dear twenty-fourteen

Celebrating the final night of twenty-fourteen
My year would not have been so amazing if it weren't for him

As twenty-fourteen comes to an end, I sit here in my tiny living room, with the candles lit, and a death cab for cutie vinyl playing in the background. As sparse as my blog posts are, I always look forward to my "end of the year wrap up" post. It's always interesting to reflect back each year to see what season I was in, and see what type of perspective I had on the year to come.

Twenty-fourteen was a great year for me. We entered into our second year of marriage, which has been so much fun. The first year was amazing, new and exciting. But, the start of the second year has proven to be more comfortable, familiar and settled. This year, we also went back to college (6th time for me), and I am proud to say I completed two classes, and passed them both! We traveled a lot this year. Mostly little weekend getaways, but we made it a point to pursue adventures every chance we got. Catalina, Santa Barbara/Solvang, San Diego (twice), San Francisco (anniversary trip!), Big Bear (twice), Palm Springs and Indio. We started (and stopped) working out at a local bootcamp. This was a great addition to our day to day routine, but sadly had to end due to finances and also just having way too much on our plate with starting school again. 

A few major highlights but so many more simple things that brought me joy. I feel like I am in the best place I can be in life. There are days I feel like I am getting so old, and then I quickly snap out of it and realize I have SO much life ahead of me, and it's time to start pursuing the things that I feel called to; that bring me joy. 

Twenty-fifteen is starting to look like it might be one of the biggest years for me yet. Lots of plans in the making, and that brings me so much excitement! I'm not necessarily a person who creates "resolutions" for the new year, but I definitely have some goals and hopes for this season. A few dreams of mine are:

(In no particular order...)

Move into a larger apartment

Get a dog

Find a church to call home

Continue taking classes

Pay off our car

Find a healthy regiment/lifestyle that works well for me

Keeping it simple, or at least that's the goal. I'm finding that simplicity is such a beautiful way to live life, and truly enjoy the things in front of you. 

XO

Brenda

short update: college

How cute is my husband with his backpack & skateboard!?
(we live close enough to walk, or for him - skate, to school)

This is the fifth week of my first semester back in college. So far school has been good. I'm starting to find a balance between work, class, homework, life and then just finding time to rest. It has been a struggle to find the right balance, and I'm not sure that I'll ever fully find it. But, I'm doing the best that I can with what I have. 

I'm really enjoying my two classes: American Government and Child Psychology. I have always been that person to quickly say, "I hate politics", but this class has opened my eyes to the importance of politics and the effects our government has on our country. It's pretty intriguing, and also slightly frightening. The professor is pretty entertaining and slightly edgy with his vocabulary, which actually makes me like him more. My Child Psych class is really fascinating. The professor is a bit quirky and boring, but the material we are covering is interesting to me, so I enjoy it.

I am so glad that Jamey and I are both taking classes. It would be difficult to only have one of us doing this. We are able to share an understanding that we have to carve out time to study and do homework. I also love that we are taking a class together (Government). It's so nice looking over and seeing him sitting there, taking in what I am taking in, too. 

I know graduating is so far away from now, but I am realizing that it is going to taste incredibly sweet when that day comes. 

XO

Brenda