Revin' up the engine for 2008

The first step in making progress of any kind is to set goals. Here goes.

In 2007 I began reading regularly...something I've always wanted to do, but never believed I could. I set some goals, and followed through with those goals. This past year I read 21 books and picked up a very fulfilling pastime.

Goal #1

In 2008, I will read at LEAST 21 books. I have other goals that will more than likely interfere with my reading, so I don't want to set that goal to an unachieveable height.

This past year has also been a time of self discovery. I've discovered that I want more out of this life than I have allowed myself to believe I'm capable of. I have limited myself and had not realized this until I really sat back and listened to what I was teaching my children. I want them to believe that they can do anything they want, and that there are no walls, or ceilings in this life. There is NOTHING they can't do.

Ding dong.

Gradually, after hearing these words come out of my mouth time after time, they finally echoed back to me. I realized that I'm teaching this, but I don't live this, nor did I believe it to be true for myself. It's not as though I've ever told myself that I CAN'T do something, I've just never allowed my mind to grasp that I CAN.
I'm not exactly sure why that is, but I really don't believe that it's beneficial to me to expand on that thought.

All I know is that something has sparked inside me and I know that I'm ready to do whatever it is that will make me happy. What this equates to is getting an education, finishing school and allowing myself to dictate my future. I want to teach. Why can't I teach?

Well, I think that everytime the thought entered my brain I refused to allow it to process, because I KNOW that in order to teach, I must have a bachelors degree and for some reason I had sold myself short and decided that this goal was unattainable. I've finally allowed myself to realize that I CAN DO THIS!
I WANT this!
I'm 30 years old and don't have a degree. At 30 I'm finally realizing that there is nothing standing in the way of what I want out of this life. Which leads me to my next goal for this year:

Goal #2

This year, I will tackle the most challenging classes first and not allow the fear of them to hold me back.
I registered for College Algebra yesterday and start in two weeks!
I will take at least one class each semester of 2008.
I will also continue to believe that I too, can do whatever I want in this life, and by doing this, I am in turn teaching my children far more than than I ever could with words.

I tend to do things a little backwards, but somehow in doing this, things tend to work out far better than I could ever imagine.

Goal #3

In order to get the best results out of the previous goals, I must be healthy and strong. I will make better food choices and put forth my best efforts to excercise EACH WEEK. I have really not given adequate attention to my body lately and in turn feel the results physically AS WELL AS mentally. I have a gym membership that I will use each week.

I have many more personal goals relating to friends and family, but I thought I would document just a few to get me started.

I challenge ALL of my friends and family to set some of their own goals, without the thought that this is some sort of cliche' attempt at doing what everyone else does at this time of year. I challenge you to set goals that matter to you, that you genuinely believe that you can and will follow through with.

If you have a blog, consider this a meme that I'm passing on to you, just DO IT! :)

Happy New Year everyone!

2007 in review

This time last year I was a stay at home mom working from home on contract here and there. Alex was home with me, and we were attending 2-3 playdates each week, and Ashley was finishing up her elementary years. Life was GREAT! Here we are facing the new year and I'm just overwhelmed with how each year is better than the last. We have grown so much this past year. We had some major milestones and made so many wonderful memories....here's a little piece of my entries from the past year.

January 12 - Ally (our adopted dog) went back home to Joe. This year we have been fortunate enough to have several opportunities to have her back for visits.

January 16 - It SNOWED! Remember that?

January 19 - Ashley and I started a Taekwando class together. We only did the 6 week class, but had a ton of fun together.

February 2 - Mark and Ashley played hookie and celebrated the 2nd anniversary of the "official" adoption.

February 14 - I made Pink Mashed taters and heart shaped meatloaf.

March 28 - Mark constructed our Rain Barrel, which turned out GREAT and got PLENTY of use! I hope to talk Mark in to doing another for the back yard this spring.

April 5 - Dad, Ruthie, and the Urbens travel to Port Aransas for Sand Fest, where we met up with the Kendalls, the Keas and the Woodworths.

April 30 - Dad and Ruthie gave me my early birthday present...my Nikon D40, which I have yet to put down.

May 21 - The Urbens go camping at Inks Lake.

May 27 - I officially said goodbye to my 20's.

June 10 - The Urbens travel to Plano to celebrate Keller's first Birthday!

June 13 - The Urbens discover the Wii world.

June 15 - Camp Urben kick off with Ashley, Kelly, Savannah, and Emily.

June 28 - The bottom fell out and central Texas recorded over 30 inches of rain...and more was on the way. The San Gabriel River flooded and warnings were sent out to neighbors to evacuate.

July 13 - The Urbens travel to Fredricksburg, VA to visit the Steele's. Nana tears down a complete strangers door after getting locked out. Hehe.

July 27 - The Urbens travel to Florence, AL to visit Granny Frannie, Papa Jack and Mamaw.

August 15 - Momma and Daddy spend all weekend doing a surprise makeover in Ashley's room while she's in Alabama.

August 23 - Day 1 of our bathroom remodeling. If we ONLY knew it would be nowhere close to 2 weeks...

August 27 - Alex had his first day of Kindergarten and Ashley had her first day of middle school.

September 10 - My first day of work!

October 1 - Moms weekend in Canton with the girls. What a BLAST!

November - 12 Weeks later the bathroom remodel is finally COMPLETE!

November 16 - The Urben's find Mandy on the way to sofball and aquire pet number 4. We miss our Mandy girl.

The rest is a few pages back...the kids are ready to play, gotta run.

Things that make ya go hmmmmmm

Why is it, you ask, that mom is NEVER in any family snapshots? Well, here's your answer....



Yep, that's one blurry picture....
heyyyy now, what were you thinking I was gonna say???