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| In case you were curious, here is one of the first photos I took of Rose in 2019... |
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| And here is a photo of her at the end of the year. Can you believe how much she has grown!? |
1. What did you do on your birthday, and how old did you turn?
I think I've reached that age where you have to start thinking about how old you are and it sounds weird every time. This year I turned 24 and it seems like the wrong age every time I say it. Before my birthday this year I got together with some friends and hosted a small "garden" party inside my living room. It wasn't technically a birthday party, but one of my other friends has a birthday earlier in April so I thought it would be fun for us to get together and have a party. It was too cold that day, so we had it inside but we had lemonade, sandwiches, yummy cake, and dressed up in garden party attire.
On the day of my birthday, Ryan got me a bouquet of flowers, some succulents (which unfortunately didn't survive past the summer, chocolate, and we drove to Salt Lake. We were hoping to see the baby animals at This Is The Place Heritage Park, but we got stuck in some freak traffic and what should have taken 45 minutes took 3 hours! We didn't have enough time so we went to Temple Square to look at all the tulips instead. (And I'll just have you know that those tulips are MUCH more impressive than the tulips at Thanksgiving Point, so I would suggest saving your money and going to Temple Square if you ever want to see pretty flowers in April.)
2. What are your strongest memories from this year and why?
I know that we did a lot this year, but when I think of this year the strongest memories I have are of watching Rose grow. Motherhood is a little bit on the monotonous and not always exciting side, and it's hard to explain, but it's also so rewarding and fun at the same time. Rose is a little person with her own personality and watching that develop day to day is so enjoyable. I feel like I spent a LOT of time being a mother this year.
3. What did you do this year that you had never done before?
I technically started my job at Heritage Community at the end of 2018, but I stuck with it for the entire year of 2019 (except for the last week). I worked from 10 pm until 6 am (4:30 am when I had morning sickness) 3 nights a week while also being a stay at home mom during the day. I've always been a night owl, but staying up all night only to go home to a baby that wanted my attention during the day was kind of rough for me and it's definitely not something I had ever experienced before. It worked out fine and I am blessed with the best daughter in the whole world (who was happy to stay in her crib until 10 or 11 in the morning most days after I got home from work so I could sleep). And I am happy to say that I worked my last night shift on December 21st, so this year I'll be sleeping through the night every night... at least until baby 2 comes.
4. What did you want and not get?
This will probably be my answer for the next 10 years at least, but honestly, the only thing I didn't get this year that I did want more of was time with Ryan. I know that just about everyone goes through this stage early on in marriage when school and work and kids take up all of your time, and it's just something that I have to deal with and make the most of the little bursts of time that we do get. But I dream of the day that Ryan finishes up school so that his only responsibility is one job and then the rest of his time gets to belong to us. :)
5. What did you want and get?
A washer and dryer! <3 <3 <3 Rose and I have been going to the laundromat for a year and when we moved into this new place it came with a washer and dryer (which was the main reason we decided to move, because going to the laundromat with TWO babies sounds like literal h-e-double hockey sticks.)
6. What would you like to have next year that you didn't have this year?
My number one personal goal this year is to be intentional with my time. Working 3 nights a week made it really difficult to have a consistent schedule for me and for Rose. Now that I will be a full time stay at home mom, what I want is to have a daily schedule where I am intentional with my time so I can treat myself better, be a better mom, and be a better wife and friend. I'm going to get up earlier, get Rose up earlier, read my scriptures every day, and Rose and I are going to get out of the house more. We're also going to start making dinner again. And we're going to be social!
7. Did you keep your New Years resolutions and will you make more for next year?
Last years goals were:
- Learn about and begin investing money --> we started off pretty good by opening up a Roth IRA, but then we realized it is more complicated than just putting money into an account, so that goal has been extended to 2020 with more details and mini goals.
- Go on a date with Ryan twice a month --> I was not very intentional in 2019 and so I feel like we went on dates this year, but I definitely don't think it was very consistent, we probably went on more like one date a month.
- Go to the temple with Ryan at least once a month --> Same with the dates, this goal probably happened about half as many times as we were shooting for.
- Exercise, any way you can --> Ryan and I got memberships to the Provo Rec Center and I did super good at going over the summer. The child care is only $20 a month, and I used it big time so that I could work out without a baby around, but morning sickness kind of put a damper on my ability to workout, so I haven't been exercising since August and now I'm a wimp.
- Be more present with Ryan and Rose (use social media less) --> my addiction to Instagram only got worse throughout the year, so I will be working on this one again in 2020.
8. What was your biggest achievement this year?
Keeping Rose alive another year? I didn't really accomplish anything huge or substantial this year (not like 2018 when I graduated college and had a baby. That was a big year!) I did develop my photography business a little bit more, and I had more photography jobs this year then ever before.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I like what I said last year: "I don't like this question because there are so many things that I am not good at and so many flaws that I have, but I would only be a failure if I gave up, and that's just not what I do. I think the biggest mistake I made this year would be spending too much time on my phone and not enough time reaching outside myself to serve others."
