The Two Things I Don’t Need to Change About Myself

I always like to do an assessment when the year changes. I reflect on the past year and think about the coming year and consider whether I want to set some goals. Some years I make resolutions, some years I don’t. I just do what feels right. It has become a lot harder to make and keep resolutions as I’ve gotten older, though. I’m almost rebellious about it now. 

The other day I was reading through some New Year writing prompts, and one of the questions was, “What do you not need to change about yourself?” I thought this was  a really good thing to think about - we always focus on what we need to improve, and we don’t always give ourselves credit for the things we are already doing well. I liked this idea so much that I thought maybe it could be my mantra going into the new year. Perhaps instead of setting goals to change or improve this or that, I could just spend a year celebrating what I don’t need to change about myself. So I sat down to make a list, and well, I couldn’t think of anything. For days I racked my brain trying to come up with something about me that doesn’t need improvement. It was actually kind of depressing because I realized I’m not really thriving in any part of my life. I’m just scraping by; constantly in survival mode. I yell at my kids. I’m mean to my husband. I don’t take care of myself. I’m addicted to my phone. I’m lazy. I overspend. I overeat. I’m super judgmental and critical. I’m spiritually defunct. Everything about me could use a bit of improvement. I’m not even trying to be mean to myself - it’s just true! There are a lot of things I could work on. 

Finally, after days of deliberation, I came up with two things:

1. Flossing my teeth

2. Grammar

I do not need to change or improve in those areas. I am just fine. I’m really good at flossing. It’s not because I’m morally superior or anything. I just happen to hate having the sensation of anything in my teeth, so I floss all the time. Is my grammar perfect? No. I make errors. But it’s good enough that I can just coast on my grammatical achievements and not worry about improving. 

So there you have it, 2026. This year I will not be getting better at flossing or grammar because I don’t have to. 

40 Things I Like to Do

1. Read
2. Dance
3. Plan the budget
4. Meal plan
5. Go grocery shopping
6. Create
7. Lay on my couch in the coveted “best” spot
8. Make bracelets
9. Boondoggle
10. Fidget
11. Stretch my nostrils
12. Repurpose things
13. Decorate for holidays
14. Feed people
15. Laugh
16. Play (strategy) board games
17. Make jam
18. Surprise my kids
19. Freeze food
20. Sit in my garage recliner 
21. Blog
22. Take pictures
23. Bounce my leg
24. Go to the thrift store
25. Eat
26. Paddle around a lake in a kayak 
27. Get rid of stuff
28. Listen to music
29. Sneak food into movie theaters 
30. Load my dishwasher
31. Hold newborns 
32. Play word games
33. Do puzzles
34. Identify birds with my bird app
35. Go on trips with my family
36. Text my peeps
37. Sit with my feet up on stuff
38. Sing
39. Try new recipes
40. Make lists

Yesterday: Formerly Known as Today

Yesterday and today have been the loooongest days. I’m in the thick of my summer depression (I thought maybe I’d avoid it this year, but nah. I’ll be fabulous again in about 6-8 weeks. Just leave me be). 

Nicky and Daisy are out of town until Saturday, and this momma is missing them like crazy (Don’t tell them!) Scotty had been working late, so it’s been just me and the Tornado Twins, and lemme tell ya… the disaster cleanup is going to be intense! 

Like I said, it’s been a loooong two days. Yesterday was so long I can’t even fathom that the events of yesterday weren’t at least three days ago. Today was the same.

Just me & them this week

And now it’s quite late (almost tomorrow, in fact, so by the time I hit publish, today will be yesterday and tomorrow will be today, and I’m pretty sure I just went cross-eyed).

Anyway, I’m craving alone time so bad that I’m warding off sleep even though I’m utterly exhausted. In my sleep avoidance, I have clipped my toenails, folded a load of laundry, watched two episodes of Sweet Magnolias, played two rounds of Wingspan, and read about 60 pages of a book.

Now I’m continuing to stay awake by blogging. And what shall I write? But a list of what I did today, so you can understand how long this day really has been!

Woke up at 6:00

Took the garbage cans out to the curb

Went to the store for milk

Fed the Tornado Twins cereal

Did a load of dishes

Baked two batches cookies with Zoe 

Did 4 loads of laundry

Snuck to McDonald’s by myself for a Coke and $1fries then took the long route home

Went through all of Zoe and Eva’s clothes and shoes. Had them try a bunch of stuff on to see if it still fits for school. Sorted and marked all their socks and underwear and made a list of what they need for back to school shopping.

Went through my clothes and bagged some to donate 

Listened to the entire cast recording of Les Mis. Did my best Mme Thenardier performance and marched a lot. “Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men?”

Took the girls to Menchies

Went to the car wash

Made Ramen

Took a nap

Went to the DI. Bought: a dress for Zoe, two stuffed animals (grumble, grumble), a pair of Hunter rain boots for Eva (score!!!), and a (second) guitar for Zoe because she needs two guitars to achieve all her lifelong dreams.

