ROUND UP!

6. buy a pool pass and take my little fishy 3x a week this summer. the independence city pool is amazing, the summer heat in our non-air conditioned apartment is unbearable, and my boy loves the water, so this is a no-brainer. we went swimming ALL THE TIME and it was one of the best summers of my life, hands down. i love my little fish!

 11. learn to make a killer cheesecake. it's the hubby's favorite and i want to make it better than anyone he knows. i'm always looking for new ways to seduce him ;)  it took me all the way until thanksgiving to get to perfect, but it was worth it. THIS cheesecake rocks. especially with homemade strawberry sauce on top!

13. find the perfect shade of red lipstick and rock it. tell me, what do you love?  i discovered that i don't look great in any red lipstick. seriously, they were all wrong for me. but i found this one in rose elixir and i LOVE it! i'm addicted. pink is more my color apparently.

15. learn spanish. i've half-spoken it long enough, it's high time i buckled down and learned it for real. like conjugating verbs for real.  i studied, and watched spanish sesame street with luc, and worked on my conversation skills a lot. i think it definitely helped, i'm more confident and i understand more. but i still have a long ways to go- this will be something i'm always going to have to work on, i think.

19. throw a super hero birthday bash for luc's first birthday. maybe a super hero pool party? i'm already excited! BEST FIRST BIRTHDAY EVER! i might be biased :)

23. explore amish country, pick fresh strawberries at ridgeview farm. my mouth is watering already!
we missed the strawberry season, but we did do a lot of amish country exploring around walnut creek, berlin, and hershberger farms. so fun and such great food!

25. index 500 names. i love history, i love individual histories. i want to spend some time unearthing the histories of others while i record my own. this was really fun, and so easy! i'm going to keep this up in 2014, for sure. it's really amazing to find these names from so long ago and give them a chance to be found by their posterity.

27 THINGS: THE FAILURES

i've been looking back at my '27 things to do when i'm 27' list this month, taking tally of the things i did and didn't do. i got 19 out of 27, which is not bad! better than i expected haha. it was a great year and i loved having this list to motivate me to try new things and cross off goals. thanks 27, you ROCKED!

here are the 8 i didn't do, along with my excuses ;)

1. go to the hill cumorah pageant. only 5 hours away from us and i've never been. this will make an awesome road trip this summer. the pageant happened right in the middle of orlando's summer sport's academy so we missed it. 

2. read the book of mormon all the way through by myself. its been a few years since i've read through it alone and i find myself missing a daily dose of spiritual. so this is going to be really good for me. ummm, yeah. i had every intention of doing this but i just never got started. EVER. shame on me. this is on my 2014 list for sure!
3. crochet a blanket. my mom taught me how to crochet when i went home in december and i've been itching to tackle something big and awesome with my newfound skill. {yes this will probably take me all year} not even close. i crocheted 12 rows and was sick to death of it. it's just not my thing, i guess.

9. get pregnant with baby #2. this ones exciting! ok, we tried really hard to do this one. we tried to get pregnant for 6 months, and then this happened. it just wasn't meant to be this year. i have a good feeling about 2014 though!

10. go to washington, d.c. and see the smithsonian portrait gallery and lincoln memorial. i've never been and it so close. another road trip! i wish we had been able to do this one! orlando participated in a summer sports academy and then he got a great job in the fall so we never made it happen. bummer!

16. eat at momochos. a mexican restaurant in cleveland that was featured on the food network? yes please! we tried to go three times. every time, they were booked for weeks and weeks. so then i gave up. i don't like eating good food to be that much work. maybe we will squeeze it in before we leave?

18. buy a new bed {KING SIZE!} we've been sleeping on a full for 4.5 years... i think we've earned this one! too poor. maybe in 2015.

20. enjoy a white utah christmas. there's nothing better than going home for christmas. this was the plan but then my baby brother got his mission call and he leaves in january and so we are going then instead, to party and send him off right. i'm so excited!

27 THINGS: 5

5. read 27 books. 
i read so many great books this year! i'm so glad i decided to get back into reading, i remember now how much i love love love it. 

looking for a good book? this year i read:
{very favorites are bolded}

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
2. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
3. Palace of Stone (Princess Academy sequel) by Shannon Hale
4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
5. Divergent by Veronica Roth
6. The God Who Weeps by Terryl Givens
7. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
8. Christlike Parenting by Glenn Latham 
9. Teatime for the Firefly by Shona Patel 
10. The Host by Stephanie Meyer
11. Inferno by Dan Brown
12. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith/J.K. Rowling
13. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
14. Bossypants by Tina Fey
15. Matched by Ally Condie
16. Crossed by Ally Condie
17. Reached by Ally Condie
18. The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
19. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
20. Parenting with Love & Logic by Foster Cline
21. Austenland by Shannon Hale
22. The Warlock by Michael Scott (Nicholas Flamel series #5)
23. The Enchantress by Michael Scott (Nicholas Flamel series #6)
24. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
25. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
26. Daughters in My Kingdom by the LDS Church
27. Parenting the Ephriam's Child by Deborah Talmadge 

