Why

When is the last time you spent some time around a child that is going through the “Why” stage?  You know that age where their response to everything you say is “Why?” and then you give them an answer and their response to that is “Why?”. 

When is the last time you asked yourself Why?  This is a great way to refocus on what is important, figure out where you are headed in life and what you want to accomplish in the short term and long term.  I encourage you to do this on a regular basis because over time your Why’s can change.  As you accomplish one goal or move to another phase in life your previous Why may no longer apply. 

Why Questions to consider:

Why is this important to me?

Why do I spend money on this?

Why do I spend time on this?

Why did I start this in the first place?

Why should I continue?
Why did I fall in love with my significant other?

Why do I still love my significant other?

Why do I love my kids?

Why do I eat the food I eat?

Why do I drink what I drink?

Why do I spend time with the people I do?

Why do I get up and go to work every day?

Why do I feel the way I do?

 

Before starting or beginning something new thinking about your Why can help you find direction and set goals for the journey.  An example of this could be when you are looking for a job or career.  Why do I want to go to work every day?  The simple answer for most people would probably be to pay their bills!  And I would say if that is your only Why then you are probably not living out your true passion or probably do not enjoy going to work.  Digging deeper, you could determine that your Why is that you get to utilize your strengths, you are passionate about your job, you enjoy the mission of the company you work for, or the people you work with push you to be more.  If your job or career has these types of Why’s behind it then you have more than a “job” and are closing to living out your passion. And as they say, “If you Love What You Do, You Will Never Work A Day In Your Life”.

In the middle of your journey thinking about your Why can help push you through to continue or complete it.  I am sure you have heard the phrase, “Remember Why You Started.”  An example of this could be during your weight loss journey.  Will it be easy? No.  Does it require you to change your habits? Yes.  At the point that you might feel like giving up, thinking back to why you started the journey in the first place can help you find motivation to push through that tough period.  Examples of why you started, to lose 10 lbs, I was tired of having no energy, my doctor told me I need to lose weight.  Eventually the reason why you originally started may no longer apply. So once you push through that tough time, you will probably need to revisit your Why.

Revisiting your Why can help you refocus or determine if your Why has changed.  Have you heard about the 7 year itch when it comes to marriage?  Marriage can be hard and if by the 7 year mark you are still trying to push through tough times based on Why you started my guess is you will struggle.  Life for me 7 years ago was drastically different than it is for me today. That was before a house, kids, and was at the beginning of our careers.  My Why in the beginning was based on how I felt when I was around Bo and just enjoying being in his company.  While that has not gone away, I can tell you that hasn’t been what has gotten us through tough times.  People grow, and hopefully change, based on the fact their priorities over time change.  Now as a Mother and Father with a house, we have more to think about than just us.  My Why now includes him being the positive force that helps remind me of what is truly important, the way he interacts with our son, and us wanting to help each other become more.

Reviewing your Why at the end of a journey or after completing something can help to determine what your next step or next journey should be.  Let’s go back to the weight loss example to explain this.  Your journey could have been to lose 10, 20, 30 lbs, get back to your pre-baby weight, clean up your diet, etc.  What happens when you get there?  Do you just stop and go back to your old ways, I sure hope not.  Now you have to review your Why.  The next step in your journey may be to maintain the weight loss and set a good example for your children.  To do so your original Why may help you, but I bet you would be more successful on the next phase if you came up with a more current Why that applies to this specific step in your overall journey.  

Continue to develop yourself. Be like that 4 year old that is constantly asking “Why?”. Don’t accept an answer or result because someone told you that was the answer. Figure out your Why’s, write them down, and review them often.  Push yourself to be more because you deserve it!  

Random Truths

My best friend publishes a very entertaining and informative blog, Faith, Family and Beef.  Her post today was about a few random truths, so I stole her idea for my latest entry.

 Random Truths:

1) I cuddle with a T-Shirt at night.  It started when Bo and I were in college and lived apart, he would send me home with a T-shirt that he had sprayed with his cologne for me to sleep with during the week. I got so used to sleeping with it, that even though he sleeps next to me now, I still have to cuddle with a shirt.

