'insert cheezy caption to accompany headshot here'
And there it went.
Last year at the turn of a decade, I made a list of 30 measurable goals and wishes for my 30th year of life. Here's a followup, and some other notable things about last year.
(in no particular order)
1. Go on one trip with just my husband
Check. San Francisco. It was amaze-balls.
2. Try five new recipes (not all dessert)
Check. Not all were good, but five was an attainable goal in this category. Of note, this taco seasoning and meat loaf. Yes, meat loaf, the most basic meal of all time.
3. Do at least three projects I pin on Pinterest (photography and cooking not withstanding)
Fail. But I did make some super cool geography canvases for my sister and sister-in-law for Christmas.
4. Update Penny's baby book
Fail. And Josie doesn't have one either. Boo, bad Mommy.
5. Finish Penny's nursery
Check. And it's Josie's nursery now!
6. Visit my sister in Tucson at least three times
Epic Fail. Sorry Leslie.
7. Grow something in my backyard and not have it die
Fail. Unless you count dog poop and mud. Dan and Penny did, however, plant some flowers in the pots on our front porch, and they have sustained life quite well. But I had nothing to do with it.
8. Paint my own nails before any formal events
I did once.
9. Take Penny to the Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale
Check. Photos here.
10. Clean out my closet (again)
Check. But it's due for a refresh.
11. Find a pair of dressy shoes that I really love AND are comfortable enough that my feet and back don't ache the day after I wear them
Nope, and I'm giving up on this forever.
12. Give more money to charity than any previous year Dan and I have been filing jointly
Check, although not by much and I'd like to do more next year.
13. Read the bible with Dan every day
Fail. We only made it through March on our One-Year Bible journey. But I did lay my eyes on Scripture more last year than any year before, so I guess that's a step in the right direction.
14. Host one party or event for someone else at my house (wherein no one is selling anything)
I did host a Pampered Chef party, but someone was selling something so I guess it doesn't count.
15. a. Have another baby / get pregnant again (a hope, not a goal) or 15. b. lose the baby weight from the last one.
Heyo! Wehadababyitsagirl! When I wrote this goal list, I didn't know I was pregnant (and I had forgotten that we had "tried" that month), but when I posted the list later on my actual birthday, I did know I was pregnant... is that cheating? And as for the second part... gonna give myself some grace on this one.
16. Serve twenty new clients in my photography business
Gah. I am so overwhelmed with how blessed I have been in my business. I have currently served almost 80 individual clients. And counting.
17. Launch a new photography website
18. Go to a museum in Arizona
Pretty sure between morning sickness and pregnancy and having a new baby I totally forgot this one. But Penny did make it to the zoo a few times.
19. See six movies in the theater
Mmmmmmm.... Big Hero 6 is the only one I can remember but I'm sure we saw at least one more. I feel like we watched a lot of movies at home though, so I'm not completely out of the cinematic loop (see what I did there?)
20. Play the piano at one event or function
Does playing "Let it Go" for the bible study kids count? how 'bout Christmas Carols?
21. Go to the dentist
Fail.
22. Go to the eye doctor
'Nother fail.
23. Catch up on all of my pre-paid sessions at Massage Envy
Triple fail. Prenatal massages are depressing, and it's hard to find the time to go now with two kids. Some day...
24. Help my parents move to Gilbert (a wish, not a goal)
We have a house picked out for them and everything, but we're still working on the convincing! ;)
25. Earn enough $$ taking pictures to cover half of my front-end investment in photography- and computer-equipment
Check. More on that in a few months.
26. Buy one additional L-glass lens (photogrageeks you know what I'm talking about)
Yes! Love love love my EF 24-70mm 2.8L II, and Santa just brought me the EF 100mm 2.8L Macro which I am super stoked about.
27. Take the dogs on at least two walks per week
While they did not get two walks every week, I would say they averaged two walks per week due to a phase where I was walking them almost every day for about a month, sometimes multiple times a day. So I'm calling this one a win.
28. One date-night per month
I think we pulled this one off, if you don't count the month before and after Josie was born.
29. Make homemade ice cream twice in the summer
Fail. But maybe I'll make some this winter. I mean, it's never too cold to eat ice cream.
30. Read one book, the whole thing.
Embarassingly, no. Guess it's true that I'm just not a reader.
A few things I didn't blog about during age 30:
Washing sippy cups was a huge part of my life. So was going to the bathroom with the door open. Also of note, [Dan might disagree but] I think thirty was the year I grew up and accepted the fate that I don't get to sleep in as late as I want anymore.
Washing sippy cups was a huge part of my life. So was going to the bathroom with the door open. Also of note, [Dan might disagree but] I think thirty was the year I grew up and accepted the fate that I don't get to sleep in as late as I want anymore.
Dan and I participated in a 14-week Marriage Ministry at our church called Re|Engage, and it was wonderful for us. If you are looking to refresh, revamp or recover your marriage, I highly recommend it. Ask me.
I mentioned in the birth blog post that I delivered Josephine by VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean, kind of a big deal), but I never shared my thoughts on the fact that I ended up going for the epidural during labor. I wanted to write a whole post about it, but never got around to it. In short, I think women who make it all the way through birth completely unmedicated are rock stars, but I have no regrets about my decision to have Dr. M. the anesthesiologist make me up the perfect cocktail and shoot it into my spine when I was pre-transition and exhausted and only five centimeters when I felt like I should have been nine from all the work I had been doing. I won't ever encourage women to go in and just "skip" the hard part and get their epidural right away, but I also don't think there's any shame in making that call like I did. Next time around I'll have the goal again to go all-natural, because every pregnancy and every birth is different from the others.
I didn't write about the sudden and tragic death of the lead singer of my band because it was just. too. hard. I still can't listen to certain songs on the radio without bursting into tears. I miss you, Michael.
This summer my mom's side of the family had a ginormous family reunion in San Diego, at which I met a handful of her half-siblings and their children for the first time. Around this time, Dan got really into using Ancestry.com to fill in all the blanks on our family trees. Between Dan's and my dad's efforts, we've got documented lineage tracing our families all the way back to the 900's.
We celebrated my father-in-law's 70th birthday in December. I took pictures and it brought me so much joy, especially because this meant meeting his 90-year-old mother, who surprised him by coming out to Arizona from California. A 90-year-old mother surprising her 70-year-old son, how cool is that??? Pictures here.
Today on my 31st birthday, I find myself feeling pretty young, actually. Scatterbrained, silly and sleepy. Happy. My biggest challenges and stresses these days involve parenting a toddler with a strong will, and also keeping up with her bright sharp mind and wanting to raise her well; and balancing running a small business all on my own and wanting to offer great customer service to my clients without compromising important family things, finding enough hours in the day to do the things I have to do and try to squeeze in some things I want to do. My biggest joys these days are in conversations with my husband, watching our daughters grow, soaking up the blessings of our beautiful neighborhood and community with our families so close by, feeling content in the church community we've joined, and feeling fulfilled by getting to wear another hat on my photography adventures.
Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes today! I'm officially "in my thirties."
