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Stephanie Howell

reading, organizing, shopping, momming too close to the sun. Home is wherever the Army sends us.

34–>35

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In the year I was 34, I…started to run, started working a part time job, moved to Rhode Island, quit all my design teams, saw Baltimore for the first time, made a new group of friends and several best friends, threw a last minute party with a good friend, said goodbye to my best friend and then welcomed him home from Afghanistan, became a mother of four WALKING children, got together with a group of friends and rode a huge bicycle with a bar down the middle, met my favorite author, participated in my first charity race, saw Roman Holiday on the big screen, took all four children to the beach by myself, saw a beautiful and young friend say goodbye to her beautiful and young husband, realized who I was and was not creatively, celebrated 9 years of marriage, saw my very first Savannah St. Patrick's Day parade, got the shortest haircut I've ever had, dyed my hair red, dyed it back to brunette, visited Charleston for the first time, started Project Life, quit Project Life, visited St. Augustine, visited Hilton Head, visited Jacksonville, visited Sea World and Orlando, planned and threw a rainbow themed party for Sadie, perfected the art of saying no thank you, had my feelings hurt by someone and realized the power of words, said goodybe to the best group of friends i've ever had, really fell in love with Savannah, planned and threw my very first cookie exchange, watched a Baylor Bear win the Heisman, attended the Ranger Ball with Jimmy, spent my first 2 nights away from my children, sent my first child off to kindergarten, watched my babies turn one, my eldest turn six, and my second born turn four,got better at getting in the photos and not just taking them, saw a Savannah Philharmonic Sept. 11 concert, saw a coin in an x-ray of Sadie's stomach,started taking care of myself agin.

 

In the year I am 35,I will…run a 5k, teach myself to sew (yes,this was on last year's list),attend CHA, teach a scrapbooking class at a LSS, visit NYC at least 5 times, celebrate my 10 year anniversary, try a yoga class, finally teach that BPC scrapbooking class, eat more lobster, visit Boston, visit Maine, visit Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, continue feeling creatively free and only say yes to things that are authentic and that are me, exercise regularly with my family, go to a concert, have online friends come to visit, NOT SEND MY HUSBAND TO AFGHANISTAN AT ALL, learn too cook some new meals, have lots of date nights, make time for one-on-one time with the girls, put myself out there and not be scared to ask for my heart's desires, visit the MME headquarters in Utah, do CrossFit with J, take lots of classes at the YMCA, meet Leigh and Kelly in person for the first time, potty train two babies, embrace imperfection, read more, have a big family Thanksgiving, have FUN!

 

I am blessed to be given another year. I am grateful for the gift of each day. Bring it on, 35!

xoxo

Stephsignature


Comments

  3. I look forward to seeing you sew, laugh, read your stories, your hopes, progress and silly girls! Thank you for sharing all this love with you

  5. Happy Birthday!!!! There are many great things on your 35 list but I think the best of all is that you won’t have to send J to Afghanistan. Or anywhere else in the world to fight a war this year. Thank you both for your incredible service and I know you will enjoy this year together!!!!

  7. Happy Birthday Steph!! I hope 35 is everything you wish and more!!
    P.S. since visiting Maine is on your list for next year, September is a great time to visit and the Maine Marathon (Portland) would be a great place to run your 1st half marathon. I promise if you come I will drive down and run every step with you 🙂 Get that first 5k out of the way and think about it!!
    P.P.S. cannot tell you how much I love the photos of the babies hugging and kissing!!

  11. Happy Birthday! Thanks for all the love and inspiration we see and receive from your blog. If 35 is half as amazing as 34 was, you will have a spectacular year ahead. Can’t wait to hear about your adventures.

  13. Happy birthday Stephanie…. I truly wish you the best. God bless you and your family. Love from OKC

  14. You are right, you are truly blessed, and you’re the busiest woman I ‘know’!!! Have a wonderful birthday, and I know you’ll accomplish everything you want to, cuz that’s YOU!! I still love reading your blog everyday. You amaze me and your family is AWESOME!!! Enjoy your day and your year!!! love ya’s!!!

