Plans

It happened again a couple of weeks ago.  A woman in my ward and I were discussing what our children were up to and I mentioned that my youngest is in preschool and will start kindergarten in a mere year and a half.  To this she exclaimed, "What are going to do with yourself?!  I honestly don't know what I will do when my kids are gone all day, which is why I want more."  (She has 6 right now)  This isn't the first time that someone has expressed absolute bewilderment that I may have plans and goals outside of being a mother.  And boy do I have PLANS!  As shocked as they are that my life may indeed go on after my kids are grown, I am equally shocked that they cannot imagine a life outside of being a mother.  I love being a mother with all my heart and am sometimes sad that they are growing up so fast, but thankfully, I have many interests and goals outside of them.  Here are some of my "big plans" for when my youngest enters all-day school.

*Go back to school and get a Master's Degree.  I desperately miss learning which was a big part of my life up until Christian was about 1.  I can't wait to get back to being around the atmosphere of learning.

*Continue hiking, biking, and being fit and physically active.

*Travel with Robert.  I want to see the world!  I want to serve the world.

*Volunteer work.  I used to have the time to do more of this and I really miss the satisfaction of doing something for nothing.

*Do more with friends and extended family.  I have been extremely focused on my children for 15 years now and often times, other relationships have been put on hold because of this.  I am not one that has ever done a lot with girlfriends, or even had the desire to have a lot of friends.  But in the future, it might be nice to have more friends and do more activities with friends.

*Work at Robert's office.  Maybe this wouldn't be such a good idea, but I always thought it would be fun to work with him and help the business grow.

*Lots and lots of photography.  It's such a passion of mine and I can't imagine my life without it.

As long as my kids are home, they will always be my first priority, but as they grow more independent, there will be more time for me and how I look forward to that!

I know I look extra dapper before the race, but only because
I had massive amounts of ibuprofen and excederin
in me.  I was feelin' gooooood.

This past weekend, I ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon.  It took soooooo much preparation, since it was only a year ago that I sustained a major muscle tear where I couldn't walk for 6 weeks.  At the beginning of last week, I came down with the flu--which I still had on the morning of the race.  It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I thought of how proud I was of my Mom when she went back to college, and I wanted my children to see me pursuing my interests and goals, so I ran it in spite of being sick.  I didn't do well at all, but I FINISHED!!  My kids greeted me at the finish line and they were proud of me.  But most importantly, I was proud of myself.

Someone should have told me how lame
these glasses looked on me...  This is me
after I crossed the finish line.