4 Years

The Saturday before Mother's Day 4 years ago we pulled into McPherson, Kansas to live in the Holiday Inn for an indefinite amount of time. Technically this weekend 4 years ago was next weekend, but since we are now the Saturday before Mother's Day we are celebrating (or not!) today. Four years was NEVER part of the Kansas plan. I was supposed to only have to endure Kansas for 3 years and then off to somewhere else, better than this (my ideal is Oregon). Well here we are, living in Kansas (although not all together courtesy of the new job, which we do love even though it has caused us to not live together) and we are not on our way to Oregon. My new somewhere better than Kansas has turned out to be Missouri, which from the handful of times I have been there, is basically Kansas with more trees... awesome! I am excited to move to Missouri, should that day ever come. Our house has been on the market for 4 months with very little hope in sight. We are, however, updating our counter tops this weekend, and I think we will soon be flooded with offers because nobody will be able to resist our new, beautiful counter tops! At least I can hope for that result.

What we have learned from living in Kansas for 4 years, and now living apart for 3 months is that life doesn't go according to plan sometimes... most times I might dare say. So we have had to adjust. In the grand scheme of things I think I love McPherson, Kansas (but you will never actually HEAR those words come out of my mouth!!) I definitely love my friends that I have made in Kansas. It is a safe, family friendly, put together town. BUT I am no small town girl. I flourish in the city, and where Liberty is far from being what I consider the "city" it will do! Hopefully we will be out of here before I have to write a post about living here for 5 years! :)

Just for me

My 29th birthday is next month and I'm already starting to have a panic attack about turning 30. I honestly can't understand how I can be almost 30 when I still feel like I should be 20. It has also made me start thinking about what I have accomplished in my life. So just for my own peace of mind and to prove I have not wasted 30 years of life here is my list of things I can take pride in.

Married in the temple
Have 2 great kids
Graduated from college
Started a small business (that I'm currently taking a break from because I hope I'm moving sometime soon)
Home owner
Traveled the world (including 5 cruises)
Changwon, South Korea
Bad Oyenhousen, Germany
The Netherlands
Ensenada, Cozumel, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Mexico
Vancouver, Canada
Vienna, Austria
Budapest, Hungry
Venice, Italy (FAVORITE! NEED to go back some day!!)
Bahamas
Jamaica
Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico
Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Airports in foreign countries that I count
Tokyo, Japan
London, England
(and the kicker, Paisley has been to every single one of these places with me!!)

The list isn't too long, and I'm sure there are others, and smaller things I wouldn't really put on a list anyways. I now have a huge passion for travel, I love it so much, and look forward to a life time of more travel.

I never really thought about world travel in college, and I certainly didn't believe I would get the chance. The only travel goal I had then was to get to every state before I die (I have been to most, I can't find my map right now but I think I'm only missing around 10). If I knew then what I know now about my life I would have majored in travel and tourism.

Anyway, now when I start to panic about turning 30 and feeling like I haven't done anything with my life I can see I have done a few things in my lifetime. Hopefully the list will grow, and I can have new experiences. I'm also looking forward to adding some great new experiences to my kids lives as well. I love creating family memories!