The brand spanking new 07

2) Since I was sixteen, my car has always been a Toyota.  It started with my “Dusty Rose” 1992 Toyota Corolla. I upgraded to a 2007 Toyota Camry (thanks Mom and Dad!), and now I have a 2009 Toyota Camry.  I even got Bo hooked on Toyota’s.

3) Rain itself doesn’t bother me and worms in the dirt or grass don’t bother me, but it does bother me when it rains and the stinkin’ worms come out and spread out all across the sidewalk.

About the 2 month mark!

4)  Bo is the only guy I ever dated for more than two months.  I guess when you know, you know! Although I do owe some credit to my best friend, because at the two-month point I started getting a little freaked out with the whole commitment thing apparently and she convinced me to stick it out for a little bit.

5) I have two very unique skin markings.  The first is a darker spot on my left shoulder that is in the shape of an H.  I call that one my “H” brand, so I guess I was born to be a Hansen.  The other is a light spotty patch above my right armpit.  I call this one my giraffe skin.  When I have spent some time in the sun; most of my skin gets darker, but the lighter patches resemble the markings on a giraffe.

6)  When I was in middle school, I fell in love with a calf named Oscar.  He was a little black and while Holstein and the cutest darn thing!  He was my cousin’s 4-H bucket calf and I would make trips out to the farm just to see him. I cried the day they called me to say they were selling him.  I now have a new fascination with the Highlander breed of cows.  They are so fluffy!

Our little blonde baldy

7) Before I had kids, I secretly (but not so secretly since I openly talked about it) wanted my kids to have blonde hair and blue eyes.  Dexter must have listened to his Mama enough, since he has blonde hair and hazel eyes which look blue on some days.

8) I don’t like seafood.  Any kind of fish, shrimp, lobster...you name it, I am not a fan.  In my defense, every so often if someone around me is eating it I will give it a try. Nope, not happening. The smell, the texture, the taste, nothing about it sounds good.

The 1 Year Anniversary of our 5 Year Plan

If I told you that Bo and I both have Futuristic as one of our top 5 strengths would you believe me?  What does that mean? We are forward looking thinkers that want to know where we are headed and not where we have been.  This is why from the time we got together we had a vision of our first 5 years.  This upcoming weekend we will celebrate the 1 year anniversary of our 5 year plan... huh, you ask?  We are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary!  As this weekend approaches, I think about what we have accomplished and how blessed we are, and I get emotional.

Other than being a 5 year plan, we didn't necessarily set deadlines or due dates for each item. We just knew that this was what we wanted our first 5 years of marriage to look like: get married, pass our CPA tests, work hard to advance in our careers, live in an apartment to save money, buy an acreage lot, build a house, and then fill that house up with babies!  

Obviously our parents were proud of us for all of it, but their most popular question was "When are the babies coming?" This is how the plan got its "official" name... an easy response was we want to be married for 5 years before we have kids. That answer didn't stop the questions. Will you get pregnant at 5 years or have a baby at 5 years? And guess what...we almost nailed it, August 1, 2014 was our 5 year anniversary and 2 weeks later I went into labor!

While the first 5 years were great, this past year has been amazing!  There are no words to describe the joy that Dexter has brought to our family. The first 5 years were planned and thought out, but this year we have learned to fly by the seat of our pants! It has been a year of soul searching, finding the joy in life and becoming comfortable in our own skin!  

Bo became the family chef, searching and trying new clean recipes to help fuel us and keep up with a baby on the move.  Dexter has become our Coach and motivator to work out and continue to push ourselves. With these changes, our happiness and stress levels have changed drastically, we have become comfortable in our own skin.  Finding the "Why" in our lives has made all the difference!

As we celebrate this past year, you can be sure we have started to think about the next five years and the things we hope to be celebrating on the 1 year anniversary of our 10 year plan!


  

Not Enough “Thank You”s and “I Love You”s

Are there people in your life that you know that you don’t say “Thank You” and “I Love You” to enough?  My Mom and Dad are those people for me!  I wouldn’t even know where to begin saying “Thank You,” but I do know that I have learned a great deal from them and am very lucky to have them in my life.  Today marks a huge milestone in their lives, it is their 35^th wedding anniversary!  I figured I would start to get caught up on “Thank You’s” on this special day, so here it goes…..

1)  Thank You for meeting each other at the movie theater all those years ago.

2) Thank You for showing me what love and marriage should look like.

