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. 

37 weeks...

On August 31, the morning I took my first pregnancy test, it seemed impossible that we would ever be here. There were so many doubts and concerns surrounding pregnancy. Now, I've never had any true issues that would constitute concern about successfully caring a child, but I didn't want to take this miracle of life for granted. I didn't want to arrogantly presume that my body would do what it would was supposed to do. So, on that late summer morning, the reality that I would ever be ready to deliver a full term baby was unbelievable.


Yet, here we are, one day past 37 weeks (full term), twenty days away from our due date. Our baby could be born today and be healthy (that's not an invitation, Clark--there's a lot of brain developing for you to do in the next twenty days)! It's surreal that the child I'm carrying is a honest to goodness baby. He looks like him (minus a pound or so). He has hair and nails and good Lord willing, perfect little limbs and fingers and toes. I just can't believe that I get to be a part of the miracle that he is. 


The past nine months have been such a whirlwind and a blessing. I'm not sure that any length of time is enough to feel prepared to be a parent, but the last 37 weeks have gotten us closer to being ready. I know that when our little guy gets here there will be some scary moments of questioning what we got ourselves into, but I also know that we couldn't be more excited to officially start our family. Ready or not though, Clark is coming!

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