I have decided after talking to one of my best friends that once a week I am going to blog about my goals about living healthier in 2015.
After finding out at the end of 2014 that I have unhealthy cholesterol levels and being predisposed to getting diabetes, I know I need to get in better shape by eating healthier and exercising more.
By blogging once a week, I will be able to share my triumphs and struggles and keep myself accountable.
I have missed two weeks in January already, so I am going to start blogging on Saturday, January 17th and continue to blog every week until the same date in 2016.
I am looking forward to sharing this adventure with all of you! :)
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Goals for 2015
Every year I set some goals for myself. I don't like to make a New Year's Resolution because I typically fail in achieving said resolution. Goals can be much more attainable and reasonable. I am sharing with you now some of the goals I have set for myself this year. This is not the complete list, but a few things I'd like to do and improve on this year.
Goals for 2015:
1) Be better at keeping in contact with friends
2) find creative ways to get daily exercise and speed walking on the treadmill at least once a week
3) work on changing my diet to a low-sodium, no/low-cholesterol, low fat, low carb diet. Basically change my eating lifestyle in a way that is effective and not a crash diet
4) get down to 145 lbs. I would like to be at this weight or less when/if I get pregnant again.
5) Learn to find a balance between my new commitments this year and my at home family life. It has been 3+ years since I've had any real commitments outside of my home family life and a few church things. I realized the other day that I'm going to have to let go of feelings of guilt for leaving my son at home at times with my husband, who also has a lot of work to do each day.
6) Keep good records for tax purposes for 2015. This will involve putting several different spread sheets together, one for the NRIT lectures I'll start doing this year, one for my book commissions and expenses, and one for AVON.
7) Decide whether or not I will continue selling AVON as an E-rep. Right now I have a website that people can order from, but I'm not actively selling otherwise. One less thing to keep track of for tax purposes this year would be nice. The little bit of extra money each year is also helpful. I haven't made a decision yet, but that will happen soon.
I want to blog more on both this blog and the blog I share with one of my best friends Virginia. I want to journal more often too. Journaling is such a good way to process one's thoughts.
I always set high goals for myself, but I tried to be more realistic this year. Many of these things are not one time, one and done goals. They are things I will need to continuously work on, so maybe I shouldn't call them goals, but hopes with a few goals. I'm going to start working on #5 and spend some time playing games with my son.
Goals for 2015:
1) Be better at keeping in contact with friends
2) find creative ways to get daily exercise and speed walking on the treadmill at least once a week
3) work on changing my diet to a low-sodium, no/low-cholesterol, low fat, low carb diet. Basically change my eating lifestyle in a way that is effective and not a crash diet
4) get down to 145 lbs. I would like to be at this weight or less when/if I get pregnant again.
5) Learn to find a balance between my new commitments this year and my at home family life. It has been 3+ years since I've had any real commitments outside of my home family life and a few church things. I realized the other day that I'm going to have to let go of feelings of guilt for leaving my son at home at times with my husband, who also has a lot of work to do each day.
6) Keep good records for tax purposes for 2015. This will involve putting several different spread sheets together, one for the NRIT lectures I'll start doing this year, one for my book commissions and expenses, and one for AVON.
7) Decide whether or not I will continue selling AVON as an E-rep. Right now I have a website that people can order from, but I'm not actively selling otherwise. One less thing to keep track of for tax purposes this year would be nice. The little bit of extra money each year is also helpful. I haven't made a decision yet, but that will happen soon.
I want to blog more on both this blog and the blog I share with one of my best friends Virginia. I want to journal more often too. Journaling is such a good way to process one's thoughts.
I always set high goals for myself, but I tried to be more realistic this year. Many of these things are not one time, one and done goals. They are things I will need to continuously work on, so maybe I shouldn't call them goals, but hopes with a few goals. I'm going to start working on #5 and spend some time playing games with my son.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Adventures and Counting our Blessings...
