12 for '12 - It's a new year, a fresh start, a perfect time to make changes

What words come to mind when you hear talk of New Year's resolutions? (Pointless? Helpful? Unrealistic?) I have always liked the concept of making resolutions, but I've never been the greatest at keeping them. I think two of the reasons I've never really kept my resolutions are:

1) I never made specific resolutions

2) I never really had anyone to hold me accountable

Both of these reasons are fixable! I'm going to make my resolutions specific this year, and Silverio and I have agreed to hold one another accountable for our 2012 resolutions. I have decided to come up with 12 resolutions for 2012. (hence the 12 for '12 title) In no particular order......

1) A Picture a Day -- Both Silverio and I have decided to jump on the bandwagon and take on the challenge of taking a picture every day in 2012. Neither one of us has attempted this before, and we thought it would be a great way to capture memories.

2) Read 12 books -- I honestly do not read enough. What exactly is reading "enough", you may ask. I'm not quite sure! haha I'm hoping to read 12 books of any genre this year. Each book must be a minimum of 100 pages. I'm very excited about this resolution because there are many books out there that I am wanting to read.

3) Understand politics better -- I'm almost 23 and I'm embarrassed to say, I honestly couldn't tell you much about politics. I have very minimal knowledge. I have enough to teach 4th graders, but I couldn't really tell you anything about those individuals who are potential candidates for the 2012 election. I want to be able to vote in this election and make a decision based on my knowledge of the candidates and their stances on issues that are important to me.

4) Get Healthy -- many people make a resolution to lose weight... I'm making the decision to make healthful decisions. It is my hope and desire to treat myself better in the following ways: a) workout 3-5 times a week b) eat healthier c) have dessert less d) get more sleep e) drink less diet coke ------ woah WoAh WOAH! Hold it right there! Did I really just type, 'drink less diet coke'?! I'm afraid I did. I have become way too dependent on that heavenly drink. I'm going to find a way to make water my best friend in 2012 : )

5) Expand on my baking skills -- I have really developed a love for baking over the past couple of years. I have tried new recipes here and there, but this year I really want to improve my skills and try new things. I'd love to learn how to work with fondant this year, and be more daring with my recipe choices.

6) Love more like God -- God's love truly amazes me and blows me away. He is so forgiving and patient. I have much room for improvement in the "loving" area. I really desire to imitate Christ and be "slow to anger, and abounding in love". It is my prayer that my life would become more and more a reflection of His love.

7) Improve my Spanish -- I have to say that since I moved to Houston 6 months ago, my ability to understand Spanish has improved. I most certainly do not understand everything I hear, but I am able to understand more than when I first arrived. Now it's time to really start working on speaking Spanish. I think I've really siked myself out into believing that because I am in my twenties there is no way I'll be able to pick up another language. There is no way that I'll be able to become bilingual. Can we say LIES?! In no way is learning a new language an easy task, but it is certainly not an impossible task like I have made it out to be. It is my hope that by this time next year, I am able to have conversations with folks. I might not be able to speak super fast, but it's the effort that counts!

8) Get more into The Word --- I want to read my bible more and understand God's word more. I have found that for me personally it is helpful to have a bible study to guide me. Bible studies get me on track and pave the way for more understanding. I'm in the middle of a great study right now, and plan on starting another one as soon as I finish this one.

9) Make a wedding album -- Yes, it's true. We've been married for 7 months now and I have not put together an album of our wedding photos. Time to hop to it! I really want to make a photo book online with our most favorite photos of our wedding day.

10) Expand my creativity -- I want to try more crafty/DIY things. There are so many fabulous ideas on Pinterest.

11) Stop Comparing -- Comparing myself to others is probably my biggest crime. I do it WAY too often...almost daily. Someone once said to me - "Compare and Despair". That expression couldn't be more true. Comparing gets us nowhere. It just makes us feel crummy, and doesn't change anything. Half the time there is nothing that needs to be changed, but we are dissatisfied anyways. It's time for me to live with a more grateful heart.

12) Blogging -- I really want to keep up with this blog. Hopefully, I will post a couple times a month. This is a great way for me to keep my family and friends in the loop because I live half way across the country from them! Also, I enjoy it : )

God bless 2012....

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!

