The List

When I was five years old and you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would tell you "dolphin trainer/gymnast/ice skater." If you looked at my home videos and journals, you would probably come to the conclusion I turned into some sort of megalomaniac. The videos are filled with me singing into toy microphones, and the journals are full of lies.

When I was just a wee Tweetie Bird impersonator, with Trever and Dad at Marineland.

In kindergarten, every Monday, we were required to write a sentence or two and draw a picture about what we had done that weekend. According to these records I had scuba dived, been in more weddings then you could count, saved a young pup from peril, and accomplished more heroic and daring deeds then one would believe of a navy seal, let alone a 5-year-old girl with chicken fluff for hair.  I knew what I was doing, too. I wasn't just an imaginative child, I was a con-artist. I wanted my teacher to believe that I was special and exotic and different.

In reality, I suppose all of this did forshadow what I have become. Not a megalomaniac, but maybe a small shade of one: a writer, a blogger, a social media bandit, a public relations...student? My title says specialist but I still feel like I'm learning things each and every day and I have a long way to go. Above all, I am still a dreamer. After the dolphin thing faded, and middle/high school rolled around, I had no idea what I wanted to to with the vastness of my life. I knew that I wanted to travel, I knew that I wanted to find love, I knew that I wanted to go to college, and I knew that I wanted more.

I felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast (It always comes back to Disney doesn't it?)
"There must be more then this provincial life..." she sang. She doesn't know what, but she knows its something.

 I was so focused on those base-line goals, escaping things in my past and getting my head above water. College? Check. Career? Check. Husband? Check. Passport thats been used? Double Check. Now I can plan bigger. These things have floated around my head for a long, long time, and now here they are. The List. What I want. For now.

Family
(disclaimer: this section is kind of child-centric but I am a good 2-3 years out from beginning to think about that phase in Jared and I's life) (Edit: 9-15-2014 well hey look at that, I was exactly right :)
(Edit: 7-16-2015, Funny how things change, in'nit? Changes in green)

• Have children, be proud of myself as a mother.
• Experience natural childbirth
• Home-made Halloween costumes; whenever possible.
• Make quilts for my many chil'ren. 
• Teach my children the value of savings and hard work, help them to be self reliant.  
• Foster kindness, drop the sarcasm. 
• Document each baby's life with passion.
• Host and prepare Thanksgiving dinner.
• Support Jared through grad school and help him find his way. 
• Keep a journal (this blog counts y'all!)
• Adopt a labradoodle. Spoil him relentlessly.
• Serve a mission with Jared.

Home

• Live a sustainable life.
• Compost our waste.
• Cook healthy, consistent family dinners at least 4 times a week.
• Bake a pie that doesn't look like roadkill.
• Keep a clean and beautiful home that is inviting and a source of pride.
• Remodel a Victorian home. 
• Have a hanging rattan chair. 
• Find and up-cycle an antique French settee. 
• Keep an intentional home, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." -William Morris
• Make and display our own art and family photos.
• Have tangible photo albums. 
• Raise a few chickens, possibly a goat. 
• Have a loft style bed. 

Professional

• Feel confident in my professional abilities/workplace environment.
• Work for Disney.
• Take a web design class. 
• Double my first jobs income. 
• Be a stay at home mom.
• Work from home as a PR/Social Media consultant.
• Start a (very very small) event planning business. (Totally not my jam anymore!)
• Write freelance for a blog or magazine. 
• Write and illustrate a children's book.
• Become a U.S. Diplomat. (Sigh, I've let this one go, too. But still completely my jam- and my jelly for that matter.)

Adventures

• France( pt 2, 3)
• Egypt with Jared
• Germany
• Italy
• San Francisco
• South Africa
• Morocco
• Switzerland
• England (pt 2)
• Norway (pt 2, 3)
• Amsterdam
• Japan
• Pacific Northwest (Vancouver, Oregon, Washington)
• Hawaii
• Costa Rica
• Live abroad for at least a year
• Dive in the Keys
• Skydive
• Safari 
• Attend General Conference
• Visit Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion National parks
• Hike in North Carolina
• Washington DC
• Chicago
• NYC
• LDS historical sites like the ultra nerd I am

Personal

• Buy a DSLR camera and learn the manual settings. 
• Take a photography class. (check---but it was the worst! and I still don't know how to shoot properly!)
• Establish an active and healthy lifestyle. 
• Visit the farmers market more often. 
• Own a piano, take lessons.
• Learn to crochet. 
• Learn basic sewing skills, make myself/children's clothes. 
• 100% visit teaching.
• Become more knowledgeable of the scriptures.
• Help someone gain a testimony of Jesus Christ. 
• Learn to recognize and trust the Spirit.
• Forgive old hurts.   
• Start a book club. 
• Learn Grammie's recipes and make a Manning Family cook book.
• Learn to can preserves and blanch field peas. 
• Make fresh cream corn every year.
• Cut my hair short again.
• Write songs and record them with Jared for a personal Braveheart album, our currently fictional family band