Welcome 2015!

I've already posted my 2014 Year in Review, but what I've been slacking on so far is posting my "New Years Resolutions - 2015". Being that there's only a few short hours left of the year, I should do that.

This year, I've decided to join in with many other people and choose one word to focus on, instead of a bunch of resolutions I'll never stick to past January 2nd. Then I'll just continue making my monthly goals and checking them off 12 times a year.

My word I've chosen is intentional. I want to be intentional in the things I do:
-my teaching
-my faith in Jesus
-my work
-my relationships
-my therapy
-my monthly goals
-my free time
-my blog

There's too many times in my every day life that I just say "eh". 2015 is my year to change that.

I'll start thinking about my January goals so I can recap my December goals and post (hopefully) tomorrow.

Have a fun New Years and be safe! ♡

two thousand fourteen.

There's just about three days left of this entire year and I gotta tell you, they're going to be busy.

I'm working long hours at my daycare to try to pull in some extra money, Daniel starts physical therapy, and Daniel gets an MRI on his back (finally).

So, thanks to all that chaos and confusion that's going to be going on in the next few days, I decided I should do my 2014 Year in Review and my 2015 "Resolutions/Goals" now while I have the time and the sanity (that may be questionable).

January - January is the month where I finally started student teaching. The last three years at Drake University all led up to this moment. I was finally going to get to apply what I had learned and see if I could make it as an actual teacher. The first three days I was so nervous that I threw up before even leaving my apartment, but after that, I fell in love. I knew this was what I was meant to do. 

February - In February, I "celebrated" one whole year of being a Christian. It was February of 2013 that I prayed for Jesus to come into my life and in February I reflected back on that choice and what it had done for my life.

March - Well, in March of this year my dad moved away. For the first time he wasn't just a 2 hour drive away. He's now about 11 or 12 hours away. His job forced him to move from small town Iowa to Nashville, Tennessee. It was kind of a tough transition for everyone and to be honest, we are still getting used to it. My mom and brother joined him later on in July and I've now been there to visit once, so things are getting better and easier.

April - In April I had my first grown up interview for a teaching position. Luckily for me, it was at the same school I fell in love with while student teaching, so I already knew the questions they were going to ask and already had a decent relationship with the principal. I was pretty confident things were going to go well and when I got a call literally 20 minutes after leaving the school, I was psyched!

May - In May I said goodbye to my home of the last 4 years. I got all dressed up in my cap and gown and walked across the stage, diploma (case) in hand. It was surreal. I still sometimes can't convince myself that I graduated college with a Bachelor's Degree. It literally does not seem like I'm old enough to do that. But I did. And I'm pretty proud of myself. (My brothers graduated high school 2 weeks later. What?!)

Yeah, I'm REALLY short compared to them.

June - This was the month I'd been waiting for all years. Really, for 4 years. In June I finally ended my four year engagement by marrying the love of my life. Words cannot describe how much I love this kid and all the things we've learned together in the last six months. 

July - Fourth of July weekend we took our "honeymoon" to Hannibal, Missouri and St. Louis. We toured the Mark Twain caves (I married a history nerd) and then went to Six Flags with his cousin. We also went to the Monumentour with Fall Out Boy and Paramore, which was, fantastic.

After surviving our first roller coaster - the Batman.

August - Technically I started teaching in July (Yeah, school started early) but I spent August still trying to get used to things. I'm still trying to get used to being the new teacher. I am mostly ELL, but I also teach a class of middle school reading which has taken a LOT of adjustments. 

September - I literally have no recollection of the month of September...

October - In October I got a visit from my blogger/best friend in real life Meghan and we went and saw the wonderful(ly attractive) Brantley Gilbert in concert. October is also the month I went and visited my family in Nashville and got to go see Craig Campbell, Charlie Daniels Band, and Rascall Flatts (and more) at the Grand Ole Opry. It was a good month for concerts.

 

November - November 26th I marked two full years of being self-injury free. That's not something I've written about a lot in this blog yet, but it was a big part of my life for approximately 9 years. As of November, I'm two full years into recovery.

December - December was my staff Christmas party where Daniel finally met all the other teachers that I work with on a day to day basis. Luckily, they all got along. We did an Amazing Race around Des Moines and our team won!! December is also the month that my grandpa officially was diagnosed with cancer. We're still trying to figure out what this all means.

Album - 1989. Oh my golly this was a good year for Taylor Swift.

TV Show - Red Band Society, How to Get Away with Murder, and Black-ish.

