28 in 28...A Long Overdue Update

A couple of months before my 28th birthday I wrote a post of 28 things I wanted to accomplish during my 28th year. Well, I found out I was pregnant about a month later, and then I did basically nothing but gain weight and grow a human inside me for the next 9 months. But somehow I've found the time to cross a few of these off my list, and I thought it would be fun to see how I've done so far...and how many of them I even still want to do.

1. Be brave and dye my hair a pretty brunette shade...no more chickening out and ending up with dirty blonde.

Woop woop! I officially became a real, live brunette. And I still dig it. 

2. Start pursuing freelance writing opportunities.

I can mark this one off....ish. Kinda sorta have pursued a little bit, so I'm counting it. 

3. Get back to a weight that makes me feel healthy and happy...aka, no more squeezing into clothes that are too tight and then feeling fat all day. Instead of going up a size, make myself fit into them.

Woohoo!!! This one I am thrilled about. But I can't take much of credit here. Most of the credit goes to breastfeeding and lugging a baby around all day every day. Now my clothes are too loose instead of too tight...it's been amazing, and I hope it lasts! 

4. Knock a few trips off of my looong list of places I want to visit. 

Hmm...nope. Hopefully we'll work on this soon. 

5. Be a better wife. I need to become more loving, less critical, and less defensive.

I think I've definitely improved here, but this is one I need to consistently be working on. Especially the defensive thing...I'm super sensitive, and I know it drives Arsen crazy. 

6. Attend some type of blogging conference. They always sound like so much fun, but they're usually so far away! I'm determined to make it happen though...

I really want to do this, hopefully this year! 

7. Grow this little bitty blog of mine. I don't really have a particular number of followers in mind...maybe 250? That seems somewhat attainable for a year. 

Ha, the pregnancy thing really slowed me down here for sure. I didn't consistently blog, advertise, really do anything at all actually, for the duration of my pregnancy and early days of G's life. It's grown a little, but I think I can do better this year ;)

8. Start taking more photos. More interesting photos I should say. As adorable as Addie is, she takes up about 75% of the photos on my camera and iPhone combined. 

Hahaha, this one makes me laugh. I definitely started taking more photos, but now approximately 75% of them are of Grayson and 25% are of Addie. Still not so interesting. Although still adorable.

9. Relax. And don't overreact. Arsen calls me dramatic all the time, and he might just be right. I feel like I might live longer if I could learn to stress less and take a moment before reacting...

I think I'm getting better here. Arsen may disagree...but I would say I'm much calmer and more relaxed than I was a year and a half ago. 

10. I want to make some sort of baby goal, but I'm not sure...let's just say if a baby happens, I won't be too upset.

Check! We all know I can definitely mark this one off the list.

11. Maintain a healthier lifestyle. Eat cleaner, exercise more, use more "green" products...I'm starting to realize the amount of junk that I put in and around my body, and Arsen and Addie for that matter. I really want to change that. 

We've made some improvements here for sure, but it's something I'm hoping to get MUCH better about this year. I just started juicing...like, just now. I pretty much buy only organic produce, try to buy most of our groceries with as little added preservatives as possible, and I'm replacing our household products with green-er products as we run out of things. It really is a huge lifestyle change, but one I'm excited about making.

12. Be a better friend. I don't think I'm a bad friend, but I can go a month without talking to my very best friends. Not cool. 

I think there is still room for improvement here. I really have two best girlfriends, and I talk to each of them somewhat regularly. We go through spurts. But I've been talking and seeing each of them more lately and I can't tell you how happy it's made me. I need to make it a more regular thing, and I also need to work on making some good friends who don't live four hours away :)

13. Stop buying a million cheap things everywhere I go, and invest in some nicer things. I will head straight to Forever 21 and buy 10 things instead of investing in two nice things. That has always served me well, but I feel like I might be getting a bit too old to keep that up.

