[.Resolutions 2011.]

Looking back on this last year I was able to cross some things off my list! 

 Some of them I did not cross off because I feel like I could still work on them.  So I will be putting them on my new list for this next year.  I felt that I did try and focus more on others this year but I would still like to make that part of my daily life.  Our "strong emergency savings" is our down payment on a house one day, but until that day we will use it for emergency.  Obviously I can always work on keeping the house clean.  Now that we have moved I feel like I want to keep it clean more often.

(Not sure if that's only cause it's "new" to us, but we'll see if it stays that way)

I can always be more organized.  Although the calendar I made us last year has seemed to have worked quite well this past year.  I'm pretty sure every month is almost packed full!  I don't know if you would consider Las Vegas, Cali, Jackson or the sand dunes anywhere different so I'm not crossing that one off yet.  By different I mean, New York or Europe for goodness sake!  I haven't felt any more spiritual than I normally do besides the fact that I try and go to the temple more often.  Thinking about it now, I bet that will change once Jake leaves.  I can always push myself to succeed, but I also feel like if I set higher expectations I will be more likely to reach those higher expectations.  Then of course, I did enjoy 2010.  

At the end of last year I filled out these questions and want to do it again for this last year.  So, here it goes.

What did you do in 2010 that you have never done before?

I taught in the nursery AND in young womens.

Began cutting Lance's hair on our own:)

Anti-gravity Yoga!

Rode on the back of OUR motorcycle with Lance

and

Made a bucket list for my first time ever.

Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions and will you make more for 2010?

Well, I kept most of them and I will always make more.

 What countries did you visit this year?

The US and that's about it.

What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

.More love for certain people in my life.

.More down time.

and

.A better relationship with my Savior.

What day will be etched in your memory and why?

There are plenty!  There are good days that I will  never forget and there are bad days that I hope someday to forget.

I will always remember the day Jake got his endowments taken out and although  this was recent I will always remember his farewell talk.

What was your biggest struggle this year?

Being able to let go of a few things people have done to hurt the ones I love.

What was your biggest achievement this year? 

Having our car 1/2 way paid off!

What was the best thing you bought this year? 

A freaking washer and dryer!!!

Whose behavior merited celebration?

I'll be cheesy for a minute and choose Lance.  He really does try his best to make me happy:)

Where did most of your money go? 

Still going towards rent, car payment, and flippin tuition!

What did you get really excited about this year? 
Going on all our vacations.  Cali and Vegas I COULD NOT WAIT FOR because it meant I could take a break from summer semester!

What songs will remind you of 2009?

Well... Double rainbow and Bed Intruder obviously haha

but on a more serious note

The Gambler by fun

Cooler than me

Listomania

Bottoms Up

 and

a song that totally pumps me up

Compared to last year, are you: much happier, much nicer, or richer? 

Happier and hopefully nicer, I'm hoping one day to be richer but I'm happy with what I have.

What do you wish you had done more of? 
Crafts.  One day...

What do you wish you had done less of? 
Being busy.. Is that an option!?

Did you fall in love this year? 
I fell in love with LOST.

I fell in love with exercising and eating right.

I fell in love with frozen yogurt.

And I fall more and more in love with Lance every day.


What was your favorite television program of 2009? 
Still Biggest Loser :]

What was your greatest musical discovery this year?

Angus and Julia Stone

What did you want and get this year?

A friends vacation - I'm hoping next year is a camera ;)

What was the best movie you saw this year? 
Easy A was freakin hilarious.

I loved Dear John and Eat. Pray. Love.

What did you do for your birthday and how old did you turn?

Went to Applebee's and I turned 22.  Not quite as exciting as the year before haha

What would have made your year more satisfying?
As always, to have more time in our day.


How would you describe your personal fashion statement this year? 
 Jeans and a normal shirt, nothin' to fancy.  I only dress up on occasion but I am normally wearing heels.  My husband is foot taller than me:)

What kept you sane this year?
Faith.  It always keeps me going knowing that things will be okay and turn out how they are supposed to.  It's normally one thing after the other so if I didn't trust that it'd be okay, I probably wouldn't be okay.

