I turned 35 today.

It feels like I am officially in the middle of my life, and thankfully it doesn’t feel anything like a crisis (yet? knocking on wood!!). Hopefully this will only turn out to be the first third of my life, but the number 35 and all of the events leading up to this point feel like a very clear delineation. In the Book of My Life, Volume 1 has officially finished. I am now opening the cover and cracking the spine of a fresh, second installment in this series. Honestly, I can’t wait to read it. And since I’m starting a blog, I will literally be able to read and reflect on what this stage in my life is all about.

Here’s a brief summary of what the first Book of Me was like. I was very fortunate and grew up in an upper-middle class family. I graduated high school, got two college degrees and was able to do some traveling while studying abroad in England and later while teaching English in China. At 32 my fiance and I got a dog, then got married and later that year had our first daughter. We bought our first house in a city just north of Seattle the following year. Shortly thereafter I got pregnant with baby #2 and promptly quit my job to become a stay at home mom. Initially that career move was just going to be temporary. Now, nearly five months after having our second wonderful daughter, there is no solid plan for when I will go back to work outside of the house and get paid for the work I do. Because let’s face it; raising kids is WORK. My husband and I only ever want to have two kids, so our family is now officially complete. Yay! And now I find myself taking a long, hard look at myself in the mirror and wondering: who the heck is that? No seriously, who is that wrinkly, cranky-looking lady with ginormous black bags under her lifeless eyes? And when was the last time this hobo got a haircut? Those sad yoga pants are almost transparent they have been worn so much and clearly haven’t been washed in ages. I swear I can smell traces of vomit. Oh wait, no, that’s just spit-up, I can see it there on her shoulder and down part of her shirt.

“Do you like cookies? I’m going to bake you some cookies. Come here.” I am waving this lady to come close and as I lean in to give her a warm hug and smack my forehead hard on the cold, soulless mirror in our bathroom. The oil stain it leaves is impressive. . . “Shit!” I exclaim loudly. “Jesus Fucking Christ! What the hell happened???” I say this a little quieter and not without out a touch of awe. But I digress. When I am looking in the figurative mirror, I keep wondering: What’s next?

Enter: this blog. For the last few years I have been wanting to start a blog, but for whatever reason I just couldn’t find the motivation. I also couldn’t find the time. Probably because I have tiny children in my house and they have a superpower where they can make time disappear. Or maybe I was just too tired. Another byproduct of having small children in the house. Well, I bit the bullet today and decided to just go for it. Carpe Diem!

As a SAHM (yes, I have a cool professional title that is an acronym for “stay at home mom.” Yay me!) I have found that I am becoming much more passionate and aware of not only the lifestyle I want to live, but also on what knowledge and passion I want to impart to my children. It’s incredibly daunting raising small humans knowing that one day they will magically be large humans and will need to know how function in this crazy world. And thanks to the wasteful lifestyle we humans have been living the last few decades, my children will likely need to know not just how to function in this crazy world, but will need to figure out how keep this crazy world functioning as well.

I don’t pretend to be an expert on parenting, sustainability, gardening or really anything else for that matter. But I plan on being a sponge and learning as much as I can on all of those topics. This blog will be an attempt to hold myself accountable on my learning and lifestyle goals, to help others by sharing everything I learn, and to gain a sense of community with others who have similar interests and passions as me. Thank you for joining me on this journey!