Did not buy large stuffed camel

Highlighted my hair

Took a shower

Regretted highlighting my hair

Watched an episode of Silo

Listened to the 15th Diary of a Wimpy Kid with Zoe and Eva

Strapped doll carriers to my girls’ scooters with zip ties

Read 110 pages of a book

You know how I feel about the cartoony ones

Went to Red Robin for dinner

Walked around the garden twice

Watered the planters in the front yard

Put Eva and Zoe to bed at least three different times and still ended up with Zoe asleep next to me in my bed.

And now this day is finally over. 

Must… sleep… 

Because I Can

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #5:

Preserve

When Scotty and I were first married, he worked for a company called Back to Basics. They manufactured small appliances and canning equipment. I was able to acquire a lot of products for a discount and sometimes even for free! Because of this, I figured I should probably learn the art of preserving. 

My first ventures into canning were with a water bath canner. I bought the canning Bible - more formally known as the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving and got some lessons from my mother-in-law. I don’t remember the first thing I canned on my own, but some of my earliest trials were with jam, salsa, peaches, and tomatoes. 

For a long time, I steered away from pressure canning, but since I had access to free green beans galore (Scotty's grandpa owned a produce farm) and a hook up to get a really inexpensive pressure canner, I decided to overcome my fears of blowing up my kitchen and learn to pressure can (some produce requires pressure canning rather than just boiling - green beans being an example). 

I confess, pressure canning is still kind of scary. The noises the canner makes while the food is processing are quite unnerving. But I’ve come to terms with it and haven’t really had any issues. 

During my early canning years, I tried to can all sorts of things. I had a lot of stuff go to waste. I canned a lot of food that we ended up not using. Some of those things included:

• Corn (which tasted burnt)
• Carrots (which were too mushy) 
• Chutney (which I had no idea what to do with) 
• Peach salsa (it just wasn’t that good) 
• Regular salsa (I’m just not a big salsa eater, and after a few years of it sitting on the shelf, I ended up having to pour out about 40 quarts of it, so I don’t make it anymore). 

Some of the things I enjoy canning and am sure to use are:

• Berry jams (no peach, apricot, or grape - we don’t eat them)
• Peaches
• Apricot nectar (we drink it like a smoothie)
• Tomatoes
• Green beans
• Pepper jelly (but I haven’t made pepper jelly in years because I’m the only one who eats it, and the only way I know how to eat it is to pour it over cream cheese and then spread it on crackers)

With few exceptions, I only can what I grow myself or get for free (or very, very cheap), so there are some commonly canned goods like applesauce and pears that I’ve never delved into because I don’t want to spend the money. I made kiwi jam once, and that was fun, but I can’t grow my own kiwis, so I’ve never made it again. 

Canning is a hobby that I would recommend you only do if you truly love it and if it fits your lifestyle. Otherwise, it’s pure torture! There was a five-year period where I stopped canning because it wasn’t conducive to my phase of life. Sometimes it’s hard to set aside something you were once capable of and want to remain capable of. But taking a break was wise.  

Last summer marked my return to canning, and it’s been a joy to revisit this hobby. I try to not have too high of expectations for what I produce - I just enjoy whatever I’m able to preserve from year to year. This year I lucked out with a beautiful strawberry crop in my garden, so I was able to make jam. Then I had a decent harvest of green beans. My friend offered me some peaches from her tree, and my mother-in-law let me have free reign of her raspberry patch. By the end of the season (which is still underway), I could potentially have a nice stash of canned tomatoes. My storage room isn’t overflowing with rows of Ball jars, but I’m happy with what I’ve preserved.

52:15

{Purple}

Meet Thistle - one of the top 18 noxious weeds in the state of Utah. 

Also, one of the most beautiful!

52:12

{Optimism}

"I think I can, I think I can!"

(And just like that, no more training wheels!)

52:11

{Yellow}

52:10

{Growth}

It's tempting with an assignment like "growth" to post a picture of my toe wart. Fortunately for you, there are other things growing around here that are a little more interesting!

52:9

{Candy} 

52:8

{Unusual Perspective}

52:6

{Pink}

This week I forced myself to try something different in Photoshop. I'm feeling so conflicted about this one because I LOVE the bokeh blossoms in the background with this processing, but the blossom I focused on looks better in the SOOC shot.

(Leave it alone, Britt. Just leave it alone!)

In the meantime, I'm praying for a good crop of peaches, but with how windy it has been, I just don't know. 

52:4

{Sunlight}

52:3

I'm excited for this week's challenge because I get to post a photo that I love (the last two photos haven't thrilled me - but that's the way it goes with photo challenges). I might be cheating because I didn't actually take this picture this week - I took it in October 2010 while I was in California.

{Green}

And now I'm craving a trip to Disneyland. 

It has been five months since my last offense. 

52:2

I have to admit, when I saw the photo assignment for this week, I hesitated a little. But fortunately, Scotty and I have grandparents to save the day. I considered barging into my own grandparents' house to get a better photo of this beauty, but then I found a little gem at Scotty's grandparents' house while I was there last weekend:

{Doorknob}

52:1

One of my favorite internet peoples, Heidikins, is hosting a 52 week photo challenge. Photo challenges aren't really my thing, but recently, I was looking back at a bunch of photos I took in a previous challenge, and I thought, "Hey! I kind of like looking back at these!" So here I go, challenging it up again.

I'm a little behind - this photo was "due" last Friday, but here it is:

{Abandoned}