What celebrity did you fancy most this year? 
Same as last...

Oh, channing for sure!  When doesn't he fancy me! ;) okay..and Taylor Lautner.

Who did you miss this year?
My mom...

Who were the best new people you met this year?
I'd hafta say Josie.

What is a valuable lesson you learned this year? 

I've learned many lessons this year and sure I will just keep learning more.
I know that everything happens for a reason, and the Lord knows exactly what he's doing.  You can't control life, you can only live it.  You cannot appreciate the good in life without having the bad.  Happiness is a choice.  Don't let failure go to your heart, and don't let success go to your head.  The truth always comes out, so you might as well start with it from the beginning.  And, people are gonna talk, so give them something to talk about.

.My Resolutions for 2011.

focus more on others

establish a stronger emergency savings

keep the house clean

"don't just set it down, put it away"

be more organized

go somewhere different

cook home made meals

attend the temple once a month

{communicate with my Father in Heaven daily}

study the gospel rather than just on Sundays

create a photography business

(website is almost finished:])

GRADUATE COLLEGE

convince lance we need a pup

do a random act of service once a month

maintain a healthy life[style]

Let's see how many we can cross off next year!!

Happy New Year every one!!

[.'alu a.]

That's how you say goodbye in Tongan!


Besides Jake's birthday being on Sunday, it was also his farewell.  I prepared myself before hand and brought some tissues.  Don't worry I did fine!!  Didn't even need the tissues!  Until he read the poem at the end....  Oh heck Jake! You got me, you made me cry.  He hasn't even left yet, so we'll see what next Wednesday brings.  Jake's friend Landon and his mom were nice enough to let us have the refreshments at their house after Sacrament.  Lots of people showed up to show their love and support for him.


The alarm rings at 6:30; I stumble to my feet. 
I grab my companion's bedding and pull off his sheet. 
A groan fills the room, is it already time to arise? 
It seems like just a second ago I was able to shut my eyes. 

The morning activities follow - study, prayer, and such. 
When it's time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much. 
"We have a super day planned," my comp says with a grin. 
I lowly utter a faithless breath, "Yeah, if anyone lets us in." 

With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street 
Prepared to face another day of humidity and heat. 
It's 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through; 
My companion and I are riding home, not accomplishing what we thought to do. 

We ride up to the mailbox, hoping to receive a lot. 
Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate "Air Box." 
We go up to our apartment, the day is now complete. 
The only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet. 

It's past 10:30 PM, my companion is fast asleep. 
Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep. 
In the midst of sadness, I kneel down to pray; 
I need to talk to Father, but I'm not sure what to say. 

"Oh, Father," I begin, "What happened to us today? 
I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away. 
My hands, my aching hands - worn, hurt and beat; 
If our area was any smaller, we'd have knocked every street." 

"Why on missions are the days so much alike? 
The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike. 
Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me. 
I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes; It's very hard to see." 

"Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't your protection enough? 
People always laugh at me and call me stupid stuff. 
Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack; 
I want to give them Books of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back." 

"And what about my family? They don't have much to say, 
I'm sick of not hearing from home, day after day after day. 
Oh Father, why am I here, am I just wasting time? 
Sometimes I just want to go home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind." 

"My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me? 
The way he rides his bicycle, I don't think he can see. 
Now you have it, I can't go on, I don't know what to do; 
That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I have for You." 

My prayer now finished I stand up, then jump right into bed. 
I need my rest for tomorrow; we have another long day ahead. 
Sleep starts to overtake me, I seem to drift away, 
Then it seems a vision takes me to another time and another day. 

I'm standing alone on the hill, the view is very nice; 
A man walks towards me and says, "My name is Jesus Christ." 
Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet, 
"Arise," He states, "Follow Me to the shade - you and I need to speak." 

My attention's toward the Savior, total and complete. 
He says, "Your mission is similar of what happened to Me, 
I understand how you feel, I know what you're going through; 
In fact it would be fair to say I've felt the same as you." 

