7 Birthday Challenges

Happy Birthday to me today :)

It's my 34th birthday and I'm looking forward to an exciting year ahead - 

Spring: new baby 

Summer: likely moving to a new home in our new city 

Fall: one year anniversary at Kevin's job

Winter: celebrating the holidays for the 1st time as a family of FOUR

It's going to be GREAT!  Last year I wished for one more baby to complete our family on my birthday candle and my wish came true with a sweet little boy.  I'm feeling very thankful as I celebrate with my family this year.

I am going to challenge myself to try 3 + 4 = 7 new things this year

// 1 //

 Pull out my sewing machine and learn to use it.

I've heard you learn a lot by just watching you tube tutorials and I bet there are also some classes I could take.  No specific projects in mind, but I'd love to use my machine.

// 2 //

 Write 4 encouraging notes to 4 different people each month.

I make a habit of writing thank you notes, get well soon cards and birthday cards all throughout the month, but it's rare for me to just send a card to someone out of the blue.  I'd love to improve that skill this coming year.

// 3 //

 Scrapbook the highlights of Olives first 2.5 years and my teaching career in Utah

I have all of the supplies for these two projects, but they are boxed up in our garage.  I want to set up a scrapbooking station and work on these project until they are done.  I haven't done a scrapbook with paper and cute stickers since we lived in Utah.  Blogging has been my #1 way to document my family and my life. 

// 4 //

 Travel to a new city

I don't have a city in mind, but I love traveling with my family.

// 5 //

 Work hard to build friendships in our new city.

This means going out of my comfort zone and initiating play dates, outings and going to gatherings when it would be easier/safer to just hang out with Olive.  I'd love to connect with other moms in my area and find a few really great friends to spend time with.  It's easy to get lonely when you're full time mothering so I want to stretch myself and build lasting friendships for myself and for Olive.

// 6 //

Find a church home.
We have visited a few churches, but have yet to find the one.  It's exhausting to try new places, drop Olive off in unfamiliar settings and then do it all again the next week.  So we're praying that we find a great place for us, for Olive and for us to get connected and learn.

// 7 // 

Potty Train Olive.
I feel kind of intimidated by this one because I've never done it before.  A few months ago we bought all of the supplies - underwear, books and potty seat.  Since then we've been talking about it, watching cartoons about it and she's definitely showing signs of being ready during the day.  So we are going to work hard on it together and make it happen.

Wish me luck!!