on my own

This weekend my boyfriend went out of town and it was interesting to have an entire weekend to myself. I love spending my weekends with him but it gave me the chance to do a bunch of other stuff that I have been wanting to get done.

I am working on a basket for my best friend's bachelorette party so I spent a bunch of time shopping for that. I will post a picture when it's finished (the party isn't until april) but I found a super cute basket with burlap to match her theme. I started filling it with ring pops, Tylenol, hand sanitizer, gum, mints, cute cocktail napkins, and i'm going to add some plane snacks and other goodies as we get closer. She is my first close friend to get married and since I'm the maid of honor it's even more excited. It's definitely giving me wedding fever...but let's not get started on that.

I also spent a lot of time at the gym this weekend. I hope everyone is keeping up with their fitness goals! I've found that having friends in real life who are also trying to lose weight is super motivational to me. I'm competitive so in my mind I think....I better lose more weight that *insertnamehere* and it makes me stay on track. I highly recommend that method if you are a competitive person and need motivation.

I got to catch up on all my shows this weekend as well which was fabulous. Right now the shoes I'm into are The Bachelor (you'll see more of that tomorrow), The Biggest Loser, Sister Wives, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Listing those shows makes me sound like a terrible person, but I"m a sucker for reality tv.

My alone time is great, but I'm so excited for my boyfriend to come back tomorrow. I miss him. So thankful that we don't live 4 hours apart anymore.

what i'm hoping for in 2014.

As much as I feel like New Year's Resolutions are cliche, I still love the idea of making them every year and working hard to achieve them.

*Be intentional with my quiet time and journaling every day. I have read my Bible more this year than the other 23 years of my life combined and I love the changes that I see. My relationship with the Lord is growing every day and I want to stay on this track. There is so much to read and so much more to learn about Jesus and this year I want to continue that relationship with him and really dive into the bible.

*Make my health a priority. I have a gym membership, I need to use it. I know how to eat healthy, I need to actually eat that way. I have gone a couple months with eating lots of junk and not working out and now I need to get back in shape because I have a lot o big things coming up this year. I am a maid of honor in a wedding this summer and I want to be in perfect shape for that event. Not to mention the bachelorette party in Vegas for that wedding in April. If a weekend surrounded by 8 girls who are in perfect shape in shorts and bikini isn't motivation, I don't know what is.

*Further my education. Even though I just graduated with my Bachelor's last year, I am planning on starting my masters this year. Depending on my summer plans, I might start in June to get a few solid months complete before I get back to school. I know that it's going to be a lot of work but the feeling of accomplishment (and raise) makes it worth it. Plus, I would rather do it now before I have kids and other distractions.

*Go on a trip with my boyfriend. We have been together for over 4 years but since we were in college and then broke after college, we still haven't gone on a real vacation together. I think that is something we definitely need to accomplish this year.

That's what I will stick with for now. There are so many other, smaller, goals that I could add but then this list would go on forever.

Happy 2014!

typical, atypical weekend

This was my first traveling weekend since school starting and I am definitely feeling the effects. My boyfriend and I have been in a long distance relationships for almost a year and a half (since we graduated from college and moved back to our respective homes) and the school year makes it really hard to see each other. We have worked hard to make it work but thankfully he will be moving to my town in a few months. Anyways, this weekend I went and visited him and even though it made for a really long friday, it was worth it.

He teaches drumline for a high school marching band so when I got there on Friday I met him at a football game. I love the energy of high school football games and we had a good time. On Saturday the highlights were going to our favorite restaurant and watching our college dominate in their football game. This morning it was bittersweet knowing that I had to leave, but we got to spend a couple of hours relaxing, watching football, and cuddling on the couch.

It hurts my heart to be apart but I know that it is making us stronger and setting us up for an even better relationship when we are finally together again. We spent four years inseparable while in college so I know what it's like and I know how fabulous it will be. I can't wait for when he moves here and we are back to our normal, every day, relationship. It will be glorious.

I hope you all have a good monday! I am sick so I'm a little nervous for how school will go but I just made jeopardy for my 9th graders and have lots of activities for my juniors. Let's hope they cooperate!