"I even know how you felt when no one listened to you. 
At times I felt not quite sure what else I could do. 
I know you don't like to ride a bicycle, for you a car would be sweet; 
Just remember the donkey I rode wasn't equipped with 21 speeds." 

"I understand you don't like sweating, in fact it's something you hate; 
I remember when I sweat blood from every pore, oh the agony was great! 
I see you don't like your companion - you'd rather have someone else. 
I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth." 

"It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you. 
I remember when they put thorns on my head and called me King of the Jews. 
So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack. 
I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back." 

"Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day. 
I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way. 
It's hard not to hear from home when your family's not there to see; 
I lost my communication on the cross and cried, "Father, why hast Thou forsaken Me." 

He embraced me with His arms, His light filled me with His love, 
With tears in my eyes I watched as He went back to the Father above. 
I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head, 
I listened and heard the alarm, then realized I was in my bed. 

My companion let out a groan, "6:30 already, no way!" 
I sat up and said, "Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today!" 
No matter what we go through, when we feel we can't take more, 
Just stop and think about Jesus Christ, He has been there before. 

the epitome of the two of us

 



you'd think he wants to leave or something

[.all I got for Christmas was something tall, cuddly and handsome with a temptingly sweet center.]

Moving into a new apartment this month and Lance going back to school, we decided not to get each other anything this year for Christmas, but will possibly do something next month:) When the bills aren't so strong and we wouldn't have to dig out of our savings account.  So that being said, we decided to count our new place and washer and dryer as our Christmas present!  It was kinda funny though, the morning of Christmas Eve I came home to pick up Lance to go to his parents house.  He was taking a little longer than normal as I was out waiting in the car.  He came running out to the car and had a grin on his face.  I knew something was up, so as we drove off he said, "Sorry, I had to hurry and stuff your stocking!"  I felt a little bad I hadn't got anything to put in his, but still felt happy that he did something for me.  He's too cute sometimes.
We made it to his parents house to spend the day with them.  Later on we spent the evening bowling.  Claire was too cute, jumping up and down every time the ball would roll down to the pins.  She'd also walk around pretending to pout to try and get the boys attention.  It was pretty cute.  Afterwards we went back to the house to have lasagna for dinner, exchange gifts and play with our presents.

 

The night wasn't quite over for us, we still had to go to my dad's.  We arrived about 11-ish and exchanged gifts with the siblings.  Neither Jake or I have been to my dad's house on Christmas morning in years.  So this year we decided was his year.


We woke up to french toast, bacon and presents.

.typical.

This is how Lance celebrates Christmas.


We went over to my Grandma and Grandpa Rose's to visit them for a while.  I felt so bad for them.  The day before, their new Tahoe had been stolen out of their garage.  It had their wallet with gift cards, their camera, garage opener and other things in there.  What a wonderful way to enjoy the holidays!  Yet they are still so willing to give on Christmas.  I wish I could give them something that nice back in return.


Afterwards we went over to Kevin's to spend some time there, and exchanged gifts with those siblings.  Are you confused as to which siblings I'm ever with!?  We have so many :]


Lastly Lance and I went over to my mom's house.  We opened a few presents there and then basically watched Jake open gift after gift for his mission, all while listening to Tongan Chants!


Once we went home I went through my stocking that Lance had stuffed.  There I found some girly stuff to pamper myself a bit!


Thanks everyone for helping contribute to some hot dates Lance and I will be having in the future:)  We hope you all enjoyed spending Christmas with loved ones!

[.pick-a-tures.]

My best friend Brit was nice enough to take some family photos for us while my sister and her family were in town for Christmas.
Ty was a little uncooperative but I still think some turned out okay.  He actually did really good when it was the boys turn for a picture, and then he gave Brit one last final picture!  Too bad he had his coat on!


We went up to the Capital and here is how it went!

I think he finally started to like me this time around.  All I had to do was give him a Christmas present! :)

Sometimes she really is cute!

Basically Tyden wanted nothing to do with pictures.  So he'd fake asleep every time we'd ask him to take a picture.

