RELATIONSHIP ADVICE

1. You are responsible for your own happiness. The only person who can make me happy is me. I've learned this one the hard way.
2. Follow through on your promises. I hate being let down, and its even worse when I let someone I care about down.
3. Admit your mistakes and ask how to make it right. Everyone makes mistakes, but its better to admit them than it is to make excuses. Don’t forget to ask how you can make it up to your partner.
4. Listen to your partner. And don’t pretend to listen either. If your partner is speaking to you it is for a good reason. Find out what that reason is.
5. Show your affection whenever possible. Make face to face time every day. Make it a priority.
6. Do not hide anything from your partner. Hiding something is the same as lying. Its lying by omission. Always be honest.
7. Give them space. You don’t have to be around one another 24/7 trust your partner and give them time to be an individual.
8. Express your feelings. And do it often. Your partner isn’t a mind reader.
9. Encourage without nagging. If you want your partner to grow, tell them so! 
10. Make trust and forgiveness your default mode. If you and your partner are unable to resolve an argument trust and forgive rather than hold a grudge. 
11. Go to bed at the same time. Resist the temptation to go to bed at different times. Go to bed at the same time, even if your partner stays up later to do things while you sleep. 
12. Cultivate common interests. Its healthy to have interests outside of your relationship but don't forget about the importance of activities that you can do together. 
13. Walk hand in hand or side by side. Its more important that you're with your partner than to see the sights along the way. I've had a hard time with this one. I get really excited and start pulling a partner along behind me. 
14. Focus more on what your partner does right than what he or she does wrong. In the heat of the moment it will be much easier to focus on what your partner isn't doing. If you accentuate the positives you'll find them all over the place.
15. Hug each other as soon as you see each other after work. Skin has a memory of good touch versus bad touch. When you say hello with a hug your skin is abundant with good touch giving you all sorts of happy feelings.
16. Say “I love you” and “Have a good day” every morning, and "Good night" every night before bed. Just do it.
17. Do a status update during the day. Call or text your partner to see how their day is panning out. This way you can adjust your expectations before returning home, or if they're having an awful day give them a positivity boost.
18. Be proud to be seen with your partner. Use affectionate contact, like hand holding, not showing off but that you belong to one another.

OPTIMUM STATE OF HEALTH

On the wellness-illness continuum, I would say that I am between awareness and growth. I’m in a place in life where I know what I want and who I want to be but I haven’t yet taken action to get to the growth stage. If I maintained a healthy diet and exercise regularly I would reach a high level of wellness.  I believe these are the only two factor inhibiting my greatness at this point. But someone else might look at me and see that I fall into the signs and symptoms area. So, really, this continuum is quite subjective.

My optimum state of health will be reached when I am:

1.      Proud of my body the way that it is now

2.      Living in the moment

3.      Laughing and smiling frequently throughout the day

4.      Remembering to breathe

5.      Moving my body regularly

6.      Eating foods that nourish my mind, body, and spirit

7.      Sleeping through the night

8.      Grateful for all that I have and everything that is within my reach

FAVORITE MOMENTS OF 2013

Here's the thing... HAPPY NEW YEAR! Bring on 2014!!

2013 was kind of a shitty year for me over all. The break up, being broke, moving across the state, starting over... But at least there were some definite bright spots!

When I had gramma smell my new conditioner and it squirted on her nose and we laughed until we were crying

When the guy I like asked me out

When my brother, my SIL, and I hiked Cape Flattery

When my Erin Condren planner FINALLY arrived

When I went shopping in Seattle with my SIL

When my whole family came over to help me move

When I tasted cake batter frozen yogurt

What were YOUR favorite moments of 2013?

SUNDAY SOCIAL #6

1. What is the best New Years Eve you've ever had?
I'm not much of a NYE girl. I usually fall asleep before midnight, so the few nights I have been able to stay awake are a momentous occasion.

2. Are you doing anything for NYE this year and if so what?
Yes! I'm going bowling with my family. One of my cousins, who lives in North Carolina and I haven't seen in 10 years, is in town and we're getting a big group of family together. No promises of staying up though. haha

3. Name a book we should all read come January?
The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth is SO good. I'm finishing up Allegiant as we speak. I've read all three books over winter break. There is love, action, humor, and mystery all wrapped into one series. Totally a page turner. Plus you should read it before the movie comes out March 21, 2014.

