Showing posts with label 32 things. Show all posts

Portrait Four



As part of my 32 Things Before 32 List, I am attempting to take one self-portrait per month. This one is for the month of November. Yet again, we are well into the next month and I am just now getting this posted, but here we are.

Someday I won't question whether or not this is it and if it's enough. Looking back, I will realize it was always more than enough and long for the things I missed or overlooked because I was too busy trying to be super mom and super human, all while having a clean, well kept house with fantastic vacuum lines in the carpet and the absence of sticky messes on the floor. 

Someday I know I will miss having these hangry humans intensely dependent upon me with their unwavering devotion and need for a parent, for a life giver, for a nurturer. Our home will one day be too quiet and I will long for the dishwasher that needs to be emptied and the little clothes that need be folded and put away in tiny drawers. I will miss the bath time at night where the kids plead to stay in for far too long and their fingers turn to little raisins. I will miss reading the same book over and over again at bedtime, a book that Marin can recite by memory alone, with the same rise and fall of our adult voices reflected in hers, just as we aim to bring each character from the page to life.  

In this season of life, I am woman finding her way once more, finding more solid footing. I am a wife, a mom, an employee. I am someone that at times tries to hold on to her past in fear of losing the creative aspects of my existence. I am someone that is working really hard to be present in the moment and not veer too far off course. I am trying really hard to find a life that is more than enough. 

Someday, dinner time will look different and I won't stand over a pot of boiling mac n' cheese, stirring it so it doesn't boil over. This is all for the picky preschooler that literally would eat the same thing every single night. I will miss making the chicken nuggets or coaxing her to eat just one more bite of vegetables all the while she absolutely refuses to eat carrots. 

All of this is it and it is more than enough. 

Portrait Four. 

32 Things Before 32



Every year for the past few years, I've written a list around my birthday. This list consists of many things that I want to accomplish in the new year in front of me. Last year, I didn't do very well on checking items off of my list. I found out I was pregnant in October and many items on the list ended up never being completed. I was a little preoccupied with growing a human. But, now I have begun my 32nd year, Sullivan was born in July and I have created a new, fresh list, just waiting to completed.

Here is my list from last year.....

1. Read 31 books. (I read 20)
3. Get pregnant with #2.
4. Paint the outside of our house.
5. Embrace a side hustle.
6. Play a show.
7. See the ocean.
8. Make a big purchase with cash.  (We roofed our house and paid cash for it!) 
9. Get another tattoo. (Can't get inked when you are pregnant) 
12. Get a deep tissue massage.
13. Redo our basement: paint everything, new flooring, doors, etc. 
14. Finish a song. 
15. Go to a drive-in movie. 
16. Start writing a book. 
17. Thrift more. 
18. Increase our curb appeal.
19. Travel somewhere new. 
20. Build up an emergency fund. (About half way there...) 
21. Meal plan and decrease our grocery budget. 
22. Purge the entire house, every room!
23. Develop a product or new venture.  
24. Get family pictures taken. 
27. Read the Dark Tower Series, Harry Potter Series, and Anne of Green Gables Series. (I made it about half way through two of these series) 
28. Take a class. 
29. Seasonal Fun: pumpkin patch, picking strawberries, the zoo, parades, the fair, etc. 
30. See a show at Red Rocks
31. Splurge on the perfect pair of jeans. 

Here is my list for this new year....

1. Read 32 books. (I read 23 this year....) 
2. Learn how to use my pressure cooker & air fryer. 
3. Re-do our basement. 
4. Paint the outside of our home. 
5. Landscape our yard and rebuild back porch. 
6. Replace all interior doors. 
7. Create a plan to become debt free by 2020 (including student loans....) 
8. Rejoin Weight Watchers meetings (I go back and forth on this ALL OF THE TIME.)  
9. Get another tattoo
10. Get family photos taken & print some photo books. 
11. Finish writing a song. 
12. Go to the dentist and the doctor for exams. 
13. Get a massage. 
14. Family walks. 
17. Embrace a side hustle. 
18. Breastfeed Sullivan for one year. (He stopped at just shy of 11 months.) 
19. Reset up the practice space and actually play our music gear. 
20. Design a product. 
21. Go to the drive-in. 
22. Blog consistently and revamp blog layout. 
23. Finish reading the Bible In a Year. 
24. Go to a concert. 
25. 12 date nights. (Maybe we hit this?) 
26. Take a Barre Method Class
27. Finish the Dark Tower/Harry Potter Series. (I am at book #4 for HP...) 
28. Get a facial. 
29. Take one self-portrait a month. 
30. Grow something. 
31. Start a new family tradition. 
32. Start saving money for our 10 year anniversary trip. 

I am ready to dive head first into this new year. I feel like I'm just beginning the journey once more of re-learning how to be myself after having a baby. I'm excited for what this year holds. Hello thirty two.