  16. Happy birthday, Stephanie. Every year you are getting better and better at more and more things. Wisdom, love and a good heart. You give. You wear your heart on your sleeve, and those of us that have had the pleasure to actually kind of KNOW you find your honestly and openness refreshing and heartwarming. Never change the REAL you, because the world needs YOU.

  21. Happy birthday!! I’ll bet you can guess which item on your list is my favorite for year 35! Here’s to husbands at home! 😉 Much love and best wishes for the best year ever. xoxo

  22. HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sweet Girl!!!! I love your accomplishments and I love your wish list…HAVE FUN AND EMBRACE LIFE!!!! BTW you share your birthday with my wonderful hubby <3 Two very special people on one special day!!!!

  25. Happy happy birthday Stephanie, love your lists from both 34 & 35! Looking forward to next year x x

  26. Happy birthday sweets! You are extremely blesses. Thank you for what you do. You inspire, encourage and guide me more than you think. You’re an amazing mom and one of the strongest women I know. I truly hope ti meet you one day.

  30. Happy Birthday! With Gods grace and a little determination I bet you get to do all you want to. And hey, I sew my kids clothes AND I live five minutes from Boston….I see killing two birds with one stone here 🙂

  31. Can’t wait! October is soon! My favorite part of this post though is “NOT SEND[ing] MY HUSBAND TO AFGHANISTAN AT ALL”…. ummmmm…. YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love and Happy Birthday to you!!!

  33. Happy Birthday, Stephanie! Now that the Howell Family will all be together for the next year… I have a feeling that this will be your very best year ever!! Enjoy your birthday and your family, pretty lady!

  34. Happy Birthday!! Great list – I got excited to read you might teach a BPC class! I’m on the list for sure! Again have a blessed birthday!

  35. Happy birthday sweet and wonderful lady! I hope you have a great year and personally….teach that BPC class makes me squeal like a little girl…or would if I wasn’t sitting in my office. 😉 Have a loveley day!

  36. have a fantastic birthday!!! my favorite think you mentioned was NOT sending your husband to Afghanistan!!! That’s my favorite in this home too! Love all your plans! Have a wonderful 35th year!!!

  38. Happy Birthday. Look forward to hearing about and seeing all your adventures in the year ahead.

  39. Teach a class at BPC?? I’VE SIGNED UP ALREADY! LOL!!
    What a full year you’ve had! Can’t wait to see what you bring to the blog this year!

  44. If you ever want to visit the Southern Coast of Maine, our door is always open. I’ve been following your blog for years and always felt a connection b/c my Brother is military and has two girls (and now a boy) your kids ages. They are finally moving back to NE from Virginia (and overseas) next summer!

  47. Awesome post!
    Happy Birthday to you….
    Happy Birthday to you.
    Happy Birthday dearest Stephanie…..
    Happy Birthday to YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!
    “Here’s to another wonderful year!”.
    xoxoxo

  49. Happy birthday Stephanie, i always remember your birth date, because it’s also mine !!!
    Have a nice day with your family.
    isabel

  50. Happy Birthday Steph, another beautifully written post. (sewing is not that hard and quilting is even easier its just a straight line and you can get special feet for your machine that help you stay straight and hey my motto is close enough is near enough and my quilts turn out ok, well just don’t look at them real real close.ha)
    and once again happy birthday i hope you get to go on a birthday date.
    xx

  51. Happy birthday! It sounds like a fabulous year to come, most especially because of the part you typed in ALL CAPS. Have an awesome day and an awesome year, Stephanie.