3) Thank You for teaching me to put others first.

4) Thank You for Grandpa Daycare.

5) Thank You for researching and teaching me about thistle plants.

6) Thank You for being there when I need to clear my thoughts.

7) Thank You for letting Andy and I celebrate your 25^th wedding anniversary with you on the cruise.

8) Thank You for loving me.

9) Thank You for family traditions like carving pumpkins, Christmas morning omelets and New Year’s Eve prime rib.

10) Thank You for helping me plant flowers and keep our yard looking nice.

11) Thank You for allowing me to participate in so many activities while growing up and attending all those events.

12)  Thank You for spraying bugs at our house and buying furnace filters.

13) Thank You for volunteering to babysit Dexter after having him all week.

14) Thank You for my good looks (Mom) and attitude (Dad).  (Growing up I was told you look like your Mom and my response to that was, but I act like my Dad.)

15) Thank You for bringing Pedialyte or holding my hair when I am sick.

16)   Thank You for treating Bo like a son and being great in-laws to him.

17)   Thank You for being there with advice but giving me space to learn my own lessons.

18)   Thank You for teaching me to be a good driver including learning to drive a stick shift, even when it took multiple tries and stops in the middle of the steep hill to practice.

19)   Thank You for showing me how to be a loyal and hard worker.

20)   Thank You for teaching me to be financially responsible.

21)   Thank You for caring about Dexter.

22)   Thank You for supporting and pushing me to continue my education.

23)   Thank You for putting up with me as a teenager, I know my attitude wasn’t always the easiest to deal with, right Mom?

24)   Thank You for showing me a unique way to spread God’s word through clowning.

25)   Thank You for butterflies.

26)   Thank You for believing in me.

27)   Thank You for cooking me lunch during the week.

28)   Thank You for allowing me to paint each wall in my bedroom a different color.

29)   Thank You for being there when I need you.

30)   Thank You for fostering my love for the country by taking me to the farm.

31)   Thank You for trusting me to make the right decisions.  (Even if you didn’t think moving into the country when I was a junior in college was a good idea and you worried about me every day!)

32)   Thank You for hugging me.

33)   Thank You for getting rid of the mouse that had snuck into my room.

34)   Thank You for helping me move just about every Father’s Day during college.

35)   Thank You for being amazing Grandparents to Dexter.

Happy Anniversary to you, I couldn’t be more proud to be called your daughter!  Here's to 35 more!

Chapter Two: Jeans and Tennis Shoes

We have turned the page in the BS Hansen Family History book.  Chapter 1: “Lutz” ended as Bo worked his last day at the place that both of us started off our accounting careers.  After having a business casual dress code and wearing dress shoes for the last 5 years, we are saying goodbye to that.  Meanwhile we gladly welcome the new dress code of jeans and tennis shoes (or Cowboy boots in my case!).  We made a commitment to our careers during the past 7 years which included studying for CPA exams, long hours during tax season, and gaining professional experience.  We both appreciate the first chapter and wouldn’t be where we are without it.  If you would have asked me a couple years ago where I saw myself down the road, my answer would have included public accounting.  As we neared the end of our 5-year plan and started to think about adding a member to our family, we found our priorities changing.  In my list of priorities, I began to see wealth and career advancements slide down as quality family time, health, and financial stability moved up the list.  The adrenaline I once had during tax season started to dwindle, and my heart began to head in a different direction. 

Once Dexter joined our family, I knew that it was time to turn the page in my book and find that balance I was missing.  While I still enjoyed accounting, I decided it was time to look for other career opportunities.  My search resulted in finding a group of misfits that are outside of the box thinkers like me.  An added plus to my new position is I get to wear jeans and tennis shoes (or cowboy boots) everyday!  Little did I know that Friday in August when I cleared off my desk hoping to go into labor over the weekend, that I would be working my last day at a public accounting firm.  I officially started my new role as a private accountant for Sympateco Inc. in November and am enjoying my new dress code! 

Bo and I seem to go through similar experiences with different timing.  I like to say that he couldn’t handle working at Lutz without me, but he has a different story ;)  He also decided public accounting was no longer the right fit for him and thought a smaller, family-owned business was more his style.  He found a great little real estate company and the added bonus for him was jeans and tennis shoes every day!  We declared that this next chapter in our lives, that focuses on family and our new careers, should be titled “Jeans and Tennis Shoes”!  We are extremely excited about what our future holds and can’t wait to see where this chapter takes us!

