my top 6 posts of 2013

Happy New Year!!!

To celebrate the ending of 2013 and the beginning of 2014, let's take a look at my top 6 posts from the past year.

30 Quick Love Note Ideas

Choosing to Hold Hands

Marriage Advice I was Given Before My Wedding

Brooklyn's Book of Mormon Challenge

My Marriage Rocks, Didn't You Read My Blog Post About It?

My 2014 Word of the Year

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loving my earthly dearest

"When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now."

C.S. Lewis

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simple sunday thoughts

I don't have a long post for you today. I don't have a graphic to go with it, and I don't have a clever title. But I do have a testimony.

That there is a Savior. That He loves us all, and knows EVERY pain we feel. He was betrayed by his friends, people made fun of him, and His teachings were rejected. Yet He continued to live his life in quiet simple ways, that forever touched the hearts of others, and continue to change the world today.

What if we each lived a life of quiet confidence? What if we each knew that making personal connections, and caring for others can change their lives forever? What if we were more forgiving? More selfless? More Christlike?

What if we took this new year as an opportunity to start over. To love our husbands more, to spend more time unplugged from social media, and to cultivate our talents. What if we said yes to experiences that help us grow? And what if we started to say no to unnecessary crazy?

What if we spoke Christ's name more often? What if we talked about His love and majesty? What if we told Him we want Him to be our best friend? What if we studied His life and teachings, and tried to emulate his perfect example?

We each get the same 24 hours a day. Just like Christ did. And I intend to make the most of them.
every. single. day.

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tips for keeping your new year's resolutions.

The stores are full of exercise equipment.

People are up earlier.

More salads are eaten & less soda drank.

More prayers are being sent to heaven.

Less TV is being watched.

More time is being sent with loved ones.

People everywhere are starting over.

But what happens after the initial adrenaline of 2014? How can you keep the spirit of resolution making alive in you every day? 

1. Find someone to hold you accountable.

I know it is personally way easier for me to go to the gym if I'm going with my husband. It's easier to stop doing something if you know someone is going to ask you about it. Find a good friend. Someone who will encourage you and be a cheerleader. Ask them to hold you accountable.

2. 21 Days to a Habit.

Choose a goal that you can work on EVERY DAY. Sometimes setting goals such as "work out 3 times a week'' or "write in my journal once a month" are hard to keep because they aren't always on the forefront of your mind. Maybe set a goal such as "Do one 10 minute Zumba video before I shower" or "Write one line in my journal ever night about the day." Doing something for 21 days in a row has proved to make it a habit. Choose goals you can work on daily.

3. Reward Yourself.

I know, I know. We aren't dogs. You see it on Pinterest all the time. Do not reward yourself with food. I'm calling bull crap on that one. Giving up something I really love is hard, but sometimes a Chickfila milkshake is the perfect light at the end of the tunnel.

4. Re-evaluate every month & week.

Set monthly goals instead of just long term, MUST do by 2015 goals. It's easier to take life in chunks I promise. I like having a weekly planning night on Sunday's. I pull out my planner, make a gazillion to-do lists and schedule some "me time." I find it really helpful to look every week at where you want to be going.

5. Make your goals fun!

Have a hard time getting to the gym? Promise yourself that it's the only time you will let yourself watch "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." I used to do this for the Bachelor/Bachelorette. I've never looked forward to a Tuesday work out so much. Create a bucketlist for the month, throw some fun things on there such as trying that restaurant you've always wanted to, and buy something with sequins; but also add those pesky goals such as applying for that scholarship, organizing your digital photos, and email your cousin who wants to hear from you. Having a fun list will keep you constantly looking to cross something off, and create more fun in your life ;)

6. Cut yourself some slack & Try Again.

So you didn't quite make it a month without Facebook. Well it's okay, you tried! Now try again! You didn't like going gluten-free? That's okay. Just eat less bread instead. Give yourself opportunities to start over every day. Sometimes I have to remind myself it's okay to start over every hour! Life is hard, and we aren't perfect. We are going to make some mistakes. The most important thing is that we don't give up! 

