I can’t sleep

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. 

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

-Neil Gaiman December 31st 2011

-Picture taken in Port Townsend with this quote hanging out of the typewriter.

Our first home in 1994 

What it looks like today.

Financial Peace. It can keep one awake at night. Once you have it it will allow you to sleep peacefully. I’ve been there. But tonight it keeps me awake...wide awake.

 I like to browse FB and most times it takes maybe an hour of my day but the other day I couldn’t stop looking at pictures of my brother in law. Particularly the one above. I noticed when I looked this time, compared to the months of looking at them and feeling incredibly sad, I looked at them in a different light. I saw pictures of him smiling, achieving goals, enjoying his life either fishing/hiking/biking/traveling/hanging with buddies/holding his babies proudly/being baptized at a local pool/serving others. He did that, daily. He cherished his life and always tried to help out others when time allowed...and when it didn’t. He also strived for financial peace and at the end was working toward the Steps (in Dave Ramsey’s plan) to completing the journey. 

When I worry, and I tend to do that at night when everyone else is sleeping I am remembering him. He was always on a path to improvement whether it be the house, his job, his health, his marriage, or his finances. I think to accomplish this one must never forget where they came from...and where they’ve gotten too. Too see the progress that has already been made.

I’ve made mistakes and will continue to do so but I want to be working towards goals. In the areas of my health, education, finances, my marriage, and in my job of protecting and raising my babies. So I looked BACK the other day...where we’ve come from. A tiny little one bedroom apartment in the heart of downtown Puyallup. It was perfect for us. Small, quaint, private, and only cost $425.00/month. It was a nice chunk of change to us newbies that were struggling. Now we have a mortgage that is far bigger and far harder to pay sometimes and three kids with constant needs. Yes, we are not helping Valerie pay for school at this time. She is doing an excellent job paying for her schooling and we help her occasionally where we can. She just paid her first semester or tuition and paid it off early just so she wouldn’t have debt hanging over her head (it wasn’t due till the 31st) all 1575.00 of it! We are very proud of her!!! She is turning out to be quite a responsible adult. All that to say sometimes life gets us overwhelmed...we add things to our lives and pocket books that drain us. It was this quote and this picture of Mike and Shannon working towards a goal and realizing their dreams and potential that afforded me hope and peace on my journey. 

Sorry for the sentiments. Sometimes you just have to put things in writing for it to all make sense. Now off to cancel some unnecessary finances from our lives that slowly drain our pocketbooks and deprive me of my sleep. Mistakes that need tending too...