2014 Year In Review

 2014 is almost over! Kinda crazy! But kinda exciting! I m going to go month by month and give a high and low of what happened that much. It was a lot of fun writing this post, this year seemed to go by really fast so remembering everything was kinda nice!

Lows:
I officially turned in my Justin Bieber fan card. I just couldn't condone his behavior anymore, and he was really annoying me.

It was freezing.

No real highs.

Highs: I found out I was going to be an Aunt to a little boy!!!!!!

Lows:

Got my wisdom teeth out. ouch. 

 Highs:

Marriage Conference at church!

 Bought a house!

Lows:

It was freezing in Michigan

Gwyneth and Chris broke up.

Highs:

I BECAME AN AUNT!!!

Lows:

I think it was still cold but who cares?? I am an aunt. 

Highs: Philip bought me a bike!!!

Lows: I both started and stopped learning German. whoops.

We celebrated year 1 of being married! We took the week off work and stayed home for an staycation! We went on the lake, went to 2 Tigers games (got awesome seats at both), went to the zoo with our nephew and sister, and just hung out with each other. It was awesome!! 

We also got to go ON THE FIELD at Comerica Park and meet the players. pinch me. 

 Lows:

It was Father's Day and last year for Father's Day I was on my honeymoon so I didn't think about it. This year was super rough. 

Highs: It was summer, we went on the boat, we saw friends and family

Lows: Philip was gone at camp and different things. 

August was a bad month. I lost my grandma, and I got Poison Ivy!

Highs: I had my birthday!! I went to a Tigers game on my Birthday! Then we stayed in a fancy pants hotel for my birthday! I also started blogging this month!

Lows: I am now closer to 30 than 20. 

Favorite Post: 26 goals for my 26th year

Highs: I got my first Noonday party

Lows: I was training for my new job so I was tired and cranky the whole month. 

 Favorite Post:A Letter to my Future Self

Highs: Started working from home! Fell more in love with yoga. Went to Jail on Thanksgiving. Celebrated Philip's 24th birthday! 

Lows: Not as many hours as I was anticipating 

Favorite Post: Fruit of the Spirit: Love

Highs: My Vanessa Came to visit!  Christmas time! Getting to see a lot of friends and family

Lows: Being super, super busy and not super productive. 

Favorite Post: A look into anxiety

How was your 2014? Did you have a good one? What were some of your Highs and Lows? Happy New Years Eve!

My German Came to Visit!

I mentioned in my Christmas decoration post that my German Cousin was coming to visit! I met Vanessa when she stayed with us for a month back in 2011. 

 We hit it off so well and, for the first time ever, I cried when I dropped her off at the airport. Then in 2013 she came back to the United States to stand by my side when I pledged my life to Philip. She stayed for 6 weeks last summer and we grew even closer. 

This time was a little different, she only had 3 days before she needed to be back in Germany after spending 3.5 months in Costa Rica exploring, learning, and growing. 

She came in Monday the 15th of December and left for home Thursday the 18th of December. It was a whirlwind visit but we managed to squeeze as much as we could in. 

We spent all day Tuesday at the mall. A full 6 hours getting all kinds of Christmas deals. Then we ran home and got ready for the evening. 

Vanessa, Philip, and I drove an hour to get to Lansing to Vanessa could see the capital building.

Look, I know I am pale but she just spent 3.5 months in Costa Rica and I, well I live in Michigan! 

Then we gave her her Christmas present: A journal, a passport cover, and a book- The Reason for God.

Had our waitress take this and we were gloriously photobombed.

Wednesday Vanessa and I spent all day at home chilling, as the kids these days are saying. We had a German lesson and made a video of some Christmas words that she taught me!

Wednesday night we had dinner with my family and some close friends. Good gravy, my family is good lookin'

Thursday she helped me make some sets at church for the Christmas Eve gathering, we grabbed lunch, stopped at another mall and then dropped her off at the airport. It was way, WAY too short a visit. But I am so glad I got to see my sweet Vanessa!

January Photo Challenge

Have you ever heard the song Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars? No!?! Ok, go listen to this and then come back. [....] that song just changed your life didn't it? You're sitting there wondering why you aren't as cool as Bruno Mars. You're also getting up and trying out those dance moves too? They look so easy but when you try, you kinda look like a dweeb? It's ok. We've all been there. 

