Sayonara 2012

What a ba-good year 2012 was. 

It brought with it some of the greatest trails 

and greatest blessings. 

Let's focus on the blessings, shall we?

People who I have met in 2012 that made my year better:
Wes (Does he count? I met him  December of 2011), Jewlya, Shane, Leonee, Melissa, Diane, Kylie, , Chelsea, Abi, Katelyn,  Breanna, Rich, All the people of Chitiquixac, Mark, Amanda, Kat, Cody, Missy,  Zach, Paul, Drake, Jason, Mark (different boy), Sarah, Kim, Stephanie, Brittan, Casey, Jolie, Ra-Ra, Aspen, Puddles, Shuffle, Teeny, Mickey, Nomi, Angel, Ivy, GAPS, Chi-chi, Melody, Every single RFG girl, Sister Gordan
New places I have been in 2012:
Chile, New York City, Guatemala, Yellowstone National Park, Kannaraville Utah, 
Books I've read for the first time:
Fault in our stars, Looking for Alaska, An abundance of Kathrines, Is Everyone hanging out without me?, Thank you Mr. Falker, Paper Towns, Heaven is Here, Midnight in Austenland, Perks of being a wallflower, Continuous Atonement
Movies I have loved:
Les Miserables, Hunger Games, The Amazing Spiderman, Brave
2012 Obsessions:
Instagram, Pinterest, Netflix streaming, Lipstick, J crew, Youtube (tutorials), Grumpy Cat Meme's, Makeup, Missions, Les Miserables, Zumba, How I met your mother, Apple Pie Carmel Apples, Diet coke (Duh.), LUSH, breakfast burrito dates with Emily
My favorite pictures of this year:

 

Happiness is..... being grateful

Mom buying me Cafe Rio!
The greatest babble necklace around!
Getting all my homework done
Going to Vegas
Having the best family ever
2nd Annual Harry Potter Extravaganza

Listening the greatest book
going for walks
The yummiest Thanksgiving feast EVER!
Being so grateful
Learning from trials
Being considered "Adult"
Totally got this for FREE! 

Getting door bell ditched at 9pm to find balloons, this banner, and little Costa Rican flags in the lawn:

Finally getting home. (I've been gone a long time!)

No longer living out of a suit case!

Workin' on my fitness

Cutie Clemintines (Yea.... I may or may not have ate an entire bunch in two days....)

Zumba (BEST EXERCISE EVER! GO DO IT!)

Running faster and longer than ever. 

I'm not usually a Tswift fan, but this song was the best to Zumba to EVER. 

Candle light bubble baths 

And just in case you thought I couldn't do the Gangnam Style:

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

My best friend Mindy Kaling

This is Mindy Kaling.

This is her book that I just read: 

It was so great. 

Now be warned- There are a couple of swears.... 

(*Gasp! Sister Missionary! What are you READING?*)

But I swear, Mindy gets me. 

People always say they want Zooey Deschanel to be their best friend, 

and that's cool.

But my celebrity best friend is officially Mindy Kaling.

Everything she had to say I related to.

I laughed.

 I cried.

(Mostly because I was laughing so hard)

It moved me, Bob. 

Some of my Favorite quotes: 

“You should know I disagree with a lot of traditional advice. For instance, they say the best revenge is living well. I say it’s acid in the face—who will love them now?”

“Teenage girls, please don’t worry about being super popular in high school, or being the best actress in high school, or the best athlete. Not only do people not care about any of that the second you graduate, but when you get older, if you reference your successes in high school too much, it actually makes you look kind of pitiful, like some babbling old Tennessee Williams character with nothing else going on in her current life. What I’ve noticed is that almost no one who was a big star in high school is also big star later in life. For us overlooked kids, it’s so wonderfully fair.” 

“Sometimes you just have to put on lip gloss and pretend to be psyched.” 

“It makes me cry because it means that fewer and fewer people are believing it's cool to want what I want, which is to be married and have kids and love each other in a monogamous, long-lasting relationship.” 

“Later, when you're grown up, you realize you never really get to hang out with your family. You pretty much have only eighteen years to spend with them full time, and that's it.” 

“I’m only marginally qualified to be giving advice at all. My body mass index is certainly not ideal, I frequently use my debit card to buy things that cost less than three dollars because I never have cash on me, and my bedroom is so untidy it looks like vandals ransacked the Anthropologie Sale section. I’m kind of a mess.” 

“The chorus of “Jack and Diane” is: Oh yeah, life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone. Are you kidding me? The thrill of living was high school? Come on, Mr. Cougar Mellencamp. Get a life.” 

“Even in my revenge fantasy where all I do is exercise, I can still do only twenty-five pull-ups. Pull-ups are tough, no joke.” 

“If I’m at a party where I’m not enjoying myself, I will put some cookies in my jacket pocket and leave without saying good-bye.”

.... You see what I mean? It's like she is writing my thoughts in the most witty and funny way possible!

Big Books

I have had a lot of desire to read books lately. But I have the usual excuses of "I am too busy" always hovering over my shoulder. (Although somehow I manage to be on pinterest for an hour... hm...... )

That's one of the reasons I loooove audio books. I know some people have issues with listening to books, but to me, it is all the same. I get to enjoy every single second of a book that I would have reading it, plus I can do it while I am riding in the car, doing the dishes, getting ready for the day. When I read, I sometimes find my head wandering and thinking about all the things I should be doing, so I close my book and go do what I "should" be doing.
I've recently decided to read/listen to the unabridged version of  Les Miserables. (*Insert your gasps and shudders of amazement here*) I can't WAIT for the movie to come out this December, and I thought it might be kind of cool to read the book before the movie comes out. I'm sure many of you are aware of this.... but the unabridged version is..... MASSIVE. I'm talking smaller print and bigger than HP7 if you can believe it. Daunting? Quite. But it makes me think of this, which makes me laugh:

I am also hoping to somehow manage to read/listen to the hobbit before I see the movie. That's a lot of book in a relatively small amount of time. Better get going...