April Recap - 30 before 30

Wow was April a BUSY month! Here's what I got for ya today:

2. Publish some music - I officially sent off my piece to get my first rejection letter. Let the wait begin. :)

4. Write a business plan for a music studio - I didn't even bother writing this down - I decided that I like how my studio is rolling just fine, and I don't want a bigger thing. :) Done!

6. Sell our house and move - Done and DONE! This was a huge one!! We are all moved - not settled, but very happy about it!

9. Take a once a month class - took a pottery class with Steffi!

11. Finish one book a month - I read a great book this month called "The Next Thing on My List." My good friend Steffi loaned this to me - you can read about her review of the book here.

27. Eat lunch with my mom once a month - done! It was on the floor of our new house while we were moving, but nevertheless, lunch.

28. Eat a four course dinner for free - we did this last week at the Hill's house. Steffi had on her list to host a formal dinner party, Jenica had on her list to cook a four course meal, so we piled all three of these together for a ridiculously fun evening!


I'm now down to two months - yikes!! Time to put it into high gear!

I'm movin' on...

A week ago we began our move into our new home in Trophy Club. This whole move process really came with mixed emotions. We fought for a very long time to stay in our house, however, once we made the decision to put it up for sale, we never looked back.

Our old house to us symbolized success, arrival, and security, however, it couldn't provide that. No matter how much trust and hope we put in the house, it was just a house.

See for us, the move was a do-over. We sold the thing that was once the most important thing to us, paid off the debt racked up from the past few horrible years. We moved from the place that every day reminded us of a past life we no longer lived in.

Our move has been hectic, and I still don't know where most of my clothes are, but I'm happy to be here. People have asked how the move was, was I sad, was I upset about selling my home, they were sorry, etc? I really was at peace with it all. It's an end to a long four rough years, and Rascal Flatts says it best (and click on the title to hear the song). Here's to a new beginning!

I'm movin' on

I've dealt with my ghosts and I've faced all my demons
Finally content with a past I regret
I've found you find strength in your moments of weakness
For once I'm at peace with myself
I've been burdened with blame, trapped in the past for too long
I'm movin' on
I've lived in this place and I know all the faces
Each one is different but they're always the same
They mean me no harm but it's time that I face it
They'll never allow me to change
But I never dreamed home would end up where I don't belong
I'm movin' on

Chorus
I'm movin' on
At last I can see life has been patiently waiting for me
And I know there's no guarantees, but I'm not alone
There comes a time in everyone's life
When all you can see are the years passing by
And I have made up my mind that those days are gone

I sold what I could and packed what I couldn't
Stopped to fill up on my way out of town
I've loved like I should but lived like I shouldn't
I had to lose everything to find out
Maybe forgiveness will find me somewhere down this road
I'm movin' on

I'm movin' on
I'm movin' on

March - Month 3 Recap

3 months?! Really?! Oh my gosh that happened fast. For the past couple of weeks, I've been tackling a big huge thing on our list - sell our house and move! We have a contact on the house and are set to close on the 15th of April! We move in a week and have no clue where we're going, but we're keeping life exciting? My list is really starting to take shape, but I have a lot to do still! Ok, so here's the update - things done in the past are in red, things done in March are in green! (It's the luck of the Irish!)

1. Lose weight. Meh...
2. Publish some music.
3. Write a book. The writing has begun! Look for it to be released on my birthday!
4. Write a business plan for a potential music studio.
5. Throw Kyle a great 30th birthday party. DONE!
6. Sell our house and move. Sold! Move will happen this month!
7. Finish scrapbooking 2006.
8. Start a once a month bunco group.
9. Take a class once a month and learn something new. March - took an earring class with Jenica!
10. Clean out the clothes I will never ever wear again, either because they don't fit, or no 30 year old should wear them. DONE!
11. Finish one book a month. Um, I missed March, but I read two in January, so that counts. Yeah.
12. Kyle. A lady doesn't kiss and tell, but of course this one is done. :)
13. Get rid of my Mary Kay inventory and go to an order only system.
14. Get my wedding album ordered.
15. Decide on a go to cocktail. It's true, I love a good glass of Riesling wine. It's definitely my first choice. In fact, I'm having some as I write this post!
16. Try a new recipe every week. Uhh, yeah. I'm moving. This was a dumb one.
17. Ride a horse.
18. Blog about my adventures, print them out, and put it in a book for my kids to read one day. Blogging, done!
19. Take at least 1 picture every day. This was also dumb. I'm doing a better job of documenting my life, and that was the main goal.
20. Catalogue the choir music at church. Shelving is bought, just waiting for someone to help me put it together. :)
21. Take a getaway trip with my hubby.
22. Miss a Sunday of church. (Haven't done this since October of 2009. Yikes!)
23. Sew a quilt. Just for me.
24. Learn to play the hammered dulcimer.
25. Watch the entire series of Sex and the City.
26. Have lunch with my mom once a month. March - done! Granted, it was a turkey sandwich on the couch, but that was the best we could do.
27. Spend time with my girls once a month. Had a great girls night with Jenica last week with our bead class and Gloria's!
28. Eat a four course dinner for free.
29. Make an apron.
30. Say goodbye to my 20s in style!