4. What are your new years resolutions?
Attain an overall 3.75 GPA
45 minutes of physical activity every day
Read more books for fun
Continue doing what makes ME happy
Continue all the good habits I have formed in 2013 and improve them in 2014

30 UNEXPECTED THINGS YOU LEARN IN YOUR THIRTIES

Here's the thing... Now that I'm 30 articles keep popping up reminding me of that fact. I found this one on BuzzFeed. I'm taking notes people!

1. You constantly forget that you’re not in your twenties anymore.

Artisan Entertainment / Via gifsoup.com

After college, the years just sort of start to blend together. So, in a way, you are perennially 22 years old mentally, and often financially.

2. People start to think there is something LEGITIMATELY wrong with you if you are single.

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Just because you are in your thirties doesn’t mean you have to be married. Explaining that to your parents, on the other hand, is a whole other ordeal.

3. Your middle name should be “Busy,” since that is what you are all the time now.

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What with all the housewarmings, kid birthday parties, traveling, and work, you barely have time to remember to eat. J/K, eating becomes your new best friend. I love you, Cherry Garcia.

4. Your Facebook feed will be nothing but new baby pics.

Via killerspots.com

Some of them are yours, probably.

5. You will seriously consider moving to a more affordable part of the country.

Via thefairiesonhi5.com

You can buy a house in Detroit for a pack of cigarettes, I hear.

6. The clothes from your twenties now make you look like you are trying too hard.

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7. Which is why you will look for “sensible” and “comfortable” clothes when shopping.

Via nsmbl.com

Bonus if they are both “roomy” and “flattering.”

8. There are two camps of people: those who work out and those who work.

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A small population does both. Those people suck.

9. Getting carded is AWESOME.

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“You mean I look 21? Oh, you have to card everyone? Just let me have this!”

10. Your favorite foods will now wreak havoc on your insides.

Via packagingdigest.com

Chili fries? LOL. Like the raven doth say, “Nevermore, sucka.”

11. Investing in quality becomes important.

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And most importantly, doable. That means spending a little more on better clothes and maybe even a better car.

12. Hangovers will destroy you.

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You used to drink everyone under the table. Now you’re just under the table trying to figure out how you got so wasted off of two Amstel Lights.

13. The classic rock station is now playing your high school playlist.

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Since when is Nirvana classic rock? Wait. Nevermind is 23 years old? When did that happen?!

14. Quiet never sounded so good.

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When did the world get so loud? And bright? Close the shades, will ya?

15. Your back will hurt for no damn reason.

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You go to sleep on the eve of your 30th birthday with a healthy, youthful back, and awaken the next morning with the back of an 85-year-old carrot farmer.

16. Same goes for your feet.

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Time to start investing in orthotic shoe inserts! How fun!

17. You will gain hair in all the wrong places.

Via baldtruthtalk.com

But lose it in the places that matter most.

18. You will now have divorced friends.

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How adult is that?

19. Re-watching movies from your youth is a bad idea.

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RIP Flight of the Navigator. I should have kept you in my memories where you belong.

20. Marathons everywhere.

Via 10dailythings.com

Who knew so many of your friends were runners? Maybe you should do one. Nah, forget about it. There are Oreos in the cupboard.

21. Gray hairs will begin to multiply like horny bunnies.

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Ugh.

22. Somehow you are now a person with answers.

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When that intern at work asks what they need to look for in renting their first apartment, you will have actual advice. Actual. Sage. Advice.

23. Your clothes won’t be the only things laden with wrinkles.

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Time to buy the Costco-size jug of night cream.

24. Activities like apple picking and wine tasting will be your new wild weekend plans.

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And both will make you tired the next day.

25. The only dancing you will do is at weddings and work parties.

Stacia Neubert Photography

Clubs? Those are for the youth and people desperately clinging to what they have left of their own.

26. Plus, dancing all night requires multiple water breaks.

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In your twenties you could dance all night, slamming shot after shot while living la dolce vita. Now it’s “I need another water. Can I get you another water?” as you slink off the dance floor drenched in sweat.

27. Talk of cool new bars and bands is replaced with talk of mortgage refinancing and preschool applications.

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Yeah, it may seem mundane, but seriously, how did you get little Kevin into that preschool?

28. The repercussions of your twenties will catch up with you.

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Those credit card offers seemed so reasonable at the time. So did the trip to Europe you used them on. Now you’re stuck paying for a trip that was ultimately “just OK.”

29. You wouldn’t go back to your twenties for a million bucks.

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Unless you go back and use the money on investing more wisely for your thirties, because then it’s a deal.

30. You can’t wait to be 40.

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Because by then you’ll totally have all this shit figured out, right?

Do YOU have any sage advice?