The Top 6 Things on my 2019 To-Do List, and the SHOCKING Thing That’s Not.  

Hello! First, let me apologize for the headline. It’s definitely clickbait. But…I’ve spent a lot of time at a lot of corporate communications conferences where we were told that it’s important to draw readers in, and also, listicles (articles formatted as lists) are popular. Gotta compete with videos where sassy cats push things off ledges, or BuzzFeed’s “21 pictures that will restore your faith in humanity!”

And IT WORKED BECAUSE YOU’RE READING. Except now, you’re either going to go Google cat videos (you should) or be quite let down.

I ended my last post with a mention about blogging more being at the top of my list of goals/resolutions/to-dos for 2019. That got me thinking that I should try to list them out and state my intentions. I think it will both give me accountability in sharing them with you, but also help provide clarity on where my focus should be in the year ahead, beyond family and friends.

Here’s the narrowed-down list. (And yes, get svelte and workout all of the time and only eat celery will probably always be on the list, so I didn’t include it. Same with be the most amazing mom in the whole world who never ever yells. Super easy.)

1. Write/blog more frequently.I’m not sure who is out there reading, but I have had a few people say that the blog helps keep them updated on what we’re up to on this adventure. Thank you for reading, commenting or sharing. It’s nice to know that I’m not always talking one-way into the vast, dark expanse of the internet.

This also means writing whatever. Blogging also helps me remember our time here, and spend time some reflecting. My writing journey has taken me from reporting for a college newspaper, spending years in undergrad and grad school writing research papers, on to a decade-plus of writing articles, presentations and communication messaging for a financial services company. And I enjoyed it all (mostly). Each challenged me in a different way.

But it feels nice to just write whatever I want. I’ll still obsessively edit, I’m sure, but I’m trying to let a little bit of that go. Less polished, more shooting from the hip. Hopefully I can inject a little bit of humor or irreverence here and there. At the same time, there are days that are lonely and some filled with the weight of grief. I hope to be transparent in sharing those feelings as well.

And in writing more often, write less. Being wordy has been an issue for me, through all of those endeavors I mentioned above. Even now, the thought of a blog post is daunting because I have so much to write! Where to begin?! May brevity win out, sometimes.

Finally, this also means exploring freelance writing or consulting work. I believe I can be of value somewhere, to someone. I just need to figure out the logistics and next steps.

2. Get involved and give back. Since I don’t have a steady job for the time being, it’s important to me that I spend time doing something positive and that has an impact. I don’t know what that will be yet – my first idea is to spend more time at the boys’ school, but I’m sure there are other places that could use an extra set of hands. Going to do some digging.

3. Make our house feel like home. I’ve always had an interest in home design and decorating, as evidenced by my confident claim in my high school senior profile that I was going to Iowa State to major in interior design and follow all of my dreams! Ha. One semester in, I realized that it was better as a hobby than a career.

But I do like creating spaces that help our family feel comfortable. A corner for the boys to play, a cozy spot to read or write, a place where we can come together and eat while looking out over the green fields. It may seem superficial, but all of these pieces, old and new, come together to make a home. Not to mention, the thrill of the bargain Facebook Marketplace purchase, where you score a deal, explore beautiful new areas down long and windy roads, and just pray the person who opens the door isn’t malicious.

AND THEN ORGANIZE IT ALL. That’s mostly what’s on my list: take all of the things we have, or still need, and make it into a functioning space we’re proud of, can host our visitors and hopefully friends someday, and works to make our daily tasks easier. I’ve started in the playroom first, where the toys were driving me crazy. And we finally got a wardrobe for our clothes. Watch out, Marie Kondo!!

4. Plan trips. This is perhaps where I have been lacking the most. There is so much to see and do here – in our area, in England, in Europe. I know the years we spend here are the best chance we have to explore these places.

And yet, there is only so much time and money and I don’t even know where to begin. For some reason, it feels daunting. I have always considered myself a planner, but I can’t seem to get organized around the trips we want to take and when to take them and what to do. For instance, Tim and I started talking about everywhere we wanted to visit one night. I think it went like this:

ME: “Well, other parts of England. Up to Scotland. Ireland, obviously. And France…Paris, and maybe other parts? Spain. Ooh, Portugal. Greece, definitely! Belgium, family ancestry there. I never really thought about Germany, but I would like to see it. Prague is supposed to be amazing. Same for Amsterdam!”

Tim: “Well, I would like to see some more of Eastern Europe.”

ME: “Mm-hmm, definitely. And Norway! Sweden! Finland! And maybe since we’re here we should go back to Italy?”

Tim: “I mean, that’s a lot of places…like most of the places. We’re not going to be able to see all that.”

ME: “OK, well, you asked.”

The list of places we want to see is long. It would be better to plan ahead since most of the schools have the same term breaks, so things get booked quickly and rates get expensive. This one is going to take some work. But I’m not complaining. It’s exciting just to dream, and hopefully turn a few dreams into reality.

5. Be a better-prepared, more organized chef, making healthy and delicious meals for my family each night. Heh heh. I can’t hardly type it without laughing and thinking how badly I’m going to fail at this one. But it still deserves a spot.

6. Find a spiritual home. When we first moved to Tosa, we did a lot of searching before we joined our church, St. Matt’s. It was a larger church than Tim and I were used to, and it took us a while to find our place there, but eventually we did. We were in a new members group, taught Sunday School (only for a year, but it was a good run!), I wrote prayer notes as requested by members, and the boys loved Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and the music programs.

We met and deepened relationships with wonderful people, including the pastors. They prayed for us, cared for us, and lifted us up when we needed it most the past couple of years. Admittedly, we have not spent a lot of time looking for a church here, but I’d like to seek out a place that will help us grow spiritually and provide a sense of community that we miss. Until then, we have St. Matt’s streaming on YouTube. (God bless technology.)

That’s my list, so far. Now, for the thing I don’t want to do more. (I lied; it’s not shocking.) But I have given it some thought. I want to let go of the pressure to make every moment magical here. There’s a feeling sometimes that because we live in a foreign country for a finite amount of time, that I need to be seizing every moment, traveling every second, and doing something new all of the time.

But winter is winter, and the days are still short and dark right now. (Albeit, there’s not a foot of snow and -50 wind chills. Yikes, you guys, hang in there.) There’s still homework, budgets, to-do lists. It’s OK for the boys to just run around the yard sometimes, and even if it’s not at a – gasp – castle.

This time of year, the days can feel lonely. It gives me some comfort knowing that at the end of it, all around the world, we’re all just taking off uncomfortable pants and putting on sweats and Netflix. Right…??! Let me know if you have any thoughts on my list, or your own 2019 to-do list, or even your Netflix queue list.

One final note on my runner-up goals, who are still beautiful and may be rotated into the top 6 goals should one of those fail to perform its duties: 

• Learn to play the guitar.
• Pass my drivers license test. (Actually I just have to do this.)
• Build trust with the fancy ponies out back so they look at me in the same adoring way I look at them every day. Also, avoid the temptation to buy a cute lamb.