Hey There, Chelsie

Lifestyle + Personal

What Valentine’s Day Means to Me

I look forward to every Valentine's Day because of the special significance it holds for me. As Valentine's Day approaches, I can't help but think about my most vivid Valentine's Day memory, nine years ago. My room had been heart-attacked by my church youth group and there were presents of candy and stuffed animals all over the bed and dresser. It was the sweetest gesture from a supportive group of friends who were trying to cheer me up. I was 15 years old and I was coming home after my first hospital stay after undergoing my first chemotherapy treatment. I always get emotional around this time of year. At the end of January of 2006, my parents drove me . . .

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Lifestyle + Personal

February Goals

I have been looking forward to February for a while, not only because of the Superbowl (Yeah Patriots!) but because it's the shortest month for a long while! I feel like it's way easier for me to set harder goals for myself during February because it's shorter and I can see the end sooner. I guess that could be considered cheating or copping out, but I got to start somewhere, right? Here are a few things I want to accomplish in February! I figure by writing them down on my public blog, I will be able to hold myself more accountable for achieving them! No Soda-I've been meaning to go on a "no soda" fast for a long time, but I just love Barq's Rootbeer so so . . .

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Meet the Guy behind my Blog

  I am so excited to be linking up today with Betsy from Heavens to Betsy on her brilliant idea to do a Guys Behind the Blog Link Up! Today I am introducing you all the the guy behind my blog, my husband, Dustin. Getting Life with Rosie up and running would not have been possible if he did not support me and believe in me. I talk about him a lot, but I thought this was a fun way for him to introduce himself through an interview! 1 // Introduce yourself! Ok. Well, my name is Dustin Carr. I...have a wonderful wife and sweet pup. I am a 23 year old student at BYU-Idaho nearing the end of my degree in business management. I enjoy being a hard worker, but I . . .

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3 Ways to Stay Motivated Around the House

  I've been thinking about motivation all week and what I need to do to keep myself motivated. I definitely could improve in motivating myself; ever since I graduated college last April, I have found myself in limbo. While waiting for Dustin to finish his degree, I picked up a part time job that was enjoyable but had nothing to do with my degree. I went from going a million miles an hour between work and school and student teaching and classes to twenty. It was really hard to motivate myself because I felt like I had nothing going for me. I especially had a hard time staying motivated around the house and keeping up on the chores! In this last few . . .

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Why I am cheering for the Patriots

Okay, I know I'm going to get a lot of flack here for even writing about this, but I'm not doing it to set up tension or start serious controversy. With the whole "deflategate" and "spygate" issues spanning the media, the Patriots have become the team to hate and to route against. I can almost see why because the media has made it so easy to hate them. They don't have a perfect track record and they have made some mistakes in the past, so it's easy to pin more things on them. But, so have the Seahawks (remember the Adderall issue, anyone?).   I rooted for the Seahawks last year because I couldn't stand the thought of the Broncos/Manning winning. I . . .

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5 Tips to be Financially Prepared for the New Year

Coming from someone who was up to her eyeballs in debt this time last year, I don't feel like I'm really in a place to give advice on money. At the same time, I have learned so much from getting out of credit card debt and finding ways to make sure I never put my little family in that position again. So, here are five things that I'm doing this month to be financially ahead and prepared for the new year and recommend to anyone looking for some extra tips and tricks! 1. Get ahead with the extra pay period. For those of us getting paid bi-weekly, December magically had three pay periods, which is one extra then we are used to getting in a month. Instead of looking . . .

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We’re Debt Free!

I have been contemplating whether or not to write about this because it's personal and slightly embarrassing. D and I have been working on this goal since before we got married and it's been a long time coming. We learned a lot about money, finances and sacrifices while going through this process and maybe some of the tips we picked up might help someone else someday down the line. I have never been good with money. For almost my whole college career, I lived pay check to pay check. I never saved money and I used my credit cards a LOT and just paid the minimum every month and left a hefty balance on them (yes, multiple). When I got my knee replaced a few years . . .

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On blogging, writing and life with Rosie.

I started blogging in my Freshman year of college. It was a little corner of the internet that belonged to me and transformed as I grew up. It started out as a place for lists, turned into a place for me to vent and eventually a place for me to write. Reading through that blog is like re-living different versions of myself-the tough as nails girl with pink and black hair, the proud cancer survivor with a knee replacement, the girl who fell in love with her best friend and waited for him over two years, the girl who was brave enough to live in China. In some ways, the posts on that blog were juvenile and immature. In other ways, some of my best writing is hidden on . . .

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