Ash Wednesday Reflections

Rarely do I get a chance to kneel at the altar and spend time in prayer. During communion I always have to hurry back up to the piano, and if there is anything special, such as kneeling for ashes on Ash Wednesday, I'm playing, so forget that, too.

Tonight I got to kneel down at the altar and get my ashes on my forehead after service. The sanctuary was dark except for a few lights, and after I got my ashes, I was by myself. So I sat. And listened.

The last few years I haven't given anything up for Lent, and it's not because I didn't want to, I just felt that there was so much I had "given up" (or really, they had been taken away from me) and I didn't feel like I could give up anything else. This year really is no better. So as I sat at the altar and wondered, "What's left to even give up?" I felt God talking to me: "What's left? You may think you lost the life that you wanted, but do you think that's all I gave up? What makes you think you deserve any of this to begin with?"

It's true. I don't deserve to know exactly what is the plan for my life, or to know what the next step is. There's a LOT more I could give up. That doesn't make any of this uncertainty any easier, I'm not gonna lie.

This year for Lent, I'm giving up my need to have it all planned it, and focus on the cross on my forehead.

Weekly Recap - Week 9

As predicted, I made some good progress this week! This was one of the busiest weeks I have during the year, but I still managed to get some good things going. Here's the run down for the week:

3. Write a book - My book is in full swing. I've made some great progress this week, and I'm looking forward to knocking it out!

8. Start a once a month bunco group - Plans are moving!

16. Try a new recipe every week - I ate an interesting Mexican Pizza for the first time this week!

19. A picture a day - I got most days! Pictures coming tomorrow!

I'm excited about what I've started on this week, and can't wait to see what's in store! I have one more really busy week of accompanying, but I'm not letting this week get by either!

Month 2 - February

February was a COMPLETE blur. Seriously. Where did it go? While this was not the most productive month in my quest, I am glad for the few things I accomplished, and look forward to starting March and finishing the last 4 months with gusto! So here's an update of where I am in the list (updates for February are in blue!):

1. Lose weight. I'm down 2 lbs. - definitely not where I want to be, but I'm in a better routine of working out, so I'll take it!
2. Publish some music.
3. Write a book. Did the basics to get going on this in February! Let the writing begin!
4. Write a business plan for a potential music studio.
5. Throw Kyle a great 30th birthday party. DONE!
6. Sell our house and move.
7. Finish scrapbooking 2006.
8. Start a once a month bunco group.
9. Take a class once a month and learn something new. January - wine class - DONE! February - fail. Flu and ice won!
10. Clean out the clothes I will never ever wear again, either because they don't fit, or no 30 year old should wear them. DONE!
11. Finish one book a month. January - DONE! Read 2 actually. February - DONE! Read "Things Christians Like."
12. Kyle. A lady doesn't kiss and tell, but of course this one is done. :)
13. Get rid of my Mary Kay inventory and go to an order only system.
14. Get my wedding album ordered.
15. Decide on a go to cocktail.
16. Try a new recipe every week. January - DONE! February - I tried a lot of new restaurant foods this month! I wasn't home really to cook, so this is the best I could do!
17. Ride a horse.
18. Blog about my adventures, print them out, and put it in a book for my kids to read one day. Blogging, done!
19. Take at least 1 picture every day. January - done! I missed a couple of days, but that's not too bad! February - again, flu and ice 2, Michelle 0. Got a few in though!
20. Catalogue the choir music at church. In progress!
21. Take a getaway trip with my hubby.
22. Miss a Sunday of church. (Haven't done this since October of 2009. Yikes!)
23. Sew a quilt. Just for me.
24. Learn to play the hammered dulcimer.
25. Watch the entire series of Sex and the City.
26. Have lunch with my mom once a month. January - DONE! We had a blast! February - Done! We went to the Dove's Nest in Waxahachie. Yum!
27. Spend time with my girls once a month. Got some serious girl time in the month! DONE! February - Done! Steffi and I had a fantastic spa day last week!
28. Eat a four course dinner for free.
29. Make an apron.
30. Say goodbye to my 20s in style!

Where did Week 6 and 7 go??

Well, I'm embarrassed about the last two weeks. The flu knocked me out so bad, that it took two weeks after I was sick to recover. Needless to say, my last two weeks, I haven't achieved anything on my list really for the past two weeks, but I am back to normal and ready to attack my list with a vengeance once again!

Look for serious progress coming at you next week!