Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Twenty-Eight

Do I look older to you?  Just asking because I am!

Today marks another birthday for me, thankfully an easier one than last year, LOL!  I decided to make another list on this birthday like I did on the last.  Again, not focused on to-do's, goals, or things that I want, this is a positive list!  Everyday in this life isn't perfect and I know I don't have everything figured out... but this is a list of the 28 things I am happy about and thankful for in my life as it is right now- on this birthday.

At Twenty-Eight Years Old...

1.  I know 28 isn't as scary as 27 was :) which made today easier.

2.  I joined a new team at work and the experience has been wonderful. I love all the new challenges and learning new things each day is very rewarding.

3.  Aside from being super handy, my hubby is also a model... no really!  Alex makes his modeling debut this summer in Civia's 2012 catalog.  He makes me want a new bike, LOL!

3.  Rocco and Sadie NO longer sleep in our bed!!!  That was a hard habit to break our pups of but so worth it!  Alex and I are sleeping much better and I don't have to worry about dog hair on our bed linens!

4. I no longer rely on Alex to hang a picture frame.  I do it on my own and I do it RIGHT with a tape measure and level instead of making lots of little holes in our walls... and crooked pictures.

5.  I am taking better care of my skin.  It's a bummer it took me so long to start but regardless I'm doing it!!!  Slather me with SPF and bring on the faux glow :)

6. I've seen the Taj Mahal, Effiel Tower, and Big Ben all in the past year.  Makes up for hardly travelling during the 27 other years of my life.

7.  For the first time since 3rd grade I have bangs.  I'm happy I tried something new and fun, but I'm pretty certain the no-bang look is better on me :)

8.  I am now a skilled Shih Tzu groomer!  After spending way too much money on Rocco's haircuts I decided to try it myself.  Sure, Rocco endured a lot of bad choppy haircuts while I was training but I've got the skills down now!  This is a DIY skill that is really paying off!

9.  A friend that I've spent dinners, birthdays, good days, and bad days with all came from carpooling :) oh and I can't forget dancing to 'Ray of Light' at Ikea, that was a highlight!

10.  My sister became a mom this year.  My little niece Brynnan reminds me that prayers are always answered, and miracles do happen.

11.  Related to #10, after almost two weeks at the hospital Brynnan can go home for the first time today!

12.  I am getting better at not being so hard on myself all the time.  I realize I am my worst critic after all.

13.  I have many inspiring and creative women in my life.

14.  My last birthday was the first of the five I've spent in Minnesota surrounded by friends I've made here.  I'll never forget how special that felt and I didn't miss home that day.

15.  I have kept a plant alive at our house for more than a year now.  This is amazing considering I usually kill everything.  Perhaps I can start a garden next spring?!?

16.  I sang bad American karaoke at a bar in Shanghai (yes this counts as an experience I am kind of proud of).

17.  A month from now I will be sitting on my favorite sandy beach along Lake Michigan.

18.  Even though I am not great at this, I am becoming a better listener.

19.  Just last week my nephew asked his mom for the first time, "Where's Auntie Carla?"  This confirms Henri thinks I am cool.  Getting him that ninja robe from Hong Kong might have helped :)

20.  I'm taking the time to tailor my clothes.  It's crazy, a good fit can make you like something even more than when you bought it!

21.  It's July and I have my Christmas decor scheme all planned out, ho, ho, ho!!!!

22. We have fantastic and fun neighbors!  I feel so thankful that there are great people right outside my door.  There are yearly parties we get to look forward to and who else can say they have neighbors that are generous (and nice) enough to share tickets to exciting events?!?
Alex and I got to attend the Brothers of the Sun concert (the first ever at Target Field) thanks to our neighbors.  It was so much fun!!!

23.  Our family member are in good health, which means I don't think about it a lot but I should be more thankful and never take it for granted.

24.  I got to catch up with an old childhood pal and meet her daughter during my last Michigan visit.  It was planned last minute and ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip.

25. Although my husband turned one of our vehicles into something a superhero would drive, I've found it is quite amusing to drive it.  Halloween should be a hoot!

26. I got to go inside the mysterious house I have wanted to see ever since we moved into the neighborhood. And for those of you wondering about that story, fingers crossed there's much more to come than I had hoped for!

27. My husband supports every dream I have... no matter how crazy.  Alex has never told me "never".

28.  The possibilities for my future are endless.  Tomorrow, next month, next year, and the ten years after are whatever I dream them up to be.

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Here's to starting 28 from where I am right now!

27 comments:

  1. Happy 28th Birthday! Loved reading your 28 things :)

    I have just turned 41 and I realise to a 28 yr old that sounds old, lol! I have very very fond memories of being 28, that was when the rest of my life started, as I met my husband at 28, married him at 30. We now have two lovely kids aged 8 and 5, and are coming up to our 11th wedding anniversary in October. We have shared some amazing adventures together as a couple and as a family, the largest being packing up everything we owned and moving from New Zealand to Australia one year ago on August 5th...what a ride it has been, and continues to be!

    ps. I still feel 28, just with a few more wrinkles ;)

    xx Karen

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    1. Loved your story Karen! I hope Alex and I get to go on more and more adventures in the years to come. Moving to another country is a HUGE adventure! We've always kind of wondered about that :) maybe someday for us? oh, and 41 doesn't sound old at all and I imagine I will always feel like I am 22 for the rest of my life!

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  2. Loved reading this blog, I miss you!

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    1. I miss you too! We need to get together at the end of August, I have to see that fancy house of yours! We can both blog about the experience!!!!!

