Chasing My Passion

I started reading a new book Woman of Influence by Pam Farrel and I already found the first chapter very interesting. It is called Impassioned Finding Your Unique Calling. Does that sound like something I need or what?
So here are the questions that the author presents in order to help a person find what their passion is:

• When the house is quiet, where do your daydreams take you?
• What was the last issue that made you righteously angry, or brought you to tears?
• When you read God's Word, are there common themes in the verses you mark?
• What breaks your heart?
• What do you talk about the most?
• What truths would you die for?
• What principles or beliefs would you go to jail to protect?
• What people would you place your neck on the chopping block for? And why would you do it?
• Who and what would you be inconvenienced for day after day?

I found these questions to be very interesting in considering what to do with my life. As of right now, I can't really answer these questions with any certainty.
Jon and I have been talking about this kind of stuff a lot lately. We've been talking about our strengths and what things get us excited. Crazily enough I've learned that I actually get excited about the thought/process of organizing things. Well, not things exactly, but events and people. I was never stressed about planning my wedding and unlike a lot of people I actually enjoyed it. Also, I thrive in high pressure situations. When other people tend to get stressed out, I buckle down and perform better than under normal situations. Now on to figuring out my passion and how to utilize my strengths.

Plans for 2011

Well, I've procrastinated enough in posting my resolutions for 2011. It feels like there's more to add, but I suppose there's no reason I can't add more later. So, here are my plans for 2011.

• Continue decluttering the house. 
• I just made some progress on this last night by making this crazy pile of pictures... 

  and turning it into this.

Apparently I'm not very sentimental once I actually start clearing stuff out.

• Cleaning on a regular basis or having people over more, which will force me to clean more.
• Continue working on my style book. 
• Start an herb garden in the kitchen.
• I already purchased oregano, cilantro, basil, and parsley. They are sitting on my kitchen windowsill waiting for some creative potting.
• Taking time for me.
• Already scheduled a spa day with my gift certificate from Mom and Dad.
• Getting out of the house and attending activities with Jared, especially free ones.
• Meeting new people through things I enjoy, which means attending activities that I enjoy.
• More consistent grocery shopping and cooking. 
• Develop a go to list of recipes, instead of always making something new.
• Continue trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.
• Any ideas for using my organizing skills? Planning/organizing really gets me excited.
• Get more active.
• Ideas include a class at the gym and running (yes, running).
• Setting aside time to spend with old and new friends. 
• Continue attending Mother's Club activities.
• Going on 1 date a month, alternating who plans.
• Work on budgeting.
• Random acts of kindness/finding ways to bless those around me.
• Getting out of credit card debt by the end of the year. 
• A job during nights and weekends.
• Attending small group through church. 
• Catching up on my Christmas scrapbook.
• Home improvement projects.
• paint cabinets
• shelving for living room
• paint trim
• teapots
• new towels
• new shower curtain
• chalkboard paint on the pantry door
• kitchen floor
• overall decorating asthetic

All of that should keep me busy for the next 11.5 months!

Year in Review

Well, it's been a tough year overall. I've been fighting some demons, but I figured that a review of the year would be nice and an update on last year's resolutions. Some of you may remember that I decided to make a list of things that pointed to who I wanted to be in 2010. Here's the original post.
I'm pretty proud to say that I stuck with the resolutions. There are some things I decided I don't want to do, gardening. Some things that just aren't working for our family right now, cloth diapers. And several things that will be moved onto my 2011 list, which you can look forward to soon.
Before I review all the good stuff, here's how I did it. I had a notebook and wrote down everything that I wanted to do in 2010. Then at the end of each month, or as I thought of it, I kept track of the things I did towards my goals. It really helped to keep things moving along and it reminded me to continue thinking about everything.
So, here is my progress in 2010:
I did a good job of decluttering some rooms and closets (my clothes, Jared's clothes several times, living room, & pantry), but there is still much work to be done. I still don't understand how we have so much stuff. Although I managed to declutter, I didn't get into a good routine for cleaning. Still working on that.
My favorite goal and the one that I most thoroughly completed was figuring out my style. I created a style book (same notebook that I kept the goals in) and am still adding to it. I can now walk into a store and know which pieces are me. Additionally, I can see cute things, but now that they don't really fit into what I'm going for in the overall look.
I wanted to start a garden in 2010, but I attended a workshop at the library and figured out that gardening probably isn't for me. It felt good to be able to say that. It's a part of really getting to know myself. I feel like I'm better able to recognize the things that are and aren't me. I would still like to start an herb garden inside, so that'll be on the 2011 list.
This year I took a cooking class, which was fun and informative. I've learned all about how to use a knife to correctly cut. I'm not fantastic at it, but it's good to know the correct ways to do things. One of my hopes was that I would meet some people while doing some of these interesting things, but it didn't quite work out with the cooking class. I was also planning to take another cake decorating class, but the original one I signed up for was cancelled because I was the only one who signed up and I decided that I have all the cake decorating skills I want for now. Another decision. =)
One big thing I wanted to have figured out was what I was going to do with the rest of my life. Well, I feel a little closer I guess, but I still don't have any firm ideas. Yes, I was thinking about neuroscience, but I feel like I can talk myself into and out of just about anything at this point. I feel okay with putting off the decision for right now, but I know I can't wait forever. Hopefully this year will bring some more pointed direction in this regard.
Here are some other fun things I did this year: tried and found a good red lipstick, started taking Jared to the storytime at Barnes and Noble, attended Kindermusik with Jared, joined the Mother's Club and did some volunteer work through them, started collecting teapots for decorating the kitchen, and attending a Girls' Night Out sponsored by Go West Young Mom all by myself without knowing anyone there.
Well, that's my year in review. Look for the 2011 list coming soon.

