I'M BACK and 15 GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR

Sorry I've been MIA lately. With the holidays I just couldn't find the time to blog, but now I'm back with full force and hope to blog a ton!

I have a lot of different topics to blog about, but to start I figured I'd share my many goals for 2012.

I am so motivated to do better in a TON of aspects in my life and figure the best way to stay accountable is to write them down and report how I'm doing.

So, without further ado, here are my goals for 2012 in no particular order:

1. STRIVE TO BE HEALTHY!

I know I always talk about this over and over again on my blog without many results. However, I'm honestly hoping for the best this year. I plan on losing weight and getting back to the weight I was when I got married.

To help, I'm going to start walking and running with the hubs and with my girl Brittney and I'm also going to use my free membership at the gym and take advantage of what is offered to me rather than just letting it go to waste.

I have plans on running two 5Ks this year so I need to get my butt in gear and start training.

The first one is on February 25th and is called The Color Run.

Looks like fun huh?! I'm running it with Britt so hopefully we do good and have tons of fun.

The second one I'm doing is on July 4th with my wonderful sister. I'm not sure about the information but I'm excited to have two mini goals within my overall goal to become healthier and I'm excited to get in shape!

2. BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET!

Andrew and I have been talking about when we want to start a family, and while we aren't ready yet, I think it is important for us to get in gear and start spending our money more wisely. Today I sat down and figured out that we CAN live off of just Andrew's money if we try hard to stay on track so we are going to be working on doing that over the next couple of months. 

We are trying to SAVE SAVE SAVE and just become more responsible and not waste all our money on going out to eat. As a result, my money will go to SAVINGS, house projects, and a little bit of fun along the way.

3. COOK DINNER MORE

If we plan on saving money, we need to not eat out as much. That is seriously one of our biggest issues with spending money we don't need to be spending and (I believe) our weight gain. We just got so busy with work and other things that we took convenience over health. As a result, I want to cook dinner AT LEAST 6 days a week...day 7 is DATE NIGHT. I started writing down all the foods I want to make or already know how to make so that we can eat a wide variety of things and just have fun with cooking...but more on that later. ;]

4. GO ON ONE DATE A WEEK

Andrew and I are pretty good with going on dates, but with this new year I want us to go on a date EVERY week and make it a commitment. We are going to switch off each week who get's to plan the date and they are going to be so much fun. There will be different guidelines for each date that we plan and it will just allow us to spend more time together. But again...more on this later. ;]

5. TAKE MORE TIME FOR CHURCH CALLINGS

I LOVE being a Primary teacher and that I get to teach the 6 year olds this year. However, I'll admit I've been slacking when it comes to my lessons. My goal for this year is to spend more time preparing my lessons and to be a better teacher overall. I love the faith that Primary children have and love that they teach me just as much as I teach them (if not more).

6. BE BETTER AT INVITING THE SPIRIT INTO OUR HOME THROUGH FHE, FAMILY PRAYER, AND SCRIPTURE STUDY

I'll admit that Andrew and I aren't so good at having Family Home Evening each week, however I'm hoping we'll do MUCH better this year. This Monday was our ANNIVERSARY so we didn't have FHE but I'd say we had a pretty good excuse. ;] So starting this Monday we're going to do MUCH better and take off turns planning a lesson for our little family of two. It's important to start now so that when we DO have a family, we'll already be in the swing of things. I also want to do better at saying prayers together and reading our scriptures together. I want to learn more and more about the gospel and always have the spirit in our home.

7. ATTEND THE TEMPLE MORE

Andrew and I have both said we need to work on this, so I'm super excited to attend the temple more and learn and grow, especially spiritually.

8. BE MORE ORGANIZED

I already bought a planner and a calendar because I plan on being much more organized this year. I plan on using all the tools I have to STAY organized and just make life less stressful.

9. BE BETTER AT CLEANING

I found TONS of helpful tips on Pinterest to stay both organized AND clean. I want to clean a little each day so that nothing ever gets overwhelming. I want our whole house to be an oasis for us to come home to and I can't wait to finish projects with my hubby and continue to make our house into our home.

10. PROCRASTINATE LESS AND BE ON TIME

I always think of so many fun projects and ideas but procrastinate so much that things don't turn out how I want. This year I plan on doing things AHEAD of time and making my life so much less stressful. I plan on finishing my projects and getting a ton of fun things done this year. I also plan on showing up to things on time. I am THE WORST at being on time but I hope to fix that this year.

11. ALWAYS TAKE PRIDE IN HOW I LOOK

Since I've gained so much weight I've noticed I started to take less pride in how I look. I find myself curling my hair less and doing my make-up less which I'm not happy with. I want to look good for myself and my husband and take pride in how I look. I want to feel pretty everyday and just be happy. This is a BIG goal for me this year and I'm excited to follow through.

12. READ MORE

I used to read a ton but lately I haven't made the time to do so. I keep hearing how good so many books are so I'm hoping I'll make time to start reading again. To start I'm going to re-read the first two Twilight books and then finish the series. WISH ME LUCK!

