My Next 30 Years...

I'm a country girl at heart. I love visiting the big city (especially now that my best friend, Leslie, has an amazing apartment in Chicago), but if I had to choose where Michael and I would ultimately raise our family, I'd choose the nearby corn fields in a heart beat. It's no surprise then, that with the end of my twenties looming in front of me, I've been listening to Tim McGraw's "My Next Thirty Years" a lot recently. 

I remember when the song came out. I was in high school, and thirty seemed a lifetime away. The lyrics were sweet and sentimental, but they didn't really resonate with me. Now, however, many of the words sing the story of my life. Here are the highlights:

I think I'll take a moment, celebrate my age--Celebrate? I suppose it's worth celebrating that I've made it this far, and while I don't love the number, I'm grateful that I'm not 21 again...seriously.

The ending of an era and the turning of a page--Today I turned thirty. I sent my son to daycare for the first time (he didn't cry; I did), and I began a new career. If that's not the end of an era, I don't know what is. The upside is that the page has been turned and I'm off to write a new chapter.

Now it's time to focus in on where I go from here--If you read this blog with any regularity, you know I've been working on focus. Now seems as good a time as any to really master it. 

Lord have mercy on my next thirty years--Another truth is that God has definitely had mercy on my past thirty years. My marriage, son, friends, family, job, and countless other things are testament to that. I am blessed, plain and simple.

Hey my next thirty years I'm gonna have some fun--This is not the end of my fun. Ladies (specifically: Becky, Chrisanne, Beth, Rachel, Jenn--take notice!)

Try to forget about all the crazy things I've done--I don't feel that this is necessary. Those crazy things got me there. And truthfully, there are quite a few that I'm already a little hazy on the details. ;)


Maybe now I've conquered all my adolescent fears
And I'll do it better in my next thirty years--Not sure this has happened, but I plan on getting over them in the next thirty. 

My next thirty years I'm gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I'm doing here
In my next thirty years--This needs to be my mantra. 

Oh my next thirty years, I'm gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late--Time to get that body back(ish) for real! 

Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe I'll remember my next thirty years--I should also include "Keep my damn mouth shut and not say stupid shit while I'm drinking" to this.

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life--If this is true, life will be amazing because the past thirty have (overall) been awesome!


Raise a little family and hang out with my wife husband--Ok, this doesn't rhyme, but you get the point. At the end of the day, the time I have with my family is the most important. I look forward to someday seeing the family we will have, the child(ren) we will raise, and the life we will build. I can't imagine loving Michael and Clark more than I do today, and yet somehow, there's never a day that I loved them more the day before.


Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear--This next thirty will consist of genuine relationships. I pray that I remember these words and drink in the moments with the people who are most important to me. 

Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years
In my next thirty years--In true Betty fashion, I've got a plan and a checklist. It might not be filled with concrete items, but I'm pretty sure it's the greatest checklist I've ever written. 

31.

Now seems as good a time as any to reflect on the past several months and look forward to the future. It's amazing to me that time has gone by so quickly. I was warned that it would. I anticipated it doing so, yet somehow, I was caught off guard when I realized that a week from from Thursday I'll be two months away from my due guess date.

While I'm practically giddy to meet our little boy, when I think back on the past 30 weeks, part of me is sad that this time is going to be over so soon. I've really loved being pregnant (even if it has meant giving up cold turkey sandwiches *sniff, sniff* and coffee *sob, sob*)! In fact, the other week week I was talking to my best friend Chrisanne and telling her that while I can't WAIT to see Clark on the outside of my growing tummy, part of me will miss having him there and knowing that he's with me and safe. She guaranteed me that while she felt similarly with her little girl, Tenley, they're much more fun to play with on the outside. :)

I'm also grateful that I've had such a complication-free pregnancy. Each check-up has been "perfect." Even my weight (which I was nervous about) is on track according to my midwife. I don't want to be arrogant or fool-hardy and assume that all will go "perfectly" during our delivery, but the fact that I haven't had problems thus far makes me a little more optimistic.

What has not changed is how busy I am during the spring. I'm irritated with myself that I haven't blogged in a MONTH! Slightly more irritated that this post is coming a week after I planned for it to (it was originally titled "The Big 3-0!"--now, however, "The Big 3-1!" doesn't have the same ring to it). Last week I finished teaching my first of three test prep classes. Last night started #3 and after Thursday I'll be half way finished with #2. Between regular work, teaching test prep 1-2 nights a week and all the weddings we're finishing for Signature, Ink., I'm definitely keeping busy while waiting for our little one's arrival.

