Currently: 3 Years / Altitude Summit SLC

Today Brandon and I are celebrating 3 years together! This picture was one of our firsts together, and will always hold a special place in my heart. The past three years have been absolutely amazing, and I'm so blessed to have such a loving and supportive fiance by my side. I love you Brandon! Happy Anniversary!

Reading: Lots of blogs! I've been trying to get to know some of the fellow bloggers that will also be at Alt Summit. The Alt Summit blog has been fantastic for posts that have to do with conference jitters, wardrobe issues, and has posted links to past attendees blogs, so I have been able to read first hand experiences (this has helped me so much). I have been feeling so inspired and can't wait to get some of my new ideas rolling after the conference.

Listening To: Nothing really...I'm desperate for some new bands/songs to add to my rotation. Any suggestions?

Watching: American Horror Story and What Not to Wear. Total opposites, but American Horror Story has sucked me in and won't let me go. I finished Asylum last night and enjoyed it more than the first season. I loved that Lana was such a strong character, and she kept me on my toes. Next I'll start Breaking Bad, I've been curious about it for some time and want to see what all the hype is about.

Eating/Drinking: Green smoothies, grilled cheese, and chocolate milk. It's all about balance...right?

Getting Excited For: Alt Summit is here! I can't believe that Brandon and I will be on a plane to Salt Lake City by the time you read this! I can't wait to see what this conference will bring, and to meet some of my favorite bloggers. Keep a look out for lots of pictures and some fresh ideas when I get back!

Green Monster

Cheers to a New Year! I hope you all had a safe New Year's Eve and are ready for the clean slate that 2014 will bring. Like almost everyone that I know January is the time for fitness and eating right, some can stick to it but most (me included) fall off before the month is over. Now that I'm done with school and have had more time for myself I've really started to evaluate what makes me happy, and what is good for me.

I've decided that 2014 will be the year of happiness and choices that are good for my heart, body and soul. I started the month by signing up for the 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge with the ladies of Simple Green Smoothies. I found them because I was searching through the speakers for Alt Summit (which is only 14 days away!!) and fell in love with their web design and mission. Although my first week was sadly filled with spinach tasting smoothies I am happy to say that thanks to Janee at YellowBird Yellow Beard I finally found a smoothie last night that really tastes amazing and has restored my faith in making green smoothies a part of my daily life. Her post was about her everyday fruit smoothie but at the bottom she included a "Green Monster" link. The recipe includes bananas and peanut butter and it's awesome and doesn't taste green at all!
 

I hope you try and enjoy the smoothie. I can't believe how much I love it and hope I can find more green smoothies that don't taste green!

2013 The Year of the Walrus

Happy New Year's Eve friends! 2013 will be over in a few hours, and I am ready to embark on a fresh 2014. This year provided so many wonderful things and also reminded me to be humble and grateful for what I have. It's hard to prepare yourself for the hard days or weeks, but if I remember anything in 2014 it will be this "Everyday may not be good, but there is something good in everyday". I wanted to recap some amazing moments this year, because even with the hard times, it was a blessed year!

• I graduated and gave a speech that was quoted in the paper, and had a picture of me and Dr. Citera submitted to the Bisbee paper! Woo-hoo! 
• I stopped working weekends! 
• I represented students at a tuition hearing and thanks to their amazing support and personal stories our small and humble campus was able to get out of paying an $80 fee that everyone else has to pay. The tuition was still increased but hey 80 bucks is pretty awesome for standing up and saying no to the increase
• Brandon and I were blessed with amazing travels to San Diego with my mom and step-dad, Seattle and Seabrook with his family, Kartchner Caverns with Josh, a beautiful day trip to Patagonia and Sonoita for my birthday, two trips to see my mom, and a full day trip to Willcox for pumpkins and wine! 
• Nova-Lynn our inherited niece was born and she is perfect in every way! 
• We paid off a big bill, and should be 100% debt free by summer 2014 
• Taylor, Lauren and Mariah all turned 21 and we haven't let St. Elmo's forget it!  
• April provided weekly Starbucks runs, countless "it will be okay" texts, and kept me on budget when I tried to convince her that I really needed three new nail polishes. (April, I need them!) :) 
• Our amazing friends Taylor and DJ got engaged <3
• I was blessed to have been supported by my amazing girlfriends, who I feel I have grown closer to this year. I hope that this growth continues next year and that I finally get my butt up to Phoenix to visit Christina! ;) 
• And finally Brandon reminded me that the one of best days of my life happened in 2013! I finally saw a WALRUS in person and it was seriously the best thing ever! (I keep thinking about doing a post to explain this....obsession. For now just understand that this is on the same level as meeting Gerard Butler) 

Thinking of these things remind me that with the hard times there is always so much good. I am so blessed to have such a loving family, an equally loving and patient fiance, and such caring (and fun) friends!!

Cheers to 2014 and the adventures that it will bring! 

i'm back in business!

Brandon took this picture at the Phoenix Zoo back in April, and the facial expression sums up the past few weeks!

 

SO! Three weeks ago I was working on homework at the dining room table, and showing Brandon some Christmas cards on minted. I was panicked and tense because I was working on homework and had too many deadlines in my near future. Oskar was on the table walking around and the next thing I see is his body knocking over my water glass onto my laptop!!  (Let me note that I NEVER have water near my computer, and the situation was doomed from the start) I panicked and pulled my computer up and we cleaned it quickly; it was acting fine until I went to work on it the next day and it wouldn't charge. I wasn't sure if it was the water or the fact that I had pulled it up quickly and thought I may have damaged the cord. 

Thankfully it was still under warranty, however the problem was that I still had papers and my internship to finish. I literally screamed so loud when I called Brandon to tell him the issue that he rushed home and was a total champ! So we sent my laptop to best buy and I was luckily able to use my grandpas laptop, but it wasn't the same. I didn't think his security was right and didn't want to enter any personal emails or anything. It was a frustrating three weeks, but I am back and happy to report that I am officially DONE!! I have my bachelors degree! I got an 'a' in my last class and superiors on my internship and independent studies! Everything always works out, and this month has been a reminder of that.

Another reminder I have been faced with is that once Thanksgiving hits, it's basically Christmas!  December flew by much quicker than I wanted it to! :( We celebrated my graduation (a post on that soon!) and Brandon's birthday recently, both being wonderful things that made the computer/finals situation easier to deal with; but the school situation didn't leave much time to get excited for the Holidays. Our tree is up and Brandon went super Griswold on the front porch, but most of our presents weren't purchased until we ran to target and the mall tonight. I'm excited for a Christmas when Brandon and I will be ahead and able to celebrate like the crazy Christmas/Thanksgiving lovers that we are!

A side note: if my computer ever decides to tragically die you can follow me on instagram and see what's happening there! alexisstarr

Thanks for reading!