It's a New Year

I know this isn't technically my first post of the New Year, but I'm going to treat it as such. That being said, Happy New Year! I detailed in my last post how Grant and I celebrated New Year's Eve, so I thought I would reflect back on 2011 in this post and feature the highlights of each month, in pictures of course!

2011 really was a great year--we graduated college, moved into a real apartment (real as in not a tiny, student-housing type apartment), experienced the tough job market, moved to Texas, got great jobs, traveled a bunch, and spent a lot of time with friends and family. Here are some of the highlights:

January: Las Vegas trip

February: Valentine's Day

March: St. George trip with friends

April: Graduation and One-Year Anniversary

May: Florida trip with Justin and Holly

June: My birthday!

July: Idaho Family Reunion

August: Connecticut family trip

September: Family Time! Cousin game night, dinner at Granny's, and Kolob trip

October: Halloween!

November: Thanksgiving in Connecticut

December: Grant's Birthday and Christmas in Texas

After going through all our pictures from this last year, I looked up my last year's blog post with my New Year's resolution. I'm happy to report that I completed almost all of them, and the ones I didn't get to will definitely be on my new list. Here they are:


Last Year's resolutions:

• Learn how to sew [check]
• Get straight A's [check]
• Work out 4-5 times a week [check]
• Cook more meals each week [check]
• Update the blog / write in my journal every day [not quite--but I will this year!]
• Lose ten more pounds [check--but now I need to do it again!]
• Grow my hair long [check]
• Get a real-life editing job [check]
• Be better about saving money [check]
• Find more time for craft projects and painting [check--but I still want to work on this]
• Go on lots of trips with friends [check! We took so many trips last year. Cabin trip with friends in January, Vegas trip in January, Logan trip with my sister Andrea in February, St. George trip with friends in March, Florida trip with Just and Holly in April/May, Connecticut trip with my family in August, November, and December]
• Stay in better contact with family members [check--I definitely improved with this last year, but I could always work on this so I think I'll keep it on my list]

And now that I've gone over last year's, I think it's time to post my New Year's resolutions for 2012:

• Save a substantial amount of money
• Lose fifteen pounds
• Recover a piece of furniture
• Write in my blog or journal at least once a week
• Learn how to really use my camera
• Improve my Photoshop skills and InDesign skills
• Take Anniversary photos and Christmas photos
• Go on a trip just the two of us
• Take off work and just stay home with eachother
• Cook at least two full meals a week
• Find more time to sew and do craft projects
• Focus more on spiritual things in my life
• Make friends at our new apartment complex
• Stay in better contact with family members, through emails, phone calls, and hand-written letters
• Make videos of people and places I love
• Work out 3-5 times a week
• Paint more
• Eat healthy and try to stay away from sweets
• Make an album of Grant and I's engagement, bridal, and wedding photos
• Take a picture of everyone I have contact with in 2012 (within reason, of course)

I think that's everything, although I'm sure I'll think of more to add later. This year my goals are different because I'm not in school and I'm not on the hunt for jobs. Instead, this year I really want to focus on expanding my creativity with photography, design, painting, sewing, crafting, making videos, writing, and everything else that acts as a release for me.

2011, thanks for being a great year. 2012, please be good to us!