Hey y'all or the 2 of you that check this page every once in a while - I'm back! *Is it true? Could she really be writing a post on here after almost 5 months?* I know I know, it's been quite some time. This was the third blog I started and the third blog I failed at keeping up with! Believe it or not though, I made more entries on this blog than on the other two! Anyways after all that being said, I am back. I'm really hoping to keep up with this thing this year (one of my resolutions). I wanted to take the time to reflect on 2011 and share my resolutions for 2012.

2011 was an extremely significant year for me. Many BIG things happened in my life. Have you ever seen one or taken one of those stress tests that give you a certain score for life events you have experienced in the last 12 months? This is one test that you don't want to achieve a very high score. Well, if I took that test right now, I would probably score off the charts! Let's look back on 2011...

I had a very intense internship for the first few months of 2011

I graduated with my Bachelor's in Elementary Education

I got married (this is one of my favorite things I did this year!)

I moved half way across the country from my family to a place where I only knew 4 people

I got a job (being a barista can be stressful!)

I started attending a new church

This was a very exciting year for me filled with big life changes. I thank God for all of the experiences I have had this year that have helped mold me into the person I am today, 12/31/11. I'm not gonna lie. This year has been a tough one. It hasn't necessarily been the way I imagined it to be, but God's faithfulness is what has gotten me through. His love for me despite my lack of faith, lack of peace, lack of trust in Him has blown me away. God is good.

Maine and Surprises!

Hmmm..... What's new in the Sanchez household? Let's see....

Last week I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Old Orchard Beach, Maine to see my family. My family has always vacationed in Maine every Summer, so it was such a joy to be able to go. Although I was excited to go to Maine, I was sad to leave my husband behind in HOT Texas. Silverio had been able to go last year, but this year some logistics couldn't work out. I felt bad for not being able to enjoy delicious lobster and blueberry pie with him, but I was determined to have a great time with my family. Now that I live thousands of miles from them, I wanted to soak in as much family time as possible. It was great to go to the beach, the pier, church etc with my family and friends. My niece, Madison, is one of my biggest joys in life and it was so wonderful to spend time with her and laugh with her. She reminds me a lot of myself when I was seven years old!

While I was on vacation, my hunk of a husband was busy working on house related things. I arrived home to some great surprises! We had been using our guest room as our "box/storage room". When I got home, he had cleared the boxes, and set up the bed and desk/study area. My husband, mother-in-law, and father-in-law worked on some landscaping on our front lawn which looks wonderful! Silverio rearranged some things in our living room. And...... I arrived home to my favorite flowers (Gerber Daisies) standing in a beautiful Lenox vase we had received as a wedding gift. Yup - my husband is the greatest! I absolutely love getting flowers and I bug him about it every once in awhile. He gets me flowers when I least expect it, and I love that : )

It's Monday, the beginning of a new week. This week will include a few shifts at Starbucks, Zumba, hopefully setting up our guest bathroom, and celebrating my beautiful sister-in-law's birthday on Friday! Here's to hoping this is a great week full of love, laughter, and learning!

- LS

Onions, Art, and Cupcakes

I took a break from the blogging world for the past several days, but I'm back now! I'm determined to keep this thing going! What's the latest in the Sanchez household? Well, last week Silverio and I celebrated 2 months of marriage. It's hard to believe it has already been that long. We still look at each other sometimes and say, "wow-we're married!". We've decided that for our first year of marriage we are going to celebrate our anniversary each month on the 21st or as close to the 21st as possible. Our 1 month anniversary was spent at Bed, Bath & Beyond buying some things left on our registry, and going to see the movie, Midnight in Paris. The movie was fantastic and would be greatly appreciated by Great Gatsby lovers and the like!