2014 was the year of illness and injury in our families. I won't go into all of the mishaps and suffering. This is a post about adventures and blessings. Everyday I thank God for putting such amazing people in my life, our lives to help us through the tough times. I just hope that I can be just as good to them as they are to me.
It was also a year of travel, adventures and counting our blessings.
This year we traveled to Minnesota in February and March for one of my best friends wedding. We traveled to several places in Montana, Chico Hot Springs, Billings, Havre, Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp, Whitefish, Kalispell and Bozeman. I hope we can make a trip to Missoula to meet up with a few friends of ours who live in Plains. We traveled to New Hampshire at the end of June and made day trips to the beach in Maine, the White Mountain region of New Hampshire and Boston. I traveled to Minnesota by myself at the end of August and visited with friends and family. It was a great trip.
My son turned 2 this year. My little nuclear family grew closer to each other through our trials and adventures. We are blessed to have each other. We are blessed to have such amazing, strong people in our families, who inspire us to be strong, better people. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends, who are such a blessing to me, to us. I have found a sense of peace about where I am in my life because of texts, facebook messages and phone calls to/with/from friends. You guys kept me sane this year. I love you all!
Finding peace about being a stay-at-home mom and not working has been a constant struggle since we left Minnesota. Not working has been one of the hardest things I've done in my life. But staying home with my son and raising him has been one of the most rewarding things I've done in my life. Becoming the token church lady volunteer has been such a blessing too. Someday I'll get back to work, in a job that I love that allows me to use the gifts God has given me to share with others. My friends and family have continuously told me these things for 3+ years now and it is finally sinking in. It is a blessing to be okay with my lot in life at the moment, finally. There is sometimes pressure from people that I should want more, that I should be able to have and do everything I want to now, but that is just not the case. Someday I will go back to work. But for now I am blessed to be a mom to my son and a wife to my husband; a volunteer at our churches; a daughter, sister, friend. These are great things to be and I know when I look back I will have no regrets. I suppose I have learned to live my life in a way, that when I am on my deathbed, I will look back and have only a few regrets.
And I've completely digressed from my original intent for this blog post. I suppose that happens sometimes. The main point is that through our adventures and travels and the people in our lives, we have found many blessings in 2014 that have overtaken the hardship and struggle that have come in the form of illness and injuries in our families. Thanks be to God!!! :)
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Things I'm working on in 2014
Today while Preston is napping I find myself in a rare position. I have nothing that is pressing for me to do. I don't have any magazine reading to catch up on. I don't have any crucial chores to do around the house. I just have time until Preston wakes up. This is very new to me. I really like it.
I don't make New Year resolutions because I'm bound to fail. Instead I think about what I'd like to work on each year, or what I'd like to see happen and work on those things throughout the year. Continuous progress, instead of completing something finite.
What I'll be working on this year for myself (in no particular order):
- become a little more financially stable
- quality time visiting with family and friends
- survive this craptastical winter
- spend as much time as possible enjoying the outdoors on warmer days until spring, summer, fall
- work on not being so bitter about circumstances beyond my control
- work on my amateur landscape photography with copyright and maybe even start my own LLC
- work on writing more often (poetry, music lyrics, short stories, chapters for a novel, etc...)
- read, read, read, read, read and research topics that I am fascinated by. Intellectual stimulation is a must this year, or I might just crack and lose it
- work on selling Avon to help out my family financially
- work on losing those last few pounds to get to my goal weight that continue to elude me
- work on helping nourish the faith of our youth in our parish and the community
- be better at keeping in contact with friends all over the U.S. and the world (facebook helps, but a phone call, texting, skyping and visiting need to happen more too.)
- being a more emotionally healthy person, which will help in all of my relationships
- continuing in my faith, knowing that I can give over my concerns both good and bad to God in prayer and eventually I will receive an answer, though it might not be an answer I would even have thought of
- being a more patient person, not one of my strongest qualities
- take advantage of whatever alone time I can get, whether Jason takes Preston in the morning for a little bit, or while Preston is napping.
