I turned 28 yesterday. I'm inching closer and closer to 30 everyday. At 28 I've been with my husband 10 years in November, married 5 years in June. I have a daughter who will be 3 in July and I have a son who was born in December. My life is full and happy. Eric and I have been talking a lot about being better in all aspects of our lives and then I saw this post by NotSuperJustMom and it inspired me to think about what I want to do in my 28th year and actually put it in writing instead of just talking about it.
My 28 things:
1. Read more- I love to read, I was (for the most part) and only child and reading was my favorite thing to do as a child. It still is. With two kids though it's not nearly as easy as it used to be. I have a kindle, and I've downloaded the kindle app on my phone so when I'm nursing Finn my latest book is always accessible. Here is my goodread's profile if you want to friend me. My goal is 50 books for the year which might be a bit much but it will push me!
2. Less screen time- Between the TV, my phone, and the laptop I'm always watching something. I want to be better about putting it all down and shutting it all off to spend time with my kids. This is hard for me because as a SAHM all of those things are my "adult" conversation and seemingly help keep me sane. I'd like to try one day a week of no screen time but we will work our way towards that.
3. Workout- Finn is almost 3 months old, and while I am comfortable at my weight right now(5-10 pounds heavier than pre-pregnancy) I would like to build my muscle tone as well as my stamina. Eric & I really want to get out and go hiking/biking and playing with the kids this summer and I want to be able to keep up and not be out of breath!
4. Date Eric- I would us to have one date night per month to just get out and be us, no kids, even if it is just a short ride and an ice cream, just a few minutes out of the house to remember before the kids there was us.
5. & 6. Write- This one totally counts as two(don't judge me!). I want to write more, I used to love writing in graded school and high school but I haven't taken the time in way to long to just write. My goal is to write a blog post once a week (ha!) and to keep a journal for my own thoughts, things I'm not willing to share with anyone else, or as a first step to a blog post.
7. More me time- As a SAHM I don't get a lot of me time. The kids are tandem napping still in the afternoon but I find that time taken up with my part time job. Thankfully I am able to do that from home, but I want just 2 or 3 hours a week to myself. Showers, eating and going to the bathroom do NOT count as me time. Despite how nice that would be. I will compromise and say that cooking, cleaning and laundry can count as me time.
8. Learn my camera- I have a Canon DSLR and I absolutely love it. I, however, do it NO justice whatsoever. I took an online photography class at the same time we were moving into our new house 2 years ago. Needless to say the class didn't get all the attention it deserved. I need to get out the manual as well as the class printouts and start over again.
9. Kid dates- Eric & I talked a lot before having Finn that we wanted the kids to have one-on-one time with us. Easier said than done with work, life schedules and all the other things we have going on. I would like once a month for Kenz (and Finn when he's a bit older) to have a "date" with each of us, separately or together for some one-on-one interaction.
10. Friends- I don't have a lot of friends, but I want to be a better friend to the ones I do have. Life happens, so we don't always get to see each other as much as we would like, especially with the kids all running around now. I want to make it a priority to at least once a week touch base (via phone, text, email, facebook, whatever) with my friends just to say hi.
11. Yard sale crafts- Thank you Pinterest (and my grandmothers) I cannot wait to hit some yard sales this summer and find craft projects that I can do with the kids and find a creative outlet. I am the least creative person ever so this should be interesting.
12.& 13. Save $2800 & Pay off my & car- Financially we are ok. I mean, you can always have more money right? We had a really good nest egg set aside and some things came up with the sale of our old house so that took all of our nest egg and then some(can anyone say thank you Daddy?). We are back to having an ok amount in savings but our goal is to be debt free (aside from our mortgage) as soon as possible. I would like to see a certain number in our savings account and $2800 happens to be what it will take to get there. With that, we do owe money to my Dad, not a huge amount but enough. Plus we still owe a decent chunk on my car. If we continue our spending habits though and Eric decides not to race this summer we should be able to have everything paid off except for the mortgage by at least next spring, hopefully sooner. At that point we will hopefully be able to double up our mortgage payments and have the house paid off in 7ish years.
14. Random act of kindness- I read a lot about people doing random acts of kindness and I think it is so amazing and kind. I want to do one of these per month if I can. Simple things, buying a drink for someone at the store or paying for someones meal that is behind me in line or beside me in a restaurant. I want to teach my children these things.
