Let's try this again...

So, it’s official. I’m the worst blogger ever.

It’s nearing a year since my last post, and I’ve decided on a new approach. Instead of this blog being all about Chloe and the new and exciting things she brings to our lives, it’s going to be about more about me and my goals/adventures through life.

Now, grandparents, don’t get your panties in a bunch. This blog will have a main focus of my life as a mom (i.e. Chloe) and a little place I like to call Mommyhood, but it won’t be limited to that. I have a lot of things I wish to achieve and accomplish, and I plan to use this blog as a tool to keep myself accountable. There’s just something about putting your personal goals (that very few people have actually heard you utter), and progress toward those goals (like seriously, I could count them on one hand), on the internet for the world to see, if they so desired. Motivation, I think they call it. 

Alrighty then… It was originally intended for this list to be in a certain order, but that got difficult when goal after goal starting popping into my brain. So after the first several, they are no longer in any particular order. Shall we begin?

1)      I never want to be content to sit idle in my relationship with Christ. 

I don’t pray like I should. I don’t read my Bible like I should. I don’t show the love of Christ to others like I should. This list could go on forever, and I never want to not be unhappy with that. As a Christian, I believe I should never stop striving to be more Christ-like. And since you know, He’s holy and perfect and everything, this is a never ending achievement to work for. 

2)      I want to be an encouraging wife and mother.

I read…most of… Have a New Kid by Friday, and in that book, Dr. Lehman says that you should not praise your child, but encourage your child. If you praise everything your child does all his life, then said child is in for a rude awakening when he grows up. Of course the three little scribble marks on a piece of scrap paper is not the best drawing you’ve ever seen (if it is, you need to get out more). So don’t say that it is. I learned a better response would be, “That’s a very good drawing. If you keep practicing, you could be quite the artist someday.” See? Encouragement, not praise. Your child isn’t stupid, and when she figures out that all the times you said she was the “greatest” at, or “the best ever” at weren’t really true, and in all reality, she’s no good at it at all, then she’s left with questions like, “Am I actually good at anything?” and “What else have they lied to me about?” So again, encouragement, not praise. 

3)      I want to keep a clean, healthy, and organized home for my family. 

This one doesn’t need a whole lot of elaboration. But it is one of my goals, and I’ll occasionally post tips and tricks I pick up along the way on how I accomplish this.  

4)      Completely potty train my child.

I may or may not have already accomplished this. It’s too soon to tell, but I’ll let you know if we have any more relapses…

5)      I want to give my children the best education humanly possible. 

Whether achieving this involves homeschooling, public school, or by some miracle private school, I want Chloe and our future children to receive an excellent education. I always said I would never homeschool because of the extensive amount of work that goes into it and I never thought I was qualified to do it. But through the news (those rare times I’m actually watching grown-up tv) and through friends with kids in the public school system, I’ve heard some things that are truly terrifying not just as a Christian parent, but as a parent in general. So thankfully we’ve got a couple of years before that’s a truly critical decision. We’re doing pre-school at home for the next couple of years, so that will most likely help make our decision on which road to go. There are also other factors like my next goal, which is…

6)      I want to further my own education.

I was homeschooled from 1^st grade all through high school, and even though I completed the work and am a homeschool graduate, I have no diploma or proof that I did this. For reasons other than “unfinished” business I guess you could say, I want and plan to get my GED. Those reasons are, I have a new found interest/desire to possibly become an ultrasound technician specializing in obstetrics. For years and years, I’ve always felt God calling me to become a stay-at-home mom. Well, I am one and I love it, but there is still this nagging interest, this desire in my heart to go back to school. That fact in and of itself is a truly God given desire because I hated school when I was growing up. I completed my junior and senior year of high school in a 10 month period while working 20+ hours a week, all so I could be finished sooner. But a lot of things are in need of prayer and serious consideration before I can really even think about it. Things like, finances, child care, time, and I would like to have at least one more baby sometime in the next year. I know God will take care of all this if it truly is His will for me to go back to school and work thereafter, but it’s still stressful for a planner like myself not to know the plan.

