14 Things in 2014

I don't normally make any sort of resolutions at the beginning of the year. 

Either I forget about them, or I quickly burn out of trying. 

Instead I decided to make a bucket list for the new year. 

14 Things in 2014

1. Pay off at least one of our larger student loans.  11/22/14

Officially paid off my large grad school loan!
 

2. Buy a house. 
We've decided to focus on saving a lot this year and wait until next Summer. 

3. Get Kyle graduated! May 2014

4. Make a Wedding Album.  3/16/2014

It's been 2 years. I need to get on this!
Thanks to my Mother-In-Law and Shutterfly for an awesome FREE book!

5. Take more pictures!

I'm still horrible at this!
Now that I have my fancy camera I was told I have no excuse.
Plus in a few months I'll have a favorite photo subject.

6. Get a nice camera. Christmas gift!
Thanks to my brother Eric!

7. Help Kyle find a job in his field.  7/28/2014
Kyle's first day working in the graphic department of Cosmetic Solutions.

8. Use some pinterest ideas to decorate that house. 

9. Go to the beach at sunset. 

10. Go somewhere cold in the winter. 

11. Finally get through A Song of Ice and Fire Series!

Totally ditched this Series and tried Outlander instead.
Why do I pick such long series?

12. Experiment with at least one recipe a month.
January- Baked Taquitos
February- Shepherd's Pie
March- Crockpot Chicken and Noodles
April- Freezer Burritos
May- Chicken Salad
June- Broccoli Stuffed Chicken
July- Crockpot Chicken Fajitas
August- Cauliflower Mac&Cheese
September- Breaded Baked Chicken
October- Sorry October...
November- Gender Reveal Cupcakes!
December- Crockpot Chicken Noodle Casserole

13. Write at least once a month on the blog. 
Obviously I've already failed on this account. 

14. Keep up with meal planning in advance. 
3/18 Update: So far I've been planning 2 weeks at a time and doing all my shopping as well.
4/28 Update: Still going strong!
5/31 Update: Loving meal planning. 
7/28 Update: I've only been planning weekly over the summer since things constantly come up.
12/30 I did really well with meal planning, then I got pregnant.
October, November, and December have been spotty at best. Mainly because I was tired and not wanting to cook. Plus, pregnant women should not go grocery shopping. Cravings hurt your grocery budget! I really do love it and plan to get back on track now that I'm feeling more normal.

2013: The End is Just the Beginning

Today officially marks 2 years of marriage to the most wonderful man!

It seems to go so fast, and yet, looking back on this year its amazing how much has happened!

January: 

* We spent our 1st anniversary at Harry Potter World. 

* Kyle went back to school. 

* We went Strawberry picking for the first time with our niece.

 

February:

* We used our season passes to spend time at Universal with friends. 

* Spent my first Valentine's Day as a teacher.

March:

* Went to the Youth Day Parade with these cuties. 

April:

 * Celebrated my 24th birthday with a power outage. 

* Kyle built me my own computer.

May:

* Went to Legoland and Sea World to celebrate our niece's 5th birthday.
*Our niece started  losing teeth like crazy.
*Celebrated my best friend's bridal shower.
 

June:

*My first year teaching ended.
*We went on vacation with my family to the beach.
* We celebrated my best friend's bachelorette party.

July:

*Kicked off 4th of July with family.
*My best friend got married.
*Had my first Jury Duty experience.
*Visited friends in Orlando.
*Went on family vacation to Colorado.

August:

*Went back to work. 

*Official announcement my Sister-in-Law was having baby #2

September:

*Celebrated Kyle's 26th birthday. 

*Found out we were having another niece.
*Went on a family cruise. 

October:

*All about Halloween, AKA my favorite holiday.

November:

*Celebrated my cousin's wedding.
*Celebrated Thanksgiving. 

December:

*Bought a tree!
*Celebrated Pajama Day at school. 

          *Celebrated 4 Christmases, our own, my family, Kyle's family, and Kyle's extended family.

* Tonight I get to ring in the new year with the love of my life, celebrating our marriage.

Looking forward to all that 2014 will bring. 

What are you most looking forward to?

High Five for Friday Halloween Edition

I have to tell you, I absolutely love Halloween. 

I mean, as a kid, what's not to love? 

You get to dress up and get free candy, plus all those "Harvest Festivals" at church!

The older I got, the better it seemed to get. 

My super creative mom decided to start decorating a Halloween tree. 

It is one of my favorite traditions to this day and I love that she still does it even though all us kids are out of the house. 

In college, Halloween meant the Florida/Georgia Game. 

Not to mention that little engagement that happened Halloween weekend not too far back. 

 

1. Kyle and I were Superhero ready for Trunk of Treat this weekend!
It was a lot of fun, especially because we never get any trick-or-treaters at our place!

 

   

2. I learned how to arm knit this week and made this scarf. 

This will probably end up as a gift for lots of people this Christmas, sorry I'm not sorry.   

3. One of my wonderful parents designed this for our Halloween Party today!
It was probably the best cupcake cake I've seen!

As I passing out the cupcakes, one of my students asked, "Who made the cupcakes?"
Me: "Our room mom brought them."
Her response: "I know she brought them, but who actually made them?"

Oh five year olds!

 

   
4. Halloween Costumes!
The top group is the K team. Of course we would be the group that all dressed up!

 
5. Mission Planning
At the end of the day, one of the other teachers sent me this picture.
She had captioned it, "Superwoman and Batwoman planning their next mission."

Cruisin'

In September, we took off on a long weekend to celebrate Kyle and my brother-in-law's birthdays.

It was a great trip to get away for a few days. 

It was extremely weird to think that at that time the previous year I started my first day of work. 

 I am so thankful for the difference a year makes. 

We spent the trip relaxing.