15. Find a babysitter we trust- We do have a babysitter, an amazing one, who happens to be my husband's mother. She is our ONLY babysitter. Her schedule with farming is sometimes sort of screwy so plans we have made don't always happen because something comes up. I would like to find a high school girl (or boy I suppose) who has a little bit more of a flexible schedule and who we trust as a second babysitter so we have a good chance of always having someone to stay with the kids.
16 Hike Mount Pisgah- Eric and I have made a list of things we want to do with the kids this summer and hiking is one of the top ones. We have a few mountains near us and we've hiked Pisgah a few times but never quite made it all the way to the top. I want to do it and reach the top, all 4 of us!
17. Try running- I read quite a few blogs and it seems like everyone is trying running. Running is never something that has been a "thing" for me, but I can see now with two children how it would appeal. Being able to get out of the house alone, the quiet, thoughts to myself, I'd like to at least attempt it and who knows, maybe I'll like it.
18. Get out of my comfort zone more - This applies to so many areas of my life. Eric & I were signed up to take a couples dance class which would have been so completely out of our element but it got canceled. We were both sad because it was something we were really looking forward too. I'm trying to change up my wardrobe and add more color and just different things. I'm mostly a jeans and tee girl but I want to be able to change it up. Especially since 99% of my life is spent in yoga pants and a sweatshirt. Especially in the middle of winter, and yes I know it is technically spring but there is still snow on the ground people!
19. Make a *real* long distance friend on Twitter and write real letters/emails- I have met some truly awesome, amazing people on Twitter and have great conversations with them. However, I would love to find a pen pal like friend, to write real letters and *gasp* mail them! Or even just be able to email or chat (outside of Twitter) about anything. So... I'll be accepting applications if anyone is interested! ;)
20. Decide where to get footprint tattoo on my body and DO IT- As soon as I found out I was pregnant with Finn I started talking about what I wanted to get for a tattoo for my children, I've had a few different ideas. Ranging for birth month flowers to something with there birthstone colors. I think I've finally decided to get their footprints with names and dates of birth. I need to now decide where on my body to get it and just schedule it to get it done! I'm really excited about this.
21. Finn's birth story- It took me forever to write Kenz's birth story, and I'm sure I forgot things so I want to get Finn's done as soon as I can so I have all the details still in my brain.
22. Monthly emails to kids- I set up an email for Kenz (and need to do Finn's) and I want Eric & I both to send the kids monthly emails, nothing major just maybe a funny story that we otherwise wouldn't remember or just to remind them how amazing they are.
23. More (extended) family time- Those of you with kids know how hard it is to get out and see anyone or make plans. Eric and I are lucky in that we have really good relationships with our grandparents, parents, cousins, etc. We hardly ever get the chance to see anyone to actually sit down and chat. I would like to once a week (or once a month realistically) be able to have a sit down conversation with some family, over dinner or just a drink.
24. Sex- 2 kids, 1 husband who works 60+ hours a week. Need I say more?
25. Presentable House- Our house is clean, but lived in. I take pride in that. There are things on the counters and toys on the floor, the kitchen sink sometimes has dishes in it, the bathroom sink probably has toothpaste in it or on it. If I dropped a something on the floor reasonably I would be willing to eat it. It does drive Eric crazy when someone comes over and the little things aren't taken care of (not at me for not doing it, he shares in the household cleaning). I'd like to find a once a day schedule to have all surfaces wiped down and things mostly put away.
26. Patience- I am not one known for my patience, I tend to be impatient and short tempered with Eric and Kenz. I don't like that I act that way but it's just me. Always has been, but I can change, and I will, I want to be a better person and a better example for my kids.
27. Relax- This one is sort of silly but I want to be able to just chill out and not worry about what has to be done or what I should be doing because it is ok if I have 5 minutes of time where I am not doing something!
28. Vacation- Plan a vacation doesn't have to be in my 28th year but plan it and starting scheduling things/reserving things, I (we) need a good GOOD vacation. Spend a ton of time researching where we are going and things to do.
I do realize that some of these are more life goals than goals to accomplish in my 28th year, but they are things that I want to think about it and to continue to change, starting now. I do have to say I apologize for bad spelling, grammar. I'm afraid to go back and re-read this right now (for fear of chickening out) so I'm just gonna post it and read it again in a few hours!
I'd love thoughts and ideas on anything on my list!