Believe in yourself and believe in others, because it is going to be an AMAZING year.

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Malibu miracle repair review

I have fallen in love. Of course with my husband, but also with this amazing little deep conditioner packet! 

I talked with one of my teachers at my school about my hair troubles. It's dry. And brittle. I want my hair to be smooth, and silky soft. It seemed like I tried SO many Paul Mitchell products with nothing really solving my problem. She told me to try something extra moisturizing, so I dropped by a local beauty supply store and asked the employee what moisturizing products they have. She directed me to this one. I took it home, tried it, and have fallen in love with it. 

I left the conditioner on my hair while I took a long bath so it could really do it's job. I always leave conditioner on longer than they recommend! When rinsing my hair I immediately noticed the change, SO SOFT! So I took a chance and decided to blow dry my hair, something I don't usually do. I was blown away by the way my hair felt, but also how it looked. 

As a bleach blonde, my hair tends to always look damaged, but my hair looked luscious. I felt like I had movie star hair! 

I have since gone back and purchased more packets. I'm a believer! The packets can be purchased on Amazon for just over a dollar a packet. A total steal when you could pay $20 for a similar treatment at a salon. 

Do you have any deep conditioning product you swear by? 

(PS. Unfortunately I was not compensated in any way for this post. I purchased the product by my own free will on a whim and all opinions are real true life!)

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wishing you a holly jolley christmas

Here's wishing that you get everything you want, that you celebrate the birth of our Savior, and eat lots of candy. Here's wishing you spend today with family and friends, and you get to drink hot chocolate, and have turkey for dinner. Here's wishing you a Holly Jolley Christmas!

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disney tip: castaway cay biking

My family has been on 5 Disney cruises if I count correctly. I know, we're spoiled rotten. But the good news is that means I'm basically an insider and I can share my goods with you! So today I want to share with you something we didn't do on our first cruise, but we've done on every cruise since.

For those of you who aren't aware, Disney owns it's own private island. AWESOME RIGHT? This island is called Castaway Cay (Cay is said like "key"). It's beautiful and there is so much to do you can never do it all. But one thing I would encourage you to do is rent bikes and ride them.

I know you think you're on vacation and that this is painful exercise, but it's so fun and a perfect way to burn off the calories you'll be eating back at the midnight buffet. The bike trails include the airstrip, and two nature trails. The entire trail is only 1.5 miles long, so I promise you won't die. And the views are beautiful!

The cost is only $10 and those you who have done excursions on cruises know how cheap that is. The bike rentals are hardly ever busy, and they have bikes for every one in the family. Even pink ones!

Here is another post with some awesome pictures of the trail, although the pricing on the website is a little outdated, you can see how beautiful of a ride it is!

Have you ever been on a cruise? What was your favorite part?

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my 2014 word of the year

You may have read my post last week about my 2013 word of the year, and if you haven't I encourage you to go read THIS POST before reading any further. Go ahead, I'll wait...

Okay now that you're caught up, I'm excited to introduce my word of 2014. It's taken a lot of thought. What do I want to change about myself? What do I love about myself? How can I improve? What kind of person do I want to be? Who do I look up to?

And I realized, all of my answers led me to an idea, what if I could learn to live life with worry and fear? What if I learned to stand up for myself and others a little more? What if I took chances I wouldn't normally take? What if I put my heart and soul into everything I did, simply because I can? What if I could learn to live like fearless?

(This print was designed by my friend Rebecca, her Etsy shop is HERE!)

I am so excited to set goals to fit this word and to focus on it throughout all of 2014. What better time than NOW to learn to live life fearlessly? Have you decided on a word for 2014? I love for you to leave your ideas in the comments! Let's inspire each other!