- take advantage of the time I get with Jason, because sometimes it's not much. I am grateful for the time we do have together each day.
- take advantage of the time I have to get out and be around people. Book club, our Friday weekly trip as a family to Great Falls, date afternoon/evenings with Jason, Evening Circle Bible study and MOPS with my friend Melissa are a Godsend.
I think that's a pretty long list of things I want to work on throughout the year. I am doing to start working on the taking advantage of the time I have for myself right now and start reading the book for book club in February.
God bless you all in this new year!!!
I don't make New Year resolutions because I'm bound to fail. Instead I think about what I'd like to work on each year, or what I'd like to see happen and work on those things throughout the year. Continuous progress, instead of completing something finite.
What I'll be working on this year for myself (in no particular order):
- become a little more financially stable
- quality time visiting with family and friends
- survive this craptastical winter
- spend as much time as possible enjoying the outdoors on warmer days until spring, summer, fall
- work on not being so bitter about circumstances beyond my control
- work on my amateur landscape photography with copyright and maybe even start my own LLC
- work on writing more often (poetry, music lyrics, short stories, chapters for a novel, etc...)
- read, read, read, read, read and research topics that I am fascinated by. Intellectual stimulation is a must this year, or I might just crack and lose it
- work on selling Avon to help out my family financially
- work on losing those last few pounds to get to my goal weight that continue to elude me
- work on helping nourish the faith of our youth in our parish and the community
- be better at keeping in contact with friends all over the U.S. and the world (facebook helps, but a phone call, texting, skyping and visiting need to happen more too.)
- being a more emotionally healthy person, which will help in all of my relationships
- continuing in my faith, knowing that I can give over my concerns both good and bad to God in prayer and eventually I will receive an answer, though it might not be an answer I would even have thought of
- being a more patient person, not one of my strongest qualities
- take advantage of whatever alone time I can get, whether Jason takes Preston in the morning for a little bit, or while Preston is napping.
- take advantage of the time I get with Jason, because sometimes it's not much. I am grateful for the time we do have together each day.
- take advantage of the time I have to get out and be around people. Book club, our Friday weekly trip as a family to Great Falls, date afternoon/evenings with Jason, Evening Circle Bible study and MOPS with my friend Melissa are a Godsend.
I think that's a pretty long list of things I want to work on throughout the year. I am doing to start working on the taking advantage of the time I have for myself right now and start reading the book for book club in February.
God bless you all in this new year!!!
Sunday, November 3, 2013
I'm thankful for....
These are some things I am thankful for...
1) My most amazing husband Jason and son Preston. It's cheesy, but you both truly light up my life.
2) Wonderful family and friends, who are supportive and make me feel loved daily. I love you all too! To add to this, extremely supportive parishoners. They have been supportive of our family since we moved to Fairfield in June 2011, which is such a blessing.
3) My creative mind. Now I just need to create the creative space so I can be more productive.
4) My ability to adapt no matter where I am, at the moment.
5) A roof over my head, food to eat and clothes to wear.
6) A vehicle that runs so I can get out of Fairfield when I can't take it here anymore.
7) A bigger populated area within decent driving distance. (Great Falls is about 30-40 minutes depending on where you need to get to and how fast my lead foot gets me there.)
8) The ability to be able to stay home with my son and watch him grow into a smart, wonderful boy. Not many women get to do this, so I am extremely grateful that I have this opportunity.
9) My faith. It would be a very hard life, indeed without my faith in God's word for me.