Counting My Blessings!

As I sit here on Saturday morning watching the sunrise in a quiet house on our “ranch” with my two boys still sleeping, I can’t help but count my blessings.  This spring my life is drastically different than past years.  Are there particular moments that make you stop to count your blessings?  Once you start doing so, do you find that they keep building up on top of each other like a positive train rolling down the tracks?

The aftermath from the fire at our neighbor's.

For me it started a few weeks ago, we had a real scare when there was a large grass fire that started at our neighbor’s house.  Something as simple as getting out enjoying the nice weather and working in the yard turned into a disaster quickly.  Starting that day, lots of prayers were said thanking God for the south wind that helped keep the fire from spreading to our property, the firemen who helped get it controlled, and the smart thinking that limited to the only real damage to a garage. The destruction of the garage was devastating, yes, but all of the homes and, more importantly, individuals were left unharmed.

Spring has sprung, the flowers are beginning to pop up.
 Dexter is checking out the state of our grass.

The very next weekend with warm weather, our family got out to do some work in our own yard.  It was then I realized this is the first time I have been able to do spring yard work on the first weekend of spring.  In previous years the house, yard, and everything else except for work was put on hold until after April 15^th passed.  Prior to this year, I missed those beautiful spring sunrises because I was already at the office putting in long hours to get all the tax returns finished long before sunrise. After fighting the signs that God had been throwing my way for quite some time, I finally listened.  With the support of my husband, I decided it was time to leave the life of a public accountant and get a job that was less stressful allowing me more time with my family. 

Each day brings new adventures for our family.  We went from just Bo and I to Bo, Dexter and I, and this Mama couldn’t be happier.  It is hard to put into words the joy and blessing that little boy is to us.  He is learning or experiencing something new every day.  While I won’t hold it against him he decided to say “Dada” first and rubbed it in all last weekend by repeating it over and over, I am glad that he added “Mama” this weekend.  It is easy to get wrapped up in a fast paced life, but those moments that you step back and listen to the baby giggles, watch them working to figure out how to reach for a toy, snuggle up and watch them sleep help you to remember how blessed you really are.

Today I encourage you to stop to Count your Blessings!

City Girl Goes to the Country Part II: Thankful for my family

I previously wrote about my trips to the “farm” as a child and the ranch now that Terryn, my honey, has moved (City Girl Goes to the County).  With it now being November and just having gotten home from a recent trip out to western Nebraska, I thought it would be a great time for a second post about a city girl that goes to the country.  
 

Riding horses during one of the trips to the "Farm"

I am blessed with grandparents who have been and continue to be a major part of my life.  The trips to the farm when I was a child are all because of them.  They grew up in small town Nebraska and even though they moved to the city once they had children, they wanted to share their heritage and family with their children and grandchildren.  On a regular basis, they would take us to visit family on the farm and we would get to do typical farm things that weren’t a part of our daily lives, ride the 4 wheeler and horses, see cows, and collect eggs.  

Meeting Cheyenne

 On most of the trips during the drive the pleading began the minute we got in the car, “Can we pull off the highway at the first entrance so I can drive down the lane, please?”  Looking back I am not sure why I was so excited about it, the lane was maybe a quarter of a mile and by me “driving” we probably ended up going about 5 miles a hour on that stretch making the trip take longer.  But never the less, it was exciting and something I asked to do every time we went.  

My son's first horse ride (8 weeks old)

This most recent trip to the ranch was a special one for me, I got to take my eight week old son for the first time.  While I know he is young and won’t remember this particular trip, I found joy in sharing the things my grandparents shared with me at an early age.  I took my little man on his first horse ride and was happy that it was on my favorite horse, Cash.  (He doesn’t have to know that we just went around and around in the yard close to the house!)  As he grows up and we continue these trips I can’t wait to find out what part of it will bring him joy and excitement that driving down the lane brought to me. 

 As I think about the things I am thankful for during the month of November, I have to thank my grandparents for being such an important part of my life and sharing the experiences at the farm with me.  I look forward to passing on this part of my life with future generations!

Meeting our buddy Cash