  53. Happy birthday and best wishes for a great year all together all the time!
    P.S. Great list of have-dones and to-dos. You have inspired me to write down my own lists.
    P.P.S. Thank you for introducing me to your favourite author! I had fun this month reading her books and I am my library’s waiting list for her new book.
    P.P.P.S. Please keep blogging this year!! 😉

  58. Happy birthday! I see your 34ths were great and “nurtruring” (I don’t know how to express yhis in English but think you’ll get the meaning) and I’m sure your 35ths will be full of adventures and love.
    Wish you all the best.
    xoxo, Bea

  60. Happy, Happy Birthday Stephanie! Love your bucket lists and I hope that when you make that trip to Utah – I can meet you in person! Have a blessed and happy day!

  63. Happy Birthday! Love love your lists…embrace the new…try try crossfit..your mind and body will thank you!! It will so help when trying to keep up with those beautiful kids of yours!

  64. Happy birthday-what a wonderful way to reflect and realize all the amazing things that you are! Excited to continue following your blog and see those goals come true!!!
    Hugs,
    Amanda in Tampa

  66. you have experience some amazing things in that year!
    and have a great list for working on your 35 to 36 year, so awesome!
    what I am most excited about is your year with your hubby home SAFE!~
    and I truly hope you pick back up on project life, who cares if you have different years/months whatever
    in the same book, it doesnt’ matter!
    I am still working on June/July/August…I don’t have the PL book though, doing my own easier version of it!
    hugs girl!
    tara

  67. Happy Birthday Stephanie – becoming ourselves is one of the hardest and best things we can do! Good luck with your list….from a fellow Virgo!

  68. Happy Birthday! Love all that you did and all that you have planned – gonna be a great year!

  70. love your list, happy birthday and I do hope you can do all those wonderful things on your list :)!!

  71. Happy Birthday, Stephanie!! I can’t wait for you to get to know your way around Rhode Island so that you can plan my next year’s “sister’s trip”!
    I turn 50 this year, and have also made a goal list. We’ll see how many items I can check off of it. Love the idea of doing a list in retrospect.
    Have a great day!!!!

  76. Happy Birthday Stephanie! What a wonderful year last year was for you and an exciting year to look forward to. Thank you for all the heart felt posts! My family loves following your blog and my girls love looking at the pictures and adventures of your girls!

  77. Happy Birthday!!
    If you want to teach a class at a LSS, please let it be Absolutely Everything in Topsfield, MA!!! She has a great classroom set up that fits 100 people!
    I would be your assistant if you want!!

  79. Happy Birthday! Having Thanksgiving in that gorgeous house of yours (and in RI) will be magical…to me (although I am a bit biased) Thanksgiving in New England is like no other.
    Can’t wait to see how your year unfolds…and I would love to get the chance to scrap with you!

  81. Happy Happy Birthday beautiful Stephanie! What a great recap of your 34th year and list of goals for 35!! Enjoy your wonderful dream! And I do hope all your dreams come true!

  84. Happiest of birthday Stephanie! You’ve done so much in the past year and have great goals for the next! You’re such an inspiration to me!

  85. Sounds like you had a good year and one to look forward to! I read “Summer Rentals” by Mary Kay andrews and loved it. Can’t wait to read her new one. I hope you are going to become a Redskins fan! (Isn’t Griffith III from Baylor?) I am from MD (but live in Pa now) and haven’t been to Baltimore in years. Wouldn’t it have been funny if I saw you there when we were in MD! But no, we went to my parents about 20 minutes from annapolis and took the girls to see the Naval academy! It’s a beautiful campus but not sure if my 15 yr. old could keep their white outfit clean if she were to go there. Happy Birthday!

  87. Happy Birthday Stephanie ! I just turned 35 too and really loved you inspirational lists. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful year celebrating them. Hugs.

  89. Happy birthday! This post is very inspiring. I’m going to try to do the same. 2012 was a difficult one for me being diagnosed with breastcancer and going through all the treatments and operations. I’d like to set goals for 2013 once this is all behind me. Thank you for the constant inspiration.

