The Craziest Year Comes To An End

Can you believe it?! 2014 is over!!!!!!!!!

This year has been rewarding, frustrating, stressful, exciting, scary, and beautiful. I wouldn't change it for the world, and I'm glad to have experienced everything I did this year.
Miss Orem, Miss Utah, Getting Married, Student Teaching, Graduating, and now looking for a house and having my first full-time job! It has all been a whirl-wind!

Although I wouldn't change it, there are some things I can learn from it. I notice as I look back on this year that I took on too much (as usual) and stressed out too much. That resulted in not having as much time as we used to to do fun things together. Don't get me wrong, we did lots of fun things together this year, but we've become more practical and driven in our old age ;)
So my New Year's resolution for 2015 is to live it up!
I'm going to make it a goal to not get so caught up in the "have-to's" and start doing more of the "want-to's." I think it is definitely possible to live an adventurous, social, exciting life regardless of budget or time. We're going to do at least one exciting or different thing a week. (i.e. dinner & a movie doesn't count) I'm stoked.
2015 is going to be the best!!!

Here's what we've been up to lately...

Sara gave us three matching scarves! The kids were spoiled for Christmas (we all were). It was such a good holiday.

We went out to Nebraska to the Flanigan household! (Scariest drive ever because of the snow) It was so nice to see family we haven't seen in a while.

Dallin got a Carhardt for Christmas so that now he can be a "real man." His reaction was priceless.

(Dallin is on the right, I promise.)

"Skitching" is our word for a the terribly dangerous activity of riding a sled that's being pulled behind a 4wheeler. It's kindof a tradition to prove your toughness and then regret it later.
I got the big ol' Charlie to ride with me!

Nebraska has a different kindof beauty than Utah. It's a calm, open, free kindof feeling out there. Sounds cliche, but when you're riding a 4wheeler on that much open land it is really relaxing & beautiful.

My dad got a bike trainer thing and I thought it was so cool. I had never seen or tried one of those before.

We went mini-golfing and laser-tagging with Twenen and Kaylynn and it was soooo fun. It makes me want to do laser tag more often! (You can barely see our teeth and my shirt and dallin's hat in the black light of the mini-golf)

I'm used to living my life at the speed of light, so now that things have slowed down it feels weird. At first I loved it, but now I'm getting bored so I'm looking for new hobbies and projects. My mom gave me the "wreck this journal" series and a book so I can work on something when it's slow at work and I'm done writing my articles. I'm thinking about taking up reading, painting, learning spanish, tennis, yoga, redoing the furniture, or photography.  haha Can't sit still for long.

Warning: Kaden Overload Below!

We definitely don't want kids any time soon, but we find being Aunt & Uncle pretty fun! We had a ridiculous amount of fun shopping for Christmas for the little Aaron & Declan, and their reactions to their toys were out-of-this-world. So funny. They both screamed the names of their toys like they had yearned and studied them for years lol
The holiday season was a success; we had a blast. My dad helped us focus on what's important by having us tell a time when we served someone else, and it made me realize that the last time I did that was MO stuff. I don't want to be one of those people who only serves when they have to, so it was a good realization for me that if you don't make it happen, you won't remember and time gets away from you. He gave us a little project to give to money to someone who is in financial trouble, and I'm really looking forward to that because lately I've noticed how blessed we are, and it would be selfish not to give back.

I have sooooo many goals for 2015, and I'm looking forward to so many things. I am excited for everything that's happening in our lives right now.
That's it for now!
-Syd

p.s. I found exactly what I am! I usually never read stupid facebook articles like this, but this one totally summed up my personality. I liked it because now I make more sense to me, if that makes any sense..... http://www.puckermob.com/lifestyle/8-signs-you-may-be-an-outgoing-introvert
(all true except the hating people thing...that's a little intense)

Wedding Video and A Walk Down Memory Lane

To see the amazing wedding video, click the link below!

http://youtu.be/ehlMppoSBY0

We love, love, love it!!! It's adorable.

It meant a lot to me to see all the people who really love and care about us. I am so thankful for everything that we got to have for our wedding because it's everything that we both wanted. I didn't feel like I was settling for any of the vendors we picked or anything about the day. It was absolutely perfect. Having a video of it is so worth it because it makes you re-live it all. It's funny because it's only been 4 months, but it feels like it was a long time ago because of how much has changed. I loved the photographer and our pictures turned out wonderful. So I made a wedding book so we can have all our wedding pictures in a convenient, pretty book to look through. I also made one for my Grama in Illinois who couldn't be there because of her health. I figured it was the next best thing since she was disappointed that she couldn't come.

2014 has gone by really fast! Speaking of books, it's time for me to make another book for 2014! I started collecting pictures in 2010 when we first started dating in the photo album on the left. I had a really bad phone and so we used to get disposable cameras a lot lol

Then when we got smart phones and we were taking more pictures electronically, so to keep all the pictures in one place I made a book for 2010-2013 pictures (on the far left.) 

I decided then to make a book for every year so that we can look back on our lives together and remember all the good times. (The blue one is 2013).