Movie - A Million Ways to Die in the West. (Unfortunately, I still haven't seen The Fault in Our Stars, Divergent, If I Stay, etc. or I'm sure they'd be on the list!)

Book - Tuesdays with Morrie, Taking Chances

Song - Blank Spaces, All About That Bass, Black Widow, Bang Bang

Games - Trivia Crack & Subway Surfers. I can't stop.

How About The "Worst Of" or "Things I Wish Would Go Away"?

Things I Wish Would Go Away - Everyone's obsession with Miley Cyrus. Is she doing drugs? Is she not? Is she having inappropriate sex? Is she not? Oh no, Hannah Montana is being naughty. Seriously, I'm over it. Whether I was a die hard supporter of Miley or not, how is it any of our business to judge her? She's not 14 anymore. She's an adult. And she wanted to break out of the Hannah Montana thing. I get it. Sure, she went a little overboard. But so have many other child stars. I'm just over seeing her name in the headlines. Unless people wanted to start talking about the good things she's doing.

Things I Don't "Get" - Leggings as pants. Year after year I still don't understand this fad. Sure, they're comfortable. And some of them look okay. But there's some that just look awful.

Things I Started Saying As A Joke, But Now Can't Stop - I literally can't even, YOLO, ratchet, bae, on point, basic

Things I Definitely DIDN'T Start Saying & Hopefully Never Will - thot, fleek

2014 Year in Review

I plan on doing my own year in review post in the near future, but I saw this survey one on Meghan's blog, so I decided to play along.

What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before? I graduated college. I got married. And I started my teaching career

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions?
Will you make more for next year? I didn't flat out fail my resolutions...but I didn't do well. I'm sure I'll make more next year.

Did anyone close to you give birth? A co-worker did. And some old friends of mine. But nobody really "close" to me.

Did anyone close to you die? Yeah.  

What countries did you visit? Just USA.

What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014? Money. Haha.

What date from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory? June 28 <3

What was your biggest achievement of the year? Graduating from Drake.

What was your biggest failure? Gaining back all the weight I had lost.

Did you suffer illness or injury? Not really.  

What was the best thing you bought? Um...I don't know? 

Whose behavior merited celebration? My parents for having to be separated for a few months, moving their entire lives, etc.

Where did most of your money go? Bills. Boo adulthood.  

What did you get really, really, really excited about? My wedding.

What song will always remind you of 2014? Shake it Off

Compared to this time last year, are you:

Happier or sadder? Happier
Thinner or fatter? Fatter.
Richer or poorer? Moneywise - poorer. But richer in life.

What do you wish you’d done more of? Relaxed.  

What do you wish you’d done less of? Being upset over stupid stuff.  

How will you be spending Christmas?

With family. 

Did you fall in love in 2014?

Every day.  

How many one-night stands? Zero.

Who were your best friends? Meghan, Lauren, Stephanie, Nicole.  

What thing did you do that was meaningful to others? I wrote all my bridesmaids really personal notes with their gifts and they enjoyed them.

What were your favorite TV programs? Grey's, HTGAWM, Red Band Society

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I try very hard not to hate anyone, so I'd say no.  

What was the best book you read in 2014? Asking me to pick a favorite book? HA HA HA. 

What was your greatest musical discovery? I'm just glad I got back into Taylor Swift. lol

What did you want and get? A husband. haha

What did you want but did NOT get? Money and a hot body.

What were your favorite films this year? A Million Ways to Die in the West.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 22 and I didn't really do a lot because I was getting married 2 weeks later so that was more important.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not much I'd say. This was a decent year..

What kept you sane?

Faith, Family & Friends.  

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Chad Michael Murray. I started watching Chosen and let's be real....

What political issue stirred you the most?

Ferguson  

Who do you miss? My family.

Who are the best new persons you met this year? I love (almost) all my new co-workers and my students! 

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014. Growing up is not all it's cracked up to be when you're 5. 

Quote that sums up your year: Enjoy the small moments because you'll look back and they'll be your biggest memories.  

Top 10 Books of 2014

This is probably going to be the hardest post I've ever had to write.
I LOVE to read and do it constantly.
So, picking only 10 books that I've read this year to call my "favorite" is going to be hard.

But, I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for Top Ten Tuesday!

These are going to be in no particular order. That's too much pressure!!

Taking Chances by Molly McAdams.

I read this book in two sittings. It was so wonderful.

Shout out to Meghan for recommending it and letting me borrow her copy!

Don't Go by Lisa Scottoline

Holy moly tears and heartache! This book grabbed me at page one and I didn't want to put it down.