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update on brooklyn's book of mormon challenge

I'm so proud of myself you guys, I'm actually reading 20 pages a day out of the Book of Mormon. Which is quite a task! I'm on track to finish by January 1, 2014. What a perfect way to ring in the new year right?

I splurged $11 on this gorgeous copy at Walmart the other day and can't seem to put it down, it's also hardback cover which makes it great for purse stashing! Purse stashing makes it easy to pull it out if I have a few minutes here or there to spare. It's still hard to choose The Book of Mormon over Twitter, but I'm surprised how fast the 20 pages go by, and how much I'm enjoying it. 

Back in my more youthful days, I did a 40 day Book of Mormon challenge, and I'm really glad I decided to re-read the entire thing this December. If you're interested in a 30 day challenge, here's a cute reading schedule! It's been one of the best decisions I've made all year!

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my marriage rocks... didn't you read my blog post about it?

When I got engaged in May, one of my best friends expressed immediate disapproval of the man I had chosen to spend forever with. It was a struggle. I tried to talk him up, I tried to share every good thing about him, and every nice thing he ever said or did to me. I wanted to have the world validate the goodness in him and in our relationship. And now that I'm married, it hasn't got any easier. 

One of the problems about being a part of the blogging world, is you get to see all the good of everyone else's lives. Husbands who bring home fresh flowers every week, wives who make EVERY freaking meal from scratch, mothers who fix all 5 girls hair before church, and love notes left between couples. I'm not saying it's bad to post those kind of things, I think it's really important to share our successes, it's not to dim others light, but to give them permission to shine too.

The problem is, I want to change the world's opinion on marriage. I want women to see that marriage doesn't lessen their worth, or keep them from reaching their goals. I want to teach men that is is wonderful to settle down and raise a family. I want everyone to see my marriage and think "Man, marriage is pretty wonderful."

That friend who disapproved of my husband still does. She still thinks he's pretty awful. I want to shout at her, "DIDN'T YOU READ MY BLOG? DON'T YOU SEE HOW IN LOVE WE ARE?? WE GO ON DATE NIGHT EVERY WEEK, WE PRAY AND READ SCRIPTURES TOGETHER, WE SUPPORT EACH OTHER! MY MARRIAGE ROCKS!"

I'm coming to understand that my marriage isn't between her and I, it's between my husband and I. It's about two flawed people, who've committed to a lifetime of living, learning and annoying each other. I will continue to share lots of marriage posts on my blog, because my husband is my #1 priority. But I'm learning that I don't need anyone to approve of my marriage except God, my husband, and myself.

So I don't need you to tell me my husband is amazing or handsome or spiritual. The only person who needs to believe that is me. I don't need any of you to tell me that I should've dated him longer, or shouldn't have got married so young. I don't need to know anyone's dang statistics. In my opinion, my marriage DOES rock. And honestly? That's all I care about.

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date night: forgotten carols

A few weeks ago, Mr. Jolley surprised me with tickets to one of my favorite Christmas traditions ever... The Forgotten Carols! I love musicals and plays, and The Forgotten carols is one of my top favorites I've seen so far in my life.

The play focuses on the carols of "forgotten" people. Such as the innkeeper who turned Joseph and Mary away, and a sheperd who fell asleep when the angel came to announce the birth of baby Jesus. The songs touch my heart and help me focus on the reason we actually celebrate Christmas.

And although Mr. Jolley didn't LOVE it, and some of the cheesiness sent him into fits of laughter, he came with me, and that meant a lot. I don't know how he didn't love it though. I married a crazy man I guess ;)

Have you ever seen Forgotten Carols? If not, get on YouTube and look up some of the songs! You won't regret it!

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ask brooklyn the third

Happy Monday blogging friends! I'm back with one of my favorite posts to write every month, Ask Brooklyn! There are too many questions for me to answer them all in one post this month, but I promise to let them roll over onto my next Ask Brooklyn post, because every question matters to me! Be sure to submit your questions HERE.