13. TAKE MORE PICTURES

I realized since I've gained weight and haven't been as happy with how I look I haven't been taking as many pictures...which is a shame. I used to take SO many pictures to document all the fun things Andrew and I do together so I'm hoping to start doing that again so we can look back and remember how much fun we have. I also want to do better at scrapbooking.

14. BLOG MORE

I've been a really hit or miss blogger which I'm not proud of. I love reading blogs that update frequently and I realize I need to do the same. I want to document all the fun I have doing projects, decorating, and just updating everyone on the life of the Lawrences.

15. JUST BE HAPPY OVERALL AND TAKE EVERY MOMENT IN

My goal for 2012 is to live life to the fullest, enjoy every moment, and take everything in.

I'm super excited for what 2012 has in store for me and I'm excited to make more memories with my amazing husband.

GOOD LUCK with all your goals for 2012 and may this year bring you tons of happiness and joy!

Two Fun Date Nights to Have with Your Honey! :]

A month or two ago I bought a book titled "How to Date your Spouse" from Deseret Book. I haven't had a chance to read it all, but after reading some of the book and after looking at blogs like The Dating Divas and Love Actually I started to realize the importance of PLANNING weekly dates. Andrew and I never had a problem of finding places to "go out" to. It was the planning BEFORE hand and designating a for sure night to do something special that we were lacking in.

Because of this, every Friday night (unless certain circumstances exist) we switch off planning dates. It is the designated date planner's decision where we go, what we do, and whether or not they want to keep it a surprise or not from the other person. As of now we have to go on five dates before we can go to the same place again (as in restaurants) so we get a chance to try new places. In the future we will have more rules such as certain dates can only be $10 and so far, but for now we are just getting in the habit of going on weekly dates.

For Andrew's first date (8.6.10) he took me to Red Robin, then to King Putt Mini Golf, followed by Red Mango for dessert. We had never been to the Mini Golf place but it was SO fun.

Everything was glow in the dark, even the golf balls. I stunk at first, but after a few pointers from the husband I actually enjoyed myself and beat my hubby on a few holes.

We highly recommend going there. Also, we had heard about Red Mango from a few people on facebook, so we decided to go there since we were in the area. It's "healthy" ice cream and it was WAY good. I recommend going there as well. It was a way fun night overall and I'm greatful to have such an amazing husband.

For my date on 8.13.10, I decided to plan a fun/romantic spa night at home. Andrew had mentioned how he just needed a day to relax so I thought this would be perfect as long as I didn't make it "girly."

I made sure that he wouldn't come home all day (and luckily I had the day off). I straightened up the house, went grocery shopping, and came home to prepare for the date. I bought a TON of candles to set the mood and set those up first, then started cooking homemade pizza. I used the recipe from Cooking for Two, a book from Deseret Book and also used a Ceasar salad recipe found on Campbells.com. If your interested in either, let me know.

Anyways, Our house is sectioned off pretty well so I could have "stages" without him seeing everything that was going on all at once. In our front room I list some candles and set out some Sparkling Cider and glasses. I wanted him to get the feel that this was going to be a romantic evening. I also made sure to only light the candles for each room while in use so I wouldn't start a fire.

Next I had him go in the bathroom and shower since he hadn't had a chance to freshen up after working in the hot sun all day. Using advice from one of the blogs I read, I bought shower crayons (so fun!) to write a fun message in our bathroom to let him know what we would be doing. I also set out pajamas (I wanted robes but they were "out of season?" This actually may have been a good thing because we aren't really "robe" people so they wouldn't get used much.) for him to get changed in to after he was cleaned up.

I highly recommend buying the crayons if you are married; they are a fun and interesting way to add spice to a daily routine.

While Andrew was showering, I made sure that dinner was cooking smoothly and that it would be ready when he was done. I lit the candles for the living/dining area and set out the food.

The dinner was REALLY yummy and it was romantic to talk and eat in the candle light. After dinner, Andrew cleaned up for me while I lit the candles in our room. I DID buy stuff for facials but I don't recommend it if you have a "manly" husband. He didn't want to do facials so I didn't force it on him, and we just stuck to the massages. We made sure we both got 20 minute massages so it was fair and it was SO relaxing. We enjoyed the time spent together and recommend this idea to EVERYONE!

After our massages we ended the night with chocolate covered strawberries and brownies. We just wanted to focus on relaxing, picked a movie to watch, and fell asleep.

If you EVER need a night to relax I suggest planning your own "spa night." You can do more activities like facials and pedicures, or keep it simple like we did. I think the fact that I made dinner and dessert made it that much more special as well.

Do you have any dates to suggest?

No Fires Please!

So my life is pretty crazy right now, but I'll get to that in a moment, and will clarify my choice of "Title." For now, I will update you on my life since February. I always get on this site to read people's blogs, but when it comes to updating my own, I'm not too good.

Since February we've been working, and I've been going to school, basically just living life. When we aren't worn out from our long weeks, we attempt to work on the house. However, that often get's put on the back burner because we are just so tired. I wish that wasn't the case though since I want to have BBQs and have tons of parties, but with our house in the shape it is now, that won't be happening. In February we tried to have a fun day by going to Nascar, but when we showed up, we had no tickets at will call, so we basically drove out there for nothing. It was still an adventure though.