Life Goes On

As some of you may know life has been a bit crazy around here. I was in the midst of applying for jobs when I completed the interview for the research assistant position (see previous post) and was offered the job. Yay! It was a really cool job and I was really excited about it. I thought it was perfect because it was part time in the afternoons, evenings, and weekends. That way I'd still be able to stay home with Jared most of the time and continue on with life. Well, a few days after I accepted the research job. IVP (Jon's work) sent me an email saying that they wanted to do a phone interview for the royalty accountant position I applied for there (yes, I do have a strange and wide range of skills). Curve ball!!! I continued on with IVP's process. I made it through the phone interview and then the online testing process. Next, Jon and I had to decide what I should do because the IVP process was not going to be done before the training for the research position was to begin. Yikes! We decided to go for the IVP job because we really could use the additional salary income and I think I could really use some time out of the house. So, tomorrow I'm going for the interview at IVP. It's a 3 hour process and starts at 1pm. Yikes!
In other news, my mom took me shopping this weekend for my birthday!!! It was so great! I feel like it's been so long since I've gone shopping for good clothes. We went to the outlet mall in Michigan City and I fell in love with DKNY. We almost walked right by, but luckily we stopped in where the whole store was 50% off. Yay for sales. I don't even know if I can pick a favorite purchase, but today I rocked my red infinity scarf. I also discovered through my purchases that I'm going through a white, black, gray, and red phase in my clothing decisions. Everything I bought was white, black, or gray except for my great red scarf. I guess that's how it goes when you're trying to build a wardrobe from scratch. I love everything I got and can't wait to wear my super classic clothes. If you're looking for a super versatile piece check out the DKNY cozy or the Victoria Secret Soft & Sexy Wrap. There's also an iphone app for how to tie the DKNY one all the different ways. Super helpful. Also, get the cozy at the outlet, it's much cheaper! =)

Quick Update: Jobs, School, Life

I realized that I haven't really updated what's been going on with life right now.
Jon and I have decided that I'm going to put  off applying to schools for another year for monetary reasons. Gotta get back in the black before I take the plunge. That means I don't have to take the GRE and apply til next summer. It'll probably work out well too because Jared will be older and hopefully a bit more independent so I can get work done when necessary.
Additionally, I am looking for a job (see above). I had my second interview for a Research Assistant position today, which is part time. The job sounds good and it'll definitely be helpful in applying to schools since it's research based and deals with neurodevelopment. I should find out about it by the middle of next week at the latest.
That's life right now.

I would like to be more intentional about my use of this blog. I'm so impressed by other people's blogs, but I'm not really sure what direction I want to take with mine. There's always stuff about Jared, but I don't think I want my blog to be completely about him. Other parts of my life are interesting too, right? Well, I'm hoping to really cultivate those other parts because I really feel like I've lost something.

My recent thinking has lead me to believe that it started after college. Up until that point in my life I had always been involved in dance or some kind of sport. These activities were fun, but I really got involved in them. Dance, especially in college was a huge part of me. I spent time planning choreography and perfecting routines, but I also spent time with fun girls who helped encourage me. They weren't just dance team girls, they were my friends (many still are). We had sleepovers, we talked about boys, we rode around and complained about coaches. This may not seem like a lot, but to me, someone who had trouble making/keeping girl friends as I got older, it was amazing! Although I'm still friends with those girls it's a lot harder to get together and obviously things aren't the same. 

The main problem with this is that I haven't found something to replace the spot that the dance team filled. I no longer participate in an activity that I loved/did for 19 years of my life and I don't have that easy in with girls. I don't think I noticed this gap so much when we lived in Indiana because I still had several other friends around, but now that we've lived out here for 3 years it's more noticeable and maybe even growing. I'm working on filling in that gap with people out here, but I need to do some personal work too. 

Without the constant back and forth with friends I think it's easy to lose ourselves. Jon is amazing and is great to share with, but there's just some things that you need other people for, even if it's just to get a range of opinions. Phone calls to friends are great, but they just aren't the same. Maybe it's just more noticeable since Jared's been born because I'm home more, but I just feel like parts of me are dying. 

That was all a little more depressing that I thought it would be. Sorry.

Basically, I want to regain myself. I have opinions and they are important. I have interests and I should follow them. I want to try things that may be mistakes. I want the freedom to do these things and I want to share them with those who are my friends. I'm going to try using this blog to talk about my overall life, including fashion, Jared, cooking/baking (when I've got something interesting), and maybe some home improvement (when we can afford it). Welcome to my life and please feel free to comment on posts or call. I'd love the company and your opinions.