7)      I want to become a BETTER BLOGGER!

As we’ve established, I’m horrible at keeping up with the blog. Thankfully, now there’s an app for that! I recently came across the app that Blogger finally came out with, and it now has a place in the section I have for social media on the home screen of my iPod. So it’s guaranteed that I will see it multiple times a day, reminding me to keep up with it this time!

8)      I want throw my kids fantastical birthday parties.

This may seem silly, but it’s a legitimate goal of mine because it was such a big part of my childhood. Between my mom’s craftiness and planning ability and my dad’s handiness and ingenuity, I had some amazing birthday parties growing up that I’ll always remember and look back on with joy. I want to give my kids the same, and so far, I think I’ve accomplished. 

9)      I want to restyle my wardrobe.

This also might seem silly and superficial, but again, it’s a legitimate goal. This is why: For my entire life, I’ve dressed and chosen extremely simple and plain things to wear because it was one mechanism to not get noticed, and if I wasn’t noticed, then no one would see me make mistakes. You see, I’m a huge perfectionist, terrified of making mistakes. Literally I’ve been kept up at night by mistakes I’ve made or how I may have come across to people in certain situations or how I should have done something differently. So because I’m human, I’m pretty much screwed. But taking this one little step, choosing something while shopping that I love but would never normally pick for myself, is a beginning towards getting over my own insecurities. 

10)   I want to decorate my house.

We have lived in this house for going on 18 months and I have done no decorating what so ever. Not unless you count picture hanging (which I don’t). We’ve done more renovating (unfinished renovating, but still) to our house than decorating. It’s a shame, too, because I love interior decorating and thinking up layouts and all the planning/work that goes into all things DIY.  

11)   I want to learn to sew.

You can thank Pinterest for this one. There’s a lot of amazingly cute stuff out there to be made, and I would love to have the skill set to do at least some of it. 

12)   I want to learn and fluently speak French.

I would love to learn a second language. Spanish would be the obvious choice for me because a large portion of my family speaks fluent Spanish, but I’m not a joiner. I don’t like to do things just because everyone else is doing them. French is also one of the most spoken languages in the world, which sets up my next goal…

13)   I want to travel.

I’m dying to travel the world, mainly Europe. I would love to take a really nice, expensive camera, travel all over, and document the world from my point of view. Kris has absolutely no desire to travel much of anywhere, so in 30 or so years when I have time, I’ll be taking applications for a travel buddy. If you can fund it that’d be even better! 

14)   I want to start running.

There. I said it. I want to run. But wait just a minute before you judge me. I want to run BECAUSE I’m looking for something that I can use and focus all my energy and attention on as a way to escape the stress of daily life in Mommyhood, something where I don’t have to worry about anything or anyone except the task at hand. Strengthening my legs and endurance is also a big part of why I want to do this. I’ve already told you, I’m not a joiner. I have no plans to run any kind of 5k or marathon or anything. I’m doing this strictly for me, my enjoyment, and my sanity only. And, just an FYI, I wanted to do this way before all of my facebook friends went out hopped on the running bandwagon, ok? So there. 

15)   I want to get out of debt. 

Kris and I, for the entire length of our marriage, stayed completely debt free, with the exception of our mortgage. Well, that is until this summer. Our A/C went completely, irreparably out, and our savings has been mostly eaten up by Kris’ piece-of-junk “car” that doesn’t even really deserve to be called a car. So we were stuck and had to get a small loan of $4000.00 to pay for a new A/C and furnace. Thankfully, we got an amazing deal through a good friend of my dad’s and it wasn’t a whole heck of a lot more than that. But we are still in debt, which is something I despise. I would really like to have it paid off by the end of the year.

Well, there you have it. The List. I know I’ll continue to add to it as I go, and of course blog about how I’m progressing toward achieving the goals listed. It feels pretty intimidating, but here’s to new beginnings and fresh starts in the middle of the year and for no other reason than being tired of standing still and daring to be called Super.