I'll consider this a success. I actually have just started shopping less, but I'm definitely taking into consideration my wardrobe as a whole when I do shop. And Arsen has been buying me nice things for gifts...nice handbag, nice watch, nice boots. So I'm counting it. 

14. Send thank you notes. I'm the worlds worst at this. I have a million adorable little notes at home, but I never remember to send them. 

Nope. Aside from baby gift thank-you's, I haven't sent a single thank you note. Oops. 

15. Stop feeling so guilty all the time. I constantly feel like I'm not calling my parents enough, seeing my friends enough, blogging enough, working out enough, giving Arsen and Addie enough attention...I know I'm doing my best, and I need to accept that. 

This is a tough one, especially for a new mom. I feel like there's never enough time in the day to meet everyone's needs, let alone mine. But I am definitely getting better about feeling guilty and just embracing the fact that I'm doing my very best. 

16. Become a little more crafty- and stop judging myself for not being "creative" enough. 

This is a big goal of mine for this year. I have a lot of ideas, just need to make 'em happen!

17. Start pursuing some of the dreams I have for myself. I know I can do some pretty great things...I just have to go for it.

Something else I hope to get to before too long. Smaller dreams I plan on working on this year...my bigger dreams I plan on conquering after I've got this mama thing down a little better ;) He takes up a lot of time and energy, y'all!

18. Read more. Simple enough. 

Thank you, book club. 

19. Volunteer more. I would love to get involved with one of the shelters around here...somehow I need to do this without bringing home a million pets.

Sigh. This one breaks my heart because I just don't feel like I have the time right now, but it is SO where my heart is. Someday I hope to be able to devote so much of my time to giving back in this way.

20. Go to more concerts. Live music is one of my very favorite things, and the past couple of years Arsen and I have really been slacking in the concert attendance thing.

Negative. Date night idea? Hope so!

21. Cook more. I've got about 8 million recipes pinned on Pinterest. I might as well put them to use.

This one I can check off because I've had some really great spurts of cooking activity here and there. Like, I'll meal plan and cook every night for weeks...then I fall off the wagon. But for the most part I've done SO much better with this.

22. Be friendlier. I'm naturally a bit reserved, I think out of insecurity, and it's about time I let go of the fear that people don't like me and just jump in there.

I think I've done pretty well with this lately. I still have to almost force myself to say something a lot of times when I'm in a crowd, but I'm getting better.

23. Learn to be okay with who I am. I have always suffered from horrible insecurity (see above) and I feel like it really holds me back. No one else is focusing on my flaws. Why am I obsessing over it? I've done this since I was a child, and it's something I'm determined to overcome.

Oh man, I've gotten so. much. better. So much. I don't know what it is...maybe being a mom and having all of my focus on someone else? Maybe getting older and accepting myself, flaws and all? Either way, for the first time in my life I feel incredibly confident in who I am.

24. Go to the movies more. I absolutely love watching movies in the theater, and we rarely do it. Last year we started going every Sunday, but got out of the habit. I'd love to start back up.

Ha. Haha. With a baby? Maybe this can be another date night idea...

25. Spend more time with my family, and Arsen's family. It's so important, and so easy to let time pass without realizing how long it's been.

Having a baby took care of this one! We can't get rid of our families now! Haha, totally kidding. But we certainly see a lot more of people these days. 

26. Buy a bike. And start biking. We've been talking about it for awhile now, might as well do it.

Nope, didn't even think about it. Maybe when Grayson gets a little older we can all buy them...how adorable would that be?

27. Start treating myself to massages on a regular basis. It's just about my favorite thing ever, why not?

Heck. Yes. Arsen bought me a massage membership when I was pregnant and I just accidentally never canceled it. It is glorious. 

28. Stop wishing time away. I've always been a big dreamer, so I'm always looking to the future...I want to embrace the present and all the amazing things that I have going for me, here and now.

I think this totally falls in line with my goal this year of choosing joy in all that I do. It's really helping me to embrace the every day moments and fall in love with my life as it currently is.