January 14, 2012

Today has been wonderful. I went outside and played in the snow last night with most of my kids and today I got to do a little snow time with all of them. I pulled my video camera out for the first time in a long time and made sure to take some pictures. I'm looking forward to church and more fun times tomorrow. Hoping that my video camera is actually charging. In tech years it's getting old.

Today I also took down most of our Christmas decorations and put them away. I actually just remembered the ones in the tv room. That's right. It is the middle of January and we still have our Christmas tree  and lights up. For us, it's not just something to put up in honor of one day. It's something to fill our home with the reminder that Jesus is with us even during the darkest of times. So we leave it up most of winter. Last year the kids and I put hearts on our tree for Valentine's Day to remind us of the Love that Jesus showed mankind. This year we plan to make actual Valentine's ornaments.

Thinking of Valentine's Day, last night, as I laid in my bed trying to go to sleep, I thought of the Love Dare. Now that is a 40 day thing and it's a nice thing to do. This year, in honor of my 30th year (yes 30 seems to be a big theme in my life right now.) I've decided to spend 30 days focused on expressing unconditional love, positive regard, and respect for my family. You'd think that wouldn't be difficult at all and well we should already be doing all that. However, we are like most families. We get so caught up in the right now that we forget there is a bigger picture. Emotions can run rampant and we can be quite conditional. I want to leave a different legacy for my kids, though. One that reflects the Love of God and his joy and passion for each of us. It may be through a note, some quality time, a time out when my emotions are ready to go off like an encore of fireworks. Whatever I can do to start focusing on loving my family more and remembering that "This too shall pass." during the storms.

January 10, 2012

Obviously I don't get on here daily, but here are a few more things I'd like to achieve by the time I'm 30.
Fitting into my pre-pregnancy clothes would be nice. That concept actually led to another thought, I usually don't go for. Losing 30 lbs. Honestly I'd be content to lose 15-20lbs. I still have about that much left from my last pregnancy. I haven't done anything about it. However, this month I will be attending a yoga class, hopefully, 3x a week thanks to a living social deal my husband got for me. And I'm trying to play outside with my kids more. The other day we kicked a soccer ball around. Of course that leads to another thing. Going outside everyday and being able to leave my house without any fear or anxiety. I have such a hard time leaving the house. Going outside with my kids is the first step. I do go places and even on my own sometimes. But I always feel anxious about it. I want to get to where I don't.

January 6, 2012

In spite of starting the year off sick, I really believe this year is going to shine. I've decided that I would like to achieve 30 things before I turn 30.

First on my list is to become a published author. I recently discovered a writing contest through a self publishing company and am excited to be entering it. I have a story I started during NaNoWriMo 2010 that I've decided to finish and turn in. Yes, I am an amateur and am sure I'll make mistakes with it, but it's worth a shot. I've already done some editing and have found that I had a lot more written than I realized. I am in the process of getting it all organized and polished. This is something I've wanted to do for nearly 2 decades at least! It's sad that it has taken me this long to finally go for it. There are a lot of things in my life like that, though.

I will try to continue to post a new goal each day and share my progress with each of them as the year continues.