Every time I thought I had something figured out, something different would happen.

Whoooo. What a roller coaster.

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

I'm not usually a biography person, so I was a little hesitant.

But this story is amazing. It's hard to believe someone so young can make such a difference.

This book really opened my eyes to a lot of issues in our world and I can only hope more people like her step up.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

I fell in love with The Kite Runner, so I had to read this book. 

I was not disappointed.

It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

I had seen the movie and absolutely loved it, so I wanted to read the book.

I love books that are about these kinds of topics and the way Ned Vizzini presents this was wonderful.

I Still Believe by Jeremy Camp

Another biography, but it was also excellent. 

I love Jeremy's music, but I had no idea some of the things he's been through in his life.

But throughout it all, he keeps his faith. And that's just so inspirational.

Radical by David Platt

Another Christian book. This one presents to us how many people think they're following Jesus, but they're really only following the church and doing what makes them feel comfortable.

This book opened up a lot of honest conversations between my husband and I about where we are going with our faith.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

How did I miss reading this forever ago when everybody else read it?

This story touched my life.

I had no idea some of the struggles that people with this disease have to deal with.

Powerful.

Real Happy Family by Caeli Wolfson Widger

This book was a crazy whirlwind. 

I think I got it for free on my phone because the author was trying to put it out there because she's new?

Anyway, this book presents a lot of the dangers of drugs, but it's so wonderful.

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

I'm currently reading this, but I'd like to think I'll finish in 2014...

It's so good. Twisted, but wonderful. 

I can't say much more, since I haven't finished. But it's definitely going to be one of my favorites.

Christmas is in the Air Week 4: Christmas Beauty & Fashion

Christmas really IS in the air now. I can feel it.
I'm currently sitting here drinking coffee (go figure) with peppermint whipped cream, eating a candy cane, listening to Christmas music on Pandora, and hearing Santa out in the hallway of school.
I'm so excited! :)

Anyway, it's Week 4 of Christmas Beauty and Fashion.
As we found out with Pinterest Lately last week, I'm not exactly fashionable.
But here's what I've got.

I just love this idea!

And for giggles, this is my idea of Christmas fashion.

This was taken yesterday during "Ugly Sweater Day" for teachers.

I'm on the left. :)

(Don't mind how obnoxiously huge I look. I was obviously holding the sweater at an awful angle.)

Pinterest Lately & High Five Friday

It's probably against the rules to do two link-ups at a time, but I don't want to post twice in one day because then my posts will get buried and something will be missed.
So, hopefully this is okay. Here's what we're going with.

First of all, the one I'm co-hosting, Pinterest Lately.

This Week: Favorite Holiday Hair & Make-Up Ideas
I'd like to think I'll actually DO one of these this year, but let's face it. Probably won't happen.

I've also here-by decided that nail polish = make-up.

That was surprisingly really difficult to find things for. 

If you want to link-up, go ahead and link to your post and check out some other people's ideas!

The second link-up of the day is High Five for Friday!

This is the link-up where I get to say five (good) things that happened to me this week.

This week has been a mighty stressful one for me so this may be difficult.

1. We had our staff Christmas party last weekend and it was so much fun! My team won the Amazing Race challenge, I beat people at darts, and had a lot of fun. A group of us went dancing afterwards, which wasn't necessarily as fun as it could have been, but it was still a good time getting together with everyone.

2. I FINALLY got to catch up on some of my TV shows this week, specifically How To Get Away With Murder. Wow. Just, wow.

3. We did a drawing for Secret Santas at my daycare, which I'm pretty excited about. I was told who I have and I'm somewhat less excited now, because it's someone I'm not as close to. But I'm still excited! (Mostly because this means I'm going back to the daycare next week!)

4. I have officially made it through my last full week of school before Christmas break. Praise the Lord.

5. Plans are in the works to see one of my best friends/bridesmaids this weekend and I haven't seen her since the wedding!

What did YOU do this week?

30 Before 30

My friend Meghan and I realized that we are now closer to 30 than we are to 13, which is a really sad thing if you start to think about it! We talked a little bit about how we haven't accomplished as much as we would have liked in our short years here on this earth, so we decided to challenge ourselves. Here's a list of 30 things I want to accomplish before my 30th birthday. Here's Meghan's list if you're interested. Feel free to join us! Let us know if you're going to make one and we'll help keep you on track, if you return the favor. :)

1. Become a mommy!

2. Be credit card debt free

3. Run a race (5k)

4. Get to a "healthy weight" - (120-140)

5. Reach 2,500 books on Goodreads (I'm at 1,023)

6. Go on a spa weekend

7. Go somewhere exciting for our 5 year anniversary 

Daniel & I didn't go anywhere super big for our honeymoon (Hannibal caves and St. Louis), so I want to be able to take a decent sized trip for our 5 year anniversary. 

