52 Weeks of Blogging with a purpose: Week 3 - My Life 5 Years From Now

 Thanks to From Mrs to Mama for this idea....and to In This Crazy Life and God Will Fill This Nest for keeping me inspired to keep up with this!

My Life 5 Years From Now...

This is the kind of thing they ask you on a job interview that I've always struggled with, not because I don't have a plan, its just very flexible, and sometimes its nice not knowing where your life is going.

In 5 years, M and I will have just celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. Which is crazy to think about, as I can't believe its already been 4 years, then again I can't really remember what life is like without him either.

C will be turning 7, which means he will either be entering first or second grade (we haven't decided if he should oldest or youngest in his class.)  Bean will be turning 5!  Which is hard to think about when little dude still has two months until birth.  He'll be in preschool, and we'll be facing the same decision about when to start Kindergarten.

I'll be in my mid-thirties, very weird, and maybe by then I will be able to balance it all to do what I really want to do.  I hope to have a fair share of volunteer activities and be a stay-at-home mom.  I think we will be in the same house, since we bought this one with the intention that we could spend the rest of our life in it.  There are two reasons I would consider moving, 1.)Obviously if M was to get a job in another city, 2.) to move to up in the world, assuming M starts making a lot more money (I'm talking about a community where our house would cost easily 3 times as much as our current) and we could find a house with a bit more space (which more money doesn't necessarily mean)).  This is also around the time that we would like to think about baby #3, M and I both agree that we would love to have more kids, but we need a bit of a break, and I am not a mom who would choose to do 3 under 5, I just feel completely overwhelmed by the idea (those of you who are, I give a ton of credit, since I know its not something I could handle.)  Also since I am likely to have a repeat c-section with Bean, I really want to give my body a long period of time to heal.  

In an ideal world, I would love to think we will have all of our student loans paid off in 5 years, but I just don't know how realistic that is.  We're working on getting about 8 small one paid off this year, but the rest are very large and I'm just not sure how feasible that it.

I'll also be driving a car with a third row by this point (but not a mini-van, I refuse to drive one!)  Right now we have a wagon/crossover and it works now, but I know we'll want a third row if another baby k joins us, and I don't know how well these things grow with the family.  M keeps pushing the mini-van idea, but I told him if he wants one, he can drive it.

Also in 5 years I could be teaching my little brother how to drive, who was born the same week I failed my first driving test.  My youngest sister will be graduating from college, and hopefully one of my siblings or M's will make me an Aunt (I can't wait to be an Aunt, you get to do all the cool stuff of being a mom, with being able to hand the baby back when they get cranky!)

52 Weeks of Blogging: Week 2 - Ten Things I Live For

Things that I live for or can't live without...

1. My family - I love my kids, M, my parents, grandma, siblings, etc.  Need I say more?
   
   
   
2. Mystery Books - I love the puzzle of figuring out who, what, why?  And it gives me some me time.
3. Bubble baths.  I can read books and relax,
4. Snuggles. 
   
5. Traditions.  From silly things like giving my kids their first friend at the hospital to having a traditional dinner (fine china, silver, etc.) for holidays.  I think these things make life more stable and create memories.
   
6. Sweets.  I love dessert, candies, etc. 
7. Crochet. I love how I can relax, but still feel like I am achieving something. 
   
8. Cooking. It amazes me how satisfying it is to make a delicious meal, sometimes out of things you don't expect to taste good. Like have you ever tried vanilla extract on its own? Yuck.
9. Art. I love creating and viewing art. But not in a pretentious way, I just love seeing how God has people express their world, and that he gives so many people the opportunity to do so. 
10. That moment when you have the full bed to yourself. No toddler pushing you off, no one to steal the sheets.
11. 
    
    
    

52 Weeks of Blogging With A Purpose: Week 1 - Who I am

I saw that Bethany over at In This Crazy Life is doing this "challenge" and I thought it would be a great idea to do too.  Since sometimes its hard to come up with worthwhile things to say, plus I'll be more likely to devote regular time to this blog.  Like her I'm a week behind, so I'll do two posts this week.

Who I am?  

Isn't this something everyone tries to define.  Personally I hate those exercises where your write down things that describe you and then you're supposed to eliminate each word until you get to one word that describes you.  Its just too hard, too many facets, and I just don't believe that any person is primarily one thing, we have too many relationships that define us for us to be one thing.  That being said, here are a few things I feel that I am...

A Volunteer

I love volunteering, perhaps that's why I wanted to work at a non-profit, but seriously I would love to quit my job and just help where needed.  From planning a special event, to sorting clothes to the needy, to helping in a community garden, or to menial tasks like data entry.  These are things that serve a real purpose and I just want to help people, animals, communities, etc.  If I had more hours and energy in a day I would devote more time to it.  And I want to make sure my kids have a passion for volunteering as well, and don't just do it for a school project and to get into a good college.  I hope they can have the same desire to want to give back physically and financially.

An Idealist

I always try to be as hopeful and optimistic about things, which can be hard, since the best scenario doesn't always pan out.  This year has been really tough for me, between working full-time, being a mom, and being pregnant, and its very easy to get bitter, which is exhausting.

A Christian Growing in Faith

I'm working on it.  Its hard.  It can be scary.  And sometimes I don't like what God or the Bible wants me to hear.  But I find as I grow, some sort of new inner peace developing too.  But sometimes I just want to live in the moment.  Plus I am terrible at going to church.  I always like going when I do, but I just can't remember the last time I felt well rested and ready to go, which makes its incredibly hard to feel motivated on Sunday mornings.  I just have to keep reminding myself that he has a plan and to put my trust into him.

Someone who is sleep deprived

As I read through these things I realize how tired I am.  And how much its effecting who I am, or would like to be.  Between pregnancy, a toddler, and waking up at 5:30am for work I can't remember the last time I got a solid 4 hours of sleep.  I need to figure out a way for me to have the my energy back.  I might just have to wait 20 years...

A Creative Type

I like to craft, crochet, sew, draw, paint, make wreathes, design emails, create graphics, cards, etc.  I like picking out colors and making things pretty and hopefully interesting.  I try to follow my own tastes rather than what's cool (I seriously don't get why mustaches are cool.)  But I just want the world around me to be visually pleasing.