On March 12 we celebrated our 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of when we started dating. I'm so lucky to have found the love of my life and can't wait to spend eternity with him. I found a really cute little red bowling ball made of foam stuff at Target and wrote all our significant dates from our relationship on it. I don't have any pictures but I thought it was cute since we first met at a bowling alley. We tried to go to dinner that night a Little Carmines, where we went on one of our first dates, but unfortunately they were shut down, so we went to Texas Roadhouse or something like that instead. It was a good night.

Also in March we made a trip to Meadview the weekend of the 20th. We just hungout and the boys went for dirtbike rides. On Saturday we got the guns out and shot our new toy, which we got as a wedding gift. My hubby is quite happy about that gift, haha.

In March my hubby surprised me with BEAUTIFUL Gerber Daisies, and we also went on dates every week of course. March was a pretty good month.

Now for APRIL! The month of my birthday. While this month started off by going really slow, I thought this month was going to be dreadful and drag on, but it is instead full of surprises! Of course Easter happened, which was pretty good! We just hung around the house, then went to Zack and Lindsay's for lunch and Mom and Pop's for dinner. We of course exchanged Easter Baskets and ate tons of good food. Easter was a good day and my puppy looked THE CUTEST! :]

Also in April we found out we are going to have a new NIECE! :] Zack and Lindsay are having a baby girl Payton in September and we couldn't be more excited. I got to go to the ultrasound and it was absolutely beautiful!:]

On April 10th we went to the Clark County Fair! I had never been before and it was really fun besides Andrew getting sick from the rides and me getting bruises from them. The rodeo was an absolute BLAST and I LOVED spending the day with my hubby, just me and him. I definitely want to go back in the future, just without the fried food!

We of course HAD to go on the Farris Wheel! It's tradition. Anyways, after that fun adventure, we just simply kept with the normal routine, until Wednesday night when I was on my way home from work. I was having a hard time getting ahold of Andrew and when he finally did answer he said something about his parents' house being on fire. I was mad cause I thought he was lying, but I drove straight there and sure enough there were fire trucks and cop cars EVERYWHERE! I started bawling right away and called Andrew and LUCKILY everyone was okay except we didn't know where Chica, their little dog, was. I had no idea what went on at first, but this is the story:

All the boys were at scouts and they called and had Michelle (my Mother-In-Law) come and bring some scout papers to them. When she left, the house was fine and she told the puppies she'd be right back. Kobe (their bigger dog) had been put outside because he had pooped in the house, but Chica was inside. When she was done dropping off the papers, she pulled up in the drive way but decided to not go inside because she knew she would fall asleep. Instead she went to the library to find a book she had been reading and spent about a half hour there. When she was almost done, DJ (my little brother-in-law) called her saying that the house was on fire, but she didn't believe him (who would?) just like I didn't believe Andrew. However, when she got home, sure enough it was the case. I guess when DJ skateboarded home from scouts, he went to open the door and when he did a TON of smoke came out. He couldn't even go in the house and he immediately started yelling "FIRE!" and thought Michelle was in the house. Two neighbor men RAN over and busted the backdoor down and started working against the flames. While this was happening, DJ called Andrew and Andrew literally SPED over. When he got there he busted through the front door and ran to their mom's room to make sure she wasn't home! The smoke was so thick I guess that he could barely breathe and ended up having to army crawl out of the house. Luckily Michelle wasn't in the house and everyone was safe. When they were trying to stop the fire, stupid cops (and no I don't hate cops, just one in particular is NASTY in BC) came and pulled their gun out on them practically and made them leave. That's when the fire department stepped in.

After all things were put out and the whole house was covered in smoke and water, I guess the kitchen is wiped out and a lot of things aren't salvagable. I guess Andrew found poor Chica under DJ's bed and their bird passed too. We hope they both were sleeping so it wasn't rough, but Michelle did not take her Chica Dog dying good at all. I'm happy that Michelle decided not to go in the house though, and now that was Heavenly Father watching over her. She probably would have been napping and slept through the fire or something. To say the least, the past few days have been HORRIBLE and right now they are staying at our house until they figure everything out. I'm really glad that we are able to have them stay with us so they feel more comfortable in their situation and that so many people are being so helpful.

One bright side to the situation, other than everyone being okay, is that Michelle has been trying to keep her mind off things so she helped me straighten up the kitchen. We got ALL our kitchen presents put away and we are just trying to make the house more livable and homey for our guests.

I guess we are just going to go on and try to take everything one step at a time. And I feel bad, but we are celebrating my birthday this weekend still. I knew I was not looking forward to my birthday for some reason, and this must have been it, aside from not being a teenager anymore too.

If anyone who even reads this could PLEASE keep my family in your thoughts and prayers I'd really appreciate it. I can't even imagine what they are going to have to go through to get everything back to "normal" again and we are just along for the ride. I hope you all are having a better April than we are. I enjoy reading blogs, so keep it up!