Living...I mean *really* living!

There was a time in my life when I was actually pretty fun and somewhat adventurous. Somewhere between High School and Motherhood, I kinda let go of that side. Not completely, but I so often allow my every day life and stresses to take control. Truth is, being grown up is a lot less fun than we ever anticipate as children!

I've found that my husband is often telling me to "stop stressing" about everything. Easier said than done for sure, but I think it's fair to say that there's a middle ground. For those of you who know anything about my husband, he is just one of the kids. He told me again today to "stop stressing" and I replied, "then stop giving me so many reasons to stress!" His response to that, "that's never gonna happen." So, I guess I better find some ways to DE-STRESS!

One of the things my best friend and I used to do (keep in mind that we grew up in a pretty small town without much to do) was dress up funny, whether it be crazy hair, crazy makeup, or crazy clothes. One of our staple outfits was a pair of plaid or patterned golf shorts with some wild socks pulled up to our knees. We would go out on the town dressed like that and would just be goofy, without a care in the world what other people thought. I'm sure we were annoying to some, but I think for the most part, people got a kick out of us. We really loved to go bowling.

As I've been thinking a lot about self discovery and "who I am" lately, it made me kinda miss that side of myself. Not sure as a woman in my 30's I could really get away with that all the time, BUT I'm not opposed to a girls night where we all dress up funny and go bowling. Anybody else in?

In my last post, I spoke of a young lady who lost her life WAY too early. On her facebook page, she has a quote that says, "Lauging is good exercise...it's like jogging on the inside." It's so true! Not only is it good exercise, it's good therapy. I don't do it enough. I think it's super important, so I'm going to make an honest effort to find laughter in everything I do. There is a time and a place to be serious, but I believe there is still some sort of joy in every situation. I'm going to change my focus and make it a point to find that joy. I think it will keep me young(er) and will allow me to return to my roots a bit. It's okay to keep a bit of that child inside of us, right?

My husband and I were talking today about how boring we've become. We really have allowed our daily stresses to drain us, and it really affects our family. The world of technology has really opened my eyes to this in the last year. First off, we watch way too much tv as a family. Our kids play too many video games (especially in the Winter months). AND, I'm always reading on facebook about what fun things other families are doing. We really need to GET A LIFE! A tight budget hinders a lot of extracurricular activities and vacations with the fam, but I was telling Scott (my husband) that if we would stop spending money on video games and toys and other miscellaneous CRAP for the kids, we might actually be able to go on a vacation! We need to stop caring so much about material things and start creating memories for our family.

So, I am going to make a bucket list for myself. Some things might seem trivial, but it's really the little things in life that create the magic we remember later. If y'all would be so kind as to humor me...comment here, send me a message, or comment on facebook. Let me know what some of your families favorite past times are AND list a few of your bucket list items. I'm sure my list will grow, as I haven't put much thought into this yet. I want to challenge myself, though, to stop "hoping" for good things to come my way and instead create the life I see for myself and my family. The mind is a powerful thing. Make today and everyday great!

And just because this quote popped into my head and I didn't really find a good place to include it, I'm gonna do it here. :) "Wherever you go, no matter the weather, always bring your own sunshine." Another one of my favorites! I can't remember where I got it or who to give credit to, but if I find out, I will post it.

The beginnings of my bucket list (in completely random order):

-Go Bowling in Golf Shorts and High Socks (at least once a year)

*find friends willing to go with me ;)

-Find a tradition for each Holiday and carry it out

-Renew Wedding Vows and hire an AMAZING photographer

-Become an AMAZING photographer

-Return to School

-Compliment myself and my family members on something EVERY DAY

-Re-learn to play the piano (and maybe even flute)

-Travel out of the country (at least once)

-Travel out of state (at least once a year)

-Travel out of town (at least once a week) Haha...

-Write in a journal or blog at least weekly

-Learn to digital scrapbook (since I'm never going to get real scrapbooks completed)

-Read the ENTIRE Bible and Book of Mormon (and possibly some other religious books) without having to restart because I took too long of a break

-Learn how to swim

-Face my fears with confidence

-Find a cause I'm passionate about

-Learn Self Defense

-Learn to dance as if nobody's watching :)

-Learn to Sew and Crochet

-Do one last modeling shoot, just for the beauty of it!

-Love and understand ME and believe I'm beautiful, inside and out.

-Live, I mean REALLY live!

Well that's a start...I'll be adding to my list often, I'm sure. I hope the rest of ya will really share with me! AND live, REALLY live!