27 THINGS: 24 (WICKED!)

{i think this was one of my favorite goals of the entire year!}
24. see WICKED when it comes on broadway in december. 

months ago, a few friends and i bought tickets to see wicked when it came on cleveland's broadway. BEST IDEA EVER. and completely worth the wait. this was my first time seeing it and I LOVED EVERY SECOND! it seriously gave me chills over and over again. glinda's acting was incredible and elphaba's voice was gorgeous. if you haven't see it, you need to!

it was the perfect girl's night out to get me in a festive mood!

27 THINGS: 8, 17, 21 & 22

17. learn how to make empanadas. just another way to my man's heart.

21. do a session in the san diego temple with my sweetheart. sit on our bench in the celestial room and remember how young and silly and wonderful we felt sitting there five years ago.

22. celebrate 5 years of marriage in august with a special date night. to be planned forthwith. five years is big, peeps!

8. get back to my beach-worthy body before we go to san diego for a wedding in august. then go to the beach everyday while we are there.

checking off a few more! i got down to my goal weight right before our cali trip, woot! and we celebrated five happy years last friday and then, for the first time ever, i attempted empanadas this past weekend. they were not pretty, but OH MY they were delicious. with a little more practice, i am going to have them made to perfection!

27 THINGS: 4, 12 & 26

4. learn how to use my camera in manual mode. i've had my camera for two years now so maybe it's time i figured this out... FINALLY! i took a class online and ordered this book, which has been an AMAZING resource. i've been practicing my manual photo skills on luc and his friends, and while i'm not great yet, i'm learning! at least i finally know what aperture means...

12. fill out a mormon.org profile. i've been meaning to do this FOREVER. this took me an entire nap time to accomplish, but i'm so glad i finally did it. writing down what you believe in is amazingly good therapy. you can see my profile HERE

26. get my spice back! i'm in a bit of a postpartum funk {still!} and i want to get back to the sassy, spicy, not-quite-so-exhausted me. hopefully the sleep training we are currently doing helps? haha well the sleep training was a BUST, but the arrival of spring has done wonders for my soul. i feel energized and cheery, adventurous with a little extra sass in my step. suddenly my clothes fit better, i'm feeling sexy and fun- all i need is a little tan and i'll be good to go. YAY FOR SUNSHINE is all i have to say! welcome back, sassy lady, welcome back.

happy are we!

27 things: numbers 14 & 27

14. instigate a monthly date night with orlando. get back in our lovin' groove. we are going out {no baby} TONIGHT! we've set up a monthly babysitting swap with our friends, so we {and they} will get a monthly date night. i am seriously LOVING this. 

27. wear contacts again. now this one is just plain annoying. i hate wearing glasses but i've had this stubborn eye sore since thanksgiving and it just won't heal. i am seriously hoping it heals up soon so i can wear my contacts again and not feel like thirteen year old me anymore. well, i went to the eye doctor last week and my eyes are finally healed. no more glasses for me!

no glasses. and luc's killer smile.

27 things: number 7

7. give my blog a professional makeover. to reflect my more serious writing pursuits. it's in the works as we speak!
done and done! i'm still working on a few links and i'm building a list of sponsors {want your link on my blog? comment and we'll talk!} but so far i love it. my readership has been growing steadily and i have been wanting to get more serious with my writing, so here goes. what do you think? 
be a follower and i'll love you forever!

today we are bunkering down in our warm casa with the humidifier on full blast until my little sicky gets better.  he's a happy sicky and the snuggles are plentiful, so i'm actually really loving it. who could resist this face?!

27 THINGS TO DO WHEN I'M 27

i've been a bit wary of 2013 because it's such an unlucky number and one can't help but be nervous about these things, especially when half of ones marriage runs on premium mexican superstition.
however, despite 2013 and its attempts to scare me, my 27th year of life is going to be good, i can feel it. deep in my pancreas there's a tingling rumor floating around that life only gets better from here on out, and i'm inclined to believe it's true. {my pancreas knows these things}
to help 27 be all it can be, i've jotted down 27 things that I want to accomplish this year {in no particular order} that, if I am successful, will guarantee 2013 to win top prize.

1. go to the hill cumorah pageant. only 5 hours away from us and i've never been. this will make an awesome road trip this summer.

2. read the book of mormon all the way through by myself. its been a few years since i've read through it alone and i find myself missing a daily dose of spiritual. so this is going to be really good for me.

