Christmas 2014

Now that we are almost a week into 2015, I should probably get my act together and fill you in on how my Christmas season went.
Let's just say it was quite interesting.

December 24
Christmas Eve has always been when my family cooks and celebrates our Christmas. It has just fit in well with my dad's schedule with preaching-thus convenience.
This year, Trevor and I went to church at OSLC for the 1:30 service. This left time to get some cooking done afterward. We also went to Celebration for their 7:00 service. After that we headed to his place so he could put on some more comfortable clothes. I'm a stickler for dressing up for Christmas church. This resulted in these adorable photos.

After my dad finished church we all sat around and watched "Elf" while opening gifts. I got my sister fuzzy slippers, lotion, and a huge mug. I got my mom a wine glass and wine rack. I got my dad a bacon bowl mold and beer flavored jelly beans. And I got Trevor two PacSun shirts.

December 25

Trevor's family always opens gifts Christmas morning. I have never had this tradition, so it was kind of cool to take part of and enjoy. It was fun to watch his younger sisters open their gifts-I miss being young. His family even so kindly gave me a Doctor Who puzzle!

December 26

On the 26th we travelled to La Valle to my mom's side of the family. Trevor was unable to come along because he was playing in a show that evening. The entire time at my grandma's was awkward and uncomfortable. With the exception of going exploring on the farm with my cousins, Ahren and Jake, to take photos.

Here are some of the shots I got.

Also a large portion of the time at my grandparents included my grandma throwing random junk at me to take for my "new home". Now realize, the wedding is in August. We are not living together yet, we won't be until we get married. I do not have room for random stuff for my new home. One, I have no idea what the size of our first place will be, but I expect it to be puny. This will leave no room for miscellaneous objects. Two, I do not want a bunch of outdated junk that has been sitting around their house forever. Three, Trevor was not along to see any of this stuff so it was purely up to my discretion to make the decisions of what to take.

The only good thing out of the day was that Trevor and I have cupcake stands to use at the wedding now.

December 29

Rice Lake is so beautiful in the winter. I finally was able to see my grandparents' (on my dad's side) new home. It is beautiful! Not that I expected otherwise. Trevor and I drove together and made a photo stop on the way by the Chippewa River.

It was a good time at my grandparents, like always. We even had competitions at who could get the highest and lowest blood pressure. I think it's going to be a new tradition. For the first time ever, we did not have a sit down Christmas meal. It was so weird! I love grandma's sit down dinners! Grandma and grandpa even sent us away with plenty of soda from their soda fridge (yes, they have a fridge for soda and beer in their garage).

Christmas 2014 was quite a hoot. I cannot wait until next Christmas! It will be my first Christmas as a Rodriguez and I cannot wait to spend it as a married woman. Who knows what type of Christmas traditions Trevor and I will implement in our home, but most likely it will not include taking our blood pressure.

Jenner Lips

If you followed the previous controversy over Kylie Jenner's lips, you may find this article quite interesting.
I love following the Kardashian family, and recently watched a few episodes with Trevor. Obviously he was not in love with it, but I like to keep up with them (see what i did there, eh?).
Anywho, read this if you are at all interested in lips or the Kardashian/Jenner clan:
http://www.bustle.com/articles/48332-i-took-kylie-jenners-overdrawn-lips-out-in-public-heres-how-my-friends-family-and?utm_source=FBTraffic&utm_medium=bhouse&utm_campaign=CMfacebook

Oatmeal

I fear for my life that I have become a coffee snob.
The big city is fabulous, but also spendy. My chai tea latte habit has taken to a whole new level. I can barely survive without some form of chai in my system! I have resorted to keeping two boxes of chai tea in my room (one caffeinated, one non-caffeinated). New low? Possibly.
Anywho,
I am sitting here with the love of my life at the Eagan Starbucks.
I, of course, ordered a grande chai tea latte & a blueberry whole grain oatmeal. He ordered a white chocolate mocha.
As much as used to be a heavily caffeinated Starbucks gold member, I am now more of the liking of Caribou. *hold your chin up, young one. i know it's shocking.*
Don't get me wrong, chai and oatmeal from any coffee shop will be forever cherished in my heart. However, Caribou does it right.

Resolutions or Not

Not everyone makes the infamous "New Year's Resolutions."
I used to make a point of making a few, and often forgot them within a week.

This year however, I am not going to make any. Instead, I am going to make lifestyle changes.
Here are the few areas I am going to make changes in:

1. Health (Physical)- In high school, I played sports. I was overall in shape, ate semi healthy, and never really put on weight other than muscle. Now, halfway through my sophomore year of college, I have not put on any weight (woohoo), but my muscle has turned to mush. I'm getting married soon, and I do not want flabby arms! Time to make myself get back into the swing of working out!
2. Health (Mental)- Staying mentally healthy has been a recurring challenge for me since high school. It is not something I enjoy admitting that I have struggled with. While 2014 was my best year of handling it since my struggle with self harm first began, I know I still have a way to go. I had a lot of improvement this past year but I am going to encourage myself to make longer strides.
3. Pray- I have been a Christian my entire life, yet I struggle with consistent prayer. While I feel this may bring hypocrisy upon my name, I know it is something I desperately need to work on. So this year is going to be a slow and steady improvement on my prayer life and my relationship with God. I am taking a theology course entitled "Our Living Faith" so I hope that it will assist my journey.
4. Give More- In a time with little money, I have become greedy. I do not share my love, talents, money, and other blessings as I should. There is so much more of me that people should get to experience.
5. Organize- In past years I have been a rather organized person. I would have to say high school was the peak of this. Here in Saint Paul, my stuff is a wreck! I need to get back on my game and clean and maintain. This will also assist with wedding planning.

While a lot of these changes are huge, I know it will take more than just a day to accomplish them. These are large tasks I have set up. I am going to write them out and post them in my room so I am reminded of them daily. 

Hopefully I stick with them longer than I have stuck with resolutions in past years.

Do you have any resolutions you have made? What are they? How do you plan to stick to them?