I'll post a belly picture soon. I just need to find time when I'm at home to move it from my camera to computer.

Busy.

With the way life has been recently, blogging has taken a bit of a back seat. I have had to get real with myself about the fact that currently, I am NOT being paid to blog, thus the things I AM being paid for (or should be getting paid for--here's hoping Signature, Ink. actually MAKES money this year!) need to take priority. That being said, I'm happy-ish that I can be blogging once a week. 


I can't think back on a time in my life that I wasn't busy with something, and this pregnancy is proving to be the just more of the same. Between school (ugh. school--hopefully this will be one of my last years teaching), working to start a business, and my side gig teaching SAT & ACT prep courses at night I'm happy when I can squeeze in a little TV time with the hubs or dinner with a good friend. Presently, I'm grateful to steal a few quiet morning moments in between Signature, Ink. invoicing/bookkeeping and getting ready for my nephew Finn's 1st birthday party to blog a bit--for me.


Being busy like this has me looking forward to the weeks after Clark is born. While I'm 100% aware (although I'm sure not truly prepared) for six plus weeks of pure exhaustion, part of me is truly looking forward to the opportunity to be busy with one thing--my new family. School will be handled by a substitute. At least four of the six weddings we are currently working on will be in production or done. SAT & ACT classes will be finished. And I will be ridiculously tired and completely in love with the new man in my life. I'm praying that those weeks will not only be an amazingly precious time for me to cherish, but also a time for Michael and me to make some discoveries and decisions about what can/must change in lives in order to put this new family of ours at the top of our priority list.


In the meantime, I'm handling this busy time as best I can, praying for the strength and wisdom to move toward motherhood, and thankful for the people in my life who understand why I am often MIA.

Lazy days.

With government cutbacks impacting so much of the country, it's no surprise that our little family has been touched. For the second year in a row Michael has had to take one mandatory day off--or furlough day--for the first nineteen pay periods of the year. Are we hurting? No. Would the extra money be nice? Yes. But, ironically this is not a complaint of any kind. In fact it has afforded us mini vacations this summer because every other weekend he has three days off. The result? Lazy days.

Today will include LOTS of coffee, blogging, reading blogs, watching DVR episodes of Shark Week, playing with the dogs in the yard, and possibly hanging our new mirror from Ikea.  We'll end the day with dinner with the Hoyle clan. Hope you have a lazy weekend too.

Two years & counting...

Yesterday Michael and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. It was seriously a wonderful day and evening. There are so many things about the past two years for which I am grateful, but having Michael by my side is truly what I treasure most. I'm amazed and thankful for how much we have grown separately and together in the past years. Conversations we have now wouldn't necessarily have been possible in 2009. It's strange because when I married him, I thought I knew him completely. However, since our wedding, I've been happy to discover that there's a lot that I have to learn about my husband. My guess is that he feels similarly about me. While I realize that we are, by all accounts, still in the "honeymoon" stage of our marriage, the trials and upsets that we've endured in our relationship thus far make me confident in our ability to take future challenges head on. 


One thing I'm coming to love about anniversaries is that they offer us the opportunity to look back as we look ahead. Our wedding day was perfect. I'm sure most brides say that about their day, but I'm serious, it was without fault. 

When I think about that day, I remember the butterflies before walking down the aisle that almost kept me from putting my blusher over my face (thanks for noticing that one, Dad!). 

I remember Michael waiting for me at the front of the church looking dashing and yet, slightly nervous. I remember cursing my English major self for writing vows that seemed to last an eternity, but when I watch them now, I'm grateful that I made those promises. 

I remember not caring that it was sprinkling rain as we rain to our car. 

And I remember our reception, our wonderfully blemish free reception. That party holds many memories, dancing with my daddy, singing "Build Me Up Buttercup" with my sister, priceless pictures with loved ones, dancing until the lights came back on, and so many more.

But I cherish the first dance I had with my husband because "our" song is "Home," and that's just what Michael is for me.

HOME 

by: Chantal Kreviazuk

Well, if you knew how much this moment means to me

And how long I've waited for your touch

And if you knew how happy you are making me

I never thought that I'd love anyone so much

It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me

It feels like I'm all the way the back where I come from

It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me

It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong