When I Grow Up...

I refuse to think I'm done growing up, so that phrase is still constantly something that rolls off the tip of my tongue. In fact, I hope when I'm 70 I'm still dreaming of things I want to do when I "grow up". This may be due to my lack of maturity, but if maturity means that you're done learning or trying new things, then forget it. I refuse to mature.

So rather than when I grow up, I like to think of it as while I grow up.

Sometimes I feel like my brain has sparks shooting out of it from the overkill of things I want to try, work on, improve at and my constant impatience in all of it - meaning as soon as I think of it, I want to get right to it! I still can't figure out what it is I really want to do with myself. I feel like I tinker in a wide variety of things, but none of them in excellence. I wouldn't say I'm mediocre, because that would not give God enough credit for his creation, but I'm also not the "stand out from a crowd" type either. Not sure where that puts me, but probably somewhere in the middle...which I am a-okay with.

So...all that to say....

While I grow up...I want to be a chef. Not a chef for a restaurant or for any type of income, but a chef in not only creating new recipes, but making them absolutely beautiful. I want to create food that looks so good you don't want to eat it without taking a picture first. Of course, it wouldn't hurt if the food tasted amazing too...

While I grow up...I want to be a photographer. I want to take pictures of ordinary things and make them look extraordinary. I want to capture moments that capture memories. I don't want to get paid for what I do, I just want to do it for my own enjoyment.

While I grow up...I want to be a hostess. I don't want a large or elaborate house, but an inviting home with just enough space for guests to enjoy a hot meal, lots of laughs and a warm, cozy bed. I'd love to have a home that's a haven for others. One where you can open the windows at night and all you hear is the sound of the crickets chirping and all you can see are the shadows of the trees with the soft glow of lightening bugs fading in and out.

While I grow up...I want to be adventurous! I want to drive 4-wheelers through the mud on a rainy day, ride horses through the fields, fly through the snow on skis and snowmobiles, spend Saturday afternoons kneeboarding on the lake, whitewater raft, kayak, fish, rock climb, play sports, sky dive and travel the world. I want to try it all and then some more.

While I grow up...I want to design. I want to create. I want to invent. I want to get my hands dirty growing things in the mud (I have a black thumb, I swear...so that is going to take some serious practice). I want to make crazy memories with my kids...like sending them on a scavenger hunt throughout the house to find their Christmas presents! I want to have bonfires in the backyard and watch movies on a sheet hanging on the side of the house.

Most of all, while I grow up...I don't want to "grow up". I want to stay young, fun, full of life and wonder. I don't want to lose my imagination or get stuck in a rut. I want to be curious and, although cautious, not afraid to try new things and fail miserably...

...and more...

...all while I grow up.