3. crochet a blanket. my mom taught me how to crochet when i went home in december and i've been itching to tackle something big and awesome with my newfound skill. {yes this will probably take me all year}

4. learn how to use my camera in manual mode. i've had my camera for two years now so maybe it's time i figured this out...

5. read 27 books. any suggestions?

6. buy a pool pass and take my little fishy 3x a week this summer. the independence city pool is amazing, the summer heat in our non-air conditioned apartment is unbearable, and my boy loves the water, so this is a no-brainer.

7. give my blog a professional makeover. to reflect my more serious writing pursuits. it's in the works as we speak!

8. get back to my beach-worthy body before we go to san diego for a wedding in august. then go to the beach everyday while we are there.

9. get pregnant with baby #2. this ones exciting!

10. go to washington, d.c. and see the smithsonian portrait gallery and lincoln memorial. i've never been and it so close. another road trip!

11. learn to make a killer cheesecake. it's the hubby's favorite and i want to make it better than anyone he knows. i'm always looking for new ways to seduce him ;)

12. fill out a mormon.org profile. i've been meaning to do this FOREVER.

13. find the perfect shade of red lipstick and rock it. tell me, what do you love?

14. instigate a monthly date night with orlando. get back in our lovin' groove.

15. learn spanish. i've half-spoken it long enough, it's high time i buckled down and learned it for real. like conjugating verbs for real.

16. eat at momochos. a mexican restaurant in cleveland that was featured on the food network? yes please!

17. learn how to make empanadas. just another way to my man's heart.

18. buy a new bed {KING SIZE!} we've been sleeping on a full for 4.5 years... i think we've earned this one!

19. throw a super hero birthday bash for luc's first birthday. maybe a super hero pool party? i'm already excited!

20. enjoy a white utah christmas. there's nothing better than going home for christmas.

21. do a session in the san diego temple with my sweetheart. sit on our bench in the celestial room and remember how young and silly and wonderful we felt sitting there five years ago.

22. celebrate 5 years of marriage in august with a special date night. to be planned forthwith. five years is big, peeps!

23. explore amish country, pick fresh strawberries at ridgeview farm. my mouth is watering already!

24. see WICKED when it comes on broadway in december. 

25. index 500 names. i love history, i love individual histories. i want to spend some time unearthing the histories of others while i record my own.

26. get my spice back! i'm in a bit of a postpartum funk {still!} and i want to get back to the sassy, spicy, not-quite-so-exhausted me. hopefully the sleep training we are currently doing helps?

27. wear contacts again. now this one is just plain annoying. i hate wearing glasses but i've had this stubborn eye sore since thanksgiving and it just won't heal. i am seriously hoping it heals up soon so i can wear my contacts again and not feel like thirteen year old me anymore.

2013

if one of my new years resolutions was to be on top of things, i'd have broken it already! {good thing that's not one of them} i am so behind and it's only january 6- guess that's what happens when you go on vacation for the holidays and don't look at a computer for 17 days. it sure was lovely though, being unplugged from the world and soaking up time with my family. we had a blast and i have a lot of posts and pictures coming asap. i wish i were still there with a big plate of tacos in front of my face.

i've been dragging my feet a little coming into 2013. i'm not ready for a new year already! 2012 was a huge, wonderful, tumultuous year for me- obviously, we had luc and it completely changed our lives. and the added role of mother really changed a lot of things for me, things i'd never expected, things i'd never even thought of. mothering came very naturally, but the way it affected everything else in my life was a big adjustment, a difficult adjustment. i can honestly say it was both the happiest and hardest year of my life thus far. i'm hoping 2013 is just as happy, and maybe not quite as hard?

last year my resolutions all centered around the theme of 'balance' and i'm proud to say that for the first time maybe ever, i actually did almost everything on my list {didn't learn to sew, darn!} i definitely feel like the things i did do really helped, especially during those first few months of parenthood. i'm grateful for personal revelation and my heavenly father knows what's ahead of me, because i truly feel those goals were inspired, in a big way.

this year i've decided to go with the theme of 'healthy living' and i'm hoping these goals turn out to be just as inspired as last years'.

spiritual health
1. speak more spanish at church. be brave!
2. remember daily personal prayer
3. use one scripture each month as a theme to inspire my thoughts and actions

emotional health
1. call a friend daily. connecting with others does wonders for my mood
2. meditate daily. find a little emotional peace in the tumult of the day

mental health
1. keep reading. always be in the middle of a good book
2. regular mental exercise. study something- spanish, french, art history- anything!

physical health
1. only drink water. lots and lots of water
2. no eating after 8 pm
3. eat breakfast every morning
4. pick the healthy snack. put down the cookie
5. daily exercise. i can't complain about how i look if i'm not willing to work on it
6. get to my goal weight. that's 11 pounds i need to lose!