  92. Have a wonderful birthday, Stephanie. I read your feeds through my email and love every single one, but I rarely comment (sorry), but this SPEAKS TO ME! I love that you have set your intentions. I hope all on your 35 list comes to fruition. It is a very powerful list and you have inspired me to write one for myself (my birthday was in June, but, hey …).

  94. Happy birthday, Stephanie!! May this year be your best one, yet. And, if you’re going to CHA, I really would love to meet up with you. I enjoy visiting your blog very much. Have a great celebration. 🙂

  96. Happy Birthday, Cutie. I adore how you’ve taken control of your life and what you want out of it, not letting other things get in the way of your happiness and desires. It’s gonna be a good, good year!

  97. A very happy birthday and fantastic 35th year to you! Sounds like you’ve got lots of wonderful goals and opportunities! Best of luck and thanks so much for all that you share!!!

  99. Absolutely adore this post… I am totally going to save this and make my own list to remind myself of all the things I want to do to.
    Thanks so much for this inspiring post!

  100. happy birthday beautiful lady. I love your list of things you have done this part year, that is awesome. I love the list you have for this year, you have one of my bucket lists on there and that is to visit Martha’s Vineyard i have only ever read about it in books and in my mind it is a beautiful place i NEED to visit, but living in NZ I am not sure it will happen, you never know.
    Have a fab day with your family and have an awesome year

  102. Happy Birthday! I especially LOVE number 11! I miss my home state of Maine so much. It is the “way life should be”. I hope you enjoy it up there as much as we do!

  107. Happy Birthday Day! Great post. You are an inspiration!
    Question for you, who does most of you day care? For date nights etc. I always struggle with leaving my 2 girls and I have lived in my town for years. Thx!

  108. Now I understand why I enjoy your blog so much (well one of the many reasons), we almost share the same birthday. Except I am quite a bit older than you are LOL, but my birthday is Sunday so Happy Birthday. Love you to do list. Make sure that you especially follow the last item. Since I am quite a bit older than you I can tell you with experience that as women we don’t take “care” of ourselves as we should and I sooo hope that you pay special attention to that line item while your 35 🙂

  109. HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHANIE!!! Hope it’s a great day for you and being with your kids and HUSBAND HOME!!! Love the list from last year and your new list. It’s all the little things that are important to remember and you did so great listing them and doing them!! Wishes for an AWESOME next year for you!!
    p.s. I want to learn sewing too!!!

  110. Colleen- Last year we found an amazing sitter that loved my girls and could handle them all regularly (even overnight). She was a teacher at Hs school and was recommended by a friend.
    This year we are using care.com as we know no one here…we interviewed our first sitter last week and will meet another this week. We are hoping to have a whole team to choose from. 🙂
    xoxo

  111. Happy Birthday, Sweet Stephanie!! (ack, a day late. Stupid, delayed feed.) Wow, just love the reflection of the last year and your upcoming year does look FUN indeed! I know it’s going to be great with J home the entire time – Yay! I hope you had a great day. Actually, I hope Jimmy and the girls make an entire weekend of celebrating YOU! You deserve it. xoxo

  112. Happy Belated Birthday! I would definitely take anything you taught at BPC!! And if you’re looking for more LSS options, check out Papercraft Clubhouse (http://www.papercraftclubhouse.com) in Westbrook, CT (about 1 1/2 hrs from Newport). The owner Tracie is fantastic, and I’m sure any class you taught would fill up!

  118. Happy HAPPY Birthday to you!! You are one amazing woman – I am in awe of all you do!! Have a wonderful birthday and a wonderful year ahead with your family all together!!

  119. Wow! Very impressed with all you have achieved. Hope you have a very happy birthday and a wonderful year.

  122. Happy happy happy birthday! Wat a wonderful set of lists!
    ( two words. Hot yoga….find it…try it…it is awesome!) 🙂

  128. oh happy belated birthday Stephanie. It is always so refreshing reading your blog. Greeting is late still I want to wish you a happy 35. May you continue to stay as pretty, creative and happy always!