I make up holidays...

 I make up holidays. I just like to party, I like making a big deal out of  little special things and making memories from the smallest days of significance.

 My mom will even tell you it drover her crazy my last year of high school. I would always say things like, "Mom, you have to let me go, this is the last time I can go to a party on a Thursday with my hair down." or "Mom, this is the last time I'll be able to eat at this restaurant for the first time."

Everything was something to celebrate.

2015 and I'm still making up holidays, like "Chads first day of his last semester in is bachelors degree"

This holiday however, is somewhat traditional. Ever since we started college, I've been taking our pictures at the first day of the semester. Not because i thought we'd look different by the end of the three month semester, but because I didn't want to forget the excitement we felt in the new beginnings of a fresh semester. New teachers, peers and subjects to explore. One step closer to our goals.


We've loved having Chad home the past few weeks so i knew today would be hard for Liam and I to have less time with our favorite guy but Chad woke up early and spent lots of time with us. After scriptures and prayers, I got breakfast ready while Chad and Liam had some bonding time.

 I walked into the bathroom to see Liam longingly staring at his dad, his hero, brushing his teeth. Liam looks up to his dad so much already, everything his does is hilarious and every time he's scared, its dad who can fix it! Chad is so patient and loving with Liam. Chad and I get so much joy from watching Liam learn and teaching him new things. So when he reached for Chads toothbrush, Chad promptly offered to brush his two darling little teeth. Liam loved it.

 I have a feeling this will become a daily ritual with these two. A family who brushes their teeth together, stay together....or something like that.

I forced Chad to stand up straight and take a "first day of school" photo as I always do, but this time, we had a little photo prop join him.

Aww!

 Its still hard to believe that we are a very short 3 months away from being done with our undergraduate lives. Done with the student living scene and possible done managing the complex we've called our home for the past 3+ years. We've learned so much as really become a family here. Neither of us are naturals when it comes to school, but BYU-I has taught us to study, learn thought the spirit and become better students and disciples. Chad's been a student for longer than most people. He's had to sacrifice so much more than anyone i know for his education. Mainly time but no one knows just how much he has given up and more importantly, given up graciously, to earn his degree.
   Chad gave me these beautiful roses to celebrate the holiday I invented and we went out to dinner as we always do at the start of each semester. I have come to LOVE this tradition of ours! We get the chance to sit and talk about his new teachers, the classes he has and his first impression of how the semester will turn out. And given the time of year, we were also able to have some great conversation about our goals and dreams for 2015.

   We talked about spiritual, physical, educational, personal and financial goals. In the past its been two totally different list and one night of colliding chaos as we tried to come to common ground on our goals and timelines for completion of our goals. But this year was so simple. We each had VERY similar goals, very similar time-frames and very similar methods of reaching our desired destinations.

We are more united this year because we've bcome more united as a couple. I'm constantly wracking my brain to think of new ways to show Chad that I love him and become more "one" with him. Sometimes I worry about it so much that I forget how far we've come. It's nights like tonight that I remember the big picture.
   Most of our goals are private and personal to our family but I'll share a few that are a little more public...meaning we are asking the public to hold us accountable!

    As a family we want to eat cleaner and lose weight this year (except Liam, we're hoping he keeps gaining).
I've resolved to drinking NO soda this year, and that means nothing...6 days and so far so good.
Chad and I are starting off the new year with Whole30. I'm struggling already becasue I kinda have this thing about cleanses, i dont think they're healthy habits when you're as over weight as we are, but we have made a plan that we believe will work for us. We're starting with whole 30, then whole 60, then whole 90, then we plan to slowing incorprate other foods that we enjoy. This is subject to change but the resolve to eat clean has not. I just took out 3 garbage bags full of foods that will never be allowed into my house again, as well as some perishables that wont be in our house for at least the next few months so we kind of dont have a choice, we HAVE to succeed.
    I don't think I'm brave enough to divulge my weight yet but I'll just say this, I plan on loosing 65 lbs this year...so use your imagination. Chad's a little more ambition than I am, he plans to loose 60lbs in just the next three months. It's a big goal but if anyone can do it, Chad can.
  I've signed up for 1/2 marathon, my first one ever later in March so a big goal of mine is to be ready for it. So i don't die.
  Chads got a pretty hefty goal as he prepares to find a good job this month. I'm helping of course but he is buckling down and applying like crazy.
  We've also decided to read the Sunday school and relief society lessons before Sunday together. We've tried this in the past but didn't apply enough discipline so it fizzled in and out. I want to do it with more consistency this year.
   We've also decided to read the scriptures more personally this year and take part in the book of Mormon 365 challenge on instagram. My whole family is doing it so it'll be fun to have lots of people to talk about the readings with. I'm so excited for us to grow closer to the Savior this year and become better disciples and missionaries as we take on new challenges being out of school.
  We wrote down our goals and made some marks on our calenders and I think we're ready to make some changes for the better.  I was reading somewhere that its wise to pick one word each year to personify and become. I've thought a lot about this and I've chosen the word "Example". I have so many reasons for choosing this word but to spare you this lengthy explanation, I'll just say that this year I want to be an example to my son and my husband of a Christ-like person. I want to be an example in moments of crisis and dispare of a faithful, cheerful saint. I want to be an example of honesty, grace and understanding (<=== heaven help me) in my workplace and an example of forgiveness and kindness to everyone I know. We were reading in 2nd Nephi the other day and a verse jumped out at me that reaffirmed my resolution. 2nd Nephi 31:20 "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." I want to press forward and be a constant example of steadfastness, so much so, that a brightness of hope exudes from me!

A one word resolution, sure does pack a punch!

Oh, and here's our "we're never going to be able to eat like this again" cake. It was divine.