8. Start my Masters Degree 

Ideally, I would love to be FINISHED with my Masters Degree by then. But, I don't plan on returning to school full time. I love teaching so I'll continue to do that, but I do want my Masters, so I'll start going to night class at some point (when it's affordable).

9. Ride a mechanical bull

10. Volunteer 100 hours to charity

11. Buy a house

Buy is maybe a strong word. Rent? Something. Even if it's taking out a loan for a house. I want a house with my family, instead of being in an apartment forever.

12. Adopt a pet from a shelter

13. Speak semi-fluent Spanish

I want to be able to hold a conversation.

14. Read 100 Best Novels (http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/)

I haven't counted how many, but I'm sure I have a head start on this list. I just need to finish it.

15. Do a no-spend month

16. Get a tattoo

17. Go to Las Vegas

18. 100 Years...100 Movies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_100_Year)

Same here. I'm sure I've seen some of these.

19. No TV for one week

20. Complete an entire coloring book

21. Be in two places at once 

My dream would be to accomplish this goal by being on both sides of the equator. But, we'll see. 

22. Sponsor a child with Compassion International

23. "Unplug" for 48 hours

24. Learn to play piano 

I do have some piano skills, but my mom was the one giving me lessons so I kind of gave up really early on!

25. Adopt a species from World Wildlife Foundation (December 2014)

26. Go on a mission trip with my church

27. Be a vegetarian for a month

28. Go on a cruise

29. Visit a haunted place

30. Play laser tag

Christmas Is In The Air Week 3: Food

This week's link-up for Christmas is in the Air has to do with one of my favorite things - FOOD.
I probably won't be making anything new this year (though wait for the new year because I have some ideas), but here's what my family is planning for this year.

We're a little different than others. We do all our turkey, casserole, etc. for Thanksgiving. For Christmas, SOUP! :D

Chili - Mmmmmm

Broccoli Cheese

Clam Chowder

I'm pretty sure those are the 3 that I was told we'd be having this year.

Aside from that, we just snack on things all day - nachos, little hot dogs, crackers & cheese, etc.

Pretty excited!

Pinterest (Late)ly

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.rebekaheliz.com" title="Rebekah Elizabeth"><img src="http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y502/rebekaheliz/PL_zpse586e8b0.jpg" alt="Rebekah Elizabeth" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Alright everyone. I'm super sorry that this is so extremely late.
My life has been ridiculously hectic.
But I'm super excited to post now and I'm also excited that I get the honor to co-host this month!!

If this is your first time coming to my site, I apologize.
I'm working very hard on getting a design, but for now, this is what I have.

Anyway, this week's topic is Cold Weather Accessories.
Now, I don't accessorize well (or at all), but I browsed through my "Accessorize" and my "Baby It's Cold Outside" boards to see what I could come up with.

That's all I've got for this one haha.

Hopefully I can get this week's done ON TIME.

And get my head in the game to blog more in general.

(It'll help once I have a pretty page to come to!)

Thanks for joining! I can't wait to see your picks!

Christmas is in the Air

Today, I discovered (via my best friend Meghan) a new link up for the Christmas season.
I love link-ups because:

a.) They're fun.

b.) They tell me what to post about so I don't have to come up with ideas.

c.) They give me reasons to post.

So for the remainder of this season, I plan to link up for Christmas is in the Air.

This week's topic?
Favorite Christmas Movie!
Seeing this post made me realize it's literally been years since I've sat down and watched Christmas movies. :( Growing up, we watched Christmas movies non-stop. Frosty, Rudolph, the Grinch, you name it. Lately, I've watched approximately one Christmas movie a year. Which movie?

I watch this about a thousand times every year because TBS likes to run a 24 hour marathon over Christmas Eve/Christmas. I literally watch it 2-3 times in a row, fall asleep watching it, then wake up and watch it as I'm dragging myself out of bed.
But you've got to admit. This movie is a classic. :)
If I think back to the rest of my life and consider which Christmas movie is my favorite, there's definitely a clear winner. And that, my friends, is:

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas! And while I do enjoy the live action version, I gotta give it up for the animated. You're the real hero of Christmas time.

What's your favorite Christmas movie?

Definitely December

Brrrr.
It's definitely December.
Temperatures dropping. Ice forming.
IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!