For our 2 month anniversary we decided to check out this cafe that Silverio had seen one of his friends "check in" to. The cafe is called Onion Creek. It is actually apart of The Creek Group which is a group of restaurants in The Heights. Each restaurant focuses on different types of cuisines. Onion Creek sells sandwiches, flatbreads, wraps and the like. I got the hummus wrap and thoroughly enjoyed it. The atmosphere is very laid back and there is free wi-fi. It is safe to say the Sanchez's will be back again! After eating lunch, we made our way to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. We spent a couple hours looking at the various displays, and tried our best to retain something that we read/saw. Needless to say, I can't remember much about the paintings. I'm more into the performing arts than the visual arts. When we finished up at the museum we decided to checkout a local cupcake place I had found online called, Sugarbaby's. I had been wanting to find a delicious cupcake place since we moved here, and Sugarbaby's was only a few miles away from the museum. We walked in the door and I immediately was impressed with the decor. It was set up as a parlor and the colors were fun! After seeing the decor, my eyes immediately went to the cupcake case and found there to be only 4 flavors left. What?! How can a cupcake place only have 4 flavors left? Silverio ended up getting a hummingbird cupcake (pineapple, banana, pecans) and I got a red velvet one. I tried to brush off my disappointment with the lack of flavors, and eagerly sat down on a stool to devour my cupcake. The cupcake looked great, but it was d-r-y. It didn't taste bad, but it was not worth the $3.50. I was hoping the cupcake would be as delicious as Mr. Cupcakes or Stuffed Cupcake back in New Jersey, but sadly it didn't compare at all. We are still on the lookout for a sensational cupcake place! Perhaps that will be a mission we'll take on for our 3 month anniversary!

Every Season has its Reason(s)

So when I thought about starting this blog, I promised myself I wasn't going to put any pressure on myself to fit a certain pair of "blogging shoes". There are so many people out there that are known for their hilarious, entertaining, informative, profound etc. blog posts. Usually I am the type to want to fit into one of those categories, but frankly that's not going to work. I am going to blog about whatever I want, whenever I want. Who cares what people think and who knows if anybody is really reading this thing anyway? I'm just going to write about life. Some posts may be more profound or funnier than others, but I'm just gonna let that happen naturally. Isn't that the best way to live anyways? Why should we be so concerned with fitting into a cookie cutter shape? We are all very unique. Yes, I believe that we were all made in the image of God, but not one of us is the same. So here's to blogging what's on my heart...no matter how serious or not serious it is!

You can see from the picture that I have included in this post that I have started a new job. Yes, I am working at Starbucks. I just completed my first week of training and have one week of training left to go. Am I thrilled about the fact that I am making coffee every day instead of teaching precious children? Honestly, no. My passion for teaching is just bubbling up inside, but unfortunately there are very little teaching opportunities where we are living right now. My goal is to have my own classroom by Fall of 2012. I was getting very down on myself for not being able to find a teaching job and for working at Starbucks instead. Someone said something to me that I already knew, but definitely needed to be reminded of. There is a reason for every season. We may not know the reason(s) right away, but they are there. It is up to us to be actively seeking God's will for our lives and how He desires to you us where we are. I strongly feel called to teach, but those doors have not been opened for me yet here in Texas. The door for Starbucks did open however and I must not take that lightly. The economy is still not in a great state and finding any kind of job is challenging. I must look at this job at Starbucks as a blessing for now. Just because I'm not in a classroom, does not mean the Lord isn't going to use me. Let's not box the Lord in, Lindsay! He is able to work in and through us in ways that we really could never imagine. Yes, I am working with coffee, but I am also constantly interacting with people - my coworkers and customers. If I allow God to use me as a vessel, this job could really be a ministry opportunity too. Every customer and coworker that walks through the doors has a story. I would love to contribute to their stories and demonstrate the love of God to every person I come into contact with. May God use me in this season of my life, and may God reveal to me the reason(s) for this season.

So this is the third time I have started a blog. Hopefully, I will be much better at keeping up with this one! I feel as though people usually start blogs when they are beginning a new chapter in life. This applies to me big time right now seeing as I just graduated college, got married and moved to Texas all within the last 2 1/2 months!

I'm hoping this blog will provide a fun way for me to reflect on my life's journeys and will be a good way for family and friends to know what's happening in my life.

The past couple of months have been busy, busy, busy. Silverio and I have been unpacking and setting up our house along with starting new youth programs at church, and just getting used to living with another person : )

Our house is finally starting to look like a home! We've made some great progress with the rooms in our house. We just have the guest room and guest bathroom to set up. We better hurry with those rooms soon though, because my parents will be coming to visit in about a month and a half! It will be great to show them our place and show them a little bit of Texas livin'.

Well that's all for now. Hopefully another post will make an appearance soon!