10) Being forced to slow down and take a good look at what my calling in life is. This is such a hard thing to do. You have one thing in mind and then obstacles get in the way. For me it has changed several times over the course of my life and even more since moving to Fairfield. I have begun to realize that a person's calling or role in life changes throughout one's life. My role right now is to be a supportive wife and loving, encouraging mom. And I am starting to be okay with that. But it has taken me a long time to be okay with it. We are taught that we need to do it all. Be a supportive, loving wife and mother, as well as, contribute to the household income in some fashion or other. It's exhausting trying to make something happen that just isn't. There are no job opportunities for me in Fairfield and any job I'd get in Great Falls is just not worth it. I'd make enough money to pay someone else to raise my kid and that's about it. No thank you! I am not good at direct selling so I am not going to do it anymore and I have no desire to just have a job to have a job. At some point things might come to that, but right now, we are doing okay. We don't have the newest gadgets or the shiniest new vehicle, but who cares?! I have all the things listed above to be thankful for; the rest doesn't matter.
I have a lot to be thankful for these days. Everyday, I need to remind myself of this and praise God for blessing me with such wonderful gifts.
1) My most amazing husband Jason and son Preston. It's cheesy, but you both truly light up my life.
2) Wonderful family and friends, who are supportive and make me feel loved daily. I love you all too! To add to this, extremely supportive parishoners. They have been supportive of our family since we moved to Fairfield in June 2011, which is such a blessing.
3) My creative mind. Now I just need to create the creative space so I can be more productive.
4) My ability to adapt no matter where I am, at the moment.
5) A roof over my head, food to eat and clothes to wear.
6) A vehicle that runs so I can get out of Fairfield when I can't take it here anymore.
7) A bigger populated area within decent driving distance. (Great Falls is about 30-40 minutes depending on where you need to get to and how fast my lead foot gets me there.)
8) The ability to be able to stay home with my son and watch him grow into a smart, wonderful boy. Not many women get to do this, so I am extremely grateful that I have this opportunity.
9) My faith. It would be a very hard life, indeed without my faith in God's word for me.
10) Being forced to slow down and take a good look at what my calling in life is. This is such a hard thing to do. You have one thing in mind and then obstacles get in the way. For me it has changed several times over the course of my life and even more since moving to Fairfield. I have begun to realize that a person's calling or role in life changes throughout one's life. My role right now is to be a supportive wife and loving, encouraging mom. And I am starting to be okay with that. But it has taken me a long time to be okay with it. We are taught that we need to do it all. Be a supportive, loving wife and mother, as well as, contribute to the household income in some fashion or other. It's exhausting trying to make something happen that just isn't. There are no job opportunities for me in Fairfield and any job I'd get in Great Falls is just not worth it. I'd make enough money to pay someone else to raise my kid and that's about it. No thank you! I am not good at direct selling so I am not going to do it anymore and I have no desire to just have a job to have a job. At some point things might come to that, but right now, we are doing okay. We don't have the newest gadgets or the shiniest new vehicle, but who cares?! I have all the things listed above to be thankful for; the rest doesn't matter.
I have a lot to be thankful for these days. Everyday, I need to remind myself of this and praise God for blessing me with such wonderful gifts.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Anxiety, Anxiety, Please Go Away....
Lately, I have been feeling very anxious. I can't pinpoint the culprit of what is making me so anxious, either, which just compounds the problem. So I'm going to write and see if it helps.
In previous blogs, I've written about some of the things I'm starting to do in the little free time I have each day, for myself, as well as some of the activities I'm going to soon be involved in with the youth group at FLP (Fairfield Lutheran Parish, for those of you who might be wondering.) I'm keeping busy and keeping life interesting, but I still have this nagging feeling that something is missing. Or maybe it's more like I'm missing out on something. Either way, I can't seem to figure out what that something is or what is missing.
No, I am not losing my mind. It's just a feeling I get every once in a while, that something is just not right.
