30 Things I've Accomplished

I saw this on someone else's blog, except her's was 31 things...since she was turning 31 that day. Yes, I'm 30 years old today. Good-bye 20's! Not to say that the 20's were bad but life goes on and with age, numbers count up, not down - even if I do still feel like I'm only 18 and my Dad still thinks I'm 6 with pigtails!

So, I thought it would be fun to share with all 5 of you that read my blog, 30 things that I would consider to be great accomplishments or something I've done that I'm proud of (in a humble way, of course). In no particular order, here they are!

1. Accomplished all but one of my childhood "dreams" - the one I didn't do was rodeo queen.
2. Life guard (childhood dream) - technically I was only worked as a life guard for one day. I was listed as an alternate since they had a hiring freeze while they were firing one of our coaches! (nice, huh?) I ended up getting another job before they started hiring again. But, I can say I did it!
3. Sang in Tapestry (childhood dream) - this was our school's advanced choir group.
4. Waited for a missionary (childhood dream). I also married a returned missionary...just wasn't the same guy. I'm quite happy with the man I chose for my Eternal companion and am thankful for the waiting period as well because it helped me get to where I am now. No regrets!
5. Was a member of the National Honor Society in high school.
6. Student representative on the school board.
7. Graduated with honors from high school.
8. Gave the closing prayer at my high school graduation.
9. Have never had to wear a cast (knock on wood).
10. Graduated with my associates degree in Multimedia from UVSC.
11. Was a member of the service committee at UVSC - assistant director my second year.
12. Dean's list each semester at college.
13. Didn't have to get a student loan for college - and only had to pay for 1/2 tuition one semester since I had scholarships to cover the rest. Such a blessing!!!
14. Received my Young Womenhood recognition award.
15. Have read Jesus the Christ - I recommend it to all!
16. Have kept a journal since I was 8 years old. I haven't been as consistent the last few years but I have quite a stack now of great memories I can read.
17. Vacationed in Hawaii - with my good friend Alayna. However, it really is more of a take your hubby type of place...some day, hopefully!
18. Learned how to play the piano. Only 2 years so I don't feel very confident about playing in front of others often but I can get by when the need arises (at church).
19. Was the first person in my family to buy a CD player. Not really a great accomplishment but kind of a funny one!
20. Sang at the last General Conference (Saturday morning session) held in the Tabernacle while in college.
21. Still have my wisdom teeth - but that will change in April. (yikes!)
22. Have had the wonderful opportunity of working with children and adults in various church callings in different wards. Not really an accomplishment but a great blessing for me!
23. Took apart a computer, put it back together and made it work! Don't know if I could do that now, however!
24. Have had some fun, challenging and rewarding jobs throughout the years! You really learn a lot about yourself through work.
25. Have only had 2 cavities and didn't get numbed for it since the dentist said my Dad never would. Had to be tough like my Dad!
26. Discovered my passion (organizing) and even made a little money at it!
27. Received my endowment in the Mt Timpanogus temple.
28. Married the man of my dreams in the SLC temple. I had a dream when I was in middle school about my husband and I could see him. He was tall, dark and handsome and told me he would be from somewhere I would never expect but wouldn't tell me his name. Pretty much sums up Dan!
29. Have been married now for almost 10 years!
30. Am a mother to a beautiful daughter and am blessed to be a stay at home mom.

This is actually pretty hard to do! Some things were easy to come up with but some were a bit of a stretch!

And I couldn't have gotten to where I am today without all of the wonderful people in my life - parents, husband, family and friends - that have helped me, encouraged me and believed in me! Thank you for making the last 30 years wonderful and memorable...now let's move on and enjoy what is to come!

Anne counts to 10 and gets a haircut!

Last night before we put Anne to bed, we were singing songs and playing around and decided to see if we could get Anne counting on camera.
WARNING: Anne is almost 2 and loves to run around so if you get dizzy watching videos, you may want to just close your eyes and listen.

Yes, we are proud parents!!!

Today, I took Anne to get her first hair cut! I've trimmed her bangs before but that is all that I dared to to. And I have wanted to hold on to her baby curls for as long as I could! However, we are wanting her hair to grow out so it had to be done! We decided to find a fun place for kids to get their hair cut and found Cookie Cutters online!

So, this is Anne BEFORE Cookie Cutters! I laughed and laughed after taking the photo of Anne all grumpy!

They have a slide in the waiting area...which Anne had a hard time pulling herself away from when her name was called. They sit in these cute cars (we picked the pink one) and also get to watch a movie of their choice. Anne is smiling in the 2nd picture here because she realized the movie I picked for her was DORA!

After the cut, they styled her hair to make sure it was just right.

These photos are of the finished product! So cute, right? The cute lady that cut Anne's hair suggested we go with a cut that will allow her hair to grow at the same length. I'm glad we did because this is just so cute! They also sprayed a little hair spray in her hair that smelled like cookies! Yummy!

After they finished up, they took this cute picture of Anne, printed it out and attached a lock of her hair to the certificate! I decided to go with the 1st hair cut package so we got a little more with this than just a kids cut. Yes, it is a little pricey ($20-ish) but I think it is totally worth it at least once! She also got to pick a balloon that had a cookie cutter and sucker attached. My only regret of the day...letting her have the sucker in the car on the way home!

February Focus

Don't let the picture fool you. This month, my FOCUS is going to be me (I just wasn't in the mood to post a picture of just me)! Ha, ha! I'm sure it hardly seems like FOCUSing on myself could be the way to FOCUS more on my family but I realized that I do need to have a better idea about myself in order to be my best self for my family.
For me, however, that does not mean that I put myself and my needs above those of my family (or others) or even get away and do things alone to rediscover myself (although, I'm sure many of you would argue that is the way to do it).
For me, the temple is a big part of it. We all have to know who we are, why we are where we are and where our lives are headed. I've seemed to always know the big picture since I was young and first learned the words to "I Am A Child of God" but don't always grasp the here and now part.
I will be lucky enough to be able to start attending the temple on a more regular basis since I made a "deal" with one of my good friends in our ward. She'll watch Anne for me on a set day each month and I'll watch her girls when she needs me to.
The other thing I am doing for myself is I have sat down and wrote down where I want to be this time next year...as far as who I am as a person and what I want to be doing. And I can't reach that all in one month, so I've decided to utilize a great tool that I first received the day I was baptized, a journal. I've written in a journal off and on for almost 22 years now. It is funny to go back and read what I was doing when I was age 12, 16, 20 (engaged and married) and so on. How I will use my journal is by writting a small goal each week and then reporting back to myself the following week. If I didn't accomplish the goal, I'll either make adjustments or do what I need to do...I just need to keep my end goal in mind. These are all personal, thus why I'll be using my journal and not the world of blogging!
The other reason for my FOCUS being me is because I'll be reaching a milestone this month - 30! Wow! I remember when 30 seemed really old. So, I'm going to try to make the most of my last days as a 20-something-year-old and welcome in this next stage of my life with open arms!