It is February already?

Somehow it is already February 9th. I'm not sure where the first month of the year went, but it is over and we've moved into February. I wanted to provide an update and confirm that yes, I have been keeping up with my resolution.

So far this year 

• I went to training to become certified to prepare basic tax returns with the VITA program                                                                                                              The VITA program provides free tax return preparation for people who make less than $52,000. I  volunteer for 3 hours on Saturday afternoons at the Bountiful Food Pantry and it is great. I love getting to know the people who come in and being able to give service to people who deserve it. I was even able to prepare our tax return this year (no Turbo Tax needed). This is helping me on my way to take the EA exam and hopefully next year be able to prepare taxes for others (for a small fee).

• I bought a bassoon                                                                                          Yes I went on KSL and bought a bassoon. It has been amazing! I don't remember ever getting as excited to practice as I am now. I am actually sounding ok and have found some fun practice songs online. I also went to my first rehearsal with the Davis County Symphony. It is a little overwhelming trying to play some of that music but luckily there's no pressure, and no one's called me out for only being able to play about half the stuff.

• I set a date for my first book group                                                                           I chose a book and set a date and at the end of this month will meet with some of the ladies in my ward for book group. I loved the book group in my ward in Wisconsin and hope it will be successful. If anything I just want to get to know more people in my ward.

2014

Like many people, I try to make resolutions every year. I honestly don't know if I've actually accomplished what I planned to in previous years, because I don't remember. 

My original 2014 goal list:

     Play the bassoon in the local symphony

     Run a 5K

     Pass the exam to become an Enrolled Agent

     Start a book club

     Payoff my car

     Go visiting teaching every month

                                                          (random pic added to break up the wall of text)

Then...I came across a blog post that had an interesting take on New Year Resolutions. The post can be found here Rewriting Resolutions

For those who don't want to take the time reading it, it sums up to this:
One Word 365 is a community and a movement. It’s about forgetting resolutions and scrapping your list of goals that you’ll forget by next week – or be overwhelmed by in the same time frame. One Word 365 says:

    Choose just one word. One word that sums up who you want to be or how you want to live. One word that you can focus on every day, all year long.

     It will take intentionality and commitment, but if you let it, your one word will shape not only your year, but also you. It will become the compass that directs your decisions and guides your steps.

Now I had already thought of some things I'd like to accomplish in 2014. But I liked this idea much better. So I took a look at what I had written down and tried to decide on why I had listed these things. In the end I came up with my one word.
                                                                         Grow

                                          (2nd random pic-our 1st home moved in June 2013)

I suppose it could be argued this is what everyone tries to do every year when creating resolutions. But luckily, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks because this is my word.

Why did I choose this word?
Occasionally, despite all the wonderful blessings in my life, I have found myself feeling down. In these moments I felt like I had lost who I was, unsure of how to define myself as a person, wife, member of the church. It's a difficult feeling to explain and I'm grateful these moments are brief and rare. As I looked over my list I realized I want to find myself, dig deeper and discover and rediscover things I had forgotten and allow myself to grow and become the person that I really am. 

I would like to grow mentally, spiritually, physically, socially, maybe even financially :). It means putting myself out there, taking up old hobbies and finding new ones. I think I've allowed myself to stagnate because it is the easy way out. I'm afraid of failure, the uncertainty of trying something new and talking myself out of things because I'm a little shy and don't like to put myself out there. I'm not looking to reinvent myself; I just want to stop holding myself back. 

                                                             (Celebrating 5 years in March!)

I don't normally share personal stuff online. So while I'm at it I might as well mention how much I love and appreciate my sweet husband. Two days before Christmas I got all four of my wisdom teeth out. I am so grateful that one of the first things I was aware of after "waking up" was Kyle sitting next to me holding my hand. He said it was because I kept trying to touch my face, but I think it's because he likes me. He also stayed with me the rest of the day, brought me ice packs and soft foods. You wouldn't know it by looking at him, but he's a pretty good guy.

-Courtney

Saturday Quick Craft

This morning while watching the Wisconsin Badgers game (sorry Utes I would watch your games but they don't broadcast here) I decided to make a new key chain. I have used the same lanyard since my first year in college. I got that lanyard from the military recruiters that came to our school in high school. It was camo colored and by this point starting to fall apart. I found this fun idea on pinterest and decided to make it.
http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2009/08/guest-bloggerfashionable-fabric-key.html

I used the clip from my old lanyard and material scraps I already had from other projects. I followed the same instructions from the website except I did not get any fusible interfacing. I also used flannel material so when I got the point where I had to sew I decided it was too thick so I cut off a layer of each side of the material. It's does have a few flaws, but it was fun and super easy to make. If I were to make it again I would make the straps a little bit longer. Right now it is just a little too small and I would like to be able to put it around my wrist.