How are you such a good person? Does that question even make sense? I just want to know where to start.

This question brought me to tears. It made me want to start ranting about all my flaws. I have so many. I do consider myself a good person though. Want to know why? Because every day I'm trying to be a little better than I was yesterday. That's what being a good person is to me. I'm never a perfect wife, I get lazy at school sometimes, and I can spend way too much money on makeup and hair product. But that's not what matters. Set GOALS! It's almost New Year's. What a perfect time! Stop focusing on your faults and start accentuating your strengths. 

Start by spending an hour or so all alone. No phone, no music, no nothing. Just you and a pen and paper, and maybe a yummy drink. Evaluate your life, evaluate your friends, evaluate the way you spend you time. What do you love about you life? What do you want to change? And go from there. 

Do you think it's true that if you're not happy alone, you'll never be happy married?

I think there's a LOT of truth to that statement. To start though, I will admit that getting married HAS increased my happiness. But the things that make me happy as Mrs. Jolley are the things that made me happy BEFORE I was married. I trained myself with coping skills while I was single, I know when I'm having a bad day, I can turn to the usual things, cereal, bubble baths, Disney movies, etc. My husband does make me feel pretty dang good about myself, but my self esteem comes from within. If I totally relied on my husband for my self esteem, I'd be dead meat. He is a wonderful husband, but it's not his job to keep me happy all the time. I think that's my job. 

Getting married is not a cure-all. My personal belief is that happiness is a choice. And although that habit to choose happiness could be developed after marriage, I think learning it before marriage is a wise idea.

What can I do to make reading the Book of Mormon easier? I want to make it a habit but I don't know where to start.

Start small! Or start big! Whichever works for you. It only takes 21 days to form a habit. Link scripture reading with something you already do every day. Choose to always read after you brush your teeth, or while eating breakfast. Personally, I like challenges. Which is why I chose to do Brooklyn's Book of Mormon challenge. 20 pages a day is a TON of reading in the Book of Mormon. But having to read that many pages means I have to figure a way to clear at least a half hour of time out of my day simply to read. 

Want to make it fun? Buy a cute journal and fun pens. Take notes while you read your scriptures. Get a red pencil, and read through the Book of Mormon looking for something specific. Like references to Christ, question marks, examples of courage, etc. Then put a check mark by each example. By a mini Book of Mormon and carry it in your purse. Download the Gospel Library app and read it on your phone while waiting in lines. Find what works for you!

Any nail or hair care tips you've learned that you'd like to share?

I haven't learned too much about nail care yet, and the fact that I pick my cuticles like crazy probably means I am not really in a position to share those tips ;) But as for hair, here's three things I've learned.

1. If you've lightened your hair AT ALL, find a product with keratin in it. Lightening hair strips it of it's natural proteins, keratin puts them back in. But don't use the product more than once or twice a week, because strangely enough you can overproteinize hair and it will break off.

2. If you expect nice hair, you have to invest in it. I've always bought the cheapest cheap products and used heat on my hair every day. Choose one or two days a week to go heatless. Pull your hair up, wear it natural, or throw on a cute headband, but give your hair a break. And invest in good hair product! If you're looking for specific suggestions for your hair, feel free to email me at brooklynburton@hotmail.com and we'll talk product. I'm a hair product junkie.

3. Getting trims while trying to grow out your hair may seem counter productive, but if you get split ends a lot, trimming with help stop the split end from continuing up the hair shaft and ruining the entire strand of hair! Trims help!

WHAT SHOULD I GET MY MOM FOR CHRISTMAS?!?

First off, I'm totally loving the enthusiasm haha. I'd say a go to would be a girls night out with you. Give her a coupon for a free manicure night with you. Go pamper yourselves! Or give her a free night of babysitting if you have younger siblings. Other ideas, Walmart $5 chickflicks, Dove chocolate, nail polish in her favorite color, new jewelry!

What's your favorite Christmas movie?