I love making these books on the computer because it's cheaper, faster, and easier than scrapbooking, and it looks just as cute! (I usually use shutterfly)

 I was looking through the books recently and it blew my mind how much has changed.
LOL when we first started dating, I asked Dallin what he wanted for his birthday. He jokingly said that he wanted to go to Hawaii because he has always wanted to go but has never been. So, I did the best that I could. I told him we were going on a trip and to pack a bag. Then I took him to the car and blindfolded him and drove him around. I had him stay blind-folded and walked him back into my apartment and took the blindfold off. I had my roommates dress up like a flight attendant and a pilot and decorated their room like a plane and we "flew" to Hawaii. I had decorated my room in Hawaiian decorations, so we had a drink on the "beach," listened to hawaiian music, and I did a really bad attempt of a hula for him in a hula skirt. Then, I took him to a Hawaiian restaurant, tanning, and to an indoor pool. hahaha I was creative.
It was so surreal for us to actually go to Hawaii for our honeymoon. It took me 4 years, but I promised him we'd go one day! Such a cool experience.

It is crazy how much has changed! These are pictures from the first book that I made. Being blond was fun for a little while!

 This was the our first Halloween together. He was ceasar and I was an angel. We ended up putting his costume together last minute to go to a party, so ya, he's wearing my skirt.

This is from the 2013 book

And here's the latest. It's so weird how fast time has flown and that we're actually married now.

 A few years ago I read an article on the top 10 ways to increase your overall happiness, and nostalgia was one of the tips. It said that if you are able to look back and remember good times, it will not only deepen your relationships, but also help you to feel accomplished because of how much you've done since then, and grateful for your situation. I am very grateful that we now have all sorts of technological gizmos that make it so that I don't have to use the photo albums and disposable cameras!
(Although this is not the same article, it's close.) We can all improve in one way or another to be a little happier every day. So I like reading these articles to remind me of ways I can improve to be a more positive person.

http://www.livescience.com/25900-7-tips-gratitude-happiness.html

Congrats to Dallin's sister Aubrey for getting a brand new son! His name is Lincoln & I can't wait to meet him!

Well, I'm going to stop procrastinating the articles that I need to be writing and go do them.

(Funny side note: I've been writing these articles for a couple years, so I've done a lot. They always send me a "resource" site to base my information off of before I start writing. Last week, my resource was an article I wrote! Haha I was wondering when it was going to circle back around!)
I write for whoever and whatever I'm told to write about, but a big client for my company is Wilson Diamonds, so I write all of there's. If you want to see, here's a link. It's kindof fun to find my own articles when I'm looking around on the web.

http://www.wilsondiamonds.com/blog/

Over & Out!
-Syd 

Changes, Big News, Fun Times

 It has been so long since I've written! So many great things have been happening! (I cannot figure out how to rotate the picture so instead of freaking out I'm putting multiple pictures on here sideways.) These two pictures are to show my first home-made dog clothes for the kids! I made them out of baby clothes I found at Saver's for 1 dollar. They turned out so cute! Once I got the hang of it, I bought a few more as well.

Holy cow I'm finally done! I got through the miserable thing that is college! This pic was taken when I got my! associates, and now I can finally complete that with a bachelors! 

 Not only did I spend this semester student teaching and being observed and evaluated 11 times, I also had to complete a senior portfolio. This consisted of 14 separate assignments all put on one cd. Two of these assignments were full unit plans with tons of lessons in them. 11 of these were assignments from previous semesters, and the others I had to do this semester.

The "Senior Project" that I had to do this semester with my student teaching was insane. I finally finished it up this weekend, and it ended up being a whopping 93 PAGES!!! YES! 93!!!!
The length of a Ph.D. dissertation and I had to do it for a bachelors. So glad I'm done with this college crap.
This was my final evaluation and a pic of me and my cooperating teacher on my last day. (I wore a t-shirt and jeans to be rebellious on my last day)  :)

This is Dallin's wonderful gaming set-up. He's a nerd, but oh well.

My cousin Cody got home from his mission! I was part of his welcome crowd by the infamous escalator.

 Speaking of the Davises, we got to spend a little bit of time with miki and kim at the condo for thanksgiving. It was really low-key this year because we just played games and watched movies, but it was a good time, and the way I always know I had a good time is that I have no pictures. I always forget to take pictures when I'm having fun. I also didn't take pictures with Dallin's family so these pics are his aunt's, but we had a great time there as well. My sweet potato recipe blew their minds, and they tasted identical to the ones at Goodwood.... :) But I made them of course ;)

Deck the halls! It's christmas time!!! The decor is finally up, and most of the presents have been purchased! I only have 3 people left! I wish I could get presents for all of our friends and family. I think it's so fun to think of fun gifts you think people will like and see their faces when they open it. One day when I'm rich, I'm totally doing that. It's the best part of christmas.

 

Although we'd like to move to Nebraska and build there and all the amazing-ness that we were planning on before, we decided it's best to wait. Since it's not working out, we still are looking to buy a home here in Utah! We're going to start seriously looking at the beginning of the year.

I got my first real job! I'm an actual adult now! I can't believe I'm actually graduated and working at a full time job. So weird. I am a receptionist and biller for an oral surgeon. I think I'm going to like it!

This was me on my first day going to work! Holy crap I'm a grown-up! (My legs look hilarious in that pic because I look creepily bow-legged. My knees hyper-extend and in pictures it cracks me up) I was a little intimidated but I am picking it up okay.

This is my nephew Kaden. I'm pretty sure he gets his adoreable-ness from me.

Look how cute my daughter is in my bed!

Life is always an adventure, and I'm so glad I have such a fun partner in crime to share it with. He makes life so fun. I was going to add a video of him singing Ariana Grande like a boss in the car, but the file was too big.  lol
He can sing higher than I can and his dance moves crack me up!

This is our very first family Christmas card! Woohoo!! :)

Hope you all are doing well this holiday season!

-Sydney

p.s. LOVE this warm weather!