Thank you Brit! :)


My mom wanted some pictures as well, so I thought it'd be fun to do my own photos hoot.  Since I would have to be in the pictures I asked Jenna if she would be so kind to take some for us and I would do the editing.

Instead of faking asleep this time, Ty would either throw his hands in the air or give us the duck face!

  

And just for fun...

And thank you Jenna:)

[.test tube baby.]

Tuesday night we went over to Doug and Britt's house to have a Christmas party with a couple friends.  Andy and Jill were there and another couple Scott and Rachel.  Remember my Brownie Batter Cupcakes I was planning to make?  The really pretty ones that sounded oh so yummy?  Well... uh, mine didn't look like that.  More like cow pies with a big scoop taken out of the middle.  Why do I have this sorta luck!?  Well, I felt bad but I still brought them.  And they actually tasted quite yummy.  Lance laughed at me and joked that I thought the second round would be better.  Nope, exactly the same.  Hmph...  Anyway, I seriously had not laughed so hard in a while.  We switched white elephant gifts, watched Tosh.O then spent most of the night playing Catch Phrase.  Guess what everyone!?  I think I found a game the hubby enjoys!!  He actually said, and I will quote it, "I like this game!"  My jaw seriously dropped!  I looked at him and asked him to please say it again.  My favorite part of this whole game was when it was Doug's turn to explain his phrase.  He tried explaining it throughout the entire time until the buzzer went off.  The second the buzzer went off Doug jokingly yelled out, "Lance is one!!!"  So I took a wild guess and shouted, "TEST TUBE BABY!!!!"  He looked at me like no way and showed me the phrase which read test tube baby.  Just to top it off, his wife Brit looked at me so seriously and said, "LANCE IS ONE!?!?!?"
hahahahaha
It was so cute and funny.  Believe me there were many many more times like this during the night.
By the way, if you are sitting next to Lance then his team is SURE to get the point!  He looks at the word and sighs, like "WTH does that mean!?" then tries to explain in one sentence, and if you don't get it within that one sentence he looks at you like you're an idiot, but in a loving way of course:]
Next time, we won't need a holiday to have a party.  We'll make it a ritual!

[.Dear Santa, they made me do it. I swear.]

Been pretty busy around here lately, but what's new!?  We woke up Saturday morning to go to the Hamblin breakfast Christmas party that started at 9:00am.  I tried to wake Lance up in time for us to leave, but we all know how men are;)  He went out to shovel our walking pathway to the car, and we were on our way.  It was SO icy!  Basically, we probably could have ran there faster.  We got to Kevin's house, I did Brooky's hair then hurried to the church.  We ate yummy food and hurried off to have some family pictures taken.


Pics to be posted soon:]


Pictures went pretty well for the most part.  Ty was a little difficult, but other than that I'm hoping we got some good ones!  Once pictures were finished, we went to arby's for lunch then the boys went home (except Jake) to watch the football game while the girls went to finish some last minute Christmas shopping.  We ended up getting back home around 4:30.  I was pretty much pooped, and my feet were killing me!  Why would I go shopping in heels!?  I made some grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for everyone for dinner ( I go all out, I know!) then all I wanted to do was sit down and relax.  Brooke was pretending to be completely exhausted and went to lay on Lance's lap.  As soon as I mentioned the words, "Brooke, want to make the gingerbread house with me?" she hopped right up and all a sudden had all the energy in the world, yelling, "Yeah, yeah, YEAH".
After about 45 minutes, here is our almost finished product!  We added ice cycles hanging from the roof afterwards.