Either Christmas With the Kranks or How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey. Those both make me laugh and put me in such a Christmasy mood!

Make it a good week lovelies!

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ad space giveaway

To celebrate the holiday season and the almost beginning of a new year, I've collaborated with a few of my favorite bloggers to give you a TON of free ad space on our blogs! Check us out below, and then enter via the Rafflecopter below!

  A Little Too Jolley // Best.Day.Ever. // Crazy Perfect Life

Oh, Just Livin' The Dream // Dreaming About Someday // Pretty in Pink

Enter now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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12 days of christmas for wives

Tis the season! Who isn't loving the holiday season? Because I know I am loving it. All the candy, baked goods, Christmas music, and wrapping presents, I'm in heaven. But as I was listening to the radio the other day, I heard the talk show host read some statistics. They were talking about how couples often have the most marital problems during December. During Christmas?! How sad is that? But when you think about it, there's a lot of stress that comes with this wonderful time of year. Money problems, deciding how much time to spend with the inlaws, extra loads at work to make up for the time you'll have off, crowded stores, snowy roads, etc, etc, etc! 

So as I was emailing back and forth with my Jolliest of All Sponsor Amberly from Life With Amberly & Joe. We decided it would be fun to create a 12 Days of Christmas for wives, to help us focus on loving our husbands these last few days before Christmas. Between the two of us we came up with 12 ideas, one for each day until Christmas starting tomorrow. Will you take the challenge?

__________________________________

Day One: Tell your husband you are so grateful you married him

Day Two: Make his favorite breakfast and serve it to him in bed

Day Three: Put your phone, computer, tablet, etc, away for ONE HOUR and spend quality time with him

Day Four: Tell him five things you love about him

Day Five: Give him a break & do his chores for him

Day Six: Text him just to see how he's doing

Day Seven: Do an activity, or watch a movie with him that he loves that you wouldn't normally want to do

Day Eight: Make or buy his favorite treat

Day Nine: Point out something your husband does well, such as a spiritual gift, talent, or work

Day Ten: Dress to Impress! Do something a little extra to make yourself look nice for him. Wear eyeliner, put on perfume, wear heels, curl your hair, whatever it is that he loves!

Day Eleven: Write your husband a Christmas love note. As sappy as you'd like! Put it under the tree with the other presents

Day Twelve: Make it a point to cuddle with your husband while doing nothing else but just enjoying each other's company

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It has been such a pleasure to have Amberly as my Jolliest of All Sponsor. She's a peach! If you're looking for other ways to improve your marriage, she has a post with a Christmas Date Night Bucket List that is full of fun ideas for the holiday season! She also recently wrote a post about Finances in Marriage, and she is my all time FAVORITE blog to sponsor and her rates are totally inexpensive. So do yourself a favor and go say hi! She's also helping host a HUGE giveaway for a year's worth of ad space on some of my favorite blogs, it's worth entering!

How do you intentionally love your husband through the holidays?

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3 blogs you just might love!

1. Life With Amberly & Joe

This is the story of our marriage, 

the adventures we have,

 our love for each other, 

moments of laughter

 and our crazy busy life! 

We are happily married

 and forever young at heart.

This might seem like a plug in since she is my large sponsor for the month, but honestly, she's a blog I will go and read every single day. I was ecstatic when she decided to sponsor me! I've also met her in real life and she is a great listener. 

2. Pretty in Pink

Let me tell ya, if this girl didn't live in Ohio and I in Utah, I'd force her to be my best friend. We've quickly become close through Twitter & texting and she's the SWEETEST ever. This girl just gets it. 

3. From A to Z

Another sponsor this month, I know I know... This girl got married just before me, and so it's been fun to kinda share newlywed life with her! She blogs a lot about our faith and her testimony, which I truly admire. She is SO sweet and wants nothing more than to change the world with righteous influence.

What are you "go-to" blogs ??

