I have officially lived another year on this planet. A whole 28 of them now. I had a phone call from a family member, and he said...well that sucks that you are getting closer to 30! hahaha. I laughed at the comment and then thought about it a little bit more. In fact, I am not even phased that I have lived another year, I am thankful for it. I am so grateful for making it another year closer to 30. My birthday isn't a time to sob and think about losing my youth, because let's admit it...we are never going to be any younger than we are today...plain and simple. Instead, I am loving the fact that I have been able to experience 28 years of living, laughing, loving, learning, and so much more. I also see my birthday as a time when I can make goals and plans for this coming year!
So, for my 28th year on this Earth...here is what I hope to do:
1. Focus on the Practical - In all honesty, at this time in our lives we are just swamped with daily tasks. We are consumed right now with settling in to a new place (and actually finding a new home) and trying to figure out how the next few years will play out while we are in America. So, I am trying to dedicate myself to making sure we are meeting deadlines and doing this with as little stress as possible.
2. Focusing on Myself - I would say that last year wasn't a big year that I could focus on myself as much as I would have liked. My pregnancy saw that I was not allowed to exercise for the first 15 weeks of it and then I got to add in a sprained ankle for the next few months...followed by a stay in the Maternal/Fetal Intensive Care Unit on bed rest....and then living in the NICU essentially...followed by not being able to take small preemie baby outside...it's really not an excuse..in the beginning I wasn't allowed to exercise and then after I had no time...but now that Mia has hit the 3 month mark and things are getting to a new normal...I definitely want to spend sometime working on me!
3. Focusing on Marriage - I will admit that this has not been a big priority for Ten and myself for the last long while, and I really want to change this. We need to spend more time together...away from Smartphones and distractions and just be with each other...I may talk him into seeing if we can have a date night once a month to start with...I think that weekly isn't really practical for us right now...but something is better than nothing.
4. Focusing on Kids - I need to make sure that I am spending time with Mia to help develop her little character, mind, and heart. I want to make sure that I am parenting intentionally and not just getting through the day! Also, we will be having a new addition to our family very soon :) ... No, I am not pregnant. Our nephew and my sister are coming to live with us...and I will get to have the best job of taking care of him while she is at work...so same treatment goes for him... intentional care giving...not just getting through the day.
5. Focusing on Building a Family - I want to make sure that we aren't just a group of people who are living together...I want us to have quality time together at meals and on the evenings/weekends. I am looking forward to celebrating holidays, birthdays, etc...
6. Focusing on the Funds - With so much going on this year for us, I really want to take a more active role in our $ituation....haha. We haven't ever really made a budget, but this is something that we should probably start...I also want to find ways where we can continue to scrimp and save (homemade laundry detergent here I come!)
7. Focusing on Studying - I want to make sure that I am spending enough time this year learning new things. This includes from both daily experiences and from a lot of the readings that I do.
8. Focusing on Community - In Japan, we severely lacked a since of community. So, this is something we both really wanted to work on when moving to the US. We are looking forward to settling in at a new place so that we can get involved in where we live. We are also going to do our absolute best to be involved with nearby Japanese communities since that is obviously a big part of our family. We would like to hopefully go to community events, volunteer, and whatever else we can to put down roots a little bit more.
So, these are some areas that I would like to dedicate my time to in my 28th year. I know that a lot of it is rather vague, but these are the principles that I plan to live by.
How about you? What are things that we should look forward to improving and living for?
So, for my 28th year on this Earth...here is what I hope to do:
1. Focus on the Practical - In all honesty, at this time in our lives we are just swamped with daily tasks. We are consumed right now with settling in to a new place (and actually finding a new home) and trying to figure out how the next few years will play out while we are in America. So, I am trying to dedicate myself to making sure we are meeting deadlines and doing this with as little stress as possible.
2. Focusing on Myself - I would say that last year wasn't a big year that I could focus on myself as much as I would have liked. My pregnancy saw that I was not allowed to exercise for the first 15 weeks of it and then I got to add in a sprained ankle for the next few months...followed by a stay in the Maternal/Fetal Intensive Care Unit on bed rest....and then living in the NICU essentially...followed by not being able to take small preemie baby outside...it's really not an excuse..in the beginning I wasn't allowed to exercise and then after I had no time...but now that Mia has hit the 3 month mark and things are getting to a new normal...I definitely want to spend sometime working on me!
3. Focusing on Marriage - I will admit that this has not been a big priority for Ten and myself for the last long while, and I really want to change this. We need to spend more time together...away from Smartphones and distractions and just be with each other...I may talk him into seeing if we can have a date night once a month to start with...I think that weekly isn't really practical for us right now...but something is better than nothing.
4. Focusing on Kids - I need to make sure that I am spending time with Mia to help develop her little character, mind, and heart. I want to make sure that I am parenting intentionally and not just getting through the day! Also, we will be having a new addition to our family very soon :) ... No, I am not pregnant. Our nephew and my sister are coming to live with us...and I will get to have the best job of taking care of him while she is at work...so same treatment goes for him... intentional care giving...not just getting through the day.
5. Focusing on Building a Family - I want to make sure that we aren't just a group of people who are living together...I want us to have quality time together at meals and on the evenings/weekends. I am looking forward to celebrating holidays, birthdays, etc...
6. Focusing on the Funds - With so much going on this year for us, I really want to take a more active role in our $ituation....haha. We haven't ever really made a budget, but this is something that we should probably start...I also want to find ways where we can continue to scrimp and save (homemade laundry detergent here I come!)
7. Focusing on Studying - I want to make sure that I am spending enough time this year learning new things. This includes from both daily experiences and from a lot of the readings that I do.
8. Focusing on Community - In Japan, we severely lacked a since of community. So, this is something we both really wanted to work on when moving to the US. We are looking forward to settling in at a new place so that we can get involved in where we live. We are also going to do our absolute best to be involved with nearby Japanese communities since that is obviously a big part of our family. We would like to hopefully go to community events, volunteer, and whatever else we can to put down roots a little bit more.
So, these are some areas that I would like to dedicate my time to in my 28th year. I know that a lot of it is rather vague, but these are the principles that I plan to live by.
How about you? What are things that we should look forward to improving and living for?
Hey there!
ReplyDeleteFood for though for me since I'll be turning 40 this year
One thing for me is to not let life go by without giving more of an effort.
I went to they gym with u and that was a big challenge for me. I hope to pick that up again.
I joined three fanclubs so I wanna persue my "loves"! Lol!
And finally, for now, travel and see more of the world.
Like u said, we r lucky to have lived this long. Who knows when it'll end...
I shall think more about it and share my thought to ya later!(^-^)v