Embarking on a New Journey; Welcome to My Lifestyle Odyssey

When I think about the most interesting people in the world, the people I spend my daily life with don’t immediately come to mind. Yet, for my kids, I was likely (wishful thinking) the most interesting person in my children’s lives until they went to school. Okay, I’m sure I am giving myself way too much credit here, but for the most part, parents are their children’s everything. I have two energetic, strong-willed, opinionated sons whom I love so much. I have spent 19 years as their mother, thanks to my spontaneous, charismatic, and way too understanding husband of twenty-four years. But who am I? Well, I haven’t put a lot of thought into that over the last 19 years; I have been happily consumed in my endeavors to be a mother and wife. I now realize that the three boys who have surrounded me for the past two decades are not only the most important but also the most interesting people in my world. I am a 44 year old woman; a daughter, sister, wife, and mother. Who I really am will be revealed as the tale of this Empty Nestin’ Mom unfolds.

I am going to run through the initial 40-ish years of my life rather quickly; I don’t want to bore anyone (you’re welcome). I am a middle child born in the late 70s to married parents in northeastern Colorado. I was raised on a farm and attended a one-track K-12 public school, graduating with a class of twenty-two. I met my husband at our local junior college my freshman year; we were married two years later. We own and operate a beef cattle ranch where we have raised our two sons. Wow, I was able to condense forty years of my life into four sentences; that’s a decade per sentence, impressive.

As a child, my parents guided my days; they decided what I would eat, wear, and do (for the most part). I quickly fell in love (no regrets there) and began living with and for my husband. Our children were born, and they became my priority, my mission. As my children began attending school and participating in sports, my daily actions became focused on making all those things possible. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret any part of my life. I love every minute and am so proud of all I have done, and I’m beyond impressed with my family. My husband did his thing, managing a ranch while building our own little empire – he is awesome. I worked as a dental assistant when my boys were born and until my youngest was two. After that, I stayed home and raised my boys while finishing my bachelor’s degree and earning my teaching license. For the next decade, I taught kindergarten and had the pleasure of going to school with my kids every day.

I don’t teach anymore; I needed a change. I lost my dad suddenly, and it made me begin to think differently about how I spend every minute of my day; our time here on earth is short. I went back to dental assisting, a non-traditional position that offers the same schedule as a teacher without the stress and anxiety I was no longer willing to subject myself to. My family needed me to find a new balance (and I did too). My oldest lives five hours away and is in his second year of college, which was a difficult transition last year. My youngest, although only a senior in high school, is taking a full freshman college schedule, and I feel like he is already one foot out the door.

I am a busybody and am great at keeping myself busy and finding things to do; hence, the blog! This is just a different kind of busy than I am used to, and I feel a bit lost. Although I have just as much to do, the boys aren’t filling as much of my time with events to attend or projects to help with. All of this is a bit unsettling, and I am going to have to learn to find joy in the absence of all the craziness, which I once thought was going to drive me mad. My husband always told me I would miss the craziness when I asked for a break; darn, was he right.

You know when you take part in an ice-breaker and are asked to list hobbies or find others with similar interests? I have always struggled with those. However, the more I analyze my day-to-day life, the more I realize I have all kinds of interests; I just successfully embedded them into my life so well that I failed to view them as joys. I am trying to find joy in all the little things.
My mission to outfit our new house (we moved last May) with patio furniture led me to realize how much I enjoy working with my hands. I needed some patio furniture, but it’s damn expensive. I always think I will find some stellar deal at an estate sale or something, but I never actually look. I finally broke down and spent around $100 on some build-it-yourself patio furniture – I know, big spender. However, I realized I find joy in building stuff, all kinds of stuff; I always have. After that, I bought a criss-cross-applesauce chair (it’s the Kindergarten teacher in me) and built it. I plan to slowly continue adding to my furniture collection while also doing something I love: being frugal and working with my hands. Something about standing back and looking at a finished project… just so rewarding. I’m just not ready to stand back and be finished with my parenting project yet; I want to hold onto every moment. Change is not my favorite, but some say it is the only constant thing in life.