New Year's Resolutions...

As I was typing up my New Year's Resolutions for this new year, I quickly read through my resolutions for last year. I did okay on most, but completely failed on some of them. I guess this is to be expected - especially since I didn't look at my list of goals again until last night. I still think it is a good idea for me to express my resolutions publicly so that I'm more likely to keep up with them, but I think another thing I need to do is read through them more often. Anyways, here are some goals for the 2013 year...

PHYSICAL:
- Compete in four triathlons. I've already planned out which ones I'd like to do, I just have to be patient with the recovery of a shoulder injury... I'm most excited for the collegiate championships in March and the Olympic length triathlon in St. George in September!

WORK:
- Have a design job when I graduate college this year. Not just any job, but a job in the field that I have been studying for the last three years. I really don't want to graduate college and be stuck at my current job living at home... blah. This goal might be a tough one, but I've got my sights set high!

SCHOOL:
- Place top of my design class and first on my senior project
- Graduate with honors

MENTAL:
- Read four additional books not related to homework

FINANCIAL:
- Get car repair paid off by the end of the year
- Get my student loans paid off by the end of the year. (originally my goal, since I started college, was to graduate without student loans, but with the unexpected car payment, it looks like I am going to have to modify the original goal and shoot for the end of the year)

TRAVEL:
- Travel somewhere for a triathlon
- Go on a longer vacation (not just a weekend getaway)

2012 In Review...

Things I did and learned this year...

TRIPS I TOOK:

- Went to California with Jake, Anna, and Nick

- Family trip to Florida and cruise to Bahamas, St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Maartin

- Road trip to Wyoming

RACES I COMPETED IN:

- Herriman Triathlon (placed 3rd!)

- Cahoots Duo Challenge

BOOKS I READ:

- Ender's Game

- The Princess Bride

- In Praise of Idleness - Bertrand Russell

- The Hunger Games Series

- Started a book club

SCHOOL AND DESIGN THINGS:

- Designed homes for people of Haiti

- Reupholstered a chair for charity
- Volunteered at the boys and girls club
- Attended a Fashion Show

- Designed Tibbitt's Family Pharmacy
- Designed picture wall for my mom and my aunts

NEW SKILLS I LEARNED:
- Long-boarding
- Paddleboarding

- More rock climbing

- Started learning to play the guitar
- Snowboarding

- Took Scuba diving lessons with Jake
- Slacklining
- Indoor surfing

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

- Attended my first Real Salt Lake game

- Voted in my first presidential election

- Kayaked across Utah Lake

- Moved into a new apartment

- Joined the WSU Triathlon Club

- Got a 0.52 cent raise at work!

- Had my own Thanksgiving Dinner with Jake

- Slept in a cave during a thunderstorm

- Went to my first bar and my first club

- Watched a lot of UFC fights with Jake

- Midnight hottubbing

- Completed the P90X Challenge with Jake

- Continued to spend time with this boy - and we celebrated our one-year anniversary of dating :-)

I'd say it has been an excellent year! I learned a lot of new things, had a lot of fun adventures, and loved spending time with Jake. Looking forward to the exciting things to come this next year :-)

Memes...

Memes... the new fad. I haven't really been a big fan. Probably because Jeremy feels the need to share a hundred with me every time he sees me. I finally gave him a quota of five per day because I just go so sick of them. But then Jake made one up that I could relate to, so...

I made my first meme! No insult intended, just the funny truth. It's always January and February that I can't find an open treadmill at the gym. Come March things are usually back to normal, but it's the first little bit that can be quite frustrating. Therefore, all use consistent gym users must "brace ourselves"...

Mom's Christmas Gift

For my mom's Christmas gift, I made a photobook of our cruise through Shutterfly.com

I wouldn't say it was the easiest program to work with, but I was satisfied with how it turned out. Take a look and tell me what you think :-)

Click here to view this photo book larger

The new way to make a photo album: photo books by Shutterfly.

Zoo Lights...

Instead of seeing the typical "Lights on Temple Square" that all the other million Utah's go see during December, Jake and I decided to see the Zoo Lights at Hogle Zoo. They were fun! Seeing the animals was fun too. The hallway of lights was definitely our favorite part...

Dinner for Two...

Jake and I had Thanksgiving dinner together, just the two of us. Neither of us are particularly fond of the idea  that Thanksgiving is centered around food (most of which is relatively unhealthy), and being the health nuts that we are, we found our own focus. We did a 4.2 miles run together down by the river and then had a light dinner complete with a healthy salad, steamed beans, and some chicken. We kept it light because we still had to save room for a little dessert with my family. It was nice to have a simple meal with Jake and talk about the different things that we're grateful for. It was also nice to see so many members of my extended family that I haven't seen in the longest time!

 Here are a couple pictures of the table arrangement I put together. I only bought new dishes, the rest I borrowed from my room and trees outside. And the dishes were only 2 bucks a piece! Score.

I think it turned out rather nicely :-)

Late Night Fondue...

Jake and I spend a lot of time together late at night. Usually we're just working on projects - Kyra on homework (no surprise there) and Jake on his own personal projects. We sit on the couch together, or across the table from each other, and occasionally exchange smiles in each other's direction. Romantic, eh?

Sometimes we get hungry though... and sometimes our desire for healthy food gets pushed aside as a longing for chocolate slowly creeps in. And because of that, we compromise...

Say hello to our midnight snack two nights in a row. Chocolate fondue with strawberries, bananas, and pretzels. Quite delicious and surprisingly low on the calorie count. Definitely not something I should get used to...