Cheers to a new year!

Happy January 11th!
Our six month-iversary! 


I can't believe it's already been six months!
Though it feels like longer...
In the best way possible :)
2011 has come to an end,
and what a fantastic year it has been!


This time last year...
Stephen moved to Oregon to be with me.
(I know, he seriously is the greatest)
I turned 21,
(Tomorrow's my birthday!)
and I began my last winter term at Oregon State. 
Though we'd taken many road trips together, 
Stephen and I took our first flight together 
during Spring Break when we 
went to Alabama to meet his family. 
Stephen turned 23 in March, 
I started my last term at OSU,
and I got to celebrate Mom's Weekend 
with BOTH my mommas! 
All of a sudden I was graduating, 
starting my internship,
and entering the real world. 
Exactly a month after graduation
Stephen and I got married. 
The best part of July,
the best part of 2011,
the best part of my life :)
And exactly a month after that, 
we moved to Alaska!
(After a wonderful road trip experience with Erica to Idaho!)
Our first apartment,
our first car,
my first time in Anchorage...
Stephen started medical school 
and I started work...
We became an aunt and uncle 
when our sweet nephew, Triston, was born!
My parents came to Alaska
("So fun!")
and we went to Idaho...
I spent my first Christmas with the Wall family,
and we brought the new year in, in Belize! 


wow. 


Now how about 2012...
Watched the first sunrise of the year 
from a pier in Belize over clear blue water,
Stephen started his second term of medical school,
I turn 22 tomorrow,
(Woo hoo!)
and I'm most likely getting my wisdom teeth 
pulled out in the next week or so.
Our niece is due in March
(Can't wait to meet baby Harper!)
and Stephen will celebrate his 24th year of life. 
May brings the end of Stephen's first year of medical school!
We're going to spend the month of June 
living in a Native Alaskan village,
(Crazy, right!?)
hopefully spend the month of July in Alabama,
and move to Seattle in August
where Stephen will start his second year of school!


The rest, and all the in betweens are left up to God...
Which is how it should be :)


So what do I plan to accomplish in the year 2012?
Other than make it through this summer 
with my mind and all our possessions in tact...
1. Strengthen my relationship with God. Something I will always be striving for because I will never be perfect. I aim to pray more; pray constantly. Trust more, share more, love more... I want to improve myself in many ways and He is the only way. Without Him, numbers 2, 3, and 4 are impossible.
2. Be healthy. Mind and body. I want to read more. Books, newspapers, you name it. Stephen's going to be in school for the next hundred years, might as well join in on the 'never stop learning' adventure. I want to be more aware of what I'm putting into my body. Though I will never abandon my love for chocolate and sweets, everything in moderation, right? I want to learn new recipes and spend more time in the kitchen. I also want to spend more time at the gym. I don't want to be skinny, I don't want to be ripped, I just want to be healthy. 
3. Be loving. To my husband, my family, my friends... I want to keep better contact with old friends, and friends out of state. I want to be an amazing aunt to Triston and Harper, be their friends and be there to watch them grow up. I want to be a better sister and a better daughter, always showing my gratefulness to have such incredible people in my life. And I want to be a better wife, loving my husband in any way I can. Medical school isn't easy, and neither is being the wife of a medical student! I want to be supportive of Stephen and his goals and live up to the promises in our vows. I want the loved ones in my life to be proud I am their friend, daughter, sister, aunt, wife...
4. Go on more adventures. Even if just in my own back yard. I want to seize every opportunity and moment to do something new and learn something new. I want to get up every morning, shower and actually get dressed! (Why waste a closet full of cute clothes on a pair of sweatpants!) I want to be motivated and accomplished. I want to face my fears. I want to say yes more than I say no. I want to have FUN.

Happy 2012