34 days before 30 years

So this isn't a post about the 34 things I want to do before I turn 30, because honestly...I'm a little late for that.  Instead it's a reminder that it's 34 days until I turn 30 years old.

As I think about turning 30 it doesn't bother me, there have been so many life changes in my first 3 decades of life...I can't imagine what God has in store for me in the next.

And while I'm not normally one to set goals/resolutions for myself I've decided that as I embark on my 2nd year of motherhood & close in on my 30th birthday, there are some things that have been weighing on my heart that I need to make better.  Most likely I won't make them perfect...but I'll try my best to make them better.

1. Be Intentional with Elyse:  Elyse has been learning from day 1, but she seems to be absorbing things like crazy.  I want to have more of a plan on the days I'm home with her and be intentional about our playing/learning time together.  Sure, there is a time for free-play and just relaxing at home on the floor playing together, but I want to try and do more activities with her either at our house or even going places where she can experience new things.  Like meal planning, this will just take practice...I'm not a natural teacher so I have to learn about these things.

2.  Be Intentional with Nick:  We've actually been working on this for the past couple of weeks already & we can both see huge differences.  We want to be husband & wife; not just mom & dad or roommates.  This is something that has to be worked on daily & might be something as simple as sitting beside each other on the couch to watch tv instead of sitting away from each other.

3.  Family Devotions/Couple Devotions:  Nick & I are both TERRIBLE at making time for quiet time.  Seriously, it's embarrassing.  So we've decided that instead of trying to do it in the morning we are going to unplug from the tv and iPad for awhile in the evening after Elyse goes to bed.  We are going to read a devotional on our own and then come together to discuss it for a few minutes.  This will hold us accountable to each other & will hopefully start some habits that we can include Elyse on in the future.

4. Meal Planning:  Wow, December was CRAZY as far as trying to plan meals and I truly do miss it.  So I'm going to get back in the swing of things and get some new recipes and some old recipes dusted off so I can start fixing a full family dinner again.  Plus, since Elyse is now eating basically ALL table food I need to start introducing her to things other than grilled cheese, cheese quesidillas, and yogurt!  ha!

5.  Read for myself:  I love to read.  I used to read.  ALOT!  But it seems that with Elyse & the seemingly endless amount of ways you can be connected, I've gotten away from my love of reading.  So...instead of having the iPad or the laptop or my phone atttached to my hip all day I'm planning to instead keep my Nook nearby with a list of new books that I'm itching to read.  Some may be classics, some may be Christian fiction fluff, some may be parenting books...but I want to get back to putting my imagination to use instead of surfing the Internet all day.

6.  Unplug:  This might be the most drastic change of all.  And probably the one that will affect my day the most.  But for the next 34 days, and maybe even longer...I'm going to do my best to unplug.  Which for me means, deactivating my Facebook account & deleting Instagram from my phone & stepping away from this blog.  The number of times in a day that I check Facebook or Instagram or my Reader is pretty embarrassing.  And while I might post something new here or there, I'm going to focus on all the above goals first...and if I still think I can be the best momma & wife by plugging back in then I might.

So, this isn't goodbye but rather just a "see you when I see you"...because I'll still need to share some precious Elyse photos every once in awhile.