The Beginning of the 30's

So, I am now officially 30. I can't say I feel any more mature, wise or responsible, but I have now entered the decade that seems to be defined by these words. I celebrated the momentous occasion by going on a surprise getaway with my boyfriend. He had pre-planned all of it, and I just got to go along for the ride. It was AWESOME! I hate leaving our kids, but I do love getting to spend some one-on-one time with my favorite person. It feels like these are the only times that I can focus all my attention and affection on him. I love the way it feels when we rediscover how much we like each other. Anyway, we had a fabulous time in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The best parts (that can be mentioned on a blog :) were the awesome Mexican food and getting to be in the beautiful, snowy mountains. The one other notable thing we did was finally create our "Bucket list"--ya know, the list you are supposed to have of the things you want to do or accomplish before you kick the bucket. Pleasant thought, right? But we both liked the idea of coming up with these 'goals'. We each brainstormed five, and then decided to combine them into our "Top 10 list". Some of them are serious and spiritual, others are silly and fun. So, here it goes....the Bucket list for Dawson and Michelle Skow:
1. Live to see all of our children come to Christ, be baptized and have a growing faith
2. Go on a mission trip to a foreign country
3. Take swing and salsa dance lessons
4. Live to see our children happily married to godly people, and become grandparents
5. Live out in the country
6. Learn to and go scuba diving
7. Have a healthy and active lifestyle, and be happy with the conditions/size of our bodies
8. Die having a reputation of being overly generous (with our time, money and resources)
9. Become finacially free--without debt and with adequate savings
10. For Dawson to become a songwriter, and for me to sing those songs with him :)

And to end this thoughtful blog entry, some pics of the trip...