Maybe it's small town living. For the past week or so, Jason, Preston and I have gone for walks most nights so Jason can complete his 30-minutes a day thing for Portico, part of his health benefits through the ELCA. We typically walk in the evening/night before sunset when it has cooled off a bit. We walk by the same houses, the central road through town where the businesses are is usually void of life, and lately it has been smokey because of the fires in SW Montana, Western Montana and Idaho. Basically it leaves a lot to be desired creatively and visually. Even when we walk a slightly different route, the view is the same. One night we walked across Highway 89 to the "other" part of town. I'm telling you, we were really living it up that night.
But seriously, it's really not that bad of a small town. I'm just used to having more to do. There are only a few places open past 5pm. What would be awesome is if, the restaurant had a patio, or if one of the bars in town had a patio, so you could sit outside and enjoy the evening, while eating good food and being social. Sitting inside on a nice evening is torture, especially since the weather can change so fast here. One minute it's sunny, the next minute the sky clouds over and it's snowing. Okay, that's overexaggerating a bit, but not far off. Not many people are around in the summer either, not that I blame them. Who'd want to stick around a town that dies between 4:30 and 5pm every day. Most people go camping and fishing as often as they can during the summer. I personally like the fishing part best. The camping part may grow on me someday, but I like my daily showers too much right now.
I think part of my anxiety is money related. Thanks to our do-nothing idealogical jackass legislators in Washington, I've been stuck with a 6.125% interest rate for my federally consolidated student loans. Basically when I/we are done paying them off in 25 years, we could have bought a nice house and put away quite a bit of money for retirement. I can think of a lot of things we could do with the money we'll be using to pay off our student loans. Buying a bigger vehicle so we have room for all of our crap when we go places, put more money in our retirement savings every month, save money for vacations. Those are just a few ideas. But none of that will be happening anytime soon. Thanks jackhole legislators! You really know how screw us little people.
Another thing I've been thinking about doing lately, is self-publishing both of my graduate theses. My MTh thesis is currently residing in a box, unbound. My MA thesis is on my laptop, just taking up space. I put so much work into these two documents and they are just languishing, collecting dust. I feel very strongly about doing something with them, I just don't know what. So, I've been researching how I can possibly self-publish them, so they are no longer taking up space but being used. I have a lot of work to do to polish them up before turning them out to the public and I am worried about someone stealing my intellectual property. I worked my ass off on these theses and I don't want someone taking my ideas and work and claiming it as their own. Needless to say, I'm pretty freaked out about going forward with this whole self-publishing thing. But going through a traditional publisher would be an even bigger pain in the ass, if were even accepted.
Well, I think I've pretty much figured out my anxiety issues: boredom with small town living, money and fear of rejection and having my hard work stolen out from under me. Hmmm....well now that I've figured out what's bothering me, now I need to take steps to figure out what to do next. I think I'll start by praying to God for peace and patience to get through these anxious moments gracefully.
In previous blogs, I've written about some of the things I'm starting to do in the little free time I have each day, for myself, as well as some of the activities I'm going to soon be involved in with the youth group at FLP (Fairfield Lutheran Parish, for those of you who might be wondering.) I'm keeping busy and keeping life interesting, but I still have this nagging feeling that something is missing. Or maybe it's more like I'm missing out on something. Either way, I can't seem to figure out what that something is or what is missing.
No, I am not losing my mind. It's just a feeling I get every once in a while, that something is just not right.
Maybe it's small town living. For the past week or so, Jason, Preston and I have gone for walks most nights so Jason can complete his 30-minutes a day thing for Portico, part of his health benefits through the ELCA. We typically walk in the evening/night before sunset when it has cooled off a bit. We walk by the same houses, the central road through town where the businesses are is usually void of life, and lately it has been smokey because of the fires in SW Montana, Western Montana and Idaho. Basically it leaves a lot to be desired creatively and visually. Even when we walk a slightly different route, the view is the same. One night we walked across Highway 89 to the "other" part of town. I'm telling you, we were really living it up that night.
