Reflecting on Turning 35: Part 2

 February 13, 2023

2 days left.

A list of accomplishments in my last 35 years (in no specific order of importance or significance; also in no particular chronology):

  • I have an amazing husband. He has been my best friend since we were 14 years old. We have grown as individuals and as a couple. Our family has grown. Our lives have gone through many peaks and valleys, and we have done it all together. We hold grudges, bicker, and still give each other hard times for things that have happened years ago. We dance in the kitchen. We tell jokes. We have impossible expectations for each other, and we don't always fight fairly. BUT we choose to love each other each and every day. 
  • I have had two children. The "having" of the kids in and of itself is an accomplishments. The fact that they are still alive is also an accomplishment as both of our kids have lived through accidents and incidents where we got lucky. Even more so, our children are good people. They have their moments, of course, but overall, they are pretty great kids.
  • I have my dream job. I've said since I was in about 5th grade that I wanted to teach middle school Language Arts, and here I am! Teaching middle school English (writing) and Literature, and I LOVE it. Yes, the politics and the work and the paperwork and the behavior and all the things can be a LOT. BUT---at the end of the day, I love my job. Even just today, a student who is normally shy and reserved shared their conclusion of their essay out loud, and it was fantastic! LOVE THAT!
  • In the past several years, I have become more active than I had ever been before. I work out regularly (weight lifting and yoga and light cardio). I play on a women's soccer team twice a week. I hike. We kayak regularly. And Patrick got me a stand-up paddleboard for my birthday. I love being outside. These are things I did not learn about myself until my 30s, and I am happy to be at this place.
  • I have learned that I am a mountain person. Going to Glacier in 2021 was one of the best
    experiences of my entire life. The Smokeys last year were amazing. And I am so excited about Yellowstone and Grand Tetons this upcoming summer. 
  • I have a lot of friends. And actually, at varying points in my life, this wasn't something I could say. BUT as of right now, I have a lot of friends. Good ones, too. Like life-long, deep conversations, buy presents for no reason, Target-run friends.
  • I have a supportive family. Both mine and my husband's families are an active, present part of my life. Whether in person or on social media, we are in contact with MOST of our family members weekly if not daily. It takes a village-and mine is great.
A List of Memories from my 35 Years (Also in no particular order of chronology or importance):
  • One time, in 9th grade, Patrick was absent from science class. Well, we had a lab experiment that day, and I was on my own with our other group member. We went through the entire lab, and our results were destroyed and ruined. Our teacher came over. She yelled at us for forgetting the boiling chips in our test tube. When Patrick came back to school, we told him, and he interrupted and said, "You forgot the boiling chips, didn't you?" He was the MVP of that science lab group. True story.
  • One time, when I was really young, I fell off of one of those orange and blue plastic slides with the white steps. I can picture the room. It was carpeted. My mom was there. And I fell. True story.
  • One time, when I was in about 4th-ish grade, I was one of the best spellers in the class. And then, when I got a little older, I bumped my head on the corner of a shelf. And after that, I was bad at spelling. True story.
  • One time, when Oliver was a baby, he found a sharpie marker and drew all over the walls. True story.
  • One time, when Charlotte was a baby, Oliver decided to wake up in the night and take a bag of cheerios into her crib with him and then spilled the entire bag all over the place. True story.
  • One time, when Charlotte was a baby, Oliver created a paste out of lotion and baby powder and rubbed it on every surface- including Charlotte. True story.
  • One time, when Charlotte was young, she took a blue marker and colored her legs. True story.
  • One time, I jumped off a huge rock into glacier water by a waterfall. And it took me a whole 5 minutes to get the guts, but then I did it. And I felt super accomplished. True story.
  • One time, at our wedding, my Grandpa got super drunk. True story.
  • One time, I was holding Charley in her rocking chair. I was feeding her. She was all snuggly warm in a fuzzy onesie, and she reached her little hand up and rested it on my cheek. True story.
  • One time, I was having a sleepover with 4 or 5 other girls, and my mom drove us all to the store to buy toilet paper, and then took us to our church leader's house to TP. True story.
  • One time, in high school, my friends and I were playing Buck Buck at the park by my house. And the police showed up. Because apparently it is illegal to play Buck Buck (or any games) at any park after dark. True story.
  • One time, at a church retreat, a red-headed boy (I do not know his name anymore) asked me to be his girlfriend. I said, "No thank you," and then I went to my cabin to cry because I was so embarrassed. True story.
  • One time, I took my kids for a hike, and we left the path to explore some more. Well- we got lost. I had to pull out my phone so I could find the lake and walk towards it. Then, we got caught in some raspberry bushes. Charlotte got super stuck and wrapped up in the branches. I ended up having to hold her on my shoulders and trudge through. When we finally reached the lake, all of us had scratches all over our arms and faces, but we had a memory! True story.
  • EDIT: one time, when I was 19, 2007!, I went to Minocqua with my family. As I was climbing into the paddle boat, I got one foot in and it started to drift away! My other foot fell off the dock and into the muck, and the muck stole my flip flop. THEN- in 2020, we went to Minocqua again of course. And as we were walking on the dock and checking stuff out, my nephew said, “hey! I found a flip flop.” AND IT WAS MY FLIP FOOP FROM 13 years before!!! True story!
  • EDIT: when I was a teenager, I was babysitting my cousins. Well- I burned the popcorn. And we had to open the window sand air out the house. So then I decided to try cookies. But my aunt had all her baking ingredients in ceramic, sealed containers…and I used powdered sugar instead of flour. And the “dough” spread out all over the pan and dripped down into the oven and crusted on the bottom. It was a huge mess. And I didn’t know how to clean it! So I wrote a letter begging forgiveness and sacrificing my hourly wage, but my aunt and uncle forgave me and paid me anyway 😂 True Story!

Tennessee Williams once said, "Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going." These seemingly insignificant pieces make up the puzzle that is my 35 years. But I have only finished the edges. I still have to fill in the pieces in the middle. 

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