Love for 2012. Hope for 2013.

1// 2012 was definitely a year of airports. Between visiting Michigan and traveling to Dallas for the ministry, I was in some airport or another at least 1-2 times a month!
2// My roommate in Texas' dog, Chica! I miss that little mexican baby.
3// When Matt proposed to me at the same place we'd had our first Texan date.
4// Texas. The sky is bigger, the meals are bigger, everything is just bigger in Texas. And I miss it.
5// One of our engagement pics from one of our two engagement shoots. I photographed both of them! Each shoot took 3+ hours but saved us a ton of money! :)
6// Me at my bridal shower with my friend Alyse, who threw it for me!
7// Me taking photos when I'd just about reached my goal weight for the wedding this past September. Such an incredible feeling!
8// Me marrying my prince. The most beautiful and perfect day of my entire life.

For some reason, New Years doesn't usually strike me as a special time to start changing myself. Probably because I'm constantly putting changes in my life into motion. Nothing irritates me more than stagnancy or wasting time, so I'm constantly evaluating myself. If anything, I want a new year to be a time where I recognize the good things that happened that past year and applaud myself for my accomplishments. Positive self thoughts are more motivating than negative self thoughts, so I thought I'd start this thing off with:

a few accomplishments of mine from this year...

...completing my first year of ministry school. Looking forward to going back for my second and final year one day, but I'm trusting God's timing!

...successfully living on my own for the first time. In Texas, 1400 miles away from my parents and everything I've ever known. And without ever being late on a bill or going hungry!

...losing 20+ pounds. I've been at least a little overweight for most of my life, my top weight being about 50 pounds heavier than I am right now, but let me say, these 20 pounds this year did not come off without a fight. I worked hard. And I'm proud.

...marrying the man of my dreams. I've only been married about 3 1/2 months but they've honestly been the greatest months of my life. Not because I'm drunk in love (even though I am) but because I can't believe God gave me the gift and privilege of being this man's wife.

...started a blog. Seriously, even if this is a pathetic accomplishment, it's a big accomplishment for me. I've wanted to do this for a couple years but was afraid to. Afraid I didn't have anything worth sharing, afraid the blog would flop or be unsuccessful (I don't even know what a successful blog is!) or that I'd get discouraged. So I let my own fears stop me from doing something I wanted to do. Until this year! With the encouragement of my husband (who believes that every good dream is worth pursuing), I started this blog at the end of November and never looked back! 

and a few goals for 2013...

...continue reaching health and fitness goals. Having experienced what it feels like to be a healthy weight and living a lifestyle of eating well & working out, I only want to press further into it! I still have a few pounds I'd like to trim off, and a ton of toning to work on! Also, I eat very well about 75% of the time, but the 25% that I don't reallllly kicks me in the butt later. I can barely stomach anything greasy, creamy or sugary when I eat just a smidgen too much. So I'd like to gain better balance, and make sure I'm getting enough water! That one is always so hard for me!

...continue learning how to be a good wife. When I married Matt, I swore before him and our family and God that I'd be the best wife I can be, and I by no means believe that I have arrived anywhere close to that yet! Matt is the sweetest, most generous, caring and selfless individual that I've ever met in my life, and to be the kind of wife he deserves is always my goal!

...continue growing my relationship with God. This is a never-ending goal that will never be totally accomplished, because you can never reach the end with knowing God. So this goal is a give-in. :)

...better manage my time. Another seemingly never-ending goal. I feel like I never have enough time in a day! I can be good at time management, but I tend to want 100% of my free time to be spent watching everything on the DVR, and 0% of my free time to be spent cleaning or reading or doing something else productive with my time. I'm sure that within the next few years, I'm going to have a baby or something, and I'm going to miss the days where I only worked 3 days a week, and my only responsibility other than keeping my husband alive was a blog on the Internet. I don't want to waste this time in my life!

...become more positive and optimistic. It's very natural for me to assume the worst, believe that the best-case-scenario is impossible, and that everything is falling apart. I have to fight these feelings daily! And I want to live my life purposely setting out to believe the best case scenario, to have hope, and to not stress out over everything! My husband seems to live in this blissful little world of Nothing Bad Ever Happens. I used to think this was very naive and childish, but living that way is a paradise. My husband is never stressed! It seems like his positive attitude attracts goodness and success. And when the bad does come... it's not that bad!

I know these are just descriptive goals and not action plans, but I do have plans of action for each of these steps! I'm just not, you know, posting them on the Internet for the entire world to see. :)

So I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season and are spending time reflecting on what a fantastic year you've had. Cheers to 2013!