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my 2013 word of the year

A few years ago when I was reading through blog posts on 71toes.com, I came across a post where the author talked about how every year she picks a "word of the year." Something she wants to really focus on throughout the year. So I've been doing the same thing for the past few years.

This past year I decided that my 2013 Word of the Year would be.... TRUST. I wanted to learn to trust the Lord with my life, to trust that people weren't out to get me, and learn to trust myself that I could make decisions that would benefit my life. 

It's been an amazing ride.

October 2012 when the LDS missionary age for women was lowered to 19, I decided I wanted to go, but after praying about it, I knew I shouldn't. It was really hard to trust that the Lord had other good plans for me.

In March I met my now husband, and 8 weeks later we were engaged. Although I never doubted that decision, it was scary sometimes to be marrying someone I had just met, but I TRUSTED that the Lord knew him. I TRUSTED that the Lord wouldn't leave me alone without friends if I moved 2 hours away from the only friends I'd ever known.

In July, I made the decision to drop out of college to go to beauty school. Against everyone's wishes, I TRUSTED my gut that I needed to take a different path with my life. So I did. And now I'm 1/4 done with Cosmetology at Paul Mitchell and have found something I'm truly passionate about. 

So many times throughout this past year I have been amazed at my ability to TRUST. I think I couldn't have picked a better word for myself. 

Stay tuned, because next week I will be announcing my 2014 word of the year!

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date night: take the 5 love languages quiz

Last week for date night, we had planned on going out to dinner and then coming home and taking the 5 Love Languages quiz. Unfortunately, a huge snowstorm hit that made our 15 minute minute drive take a little over an hour. So instead, we cuddled up with Elf and took the 5 Love Languages quiz on our seperate laptops. What IS the 5 Love Languages Quiz? Well I'm so glad you asked!

The wise relationship expert Gary Chapman has written about the 5 different ways that people give and receive love. The categories are... 

1. Words of Affirmation

2. Acts of Service

3. Receiving Gifts

4. Quality Time

5. Physical Touch

Now before I get the naysayers that I always do when I talk about this, I am fully aware that everyone gives and receives love in ALL the ways. There are just certain ways we prefer to be loved, and the 5 Love Languages Quiz can help you and your spouse see how you can better express love.

Mr. Jolley's scores were WAY different than I expected. I've always thought he was a Words of Affirmation kinda guy, which is why in my marriage I've made such an effort to write love notes. But after taking the test, Words of Affirmation was one of his lowest scores! His highest was Acts of Service. So now I know that when I do the dishes, or make the bed, it means more to him than leaving him an "I love you" note, although, he still appreciates those!

My highest score was Physical Touch. Holding his hand and having his arm around me means more to me than any gift he could give me. I need that physical connection to be happy in my relationship. My second highest was Words of Affirmation, which is not surprising, because often times, the language your score highest in is the way you show love to others. For example, because I assume since I LOVE getting love notes, Mr. Jolley will feel the same way. 

Although Mr. Jolley seemed a little weirded it was funny to see that when I had finished the short 30 something question quiz, he was only on number 4. ;)

Have you ever taken the 5 Love Languages Quiz? Or read the book? 

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brooklyn's book of mormon challenge

Happy Monday friends!

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I've decided to read 20 pages from the Book of Mormon every day in order to finish by 2014.

The reason I decided to do this, is because even though I'm really good at reading scriptures with my husband every night, I wanted to rekindle my love for the Book of Mormon in personal reading, and honestly, I love a good challenge. So that's how this was born. By taking the 531 pages that are in the Book of Mormon, and dividing them by the number of days left in the year.

I only have to read 18 pages a day to finish by January 1st, but I figured 20 was easier to keep track of and would keep me a little ahead of the game every day. I've found myself carrying a little $4.00 pocket sized Book of Mormon for those few extra minutes I find myself waiting place to, in the bathtub to relax, and reading it from my phone to my husband on drives to go visit my family.

