Thursday, January 30, 2014

Rachel's House of Dreams (For now)

This is post #250 on this little, often rather neglected, blog of mine. It is also probably the last time I will post on this blog. I have been working the past few nights to create a new blog platform for myself through Wix. It's not ready quite yet but hopefully will be up and running by early next week. I am not so tech savvy myself, so I really like that I can easily customize my new site without any coding knowledge at all (no this is not a plug for Wix). Also, I know you can do all that stuff on Blogger as well, but Wix is much easier, cleaner and produces a better product overall in my opinion. Someday Tony will be a pro at HTML and he can design a site just for me. I have already put in my order.

So for #250 I've been stewing for a few days on what to say about it all. Actually I'm stewing more about what is all even is, because to be completely honest I am not entirely sure. I have nothing terribly meaningful or earth shattering to say. Nothing out of the ordinary to report. I will say, however, that I am feeling so great about life in general right now. Yes, I am having a little bit of a rough time with some pregnancy hormones at the moment, but remembering that at the other side of this rough patch will come a baby girl helps me feel better soon every time I feel a little blue.

I suppose the major impetus for the relocation/redesign of my blog is that I feel like our family is starting yet another new chapter of our lives. Tony recently started a new school program and changed his major, which we both agree is a positive step towards achieving our family goals sooner and will help make life more financially manageable for the next several years. We have been in DC almost a year now and I am really starting to feel like this is home. Liam recently turned one and is fast becoming more of a little person rather than a baby every day. Baby number two is approximately 15 weeks away from joining our family, and we absolutely cannot wait to meet her! Oh and . . .


We have a house. We are (mostly) moved in and settling in nicely. Liam has adjusted to all the space like a pro and he sure does love crawling up those steps. Now we just need to master the down the steps part.

Can I just say that again:

WE HAVE A HOUSE!

I have dreamed to live in my own house for so long. Apartment living really is not meant for me. I still get happy jitters when I remember I get to drive to my home! Here's a sneak preview:



But isn't she beautiful?

She's a 1950's girl and you can definitely tell by her salmon pink bathroom tiles (and fixtures to boot!), green carpeting, black and white kitchen tiles and split levelness. I mean who needs four such little tiny floors? But Liam does love those stairs so I guess it's not too bad. We have a deck! And a yard! It's on a dead end street. Oh and get this, there is a national park right on the other side of the street from us. I cannot wait to get everything unpacked and ready to invite some friends over to our new place!

We are here for the next two and a half years.

I thought for my last post on my old blog (and my first post in my new house) I would set some expectations/goals/new dreams for myself to live up to in the years to come. With a little luck and some hard work, I hope I can look back on these goals some day and feel proud of how far our little family has come. Sure, I won't get all of these (probably not even most of them), and there are many things I am sure are in store for me that I have not even thought to include in my list yet. And I look forward to experiencing it all as it comes (no rush of course as I am in the process of learning to love life as it is at this very moment).

 Some of these I expect will take a lifetime. Some may never happen, but what is life really if you aren't working towards something?

So in honor of this new chapter in the Torres' family's continuing journey may I present to you:

Rachel's List of Buckets to Fill:
Before we leave this house I hope to ...
  • Get Tony through school
  • Secure Tony a job
  • Save up enough money for a dream house that actually belongs to us
  • Pay off a significant portion of our debts
  • Have two happy, healthy children
  • Get at least a raise or two at work
  • Institute a yearly family vacation
  • Take advantage of the wonderful city we now live in and not just near (including the park, zoo, etc. that are just minutes from my home)
  • Finally take some time to really use that piano we brought with us
  • Keep my house in the clean, orderly state my children and husband deserve to live in (this is harder than it sounds for me)
  • Read, study and learn at least some of the things I have been trying to find the time to get around to
  • Enjoy it all a little more!
Someday, sometime, somewhere . . . maybe
  • Get to be a stay at home mama
  • homeschool my children for K - 2nd grade (Tony and I are still negotiating this one)
  • Go to culinary school
  • Visit all 7 (Yes, including Antarctica) continents
  • Live debt free (Dare to dream, huh?!)
  • Go on a Church mission with my husband
  • Be on Jeopardy!
  • Get through the children's names we have picked out so far (i.e. have more children)
  • Finally own a second car
  • Buy our dream house!
  • Own a farm/land (even a small amount will suffice)
  • Sing in public by myself (this has been one of my goals for years and I don't really know if it will ever happen but I would love to some day have the courage to do it)
  • Be able to do what I want if I do work, not what I have to do to make money
  • Get my teaching license 
  • Be on the board of a non profit (or a school board perhaps)
  • Travel, travel and travel (honestly there are few places that I do NOT want to go and most of those I would go to if it was actually safe)
I have been a little stressed with the change/expense of moving and settling into this new chapter of our lives. I know that adding another baby while wonderful and joyous, will certainly not make life easier by any stretch of the imagination. However, I am so excited for it all right now! We cannot wait to meet you baby girl!

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