Abstract Grace: 30 before thirty

Showing posts with label 30 before thirty. Show all posts

October 18, 2013

30 before thrity: update

A quick update on my 30 before thrity list. Since I turned 28 years old (gasp!) over the summer I thought I should update you all on how I'm doing on the list. I guess I haven't accomplished too much, BUT I did get to do the most time consuming and labor intensive (no pun intended) task at hand.

30 BEFORE THIRTY

1. Run a 5k

2. Run a 10k

~~3. Have another baby~~

4. Pay it forward

5. Give blood

6. Get another tattoo

7. Reach my "ideal" medical weight

8. Re-connect with someone from my past

9. Master cooking classic Italian recipes

10. Read some classic novels

11. Make homemade pasta from scratch

12. Own something from Tiffany's

13. Research/make a family tree

14. Go on an overnight vacation with just Travis

15. Go on a missions trip

16. Family trip to the beach

17. Get/raise chickens

18. Take a spin class

19. Disneyland

20. Try a new food I've never had before

21. Throw someone a surprise party

22. Fill a journal

23. Get my colors done

24. Organize the whole house

25. Sew with leather

26. Watch the sunrise

27. Family portraits

28. ???

29. ???

30. ???

And remember, you can follow along. It's not to late to make you're own milestone list and link up.

September 24, 2013

i'm back!

Wow, has it really been almost a year?! Saying I neglected the blog would be an understatement, I dropped off the face of the blogging world. Here we are almost the end of 2013 and my last post was Halloween 2012. A LOT has happened in the last 365ish days. LOTS and LOTS. I guess you could say that life got "busy." I'll recap my year MIA with the three biggest things.

1. I got pregnant and had a baby. YES!! I told you, a lot really can happen in a year. Starting the beginning of 2012 we started trying to have a baby. Ella was 18 months old and we thought it was time to starting thinking about another addition to the family. We didn't put to much pressure on ourselves thinking it would happen quickly, but month after month went by and the tests came back negative EVERY MONTH. After 3 or so months of negative tests I started using ovulation prediction tests to better our chances...still not pregnant. Spring and Summer came and went and several close friends announced their pregnancies along the way and still we tried and tried and it just wasn't happening. Ella turned two and my hopes of having kids 2.5 years apart went out the window. I was discouraged but knew that in God's timing we'd have another if we were supposed to. Then just two weeks before Christmas 2012 we got the best gift ever, a big fat POSITIVE test. I could barely contain myself. It had been a LONG nine months but finally we were having a baby! So this summer we welcomed Maci Evelyn to the family (I'll share her birth story soon). The little sister Ella had hoped for, and the baby her daddy and I prayed for.

2. Ella turned THREE (hello! stop growing so fast!) and started preschool. When they say don't blink, kids grow so fast, they really mean it! I can't believe that Ella is not only three (which we celebrated with a Doc McStuffin's themed party) but has started 5 day a week preschool. We placed her in a montessori program and to say she is enjoying it is an understatement. She loves her "work" and is thriving tremendously!

3. For the first time since Ella was born I started working outside the home. I suppose this is the largest contributing factor to the blog being neglected. When you're pregnant, have a toddler and work outside the home there isn't a lot of extra time for keeping up on the blog. Like most families in the last few years, money was getting tight so this SAHM had to look for work outside the home. I found a job working part time at night after the husband came home. While in the first trimester of my pregnancy I was actually working two jobs. Let me tell you, there was a bit of mama guilt at times and it felt like a "break" being around adults and having someone besides a 2 year old to talk to at other times. Verdict: I love being a SAHM at this point in my life. Kids grow so fast (see #2) that I really cherish being able to be at home with them during their early years. I'm still on maternity leave from Maci's birth and I hope that I can keep it that way. Of course, i'll do whatever I have to for the family.

Well I hope that explains my absence. And I hope I can jump back into posting more regularly too. It was nice logging into Blogger and seeing that even though I haven't touched the blog in almost a year I still average 100+ views a day and looking back at the stats some of my posts had thousands of views (thank you Pinterest). One thing that I haven't neglected is my Instagram account. I post everyday so if you'd like to follow along there, please do! (click HERE to follow or search username abstractgrace)

It feels good to be back. Happy Fall!

August 18, 2012

30 before thirty

I didn't mention it but my birthday was a couple weeks back and I turned 27. Ugh, just the sound of it bothered me in the months leading up to the actual day. This was the first year that getting older really freaked me out. 27 isn't exactly old I guess, but it sure feels like you're on your way and thats the part I loathe. You can't say you're in your early 20's or even mid 20's anymore. You're officially in your late 20's and well...in my book that's old.

So I got all nostalgic and started thinking about my life. The things I have accomplished in my 27 years so far and the things I want to accomplish in the future. After thinking long and hard (oh who am I kidding, it was more like wallowing in my "oldness") I came up with a list of 30 things I'd like to do/accomplish/have before I turn THIRTY years old. So here it is: