30 Before 30.
So tomorrow is my birthday and I finally finished making my 30 before 30 list. It was harder than I thought. Trying to come up with 30 things I wanted to do in the next year that were PRACTICAL and DOABLE. I mean sure there are a TON of things I would love to do but for various reasons (money, baby coming this summer) it’s just not possible. But eventually I did it! The interesting thing is, without meaning to I ended up picking a LOT Of things that fit well with my new years goal.
2013 Goals:
To be more intentional…
*In relationships
*In finances
*At home
*In memory keeping.
Not everything fell into one of these four categories but a lot did. So without further ado….
30 Before 30
Personal:
1. Memorize 30 verses.
2. Read, finish, or get rid of all MY unread books.
3. Fill up my half-used journals/smashbooks.
4. Sew the Super Tote pattern by Noodlehead.
5. Do one Show.
6. Make 500 things.
7. Cook a recipe a month off of my pinterest boards.
8. Visit Bush Garden’s again.
9. Submit an article to be published in a magazine.
10. Plant SOMETHING.
11. Learn How to drive stick shift.
12. Try at least 6 tutorials off of my pinterest boards.
Relationships:
13. Invite our neighbors over for a cook out.
14. See one of my far away friends again. (Missy, Amber, Mary, Andrew, Laura, Colleen)
15. Go away with Josh for a night.
16. Send 30 snail mail letters.
17. Go away with friends/sister for a weekend.
Finances:
18. Pay off 3 debts.
19. Save $1,000.
Home.
20. Establish some of my favorite childhood traditions in my family.
21. Purge 100 things from my house.
22. Plant SOMETHING.
Memory Keeping/Blogging:
23. Attend a class/seminar/conference to improve my blogging.
24. So SOMETHING with all my photos.
25. Learn how to really use my camera.
26. Post a tutorial on my blog.
27. Write/Finish a list of 1,000 gifts.
28. Spend a day taking a photo every hour.
28. Take the same photo once a month for a year.
29. Take a photo a day.
30. Blog every day for a month.
I am great at making lists but not very good at sticking to them, so we shall see how it goes. I’ve actually already broken a lot of the goals down into smaller ones, like how many verses I need to memories each month and how many cards I need to write so that I don’t get to next April and realize I’m really behind. As always with me one lists leads to another so I am already making a decent dent on number 3 as I make list after list.
What would be on your list for the next year of your life?
Birth
I had a couple posts planned but last week but life happened and they just didn’t. Last Sunday I sat down to write about my Birth Story for another blog I write for. The Motherhood Collective is a great Mothering Blog. I am definitely different from most of their writers, which is one of the things I love about writing for them. I like getting to be a voice from another point of view, and love that they encourage that and seek to minister to and build up moms from all walks of life and parenting philosophies.
It was an interesting process to look back and work through what was going on in my mind that day five and a half years ago. All of that was definitely still fresh in my mind when we met with my doctor on Tuesday to discuss C-section number three. We were presented with a LOT of information on repeat c-sections and consecutive pregnancies. There was a lot of information and suggestions to processes and I think that’s what I spent most of last week doing. Most of my brain power last week was used to sort through and filter all the options.
The result of a lot of thinking is that we might actually try for a V-BAC this time. Obviously there is a chance it won’t work, but this is my last chance to try, and for the sake of my health and my husband and I am willing to give it a go. Of course, it will only work if I go into labor naturally, on my own, before my scheduled c-section on August 1st. There’s a lot of “ifs” involved, but it is assuring to know that whatever the outcome of it all my God is in control and so much bigger than all of this.
In the process of writing my birth story and sorting through photos to get them printed I stumbled across a bunch of pictures from the girls first weeks. They were just to cute NOT so share!
Maddie Goose.
“Teddy Bear” (as she now insists on being called)
Cannot wait to meet our Tacy Rae!
Wars and Rumors of Wars
Matthew 24:6
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
This verse was running through my head over and over last week as facebook, twitter, and the news media were flooded with speculation and misinformation.
For most of the week I was able to avoid the chaos. I stayed in the loop enough to know what was going on, but for the most part was able to avoid the rumors and conspiracy theories. That is until Thursday, when I ended up at my husband’s work for roughly 6 hours with new channels playing non stop and fellow car sales men discussing the case every free minute. The same day my facebook feed seemed overflowing with every one’s opinions, thoughts, and theories.
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.
The thing is, most of what I was reading, was RUMORS. Rumors mostly based on fear. People I know to be normally sane and reasonable were blaming every one from the media, to Russia, to our own government. And those were just the semi intelligent arguments. We won’t get into the truly crazy accusations. The thing is NOTHING was based on fact, it was all rumors based on fear.
See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place,
We live in an evil world. We have since the day Eve ate the apple and we will until Christ comes again. It’s a fact. Yes we should be saddened and mourn when horrific things happen like the Boston Bombing or the fertilizer plant blowing up in Texas. These are AWFUL things and we should be HORRIFIED by them. We should take time to mourn. We should demand that those responsible be held accountable. But whipping ourselves up into a frenzy over speculation helps no one and just causes more fear.
but the end is not yet.
Evil has happened for centuries and will continue to happen. WE should fit it with all our being, because, the end is not yet. We have to hold on, and stop throwing in the towel. Yes, each generation may seem more wicked than the next. Yes things may never have looked this bleak, BUT the end is not yet. Have hope. Hold on. Have Faith. He will not leave us comfortless (John 4:18).