But seriously, it's really not that bad of a small town. I'm just used to having more to do. There are only a few places open past 5pm. What would be awesome is if, the restaurant had a patio, or if one of the bars in town had a patio, so you could sit outside and enjoy the evening, while eating good food and being social. Sitting inside on a nice evening is torture, especially since the weather can change so fast here. One minute it's sunny, the next minute the sky clouds over and it's snowing. Okay, that's overexaggerating a bit, but not far off. Not many people are around in the summer either, not that I blame them. Who'd want to stick around a town that dies between 4:30 and 5pm every day. Most people go camping and fishing as often as they can during the summer. I personally like the fishing part best. The camping part may grow on me someday, but I like my daily showers too much right now.
I think part of my anxiety is money related. Thanks to our do-nothing idealogical jackass legislators in Washington, I've been stuck with a 6.125% interest rate for my federally consolidated student loans. Basically when I/we are done paying them off in 25 years, we could have bought a nice house and put away quite a bit of money for retirement. I can think of a lot of things we could do with the money we'll be using to pay off our student loans. Buying a bigger vehicle so we have room for all of our crap when we go places, put more money in our retirement savings every month, save money for vacations. Those are just a few ideas. But none of that will be happening anytime soon. Thanks jackhole legislators! You really know how screw us little people.
Another thing I've been thinking about doing lately, is self-publishing both of my graduate theses. My MTh thesis is currently residing in a box, unbound. My MA thesis is on my laptop, just taking up space. I put so much work into these two documents and they are just languishing, collecting dust. I feel very strongly about doing something with them, I just don't know what. So, I've been researching how I can possibly self-publish them, so they are no longer taking up space but being used. I have a lot of work to do to polish them up before turning them out to the public and I am worried about someone stealing my intellectual property. I worked my ass off on these theses and I don't want someone taking my ideas and work and claiming it as their own. Needless to say, I'm pretty freaked out about going forward with this whole self-publishing thing. But going through a traditional publisher would be an even bigger pain in the ass, if were even accepted.
Well, I think I've pretty much figured out my anxiety issues: boredom with small town living, money and fear of rejection and having my hard work stolen out from under me. Hmmm....well now that I've figured out what's bothering me, now I need to take steps to figure out what to do next. I think I'll start by praying to God for peace and patience to get through these anxious moments gracefully.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Keeping Life Interesting....
My current job is being a stay-at-home mom to my 12 month old son. I love it. I never thought I would, but I do. Sometimes, though, we get into a rut. So I am trying to get more creative about things to do to keep my kid occupied.
During the week, my husband, in the morning, takes our son with him to his office across the street because there is more room there for Preston to walk around in his walker and play than in the house. During this time, I usually speed walk on our treadmill for a while and then get ready for the day. The guys come home for lunch and then Jason heads back to the office and Preston stays home with me the rest of the day. Some days we just hang out and watch a few of his favorite shows (Super Why and Dinosaur Train are musts on these days) and then have story time and then play with toys, etc... On nicer days, we'll go for a walk outside and sometimes go to the park, which we haven't done enough of this summer.
I suppose at 12 months old, that is enough for him, but I get bored and frustrated with the route sometimes. Until Preston starts walking on his own, I'm not sure what else we can do together, besides what we already do. So, I need to find new things to do for myself, so my life doesn't continue to be the same old thing. I need to get creative and keep life interesting.
So, I have started getting into new hobbies. Well, they are things I've wanted to start doing again for a while, but didn't have the time before. I am crocheting again after many, many years of neglecting that once learned skill. It is going to take me a while to be any good at it, but I am confident that I'll become proficient again someday.
I am making plans to start doing more amateur landscape photography. I have so many great digital photos from our time living in Montana that I'd like to do something with them. I'd have to figure out how to copyright them if I decide to try and sell them, but it could be a fun endeavor to try.
