23

Today I celebrate my 24th birthday. As I reflect back on my 23rd year of life, I have made a list documenting 23 things that made my 23rd year great. Catalina // Celebrating my grandparent’s 40th wedding anniversary with a surprise (to my grandmother) party on Catalina. It was a party we spent the good part of the previous year planning, and the whole weekend was so perfect and spending time with my family is something I will always cherish. I wrote more about our trip, the decorations and such on THIS blog post.

Sunday night dinners // My family and I are pretty close. We have made it a “thing” to get together once or twice a month to have dinner pot lucks at grandma’s house. My other unofficial family (Trav’s fam) does the same thing! I am so grateful to have such loving and close families in my life!Starting my clinicals // About 4 years ago I made the decision to become an RD, I knew the extensive course work and millions of clinical/internship hours it was going to take and it all seemed forever away. The first day of my clinicals I was super excited that I was one step closer to being an RD; about 8 hours later I came home and cried because it was completely overwhelmed and I felt as though I didn’t know enough or wasn’t smart enough. Turns out I wasn’t the only one who cried after their first day.

Finishing my clinicals // Despite rocky starts, TODAY is the day I finish up my clinicals. It was a long time coming, and seems so surreal that I can now mark this part of the requirement off my checklist to become an RD. One more quarter of classes, finishing up a research project, GRADUATING and taking boards is all that stands between Elise Lindsey and Elise Lindsey, RD. #woahLaunching EAT healthy designs // Need I say more? I am constantly overwhelmed with the positive feedback we get on a day to day basis. I never imagined it would be this good, and we are only starting. Mile Challenge 2014 // I’ll be writing more about this once I catch up on all the hikes we have done, but exploring new places and hikes was definitely one of the highlights of my year. Okay so we didn’t finish out 100 miles in 1 year, but really we are saving the last couple miles for our Spring break trip: Grand Canyon and Zion. Way to go out with a bang, right?San Luis Obispo // For a Christmas present in 2013, Travis’s brother got us train tickets to head up to SLO. We took advantage of it for spring break, rode the train up to SLO  and spent a couple days exploring SLO and the surrounding areas. We have so much fun exploring new places. You can read more about our SLO adventures HERE and HERE.#vettelthecat // We didn’t plan on acquiring a cat, she acquired us, and you can read her story HERE. I am so grateful she did because she is the coolest cat around. I mean come’on she plays fetch with us. #awesome We are pretty much obsessed with our little furball. Katy Perry concert // Again with the family stuff. #sorrynotsorry I love my fam. I grew up with boy cousins and a brother for the better half of my childhood and then along came my two girl cousins. I try to spend time with them whenever I can, I love them to pieces and call them my mini-me’s. We are all pretty obsess with Katy Perry, so our grandma got us tickets to her concert for our birthdays. Of course we had to dress us, so we spent a couple days making our tutus and puffy painted shirts for this concert and had A BLAST at the concert. Not to mention, I LOVE this picture of us. Tahoe // apparently it was the year of traveling California; which is completely fine with me because there is so much to do and see here in this state. On a limb, we decided to spend the only free week we both had during summer, camping. Such a relaxing vacation and MUCH needed. We headed up North to Lake Tahoe and had the most amazing time. You can read more about it HERE.Halloween // We have been know to be ‘that couple’ when dressing up for Halloween; I think our best was Dexter + his victim. This year, on a whim, we dressed up as super heros: Captain America and Batman. Besides our shirts, pants, Trav’s shoes and my Tory Burch boots, the rest of our costume was DIY. What Batman didn’t wear Tory Burch?
Food Adventures //  I think it’s no secret that I love me some good food. I also love trying new foods and new restaurants. I’ve come to the conclusion that one needs to be a #foodie in order to be an RD; well that and a love of traveling (check and check.). It’s a shame that people see eating as a chore, there is so much good food out there and so little time! State Street Deli in Redlands and Dog Haus in Pasadena shown here. Trav’s bday // Trav’s birthday landed on a weekday, so I told him we were going to celebrate with a big family dinner on the weekend, and just hang out for the night. When we walked in the door, my family was waiting to yell “Surprise!” Well actually, they each yelled a different holiday. Trav is known for telling people “Merry Easter” “Happy Kwanza” or the likes for their birthday. Hence the pumpkin pie. It was a pretty fun day, and I really enjoyed how happy and surprised he was.Cousin’s Christmas party // This was the second annual Cousins Christmas Party. It’s only going to get better-this year Ugly Christmas sweaters. Just like Sunday night dinners with my family, I am glad I have this tradition with my cousins as we start to get older and do our own thangg.
Being at the track // Trav has kind of backed off from the racing scene, although he is still a driver coach and at the track on the weekend. He made this decision to save some money and focus on our business and school. I was lucky enough to go to many of his races with him last year, and attend some of the ones he was working. I am thankful for his ’employers’ being some of the nicest people we know and ask for me to tag along. I love being at the track and seeing familiar faces. Procraftinating // It’s a new term I coined. It’s the art of crafting while you are procrastinating from some other job or duty. I find myself doing my best crafts when I am under a lot of pressure, need to meet a deadline, or have to study for finals; you know, all the important things. See: T shirt Quilts, Halloween wreath, felt garland, and DIY wall hanging.
These notes // On the one race week I wasn’t able to tag along, Trav hid notes around my apartment for me to find each day that he was gone. He hid them in places I would find them just going through my daily routine: my hairspray cap, under my oatmeal container, in the ice cube tray, under the remote, in the thermostat, the list goes one. I think there were close to 20. This just reminds me of how lucky I am to have someone so thoughtful love me as much as he does.

Family time // I am lucky to live close to most of my family, and my unofficial (read: Trav’s) family and spend time with both of them. Whether it’s a Friday night game night at my aunts, Sunday night dinner at Nanny’s or potluck at Trav’s Uncle’s house-I am very thankful for and look forward to family time.
Supernats // It was far from Trav’s best showing in Vegas, but it is always fun to head to Vegas come November. Again, it’s almost like tradition now.Celebrating REV’s CIF Championship // I was a cheerleader all 4 years in high school. I say I used up all my school spirit in high school because I had no interest in my schools sporting events all through college. When I heard my high school was working there way up to state championships (which has NEVER happened in my school’s history, or the region’s history!) I wanted to be there, I had to be there. I caught the last 3 games in the championship fight and was SO excited to be there when they won the championship game. #wildcatpride
Farmers Market // mI am thankful to live in an area (Southern California) where local grown produce is readily available almost year around. It’s become almost tradition to head to the farmers market every Saturday morning to pick out my fruits and vegetables for the week. I love that I am supporting small, local farmers  and businesses instead of industrialized powerhouses.

Getting my mama back // My mom didn’t go anywhere, but she did regain her health and I couldn’t be happier to have her old self back. I love you mom.

23 was good, but my 24th year is going to see some pretty awesome accomplishments-graduating, passing boards, landing my first big girl job, and who knows what else..

Cheers 23, but I’m ready for 24.