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  3. Happy Happy birthday! And i love the bangs on you!!

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  4. Happy birthday. This whole entry makes me smile! :)

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    1. Glad it made you smile! You telling me that made me smile too :)

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  5. Happy Birthday, Carla! Hope your day is fun and great memories are made!

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    1. Thank you Diana! It was a wonderful yet simple day :) I need to catch up on your blog, I have been so bad lately but I'm dying to see what you've been working on!

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  6. Happy birthday! May your year be filled with happiness, love, success, health and wonderful memories to be made.
    Sincerely,
    Juliann Jones

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  7. Happy birthday. Cannot remember turning 28 but I do remember turning 29! I hated it. Not sure why. I turned down dinner offers from friends and dates and my dad took me out for chinese.
    Thats a memory I will always have. That was a long time ago. The chinese restaurant is still there but my dad has since passed away.

    Love your bangs. I have always had bangs, ever since I was a little girl. Now they help me look young. At least thats what the fashion mags say......

    As for the model hubby, HELLO!

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    1. 29 sounded very special for you :) I love stories like that.

      I think my bangs do make me look younger, maybe that is why I think they aren't right on me just yet because they remind me of 'kid Carla'? Who knows, maybe they will grow on me as they grow a bit? At least they cover some of the wrinkles I have on my forehead, LOL!

      And yes, I too give a hello to my model hubby :) he is so stinkin cute!

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  8. Happy Birthday Carla, and thanks so much for the post. It made me smile too. My Birthday was also yesterday, and it made me think of all the things I am thankful for as well. I turned 42, so that list would be a little too extensive, 28 is a perfect age. My day didn't go quite as planned, but my family and I made the most of it, and had quite a few laughs and giggles throughout the day anyway. The morning was perfect, but the afternoon, took a turn. We headed out on a road trip I had been wanting to do for a while now, and we got a flat tire due to road construction. Hubby changed the tire and we headed back to "discuss" (yell) at the workers. The foreman told us to head to his tire repair shop and he would call him right away......I won't go into all the details, but we spent some time in more than one tire repair shop as my van had specialty tires, and we discovered who had freepopcorn for customers, who had the better television and seating areas, we made a game of filling in discussions of the mechanics behind the glass windows in the shop, we giggled and enjoyed about 3 hours, not going on our planned road trip. Life is too short not to make the most of any situation, we had a great day even up until our dog got sprayed by a skunk while outside one last time for the night :( poor T-Bone, is a little smelly but we still love him, he is doing much better this morning and he is thankful to be in his bed inside the house today. Thanks again for your sharing this post and sorry for rambling on and on....

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    1. Oh my, what a birthday! I am glad mine was a little simpler than that :) I still went to work, then had drinks with a few friends/ co workers, then the hubby and I ordered pizza and watched the Olympics. Simple but an out of the ordinary Tuesday :) It is fun that your day turned into something you will always remember, good or bad those are always special!

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  9. Happy Birthday. You are so wise for 28! I can't wait to hear more about that mysterious house in the neighborhood.

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    1. Me too! I am working on it, it's a good thing the blog helps to connect you to the right people if ya know what I mean :)

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  10. Happy birthday!!! Your list is absolutely amazing! I do have to ask a question I've always been curious about, what do you do for a job that allows you to travel so much??

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    1. Thanks Pamela, and very good question :) I work within Merchandising & Product Development for a US retailer. I have to leave out the name and usually try not to talk about it in order to keep my blog world separate from work, I think it would fall under conflict of interest stuff? Anyway, this little blog is my hobby and I love it! At least I can throw in a little bit of world travels when I do travel for work. It is a nice little bonus that came with my career choice, I had no idea I'd get to travel to places like China and India!

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  11. Happy Birthday Carla! I love your post today! It was so fun to read. This year I turn the big 5-0. To be honest, I am not dreading it and am looking forward to it!

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    1. Milestone birthday for you!!! I would be embracing it too! We'll have to catch up when I gear up for my big 3-0 in 2 years :)

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  12. Carla,
    My great friend Amber turned me on to your blog. ( isn't she great??!!)
    I wanted to say thank you for the reminder to be grateful daily, I needed that today.
    Your blog inspires me to tackle my home to do list and try new ideas.
    Good luck in your new year!
    ~ Victoria

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    1. Hi Victoria, glad Amber connected you! She is amazingly fantastic!!! Thanks for the kind words, it always makes me feel happy to hear if I've inspired someone :)

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  13. What a nice blog. Good for you looking on the bright side of life. If it's any consolation, I am several decades older than you (heck, my kids are older than you!) and each one has been the best! Every decade I have life gets better. Happy Birthday.

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    1. Hi Jo! Thanks for the tip :) I guess from almost 3 decades of experience it does seem to get better and better, I can't wait for more!

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  14. Ok I can't not comment. I stumbled upon your blog last month and have been following it every since. Our lives are far too similar for me to not share. My husband and I (both born and raised in Michigan) moved to Minneapolis 3 years ago. We did the downtown thing and then bought a town home still near downtown but it needed a bunch of work. So we are DIY'ers ourselves. Just finished a small bathroom last month and we put in a ladder shelf too..but before I saw your post. Also was at Ikea on Saturday admiring the wall shelf and hating the crowds. We also have driven by the 'mystery house' too and LOVE it and wonder what the story is...anyway weird coincidences but I guess that is why I like your blog and am looking forward to your detective work on the 'mystery house'

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