Hopes and Dreams for 2009

This entry will not be specifically about my pregnancy, so breathe a sigh of relief! And I am not doing the typical "New Year's Resolutions" list either. I don't really do those, and I never have. I forget about them the next day anyways so it's never worth it!

So what is this entry about? Well my darling husband Nick and I have a lot of really huge things coming up this year and I feel like talking about them :) I'm talking major life milestones--things that people plan for and hope to achieve their entire life. Those of you who know me personally are aware that I'm pretty gung-ho and am all about making goals and plans for my life and family. And not only making them, but executing them and seeing them through! That's the best part. 2009 is going to (hopefully) bring a lot of those plans that have been in the making for years now into reality and we are very excited!

**The first of these is the obvious--a child. Since March of 2003 Nick and I have been trying for a family of our own. I have always wanted to get my own life started and going and having a "family" was right there on the list. But God had another plan for us, and he decided that our time would not be until the summer of 2009! I absolutely am going stir crazy waiting to find out the gender and am ready to buy everything for the nursery now!!!!!

**Next on the agenda is--moving into our "permanent" residence. I say that in quotations because we have sort of been vagabonds the last few years, moving every couple into a different house. But we both planned that the house that we design will be the one that we live in for at least 15-20 years and raise our children in. After that--retirement baby! We are currently in the process of buying an acre in the semi-country, and have submitted a few house ideas to a builder for estimates. We are actually meeting with him tomorrow afternoon to find out what they came up with. This will be our first estimate, so we will still talk to another builder after this to get an idea of our options.

**This brings me to the next big thing--selling our house. We bought our current house in July of 2006. We both knew when we moved there that it would not be permanent because there was practically no yard, and nowhere to put a shop for Nick. But we loved the house, and the neighborhood was VERY safe as opposed to our previous house in the ghettos of southside OKC. So now that we are building our next house in a different city, we need to sell our house first. And not with a realtor mind you! Nope I'm going to take it into my OWN hands and list it FSBO. It will be a huge headache I'm sure, but in the end, the money we save from handing over commission to a realtor will so be worth it.

**The big thing for Nick will be--graduating college! He got a little of a late start on his further education (thanks to lack of encouragement growing up...) so then I come along and fill his head with all the possibilities of life and eventually convince him that he too can get a college degree. So right now he is almost done with his Network Technology degree and should finish up next year. Things are a little whacky with the baby coming, and me going on maternity leave but we'll figure it out! I'm very proud of him for doing so well--he is at the top of his class!

**And last (thank you for sticking it out!) is me--getting a new job!! No I don't think I'll be quitting OU because I really do value the experience I get in the ICU. But my goal is to get into home health care and cut back my hours to part time. Nick will be working also and our mortgage will be less than it is now, so we won't have to both work full time. I will start looking into this after I am done with maternity leave in September and hopefully find something quickly after that so we don't have to use any daycare!