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a



Wednesday, August 27, 2008

the new and improved me

Lately I have been in a very contemplative state of mind. I think that it has a lot to do with the fact that I will be turning 30 in a few months and I don't really know how that happened! Whatever the reason, I am all in favor of embracing the new, older me and being intentional about my life rather than feeling like life is passing me by. Some of my goals are silly things, like to be in the best shape of my life, to give up my lifelong love of fast food and actually care about what foods I put into my body, to get good at yoga, to get pedicures more often so that I don't gross people out by my nasty feet :) But then there are the things that matter. For example, I have been horrible at friendships all of my life (as most of you reading this probably know). I don't know what it is...I don't know if I was always so close with my mom and my sister that I didn't "need" my friends, or if I am just too selfish or too lazy or too intimidated or what. But one thing is for sure that I always fail at sticking it out for the long run. I want to really start being intentional in my friendships so that they don't fizzle out over time. I am so thankful for all of the old friends that I have been in touch with recently and how great it is that sometimes you can pick up where you left off. I desperately want to raise my daughters to be passionate about their walk with God and I want that for myself as well. I want to study the Bible and apply it to my life. I want my husband to be glad everyday that he chose me to spend his life with and I want to make him proud that I am his wife. I want to show my parents that I am thankful for the way they raised me and the childhood that I was given. I want my in-laws to know how much I love being a part of their family. The list could go on for days...these are just a few things that are on my heart right now as I slowly realize that I am approaching a new decade in my life and before I know it I will be middle aged and I don't want to look back on this time of my life with any regrets. Is that possible?

6 comments:

jess e. said...

that's awesome ali, i just turned 30 and a few of those things are striking me too. 30 and 3 kids, i don't know how it happened! ;-) but it is so hard to be and do all those things but also treasure each moment with three kids. i feel like i can never stop!

Sweet Treats and Baby Feet said...

I can totally relate! When God speaks, we need to listen and I have been "spoken to" many times about this exact thing. You put into words very well!!!

The Neal Family said...

i'm turning 29. hehe jk
seriously though its so nice to take time and reflect and ENJOY the moment. feel like sometimes we all move so fast that we don't get to.

i LOVE that we've all reconnected to.

Jamin and Vicky said...

great blog. i'm glad we're friends:) we should get together soon.

Jennifer Battjer said...

I'm glad we are all in touch again too... I'll be home in December for XMAS hopefully for 2 weeks. When will you be home?

The Great Eight said...

Hi Ali!
I have never done one of these, but I'm assuming people read and write them because it's here. I loved reading about your family and seeing how the Lord has answered the many prayers from almost a decade ago when you and Ryan were just starting out! Since your Mom and Dad and I reconnected, I have been praying for you guys again! It's so exciting to read about your desire to pursue the heart of God and eternal things for you and your family. Since I am a decade ahead of you, I can tell you that investing in the things of the Lord will be the only thing that really matters. To spend time memorizing scripture with your girls while they are this small and setting the example of Godliness will be the foundation that you can fall back on when they're teenagers!! Kaitlyn will be sixteen in November! That's when the true test of how their time was spent when they were little comes out! Well, this is probably way too long for a "blog thing", but I hope you read it and we can stay in touch! Lots of Love- Gina
(Give Ryan and the girls a big hug for us!)