I'm not saying this challenge is for everyone. I also think setting a certain amount of time to study the scriptures every day is important, but for me, this is what is pushing me to change. And I'm SO excited to do this challenge for me, because I can do it, and I deserve to push myself to be the best I can.

Have you ever set yourself really hard challenges that other people thought you couldn't do?

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love story part nine: considering forever

I decided it was time to at least start considering marrying this boy. Sure I'd only known him a few weeks, but since when has true love ever been convenient right? I was too afraid to pray about it. What if God told me not to marry him? I couldn't picture my life without him. So we decided to start acting as if we were going to get married, but not make anything official. 

I met his family. He met my family. The whole shebang. I got to see his hometown, and he got to see mine. We talked through our flaws and faults and things that might cause problems later if we WERE to get married.

And then came time for me to register for school. I was SO conflicted. So full of "what ifs."

What if we get married in December? Then we have to do long distance for 9 more months through a snowy canyon.

What if we tried to get married in the middle of a school semester? I'd rather die.

What if we got married in the summer? I'd have to be engaged like NOW! And sell my fall housing contract. And what the heck will I do for schooling?

What if I dropped everything I had, friends, a good job, and 70% of a college degree to marry him and then things didn't work out? I'd be so embarrassed and feel so foolish.

What if I just moved home for Fall semester and did online schooling for just one semester? Then no harm, no foul if things don't work out. I could just move right back up to Utah State.But what if they did? Then I could potentially get married in the middle of a semester....The thoughts went on and on.

Then in all my stressed out, OCD planning, I realized I wanted forever with him. I really did. And all the sudden, I was afraid of losing him. I didn't want to do life with anyone else.

I realized I needed to talk to him about my options and see where he stood, and just how serious he was about this marriage thing...

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an idea to get you started on goal setting

I haven't always been a crazy goal setter ya know? Back in the day I hated goal setting because it seemed I could never reach the goals I was setting. Once I learned a thing or two about progress I decided to try again. And a few years ago when a friend suggested The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, I decided to give it a try. 

This book follows the author's one year journey of finally doing all the things she's wanted to. Not in an Eat, Pray, Love kinda way (although I love that book too) but in an every day kinda way. Learning to sing in the mornings, starting a blog, organizing digital photos and spending more time sleeping. 

This book inspired me to set goals that wouldn't just make me skinnier or smarter, but that would make me happier! Some weeks I set goals to watch a Disney movie or bake cupcakes, because those things bring me happiness. 

So if you're looking to start setting goals for the new year, pick up this book and read it in December. Get a whole new outlook on life, and let's ring in 2014 with some awesome goals!

And don't forget to go enter an awesome giveaway that includes FIVE winners of new blog designs by From A to Z. She's awesome!

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holiday gift ideas!

Still have a few people who are hard to buy for on your list? Here you can support small business AND find unique gifts!

Oh Baby Crochet & More

Boot socks, Scarves and Blankets oh my! I love this shop because it is so simple but has such great ideas for women or teens. The best thing about buying from small businesses, is that not everyone will have the items that you are buying, which makes them more unique!

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Wake Me Up Designs

Have a blogger in your life but don't know what to get her? How about this ADORABLE mug? It's so cute. But she also has the most adorable holiday mugs. Go check out her shop right now!

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Lilies Fillies

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Creating A Beautiful Little Christmas E-Book

Click here to view more details

Makayla Ann Designs

I worked with this shop awhile ago on a review and LOVED their products. Now I'm eyeing these leather studded bracelets. Who wouldn't want one for Christmas?

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Ashley Frederickson for Mary Kay

A few weeks ago Ashley gave me some eye makeup remover to try and I have fallen in love with it. It is SO easy to use. I just put it on a cotton round, set it over my eye for 10-15 seconds and then rub it off. It's so easy and doesn't irritate my eye at all!

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What small businesses are you buying Christmas gifts from this year??

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