Day two...

With my boys doing school on the laptops it makes it a little harder for me to get to have time to use them to blog, but I will get this 31 day blog challenge done, it just may not be everyday as planned. Here is day two! Twenty facts about me:

1. With in the last few years I have caught the theatre bug! As you may have known, it was on my 40 before list to audition for a play or musical before I turned 40. When I actually got into the play I was shocked! I loved it though and have wanted to do more since! I just found out yesterday that I got into the next production at our local theatre! 

2. I hate asparagus. I feel like it is one of the few vegetables that should have been left for animals to eat and not for human consumption. I have even had it wrapped in bacon and still don't like it. That should say something about it if bacon can't even help it! Haha!

3. I love to read, but do not do it nearly enough. The truth is that if I read as much as I wanted to I would ignore my family and stay up way to late reading. That is how much I love to read. 

4. I deal with depression. I think I have probably talked a little bit about this on this blog. It is a difficult thing to deal with when you have two young kids (it is difficult to deal with no matter what really) who don't understand why you want to sleep so much. 

5. I don't typically sleep very late. For example last night I went to bed around 10 and I woke up at 3 am. Usually I "sleep in" till 4, but the last few days have been earlier than that. It makes the need for a nap a real thing. 

6. I have so many cookie cutters it isn't even funny. Do I ever make cookies with them? No. Should I get rid of them? Probably. Will I get rid of them. No. Why? Because, just as soon as I get rid of them I will need to make some cookies! Haha!

7. I have now been called to Jury Duty twice! The first time I got to sit on two different cases. This time I have yet to be called. I am still on call though, so fingers crossed that I will get called on a case!

8. I am realizing that finding 20 things about myself is difficult.

9. I like coffee. But I am more like a can I have coffee in my creamer type of gal. 

10. All time favorite TV series is Friends! I love it. I quote it. I respect anyone who gets my quotes or who also quotes it. 

11. I am a horrible home maker. Like my house is a mess 24/7. It drives me crazy. I hate the mess, but because of depression and other health problems and, well let's just be honest, laziness, I don't pick up said mess. 

12. I have a passion for girls/women who find themselves in a surprise/crisis pregnancy. I recently started volunteering at our local pregnancy resource center. I love their mission!

13. I am that competitive sports mom. You know the one. I'm yelling from the side. Losing my voice sometimes. Well this year has been a little different because of covid. My son didn't get to play school basketball, so we signed him up for Upward basketball through our church. The rules are a lot different when it comes to being competitive. I've had to really watch myself with the "that's my boy" and such. Haha!

14. I have a clothes addiction. I didn't realize it till this summer when I started to clear out things around the house. I slowly started to declutter. When it came time to declutter my closet I realized I had a lot of clothes! Is it a problem? Maybe. A problem I'm okay with, for sure!

15. I got my first tattoo last year! I kind of love it! Anytime I buy new clothes now I think "is this going to show off my tattoo?"

16. I have terrible penmanship. Like I'm pretty sure there are some first graders who write better than me! It is a good thing this blog is typed other wise you may not be able to read it!

17. When I get a drink out to eat it is always an unsweet tea with lots of ice. 

18. I keep my nativity scene up year round. Not because I'm lazy and don't want to put it up, but because I think it is beautiful and I think it should be seen year round!

19. My favorite meal to eat is Eckrich sausage and fried potatoes. Oh so good! 

20. My favorite podcast to listen to is called Glorious in the Mundane, by Christy Nockels. Go check it out. It is so good and encouraging.  

Day one...

 It has been a while since I have talked about me. Well that isn't true, I talk about me all the time. Let me start over. It has been a while since I have updated you on who I am. There we go, that is better. :) 

My name is Jessica. I am currently a stay at home mom. I have two boys, a 12 year old and a 10 year old, and a husband of 14 years. We have a cat named Waffles. 

My current passion is volunteering at our local pregnancy resource center. If your town has one of these then you know how important it can be to woman who find themselves pregnant and without family or friends to help them. We are an organization that can give them hope, resources, and most importantly share the love of Christ with them. I currently am just the receptionist, but I can't wait to get more involved. 