September Fun

So far September has been great. The weather has cooled a bit so we haven't turned on the air conditioner for almost a week. I have a feeling the weather is going to change quickly. Next week's forecast calls for a high of 82 on Monday and by Thursday it is a high of 61 and a low of 39.

Downtown Madison has a huge farmer's market every Saturday all day surrounding Capitol Square. A few weeks ago we went down and walked around. We also stopped by Ian's Pizza, the first restaurant we went to when we came here in April for Kyle's interview. It is pizza by the slice, but not your regular pizza. We enjoyed a Mac and Cheese slice, Chicken potato, and chicken cordon bleu.

The next weekend we went to Taste of Madison. This is a huge event they do every Labor Day Weekend around Capitol Square. There were maybe 50-60 local restaurants all around with several items you could try each between $1-4. Here are some of the things we tried.

Egg Rolls

Aloha Burger-had a spicy sauce and pineapple

Beef and Cheese empanada

We also had Blue Raspberry Ice (so goood!), a mango orange smoothie, and some cinnamon almonds. There were three stages set up around the square with live music-rock, djs and country.

Yesterday was Kyle's birthday. Since we are rather boring we both worked and in the evening I made Kyle his favorite dinner-crepes. At first I was having a really hard time getting them to cook and they were way too thick. I switched to a smaller pan and was able to get enough good ones to enjoy. We filled them with fresh whipped cream, strawberries, bananas, raspberries and covered in syrup.

Kyle told me he didn't want his presents wrapped but that would be lame so I used what I had around the house to at least put them in something. You would think it was a girl's birthday based on this picture.

Kyle got a few collared shirts, new khaki pants and some ear buds. He needed some dressier clothes than t-shirts and jeans because he has to wear business casual when he is around customers. My parents got Kyle a video game, Deus Ex. Kyle had mentioned he might want it and we were all stumped on what to get him for his birthday so he got it... what a spoiled guy. He seems to like it, he played it for a few hours last night. This morning he got a package from his family, a hoodie and shirt. I also made him his favorite ice cream cake.

Final Decorating Class

Yesterday was my final class in the decorating basics class by Wilton. I learned a few flowers, leaves and how to do lettering. This is the best flower I made it is called a pompom flower.
Roses are hard to make! It is partly because you have to turn the flower base while you're squeezing the frosting with your other hand, and you have to turn counter clockwise. I kept doing it the wrong direction but it still turned out well.
This is the best cupcake swirl I did. It was fluffy and full, which is why I didn't cover it up like I had to for the other ones.
This is a pompom flower on the top of a cupcake made with 1 color instead of 2. Also notice the awesome leaves. They are so easy to make and you can't mess them up!
Finally here is the shaggy mum. I think my frosting wasn't the right consistency because the pieces should have been smaller and neater but it's still a fun flower that can cover up lots of mistakes.
Finally, here is my certificate. I am officially certified in decorating basics!

Cake Day!

Yesterday was my 2nd lesson for my cake decorating class. Last week we learned how to fill (tort) and ice a cake so Monday we all got to do it ourselves. I also learned how to do swirly lines, rosettes, star flowers, swirl flowers, and circles. I tried to use all these new techniques in decorating my cake. By the end of the night my frosting was getting warm and a little mushy so some of the decorations were less than ideal. Here are some pictures!

Cookies!!

I finally started my cake decorating class! My first lesson was yesterday and I learned a lot of great things! At the end we decorated cookies using our new talents, with a star tip. Here are some examples of what I did. Sorry about the poor quality on some of the pictures.
This one, the letter K, is probably the best one I did. A lady sharing the table with me was very impressed when she found out I've never done this before. She said I had done a great job keeping even pressure, which is hard to do.


This is my new necklace holder. I got some coat hooks from Bed Bath and Beyond that had adhesive on the back and stuck them to the wall next to my closet. Now I can see my beautiful necklaces hanging out and easily choose accessories.
On a side note... I started my new job today! I am an accountant at National Guardian Life Insurance. My first day was great. Everyone is super friendly and once I got started learning what I'll be doing I feel very comfortable that I can learn it and be successful.