When I Grow Up

I'm one of those people that gets inspired easily. It doesn't have to be much. A commercial, a magazine article, a candle...literally, just about anything can spark a bit of craziness in my head. I always tell A that my brain never stops working, that I never stop thinking, and it's 100% true. This is why we may be sitting on the couch quietly watching The Vampire Diaries (hello new guilty pleasure) and I spout off with "You know what I was thinking? I think I want to pull that window box off the front of the house and plant a few bushes before too long...and I think we should take out all that mulch and put in some of that rock filler instead. Yeah?" No matter what I'm doing, my brain is thinking about approximately 13 other things.

This is why literally every time I say "You know what I was thinking?" he groans, or says "What now?" or "Please don't tell me this is going to cost me money."

So when I think of all of my bajillion brilliant ideas that excite me and inspire me and overwhelm me with the urge to get up and move and do things and accomplish things and be amazing, I have to remind myself - this might not be the time for that. Right now I'm a little bit wrapped up in mama-land.

I've already been over how I need to focus, and to as A suggests, just pick one or two things and focus on that. So I have been. But every once in awhile I get this feeling in my belly of ridiculous excitement when I think of all the things I want to accomplish someday, when I'm a real grown-up and I have time for accomplishing things. I thought I'd gather them here and share them with you. Plus, it'll be nice to have a checklist of sorts to look back at 30 years down the road to see how many of them I'm able to say I did. Fingers crossed it's all of them, at least in some capacity.

social work

I seriously considered going with social work as a major in college, but I decided to be logical and choose something that was a bit more high-paying and less stressful...so I chose public relations. Yeah, it makes no sense to me either. But I have always had such a heart for working with those who are less fortunate, and I just really feel called to do this in some way, shape, or form. I've told A I think I might want to go back to school after all our babies are in school and start a new career in the social work arena, but maybe it will be more along the lines of volunteering at a shelter or being a court appointed advocate for kids in the foster system. I'm not really sure what it will be exactly, but before all is said and done I'd love to make something happen here.

real estate

I love houses. I love looking at them, I love touring them, I love decorating them. There have been approximately 27 times in my life that I've considered getting my real estate license, and I've just never gone through with it. I'm not totally sure why. Now I'm leaning a little more toward the renovating/flipping aspect of things than the being a realtor side of things - or who knows, maybe both? Either way, I know that somehow, some way I want to be involved in the buying and selling of homes.

foster mom

This is a tough one for me, and it's so close to my heart. This may be the biggest challenge of all, however, because the husband doesn't really have the same draw to this that I do. I just feel like I am so blessed in my life, and I have so much love to give, and there are so, so, so many babies and littles and teens out there who just need someone to love them, and respect them, and believe in them. And I feel like I could do that. I know this isn't feasible with small kiddos in the home, so I honestly think this will be something that I do later in life. But I absolutely think I am called to this.

start a rescue

Oh, my baby animals. I just love them so much. I've wanted to start a rescue since I first got my Addie Jane. I feel like I eventually want to live on like 20 acres outside of town somewhere, and have a beautiful set up for all the puppies and kitties that I can possibly save, and then I want to help all those sweet animals find the human loves of their lives. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it.

open a boutique

This is definitely my more superficial side, but it's a strong side of me, what can I say. I love pretty things, I love shopping, and I absolutely loved working retail. Opening a boutique is like the ultimate dream for me. Designing a beautiful store stocked full of things that I love, organizing and decorating and chatting with customers and going to market to buy things...I just can't even handle how much I want to do this. My mom and I have talked about opening a little shop together someday, and I really hope we make it happen somehow. It would be an absolute blast.

Pretty much what I've decided is that I should just win the lottery, and then I will use the millions that I already have to help put most of these plans into motion. I mean, it can't be that hard, right? With the cash flow I would magically have the time and energy to devote to every one of these things. Isn't that how it works?

But seriously, I just feel all of these things so strongly, so deep down inside of me, that I know I need to make them happen somehow. Maybe it won't be in the capacity that I'm thinking, maybe it won't look like I think it will, but I really hope that in some way I can accomplish all of these things. I plan on doing my best to make it happen, and hopefully I'll start taking steps in the right direction very soon.