chronicles of she

i've been meaning to write this post for the last few weeks and finally just decided to make time for it. a good handful of wonderful things are fighting for my attention every moment. every second of everyday we choose how we use our time. sleep for six hours or for nine? study for one hour or for three? tv for two hours or four? full time or part time? time with my husband or time at work? and the truth of it is that there is no one recipe for every person every day of their lives. and even if you had the pleasure of verbal input from god almighty, even god would not be able to tell you. because the way you spend your time is yours and only yours and on top of that it is the only thing you truly own.

it's an interesting thing to ponder what we choose to spend our time doing; what are our priorities and desires; that netflix improves my wellbeing; that giving up a myriad of jobs and school opportunities because sleeping in until 9am everyday is worth it to me and probably always will be; that i don't want to buy a house and have a baby, at least any time soon; that after graduation i want to travel rather than immediately pursue a career path or formerly mentioned "settling down" expectations; that i don't care to pursue the practical; that i have never felt the need to do an 'instagram/facebook/twitter/netflix/iphone fast'. it's interesting how our priorities are based on our desires, our heart's desires. how our lives come together and then fall apart in the most beautiful and unexpected ways. from where do our heart's desires actually come?

2014 will be THE year. it will be fantastic. tomorrow is always something to look forward to. tomorrow is always a new chance. i can always make tomorrow better than was today. i love to review my goals from last year and set new goals for the upcoming year. here goes!

in 2013 i hoped to:

travel to europe with jared | i threw this one out there because at the time i thought we might be doing a study abroad. hey it didn't happen, but that's what 2014 or 2015 are for.

find a fulfilling job or career path | i thought about a fulfilling career path for myself every single day of 2013; meaningful thought. and with a lot of legwork, i have made some progress.

graduate with an associate's degree | BAM! i finished the last credits i needed for an AS this fall semester and should actually receive the paper in a couple of weeks.

begin a bachelor's program | i am beginning my program at the university of utah pursuing a communications degree this semester.

send jared to bike school and tag along | we did it! jared went to bike school in october and yes, i totally tagged along. highlight of the year!

buy a vw bus and road trip to alaska or the pnw | okay, we came really close to buying a vw bus, like dropping $100 in march to have a mechanic look over a 1986 westy that we were on the brink of buying, but decided to wait to realize this dream. however, we did road trip the california and oregon coast. woohoo! 

get fishing licenses, go camping, fishing, and hiking more | we totally and completely failed at this one, but it's 100% on the list for 2014.

take a last minute trip | didn't happpen, should definitely happen this year. if it doesn't we might be robots.

go on a hot air balloon ride | i was very close to making this one happen but opted instead to pay rent and eat and things like that. this is rolling over to 2014. i'm okay with rollover goals. there is always tomorrow.

throw one epic, lavish party | this one also didn't happen, but rollover #yolo.

cook something ridiculous | i did cook quite a bit this year and kept the fridge stocked with fresh ingredients i didn't normally have on hand in the past. check.

keep a slim wardrobe, only things i love | check! i for sure did this one. it was beautiful.

keep a minimalistic home, only things we love | same here, i really fulfilled this one. we made regular trips to the thrift store, not only bringing home treasures, but consistently letting go of items we didn't need as well.

grow closer to god | we could talk about this topic for quite a while. but because i became more at peace and more at one with my understanding about the gender of God, i would say i came closer as well. i love my God.

floss consistently | i slacked on this one until like three weeks ago when i pulled through and started flossing and rinsing with mouthwash when i realized that the cracks of my teeth were starting to look yellow! i wouldn't consider myself the most vain person, but yellow teeth is usually a very easy fix and makes a smile so much nicer.

run or do yoga consistently-because i love it | this one was on and off. however, i did better toward the end of the year. i love exercise.

save sum munehz (something) | haha. LOL. i wish. this one is rolling over to 2015.

so without further ado, in 2014 i hope to:

continue to search internally for the right career path

either receive or come dangerously close to receiving a bachelor's degree

do some sort of outdoor activity every week

get fishing licenses this summer

go on a hot air balloon ride

throw an epic, lavish party

floss consistently

continue to consistently work out
one rad outdoorsy trip

do yoga once a week

have some financial savings, if nothing then something by the end of the year
cross stitch something
start to make the videos that i dream of every day