And I think I will probably be working on spending less time on my phone and spending more time reaching outside myself to serve others for the rest of my life, so I'm just going to say that my answer is the same.
10. What did you rely on when you were overwhelmed?
This year I studied the scriptures more consistently than I have ever done before (except for as a missionary) and I have to say that it has really been amazing to me the power I have drawn from that. I feel so much closer to the Savior and the Spirit and it has really brought a lot of peace and strength into my life. I don't feel like I've had too many trials this year, but the burdens that I have felt, feel much lighter than I think they would if I didn't have the gospel in my life.
I would also be lying if I didn't say that I use Instagram and reading books as a nice escapism route when I'm feeling overwhelmed as well. Nobody's perfect. :)
11. What are your strongest recommendations for entertainment this year?
This year Ryan and I have enjoyed watching the tv shows: Friends, Monk, Psych, and New Girl.
I also had lots of time to read while working nights and my favorite books have been:
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
Pretty much any book by Sophie Kinsella
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah
This is Where You Belong: Finding Home Wherever You Are by Melody Warnick
12. What song will remind you of this year?
I can't think of a defining song that I've listened to this year. But I did cry while singing I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day in sacrament meeting at church around Christmas time. I love singing it and I wish I could make it through the song without crying so that I actually COULD sing it but it just gets me every year. Here are the two verses that stand out to me:
"And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is No peace on earth," I said,
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
"Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."
I didn't mean to get so preachy, sorry about that! But this is the song that has stood out to me the most recently, so there you go.
13. What was your most enjoyable purchase?
This will go into the next question, but we went on several super fun trips this year and that was way more enjoyable to spend money on than any material objects we got.
14. Did you travel? If so, where?
One of our family goals this year was to travel more and to take advantage of only having one kid rather than a whole van full and we totally knocked that goal out of the park!
In February, Ryan and I took a mini getaway to Salt Lake City for our 2 year anniversary.
In March, we took a road trip with our friends Nate and Erynn to San Diego, California. On that trip we visited Old Town, The San Diego Zoo, the beach, and ate super delicious mexican food and sea food. It was probably one of my most favorite vacations ever.
In June, we had a camping trip to Goblin Valley with Ryan's family where we had a bunch of fun playing hide and seek among the mushroom like rocks.
In July, Ryan's entire extended family had a family reunion to Mt. Carmel Junction which is near Zion National Park. We went on a hike to see an amazing view of Zion (Observation Point), we hiked the Narrows, we sledded down some sand dunes, and we played lots of card games. 
In August, Ryan and I took another mini one night getaway with just the two of us to Heber City where we stayed in a historic bed and breakfast, walked around Park City, and went to the Midway Crater.
In October, Rose and I flew to Texas with some amazing flight deals and stayed with my parents in Round Rock. I let my dad make me breakfast every morning, I pestered my little brother Carson and Rose learned how to be a pest to him too, and my mom and I took a trip to Waco to visit Magnolia and a few other fun shops in the area. I also finally made it to Buccees, the biggest gas station/convenience store I've ever seen (Everything's bigger in Texas.) I also went to Chuy's because they have delicious chips and jalapeno ranch dip, and Thai Spoon because they have my very favorite coconut ice cream and sweet rice dessert in the whole world and I've been missing it.
At the end of December, we had my family's first reunion with just my siblings, parents, and any additions to the family (a husband and baby for me, and a wife for my brother). We rented a house in La Verkin, UT near Zion National Park. It was a little chilly and we are all from the south so we didn't do too many outdoorsy things, but we did do one hike in Red Cliffs, and my dad took anyone that wanted to go on a bike ride through Zion. We also ate lots of good food, celebrated the new year, and played games.
I can't wait to see what this next year holds in store for us. I don't know what it's like to have 2 kids, so I'm trying to just let the year come and we'll see how it goes. I'm sure it will be wonderful. :)
Some more random and very accurate 2019 statistics for fun:
- # of times throwing up: too many to count but Ryan and I both got the stomach flu twice, Rose got the stomach flu once, and I had morning sickness for 3 months and threw up consistently every Tuesday for that whole time, and Rose threw up one other time right before we moved.
- States we visited (or drove through): 7 (Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Nevada, California)
- Pounds of food swept off the floor: 37141565484131564512316451313 #lifewithatoddler
- Number of laundromat visits: Probably about 35 (sooooo many wasted quarters.)
- Hours spent in the car: a million
- Sleepless nights: 150
- Books read: 78
- Board books read: 100
- Times reading Rose's favorite book "Stuck": 456612315893218956113156494913
- Large containers of Nesquick Chocolate Milk gone through: 15 probably
- Gallons of milk drunk: At least 120 (I didn't actually count, but this is actually a realistic estimation.)
- Apartments lived in: 2
- Camping Trips: 2 1/2
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