One of my biggest goals as I have gotten older is to live in the moment. What we have today can be gone in an instant. While I have not had the easiest time during the past ten years, I am here-healthy, and growing up day by day. I still feel like a kid sometimes. I find myself stupefied that I have a house, a marriage, a child and this is my life. Being in your twenties is tough because you really are still a kid in a grown-up world. There are so many decisions to make and so many changes in your life that you don’t know up from down. Being diagnosed with depression, anxiety and OCD (there I said it) and going through infertility weighed me down so heavily I felt suffocated. I went through a lot, but I am still here, still learning about myself and my capabilities. I am still working on making my marriage the best it can be, and now I am learning to be the mommy I always knew I could be.

After becoming a parent I have heard so many times that you blink and childhood is gone. I have already noticed how quickly Luv Bug has changed just in ten months. I can see the years flying by and instead of hanging out with our friends and their children fending off toddlers and breaking up fights over sharing, we will be hunting down keg parties and trying to figure out where the kids took the car. I can imagine my kids growing up but where will I be in my life? I have dreams, desires, and goals for the next ten years of my life. Some of them are admittedly superficial. I would like to believe what people say about getting older and your income increasing. (where does the debt go?) I will cover those first so I don’t end with you thinking I could be one of the women from that show Orange County Housewives.

1. I would love to drive a beamer or lex.us. I am a car person. I know it is the worst investment in the world, but I like nice cars. I cannot afford a car like this but maybe someday (pre-owned is fine with me).
2. I would like to reset my engagement and wedding band with a little more bling. Maybe an upgrade?
3. I would love to be able to go shopping and not worry about the money I am spending. I don’t mean an all-out blitz at Bur.berry or Coa.ch, (okay maybe once in awhile) but I do love Ann.Taylor and Banana (check out this new shop I found- Boden). I don’t shop at these places now b/c I should not be spending money on clothes. Although I have come to the point where I believe in the concept mentioned on the TLC show What Not Wear- buy quality and not quantity. So, I have cut out Old.Navy for the most part and will spend a little extra on my wardrobe. I just hope to be able to buy 5 outfits someday instead of 1.
4. I really hope that hubby and I can fulfill our dreams of adding onto our lovely home and putting in a kitchen that is bigger than 9×9.
5. Be on TV for PFM and receive 15 minutes of fame
6. Have really young looking skin. I have been wearing Oil of Olay with SPF since I was 13. It’s the fair Irish skin.
7. Have a halfway decent metabolism so I don’t have to go down to 1200 calories a day in order to maintain my weight. I do love foods with sugar!

So for the more down to earth goals I would:

1. love to be a published author of more than one book and a freelance writer. Maybe well- known but at least making a decent living
2. Have 2-3 children (but I could live with luv bug forever.)
3. love it if my husband has found a career, something that fulfills him instead of just the daily grind
4. have my health and everyone in my life healthy and happy
5. Maintain a steady and successful treatment of my mental health diseases
6. PFM be a raving success and have given out hundreds of thousands of dollars to build families
7. Have a thriving marriage
8. Have strong relationships with my children
9. Be able to pay for my kids college tuition’s
10. Be a really good sewer (not like where poop goes) (maybe the word is seamstress?) as opposed to mediocre
11. Continue the relationships I have now and forge new ones
12. Feel like I am living my dreams and looking forward to the next ten years