rushley & crew

I read The Happiness Project  wayyy back in 2014. I loved it! It's not my faaaavorite self-help book, but I definitely enjoyed it. Then, when I jumped in to the world of podcasts shortly after Ada was born, I soon started listening to Happier with Gretchen Rubin . I binge listened during the months that I would try to hold Ada during naps in order to extend the naps (PS, that didn't work . . . only a sleep consultant could help me!), and I still listen now. Several months ago, Gretchen did a podcast on "planning a virtual move." It didn't turn out to be what I expected, so after listening, I wrote in and shared my idea, which Gretchen then shared in a subsequent episode! I remember waking up the morning that the episode came out, seeing my phone alert me that I had a new podcast from Gretchen Rubin called, " Plan a Virtual Move 2.0 ," and wondering if maybe, just maybe, it was about the idea I had sent in . . . and it was! (I didn't know ahead o...

I've wanted to send out Christmas cards every year we've been married (this is our fourth together), but it has just never happened. I never plan ahead well enough and I never feel like it's a top priority. I wasn't going to send one out this year, either, but then I saw Elise's post  about her Christmas card which caused me to head over to Tiny Prints and spend hours looking at all the cute cards! I was sold, and in typical Petersen fashion, I had to write up a giant letter to go with it! So here's our little family's Christmas card and letter! :) I had to steal Elise's address idea , too! And the idea to frame yearly Christmas cards! I already can't wait for next year just so I can add another to the display! 2015 has been quite the year for us! We've hit some milestones, traveled a lot, and enjoyed one more year together :) The biggest thing that happened in 2015 is that we bought our first house! We upgraded from our one-bedroom...

Say whatttt?!? You mean I've been unemployed since my graduation in April and I  finally got a job?! Yup, that's right! There are several reasons why I waited a while to get a job. First, I applied for one soon after graduation and didn't get it. Even though I eventually figured out that I was actually grateful I didn't get that one, my ego was still a little bruised. Second, we had our new house that I wanted to focus on! Third, job searching is about one of my least favorite things. Soon after not getting the job in June, I started thinking about Boostability . I had a friend who was always posting the fun things she got to do with her coworkers. It made it seem like a really good atmosphere to work in. So I thought about applying several times, but I just didn't make the effort. Then, a few months ago, when our house was finally feeling complete, I checked the website again to make sure they were still hiring, only to find that they were not! I was a little ...

If you've been anywhere near my blog in the past year, you probably noticed a very prominent topic: my 23 before 23 bucket list. In fact, for several months now, it's been about the only thing I've posted about because completing the tasks was taking up a lot of my time and energy. So this will be my last "23 before 23" post, but I couldn't let list just die without a little recap of all the things I did and accomplished in the last year :) Go to at least three different national parks or monuments  { Dinosaur National Monument } { Zion National Park } { Mesa Verde National Park } . . . In all of these cases, I had to plan or at least participate in a weekend trip. I really am not much of a planner, so unless I have to plan something, I'll often end up being boring and watching TV or something. Since I had this goal, I had to make the effort, and the effort was always worth it. I had a lot of fun with Russ and other family on these weekend trips. ...

BA English Language Minor: Editing When I went off to college, I knew exactly what I wanted to do: I wanted to be an editor. And since I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and since you don't have to apply for my major/minor, I got started into my major right away, and then paired major classes with generals for the first 3.5 years of college. I only ever took like 2 "fun" classes that didn't go toward anything. I thought I was pretty slick not ever having to take classes during spring/summer, and I set everything up to graduate within eight semesters. Then came time to register for graduation, and what do they tell me? I do not have enough credits to graduate. Punishment for knowing what I wanted to do with my life and then not wasting time getting there!  At first I was really mad about it, but it actually allowed me to end college on a very positive note. When they told me I couldn't graduate in April 2014 like I had planned, I cried because I was ...

There was a time in my life about a year ago loooong ago when I thought 5k races were pretty lame. I had never even run 3 miles in my life (at that time I would run 1-2 miles at a time), but somehow I still held the opinion that 5k races were pretty much just family races so that kids could run. The real races were anything bigger, and in all honesty, if you ran one of those, I probably thought you were crazy, because who really spends that much time running ? Obviously I have a lot of opinions about running that I feel very strongly about, and I don't even know why. You can tell that I didn't think 5k's were a big deal because on my bucket list , my real goal was to do a sprint triathlon (1.2 mile run, 2.4 mile bike ride, and 150 yd. swim) and then (since I wasn't sure I'd be able to train in time for the one in September) I gave myself a loophole: or a 5k at the very least . You can tell from that sentence alone that I thought a 5k was not even cool. Well, ...