It was my idea to make a snowman with the remaining fondant, it was Brooke's idea to give him a beanie!  It looks more like a painters hat to me.
haha

It was our ward Christmas program in Sacrament meeting on Sunday.  I swear our new ward reminds me so much of my Fruit Heights ward.  Normally I'm used to all the primary children singing for the program, but this time it was all the adults.  They have at least 50 people in the choir!  Is that crazy or what!?  This sacrament ended up lasting a whole hour and a half!  It got a little exhausting, but I really did enjoy it!  A certain reason I am reminded of the Fruit Heights ward is because, not only is the ward choir ginormous, but they have the organist involved, two piano players, and a violinist.  All they needed was the flute and it would have been complete.  I haven't really felt to "Christmas-y" yet this year, so that program was a good jump start to get me in the spirit.  After church, we went to take our friends Doug and Brit their Christmas present.  On our way out the door I ran into our new friend.  This is Scout, the pup that belongs to the people living above us.  Like children, it's nice when you can play with them when they are cute, then you can give them back to the parents when they cry or poop.  He sits by our door to say hi when we come home, and I think he is cute!  So, for  now I've decided, who needs a new pup to buy and care for, when I can just play with one for free!?

It sorta looks like I'm holding him down, but I promise I'm just petting him:]

[.a few updates.]

Here are a few things we've been up to lately.


We finished LOST!

I'm actually pretty sad about this.  I miss it already and I even still catch myself saying things like, "Hey, look!  There is Sayid!"  I really loved this series, I felt like there were a lot of life's lessons that were learned.




I've been baking!!

The first Sunday at our new place our friends Doug and Brit came over for dinner.  Lance wanted to do our normal hamburgers and hot dogs, but I needed an excuse to make Jenny's awesome bread sticks!  So instead I insisted that we have spaghetti and salad, just so I could make these!!  They probably weren't as amazing as Jenny's but they were good for my first time!  Wanna hear something ironic, my grandma gave me the assignment to bring 2 dozen breaksticks and 2 dozen cookies to the Christmas party next Tuesday.  Looks like I'll be making these again shortly!  Instead of the cookies I was going to try and make my brownie batter cupcakes, but  Jenna and I made these the other night, so I may bring them instead, because they were oh so yummy!

We've also gone to a few Jazz games!  Well, only one together, but still.  Jake invited Lance to go a while back, Chad gave me tickets and Lance invited Matt to go, then Jacinda invited me to go last Monday, so finally it was our turn to go together!  Although we did end up meeting Jacinda and her fiancée Matt anyway at half time.

My Gma and Gpa Neilson had received tickets from an old friend, but since they are such incredible grandparents they called us to see if we would enjoy them!  They were lower bowl tickets so there was no way I was turning them down.  I asked Paces off immediately, and luckily there was a girl who was sweet enough to work a double for me!  I definitely owe her one!


You aint got nothing on D-Will dude!

I checked my final grades:)

For as tough as this semester was, hey I'm proud of these grades!

Thinking about it, and I will be graduated 1 year from last Friday!  I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel!  It may be faint, but it's still there!  My sister Mandy just graduated and I'm sure it feels wonderful!  I'm totally jealous!  I'm already thinking about all the things I want as my graduation present!

this, this, this, and this:)

Ha I wish!

Speaking of which, Lance and I are both registered for next semester.  Feels good to have that taken care of!

Two rent payments, two tuition payments, double car payment, normal bills and oh yeah, Christmas!  Anyone care if they only get a dollar for Christmas!?

Last night we went to see the ZooLights with Kevin, Ty, Brooke, Jake and Jenna.

.love this.

Since the train wasn't up and running we all rode the carousel instead.  You just know this was Lance's favorite part of the night!

Can't you tell!?

Brooke thought it was pretty cool to hold a reindeer antler!

My favorite part of the zoo are the elephants but they weren't out so this was as close as we got!

Jake and Jenna came a little bit later and we met up at the tigers.  Seriously they were so cool!  There were four tigers walking across the bridge over all our heads.  I wish I could have gotten better pictures!

I'm not quite sure what Kevin was thinking but he'd take the branch from the tree and swish it up against the fence.  Luckily this time they were more playful than mad. 

Sometimes I really wish I could have a tiger to sleep with at nights.  I think they'd be so cuddly.  Besides when it came down to the fact that it was hungry.

Of course Lance has to get some "grabbage".

At about this point we were ready to go home.

Now we get to go see Temple Square lights tonight.  It'll be exceptionally freezing, but should be fun!  Always is when you're with the Fischers!