My 2008 Goals!

Hmm . . . here are a few. I'm sure more will pop into my head in the next few days.

1. Be better about sending birthday cards to my side of the family. Shoot. January 4th is my sister's birthday and my brother-in-law's birthday. Okay, here is the addendum. Better late than never. Note to self: Make "Happy belated birthday" cards.

2. Lose 10-15 pounds by April. I am not one of those people who resolves to lose weight every year. I never do that, actually. I have, however, decided to lose weight, so I will. I am not a fad dieter. I WILL lose weight. Just watch!

3. Submit layouts to Creating Keepsakes and digital sites for publication or contests. I don't actually have to win, but I can at least challenge myself to do it!

Detour -

My friend Alysun found an article about dreaming on the MOPS International website and posted it on her blog. Please read it, it is very good! It got me to thinking about my life and my dreams.

Not many people know that when Grant was born, I felt like I lost my identity. I was suffocating in "baby". I was absolutely consumed with Grant. I would have a little panic attack if I wasn't with Grant. I couldn't ever leave him. Not that I had many opportunities to leave him since Mitch was in training in Washington at the time and we lived 45 minutes away from family. I was both desperate for alone time and desperate to be near him. I cried a lot. I was scared a lot. I didn't talk about it much because I felt like a wierdo. I wanted someone else to take him away for just 1 hour and let me get a haircut or go to the store or sit at the coffee shop by myself. Instead, I had him with me everywhere I went. Once, though, a friend did take Grant so I could get a haircut, and I was nervous and panicky and felt like I couldn't breathe the entire time. It was a quick haircut.

When Mitch came back from training, we talked a lot and he helped me to find my individual self again. He watched Grant while I went to Bible Study. He stayed home while I went to the store. He gave me Saturday mornings to go to garage sales by myself. When I discovered scrapbooking when Grant was 5 months old, Mitch was very supportive. In fact, he wanted me to start scrapbooking months earlier, but I resisted! (Can you believe that!?)

I've decided that it is a very good thing that I have a hobby that I am passionate about. I sometimes get embarrassed when people roll their eyes or make derogatory comments about scrapbooking. I don't know why they do that. I don't roll my eyes when they get excited about canning tomatoes or making quilts or singing music. I'm usually impressed and would love to learn how to do that. I don't belittle.

Mitch appreciates what I do and loves that scrapbooking is a hobby of mine. He notices the little details that I put into my pages. If I leave a scrapbook out, I will find him flipping through it and he always tells me how much he loves what I do. The bottom line is that scrapbooking is not just paper and glue and pictures. It is preserving stories through photos and journaling. It is capturing my love for my family. If I died tomorrow, my children and husband would not have to wonder how I felt about them. They would know how much I love them by the pictures I take, the pages I put together and the stories I write. That feels pretty good. I don't think I should be embarrassed about that, do you?

So, this year I am going to stretch myself and actually submit my scrapbooking pages for contests and publication. Scary. Fun. Exciting!