New Year, New Life

Because it's the first day of the New Year, today was probably fitting to write a new blog post. This year was a fun one. While I thought it would be pretty constant and boring, boy was I wrong!

Some of the biggest highlights of the year: We went to Mexico on another cruise, Devin started a car dealership, and we adopted Zeus. My favorite part of the year was getting Zeus! He is the best dog in the world! This last semester was very challenging for me. I was burnt out and taking 18 credits with HARD classes. I actually ended up doing pretty good with my grades in the classes, but my sanity may have suffered a little instead. I am looking forward to this next semester where I will start student teaching! I am scared to death but also very excited. I know it will be challenging but at least it will be something new and exciting.

For early Thanksgiving this year we visited Chantelle and Greg again in Denver.  Dave, Kristi, and Lizzie joined us. We brought Zeus along and he had SO much fun. From Denver we drove to Arizona and spent actual Thanksgiving with Charlene, Troy, and Christian. Chris also flew down from Vegas to hang out with us which made Devin the happiest kid in the world!  We had a blast, but we are NEVER doing that road trip again. Driving from UT  to CO to AZ and then back to UT again was miserable... we logged over 30 hours of driving--with a dog. Granted, Zeus was amazing--he didn't make a single sound and slept pretty much the whole time--but still. It was cramped and we were aching to stretch our legs.

For Christmas this year we took all of our presents over to my mom and dad's and spent the night doing a huge slumber party with my brothers. It was so fun! We made hot cocoa and chex mix and watched movies in the basement.  The next morning we woke up together to see what Santa had brought us. I had forgotten how fun Christmas is when there are little kids celebrating it with you. Zeus had a blast as well. In fact, Devin and I are pretty sure he got more presents than we did... (spoiled grandpuppy). Devin got me a really nice DSLR camera and I got him the Xbox One. We spent the day after Christmas and the following weekend playing with our toys ALL day long. It was so nice not to have any homework or obligations and just be able to relax....

For New Years Eve, we had a little party at our place with some friends. We decorated, brought food, played Telestrations (such a fun game) and Pit and then celebrated the New Year with sparkling cider in champagne glasses. We had a blast and Zeus did too!

As for things coming up this year... I will graduate in April, which I am so happy about! Devin will graduate in the summer with his associates. I hope to plan a fun vacation with friends or family to California/Disneyland and possibly a bigger vacation to Ecuador (Devin's mission) or Europe.  We will see though....

Anyway, here are some random photos from Christmas and New Years! I'm excited for this New Year and can't wait to see what it brings us!