One Good Year Left

As I sit here, T is on a drive with JW and Richie is out exploring the living room/finding anything he can shove into his mouth.

We are currently experiencing a crummy church time (1 PM), and crummy daylight savings.

We also got a new church calling: temple prep teachers!

My birthday weekend is coming to a close.

And I can honestly say along with my Halloween-themed birthday (in March), my pool party birthday, and that surprise party (which I requested) when I was six, this was one of the best birthdays yet!

My official birthday was on Friday, and to my surprise, T took the day off!

We packed up the kids and headed to Salt Lake.

Where T bought a fancy pants blender, handed the kids over to his brother for the evening, where we then went to a movie and dinner.

If you haven't seen Warm Bodies yet, I highly suggest it!

I received so many wonderful birthday wishes, too!

28 was a great.

I finished my first year of teaching here.

We bought a house and a car.

We had Richie.

JW turned three and T started a new job.

If there was a phrase to describe my 28th year of life it would be:  learning to be happy.

SO many lessons have been learned, which have created so much happiness in our home.

1. I have learned so much about myself.  This program has truly changed my outlook on so many things in my life.  It helped me to not only be ok with who I am, but to love myself.  This is something I have struggled with since a very young age.  It is remarkable to me how this attitiude shift has changed the very atmosphere in our home.  My whole family is happier now.

2. T and I have gotten to a whole new level of understanding.  I love how even after five years of marriage, there's still this abundance of information I can learn about my spouse.  It's exciting.

3.  I have been struggling with fears for years.  More specifically, fear of death.  The more kids I have, the more scared I seem to get.  Subconciously, I've been looking for answers as to how to help calm my mind.  A man in church gave a talk a few months ago.  In his talk, he challenged the congregation to make the goal of 'having a long and rich life'.  He went on to say, if we make this goal, our whole view of life, and things we are doing with our body will change.  Since then, I have resolved to have a long and rich life, and I'm convinced that was my answer.  I'm not 100% sure why, but it seemed to hit a nerve with me.

4. Something as simple as eating dinner together as a family created so much more harmony.  I try to make a meal at least three times a week, and I now look forward to it.  I hope to be able to continue this schedule for years to come.

 

According to Barney from How I Met Your Mother, I only have one good year left, so I better make it a good one. I have big plans for 29.

1. I would like to run a few 5Ks.  I really want to feel like I've accomplished something, physically.

2. I want to start at least looking into getting my Master's, so if anyone has any insight or ideas, I would love it!

3. I want to get my curriculum more organized before the schoo year starts.

4. I want to spend more time with T, maybe a trip or something?

I can't believe next year I will be 30! 

Here's to a new chapter in my life!