Did you catch the line "Gotta Kiss Myself I'm So Pretty"? So good, right? Bruno makes it sound like we should all be kissing ourselves, because we're all so beautiful. Eh. I rarely feel that way though. Bad hair days, bad make up jobs, poor clothing choices, they seem to outnumber my kiss myself days! 

 So that is why Stephanie and I are joining in on the 12x30 Challenge! It is such a cool challenge and together we have been brainstorming ideas for each month. January's theme is 'Love Yourself"  we are doing a colab on a daily challenge.  The challenge is simple: Take a picture of your outfit everyday and post it on your Instagram and/or blog. 

The challenge may be simple but the reasons I am doing this is more than just to take a picture of my cute boots everyday. 

I am doing this because:

1) I work from home and a lot days are spent in sweatpants

2) Spending my day in sweatpants leads to a much lazier day

3)One of my goals for 2015 is to always be dressed and ready for the day before I start my shift for work. Even if I never plan on leaving the house that day. 

4) I need to be more creative with my clothes because I basically own the same outfit in 100 different colors. 

5)If i take the time to get myself ready, it will be easier to love myself AND I think my husband will really, really appreciate it! 

You may have similar reasons, you may completely different reasons, you may just really, really like your clothes and want to show the world how to put together cute outfits. Hey, more power to ya, I could use the inspiration! I want to encourage you to join us in this challenge, even if you post once a week. When you post your pictures on Instagram and/or your blog be sure to use the hashtag #kissmyselfimsopretty15 so we can follow along with you and see your awesome outfits! Also feel free to share this challenge with your friends! 

Will you be joining our challenge? Why do you think this challenge will be helpful? 

#FrostyVoxBox Reveal and Review

Greetings! Merry Day After Christmas!! My life has been just absolutely beyond busy these last 2 weeks. I had my cousin in from Germany and then about 100 different Christmas parties and get togethers for the holidays! I love this time of year, but dude, I needed to live and not lifestyle blog. So after an unplanned 2 weeks off, I am back! First I can't wait to talk about my #FrostyVoxBox.

First of all, I was so excited to get a box in general! I signed up at this awesome site www.influenster.com and I was chosen to receive this complimentary box full of awesome stuff to review! 

I got this Candy Cane Lane tea. I gotta be honest I am not a huge tea drinker so I was not super pumped. However, this tea was super Candy Cane tasting. So that, was as promised. 

Rimmel London Products

Eye makeup remover by Rimmel. I put it on a cotton ball and rubbed it over my eyes and my make up came off. So I consider a success. 

Eye Liner. I really do not like it at all. It comes out super thick and it is really, really hard to get off. I looked like a raccoon! Even with the eye make up remover it took 2 days for it all to come off. Not a huge fan, so unless you like a LOT of eye liner, I would maybe not get this eye liner. 

NYC Expert Last #SugarPlum Lip Color

I don't usually wear lipstick because I like my natural lip color and at first I thought it was going to be way too dark. But I dug it! I have worn it every day. It gives my lips just a shade darker which I love for winter.

EcoTools Hairbrush
I love hairbrushes and this one promised to dry my hair 20% faster. So i was pumped. What I didn't think about was the fact that I usually just put my head upside down and don't use a brush, so this method was really not that fast. 

BUT! My hair was dry and straight when I was done. I didn't have to use my flat iron as much as I normally do. So all in all, I liked it. Then the next day I chopped 6 inches off my hair and man, did it dry fast. (Chopping my hair off and using this brush were in no way related)

My husband is a giant sweet tooth so the Red Vines were gone in about an hour. He considered those a huge success! 

Lastly, I got this McCormick Thyme spice bottle. I have only used it once and I liked the way my chicken tasted. I just sprinkled some in EVOO and let my chicken thaw over night. Nothing too extravagant, because who has THYME for that!?!? DA BUM CHA!

I am working on pulling together a summary of the last 2 weeks in a post and then I am going to hit the ground running in 2015. I have a lot of really cool things planned for the New Year for this little blog. I am so excited to share them with you as more details develop!

I have missed you all! How was your Christmas!??! Do any of these products look exciting??