New month = new goals.
How did I do last month?

1. Participate in the Winter Reading Challenge - Well, I've sorta been reading for it. Have I finished a book? Well, no. But I work 3 jobs!

2. Get 7-8 hours of sleep at least 3-4 times a week. - I guess I didn't actually keep track of this. Though I do know I've been sleeping more than I was.

3. Get moving! - lol

4. Get more into blogging! - haha You tell me.

So, about 2/4? Sort of.
Okay. How about December?

1. Finish reading the New Testament with Daniel. - We are on track to finish during December but we are only human and do miss a day of reading every once in a while.

2. Drink 80 oz. of water daily. I'm told this will help many things - my weight, my complexion, etc. As of posting (9:30 pm) I'm at approximately 48 oz. I didn't really think of this one until too late in the day obviously. But I'm the queen of procrastination and finishing just in time! Maybe I can still make it!

3. Hit 100 miles on Nike run. This is SUPER ambitious. But I'm sitting at 80ish right now and I have a little girl depending on me.

4. Get my budget/spending in order and get out of debt. I'm making good steps on this. But I need to make sure I see them through. There's no possible way I'll be out of debt in December (It's going to take a couple years) but taking the right steps is what I want to see.

5. Complete the 30 day challenges I started today. They're already hard. Ha! I'm attempting all of them (for now)

Slacker

Wow! Obviously, I'm a huge slacker.
Trying to get back into the blogging life is hard.
Especially when trying to live your life too!

Anyway. December starts tomorrow.
So I'll need to look over my goals.
I'll try to write that tomorrow.

Not a whole lot has gone on here.
Just working like a maniac.
Thanksgiving.
Etc.

Daniel & I started a small group at church this morning. It was nice.
What wasn't nice was the phone call he got during church.
:(
His grandfather died.
He's been battling Parkinson's for so long and it finally took him.
Though everyone is sad, obviously, they're glad he's finally free from his pain.

Anyway, I'll try to write more often. :/
Perhaps in the new year!

Scripture (Sunday) Monday

Hello faithful followers!

I realize it is now Monday and I missed Scripture Sunday.
But, here's the thing, I wasn't feeling up to blogging yesterday because I received news that two people I went to high school with passed away Saturday night.
When I learned of this Sunday, I was still at work, and by the time I got home I wasn't feeling up to blogging.
But I do still want to share some of my favorite scriptures with you, especially after the fantastic church service I went to yesterday.
So here we go!

Galatians 1:10 - For am I now seeking the approval or man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Man, this is a tough one for me to unpack.
I feel like I spend way more time than I should worrying about what other people think of me, when truly, that doesn't matter at all.
It doesn't matter if I'm prettier than that other girl.
It doesn't matter if I'm skinnier.
It doesn't matter if I'm smarter.
None of this stuff matters.
What matters is my love for Jesus and that my heart is set on serving him.

This is a lesson I'm still trying to learn.

What's a piece of scripture that's been trying to teach you a lesson?

High Five for Friday

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but one thing I'm really excited about in the blogging world is link-ups.
I think it's going to be awesome to meet other cool bloggers.
Plus, it automatically gives me something to talk about!
So, today I'm linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for High Five for Friday, where I will share 5 good things that happened to me this week.



1. Well, on Tuesday I had my first formal observation where my principal came into my classroom to watch me teach. Let's just say I was pretty dang nervous. He came to observe me teach my 3rd grade small group (4 students) and I taught them a lesson about irregular past tense verbs (eg. "bought" not "buyed"). There were multiple times during the observation where my internal monologue was saying "Oh no. This is bad. This is going so badly." but when I was finished, he called me into his office and had nothing but good things to say. Apparently it went really well!

2. I got an e-mail from the Pastor at the church Daniel and I have started attending, asking us to become members of a small group that he's starting up. It was nice that he thought of us. He wants us to join a small group to get started on becoming members, so we're pretty excited. :)

3. I went back to my day care for a couple days this week. I've really missed the kids and it'll be just a little extra cash in my hands at the end of the month.

4. I finally went back to the gym the other day and ran/biked some for my I Run 4 Sibling Buddy. It made me feel good. But, I haven't gone back yet. Oops!

5. Although we were stuck in a boring meeting all day for work, I got to go to lunch with some co-workers and have some good conversations. We all rode together, stopped by one of my co-workers house that she's remodeling and then went for lunch before having to go back to our meeting. It made me feel really good to be accepted so easily as a first year teacher in the building!


How has your week been? Join me in linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for