I turned 30....

I turned 30 last week. I can't tell you how many people asked me how I felt about turning 30, was I sad? Was I scared? And it really got me thinking... was I sad? --- why would I be sad about a birthday? A birthday means I'm still alive. I mean plan and simple, I'm still around, living, enjoying life with my husband and kids, and drinking diet coke. So no, I'm not sad to be turning 30.
Was I scared? --- there's not really much I'm scared of. Talking in front of large crowds. Heights. Losing my children or something/someone hurting my kids. But scared of turning 30, nope can't say that I am. Besides, even if I was scared to turn 30, there's not really much I could do to stop myself...

I've decided instead to embrace 30. I've officially been around for 30 years. I've been an adult for 12 years now. I've been married almost 7 years. I've been a mom for 3 years. I can definitely say that I'm a different person then I was at the beginning of each of those stages and I'm excited to see what the next stages of my life bring.

To celebrate being 30 I've created a bucket list of 30 things I want to do in my life.

1. Spend more time with my husband. Brad & I have been together since we were 15. That's 15 years of life together. He's my best friend and the first person I think to call when something good happens, bad happens, when something annoys me or when I think something is hilarious. He's the first person I think of each morning (normally because he's snoring super loud, but that's a different thought...). I love date nights with him.
2. Go to Europe. This is a big one. I LOVE to travel. I love packing, going on trips, enjoying a new atmosphere and learning a new cultures.
3. Take my kids somewhere new every year. I want my children to be able to have travel experiences. I want to be able to go places and make memories with them. The somewhere new doesn't have to be a "Big" somewhere new.. maybe just a weekend trip to a city we've never been to before or a close state we've never been to.
4. Learn a foreign language. I remember enough Spanish to barely have a conversation or understand what someone is saying. I would like to learn a language and be fluent. 
5. Learn to surf. The thought of me surfing is hilarious but I think it would be amazing. 
6. Learn to ballroom dance. 
7. Ride an elephant. 
8. Go to all the Disney parks. So far I've been to 3 (Disneyland, DisneyParis, and DisneyWorld) so I have Hong Kong and Tokyo. 
9. Go to Australia
10. Go to Asia. 
11. Go on safari in Africa.
12. Camp on the beach.
13. Travel to all 50 states and stay at least 1 day. (traveling to the state via airport only doesn't count)
14. Go whale watching
15. Complete RAGBRAI- I've already done this but I missed a day of the race so I would like to do it again and complete all of the days.
16. Go to a Blackhawks Hockey game.
17. Eat a meal cooked by a celebrity chef.
18. Visit all 7 continents. 
19. Airboat in alligator waters
20. Make my own wine. 
21. Go to the Holy land and visit the sites from the Bible.
22. Read the Bible cover to cover.
23. See my children get married.
24. Jump off a waterfall.
25. Drive through the tunnel trees in California.
26. Visit all of the National Parks
27. Walk/Run a 5K every year
28. Go to a vodka distillery. 
29. Go to the Ice bars. 
30. Go to the ballet.

My bucket list is really about traveling and making the most of my experiences with Brad and the kids. I think the biggest thing I can teach my children is that there are other people in the world and it's important to be kind and accepting of everyone. I want my children to have experiences and make memories. 

I think lately I've been realizing that people change, people grow and it's okay to not always agree with someone. I can't control everything; I can simply control myself and my reactions to the people around me. 

I'm embracing 30--- I'm going to build relationships with the people that are important and want to build relationships with me; I'm going to not stress about things I can't control; I'm going to grow closer to God; I'm going to be happy in my own skin and love myself.

Here's to 30-- may it be one amazing year.


                                                          Xo, Tiffany

Jedidiah ---> 8 months

Jed- you've been here for 8 months now. We love you more and more each day. 

Here's your "stats":

Height: 27 inches

Weight: 21 pounds 

Clothes: you are starting to be too long for 9 month old clothes so you mainly 12 month old clothes. 

Diapers: size 3

Eating: You drink a bottle every 3 hours during the day for Oma. I feed you before I leave for work and then when I get home. You nurse every 2-3 hours on the weekends.

You love food! You had your first cake- you had some birthday cake at mommy & daddy's birthday party. There's really not a food you don't love. You'll eat anything we give you. You love bananas and waffles!

Sleeping: You still sleep in your bassinet but you'll be moving to your crib this month since you can sit up in your bassinet now. You go to bed between 7:30/8:00 each night and you sleep till 7am. 

Happenings this month:

+you decided that now was a good time to start crawling for real. Now you go anywhere and everywhere. 

+you love standing and pulling yourself up.

+you got a new tooth! You got a tooth on the top now. This one made you miserable and you & mommy slept on the couch for 2 days because you only wanted to be held.

+It's your first Valentine's day! You turned 8 months on Valentine's Day. 

+you love going swimming. We've taken you to the YMCA a couple times and you enjoy floating around and splashing.

Jedidiah- you are the most content baby ever. The only time you're ever mad is when you're hungry or tired. 

You love mommy, daddy and Amelia! And you love your doggies Dixie and Clementine. 

We love watching you grow each month and are excited to see where life takes you. 

January happenings.

2018 just started and January is already over. It's been a long cold month and we haven't really done much because of the weather.

+We got a YMCA membership to start the new school year and we've gone swimming 3 weekends. Amelia is a fish and loves getting to go swimming! Our Y has a kid pool that Amelia can stand in so it's nice for her. We also went on the big water slide!

+I had a baby shower for my sorority sister Sam. She's having twins! It was so nice to celebrate her and enjoy time with some sisters that I don't get to see very often.

Since we had a pretty uneventful January, I'll go ahead and add my wish list for the year:

+Travel. Traveling is always on my list of goals/resolutions. I love to travel and enjoy making memories with my family. This year we're taking the kids to Cape Cod- I can't wait! I've never been so I can't wait to visit and see what the Cape has in store for us. Our list of to-do's include whale watching, fishing, a baseball game and eating lots of seafood!

+Connections. As I'm getting older I'm realizing who is important in my life and that you can only try to have a relationship with someone for so long. Relationships are a 2 way street- you can't be the only person trying. So en-light of that- I'll be working on my relationships with the people that matter that the most to me, and the people that would also like to have a relationship with me.

+Be "okay" with whatever happens. Brad & I have been goals in our life in the next couple years, goals that we think will better our family and better our relationship. We're very much in a place right now where we're listening to God, and learning to be "okay" with whatever God has in store for us- even if that's not how we envisioned our plans.

This year I really just want to focus on me and my family. I'm turning 30 this year (check back soon for my blog with my 30 year bucket list!) and I definitely feel like I'm doing some soul searching. I'm figuring out who I am, where I want to go, and what's the best for my family. I'm so blessed to be on this journey with Brad and can't wait to see what God has in store for us this year. I hope you guys will pray that God's vision and plan will be shown to us and all will work for our family.

Thanks for taking the time to read this everyone. I hope you stick around- 2018 is going to be a great year--- I'm practically bursting waiting to see what happens.

                                                          Xo, Tiffany