I had an incredible 3 week break at home with my family. I was able to sleep in, play games, watch movies, eat fantastic food and relax. It was exactly what I needed. This week my cousin Chelsea came to town. She is in the army and only gets to visit a few weeks of the year, and I am so glad she was able to spend two of those weeks with us (one in June and this past week). The great thing about Chelsea is that we can go months, probably even years without seeing each other and when we finally see each other again we pick right back up where we left off- movie quotes, Special K and a lot of laughing!!
Here is a picture of all the girls and our fantastic photo shoot.
Yesterday morning I got up early and headed back to Logan. I really do love that drive, it is the perfect length of time. I was able to listen to my new Ingrid Michaelson cd 2 and a half times before I pulled into my apartment. After a full day of training for work I crashed at 10:30. I got up bright and early this morning to prepare for my radio interview. I was a guest on Senator Stephenson's Red Meat Radio show. We talked about the research I am doing at Utah State. That was pretty cool :)
I am so excited for 2009. Everything seems to be perfect so far and I have high hopes for this semester's classes. Every year I make a huge list of New Year's resolutions and I usually accomplish one or two of the 60 or so that I come up with. This year I have decided to include more people in the goal making process so that I feel more encouraged to keep these resolutions. So this year my goals are:
1-workout 5 days a week~ the plan is to get up at 6 every day to go running. I'm making the guys next door run with me so that if I sleep in they can bang on the wall and wake me up.
2-eat healthy~ no longer will I consider marshmallow mateys and m&ms the basis of my diet. Instead I plan on eating fresh fruits, veggies and whole grains. I have a juicer and a bread machine that I plan to use often!
3-be frugal~ in order to save money for my internship in DC this summer I am going to go out to eat less often and not buy any new clothes this semester.
4-write more~ I love writing, but I usually put off journal writing and such until summer and winter breaks when I have time. This year I am going to try and write more often.
5-keep a clean apartment~ no more leaving dishes in the sink for a week because I am "too busy"
6-be less busy~ to avoid burnout this semester I am going to try and free up more of my time by watching less tv and using facebook less often
7-devote more time to scripture study~ last year I made scripture study a consistent habit, this year I want to improve my study by spending more time reading and by being more organized in my study
8-serve others~ when I get busy it is easy to become self-absorbed, so this year I will try to do a good turn a day. I'm going to try to look outside myself and do more to help others
9-be cheerful~ I want to be more optimistic this year by speaking postively about others and myself and looking for the good in every situation.
10-spend less time on school~ I know this sounds strange, but last semester I really spent way too much time on school, so this year I am going to treat school like a job by doing homework right after classes and in the mornings before class, but in the afternoons and evenings I'll put it away and not think about it. It'll be a real challenge for me, but I hope that it will be good for me.