We "home school" our kids. I put that in quotes because it is more like school at home. It is called Epic Charter school and it is public school online. Currently my kids are doing great at it. We have done this for the past 4 years, gone through 4 teachers, 3 of which we liked. That is the great thing about Epic is that if you don't click with your teacher, you can totally request a different one! I am so glad we did this year. Our current teacher is great and we even have one of our former favorite teachers as our principle! *Side story, our first Epic teacher, Sarah Philpot, is now an author! You can buy it here.  "In this story the town's favorite storyteller, The Fable King, feels like a constant failure because of his dyslexia. But he's not a failure! He has an amazing ability." I'm SO proud of her and just had to share this on here! 

I'm not sure what else to share with you. I recently turned 40 and nearly completed my 40 before 40 list! I was so close to finishing that. I think I actually went through a day of depression the day before I turned 40 because of the fact that I no longer had that goal in mind to look forward to. 

Okay, day 1 of the blog challenge done! Oh I am supposed to share a recent picture of me. I think the most recent good one is the one I shared on here the other day, so I will just re-use it. :) 

31 - Day Blog Challenge...

I have decided to participate in a 31-day blog challenge! I am hoping that everyday I will get a blog post out, each with a different topic. So be on the look out! I should get my first one out today or tomorrow! I got the idea from this blog here. It's been a few years since they did theirs, but I think I can still join in. So what do you say? Join me on this journey?

Update on 40 before 40 list...

 Tomorrow I turn fourrrrr. Fourrrr. I just can't say it. Let's just say it is the number after 39. Shiver! 

So I wanted to update y'all on my 40 before 40 list! I didn't finish everything on there, but I'm pretty proud of myself for all that I did accomplish. Let's take a look at where I stand…

1. Lose weight

2. For my eyes only but it got done

3. Go on a trip with just Justin

4. Go on a trip somewhere fun with just Justin and the kids

5. Get paid to take someone’s pictures

6. Take some sort of class, like cake decorating, photography, or crafting class

7. Declutter the entire main house

8. Wear a dress or shirt that shows some cleavage and wear it with confidence (aka don’t be insecure)

9. Go camping 

10. Do a cartwheel 

11. Go snorkeling 

12. Take a self defense class

13. Take a girls trip with my closest girlfriends

14. Get my passport

15. Get a tattoo

16. Go to an OSU football game

17. Be in more pictures with Justin and the kids

18. Write an article and submit it to a newspaper or magazine 

19. Have purple highlights in my hair

20. Throw a birthday party for an underprivileged kid

21. Sponsor a child through compassion international

22. Go to a formal event with Justin

23. Have a FRIENDS marathon weekend where I (and anyone else who wants to join me) watch all 10 seasons of FRIENDS in order. This may be more of a 2 weekend event

24. Take the family to Disney World or Lego Land CA

25. For my eyes only, but didn’t get done

26. Audition for a musical or play

27. Make a family yearbook at least once

28. Pay for a stranger's meal

29. Buy a bike and go on rides with my kids/family

30. Host more get togethers

31. Be able to wear a pair of boots that come to my knee

32. See Michael Buble in concert

33. Do a date night for Justin that he would enjoy.

34. Wear makeup everyday for a month

35. Buy fancy but comfy pajamas

36. Serve others more than myself

37. Do a Bible study and actually complete it

38. Find a way to contribute to our families finances without compromising my role as a mom and wife

39. Start taking the wall paper down in the guest house!

40. Climb an indoor rock climbing wall 

It looks like I have 13 list items that will be going onto my future bucket list! I’d say that is pretty darn good! I started this list when I was 35! I am realizing that there are some of these that I could have done, but didn’t. Like get my passport. That I should have done when I first started. 

So on a different note, turning the big 4-0 has me freaking out. I don’t know why. Age has never had me freak out before. Maybe it is this list and the fact that I didn’t finish it. Who knows. Did turning a certain age ever freak you out? What is weird is that it wasn’t until today that it had me going crazy!

Well, here is to turning 40! There I said it. I’m turning 40. Aghhhhh! Here is a picture of me on my last day of being in my 30’s. Cause you know tomorrow I might look totally older. Hahaha!