I am also blogging more and writing more in general. I actually have time to write again; about anything I want, whatever comes into my mind. I don't have to write for anyone else, just myself. Hey, who knows?! I could turn into something publishable (?) someday. I just need to work on my spelling and grammar a little more. But again, that too will get better with time. And my favorite activity that I've been able to get back into is letter writing. It's fun for me to do and most people like to get stuff in the mail that is not a bill or junk mail.
These are all things I do to keep myself occupied in the little time I have for myself everyday, when my guys are not here in the morning. It keeps me sane and I'm pretty positive the guys appreciate that.
The thing I'm really excited about that I'm getting involved in for others that will keep life interesting for me, is rejuvenating the Fairfield Lutheran Parish youth group. It will be grades 6-12. A friend of mine and I are going to be the "leaders". The youth are really going to be the leaders, but my friend and I are going to get things started and see where it goes from there. One the list of ideas is to do a youth led worship service during the summer when there are joint services, work at the local Rescue Mission for a day, and some bowling and skiing trips. That's just for starters. There will be Bible study too. It's going to be a lot of work, but the youth deserve and want to have a youth group for themselves so my friend and I are going to do what we can to make it happen.
Keeping life interesting is important to me. Getting stuck in a rut can drive a person crazy. So, here's to keeping life interesting for me and for my family. Wish me luck..... :)
During the week, my husband, in the morning, takes our son with him to his office across the street because there is more room there for Preston to walk around in his walker and play than in the house. During this time, I usually speed walk on our treadmill for a while and then get ready for the day. The guys come home for lunch and then Jason heads back to the office and Preston stays home with me the rest of the day. Some days we just hang out and watch a few of his favorite shows (Super Why and Dinosaur Train are musts on these days) and then have story time and then play with toys, etc... On nicer days, we'll go for a walk outside and sometimes go to the park, which we haven't done enough of this summer.
I suppose at 12 months old, that is enough for him, but I get bored and frustrated with the route sometimes. Until Preston starts walking on his own, I'm not sure what else we can do together, besides what we already do. So, I need to find new things to do for myself, so my life doesn't continue to be the same old thing. I need to get creative and keep life interesting.
So, I have started getting into new hobbies. Well, they are things I've wanted to start doing again for a while, but didn't have the time before. I am crocheting again after many, many years of neglecting that once learned skill. It is going to take me a while to be any good at it, but I am confident that I'll become proficient again someday.
I am making plans to start doing more amateur landscape photography. I have so many great digital photos from our time living in Montana that I'd like to do something with them. I'd have to figure out how to copyright them if I decide to try and sell them, but it could be a fun endeavor to try.
I am also blogging more and writing more in general. I actually have time to write again; about anything I want, whatever comes into my mind. I don't have to write for anyone else, just myself. Hey, who knows?! I could turn into something publishable (?) someday. I just need to work on my spelling and grammar a little more. But again, that too will get better with time. And my favorite activity that I've been able to get back into is letter writing. It's fun for me to do and most people like to get stuff in the mail that is not a bill or junk mail.
These are all things I do to keep myself occupied in the little time I have for myself everyday, when my guys are not here in the morning. It keeps me sane and I'm pretty positive the guys appreciate that.
The thing I'm really excited about that I'm getting involved in for others that will keep life interesting for me, is rejuvenating the Fairfield Lutheran Parish youth group. It will be grades 6-12. A friend of mine and I are going to be the "leaders". The youth are really going to be the leaders, but my friend and I are going to get things started and see where it goes from there. One the list of ideas is to do a youth led worship service during the summer when there are joint services, work at the local Rescue Mission for a day, and some bowling and skiing trips. That's just for starters. There will be Bible study too. It's going to be a lot of work, but the youth deserve and want to have a youth group for themselves so my friend and I are going to do what we can to make it happen.
Keeping life interesting is important to me. Getting stuck in a rut can drive a person crazy. So, here's to keeping life interesting for me and for my family. Wish me luck..... :)
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