I recently became acquainted with Laura of Mommy Miracles, and I’m so glad I did. She’s the mother of two incredibly handsome little boys, an amazing photographer, and has been blogging for almost TEN years. She shares on her site that she met her husband through blogging, and has documented her wedding and births through blogging, which I think is incredible (I’ve only live tweeted one birth, darn it).

I love this recent post from Laura called Resolutions, because not only did she list her resolutions for the year at the END of January, but she really dug deep down to figure out what about her needed some work and what really needed to happen in 2013 (potty training, anyone?).

Her family lives up north, in Nova Scotia, but since I’ve “known” her, I’ve found that we have a lot in common. Plus, she recently organized an online book club called Moms Reading (#momsreading) that I’m excited to be a part of (and it’s not too late to join!). Laura is beautiful inside and out, and I’m honored to have her here today!

I was an overachiever in high school. Really, I was an overachiever all throughout my school years. If you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always had an answer.

“Teacher”

“Architect”

“Writer”

“Doctor”

Regardless of my answer, I was sure that I would be that person sometime in the future. And I worked hard towards my goal.

In grade two I focused on getting good grades and I ‘taught’ my little sister with old text books at the blackboard in our bedroom.

In grade six I focused on getting good grades and I drew out house plans on graphing paper on the weekends.

In grade ten I focused on getting good grades and I filled journals and wrote novels and passed in duo-tangs of my poems for extra credit.

In grade twelve I focused on my grades and I cried over physics because if I was struggling in that class, maybe I wouldn’t get in to med school.

In my head there were twenty possible jobs to be had and ten of them would make my parents proud. I would go to school, get a job, make loads of money, and live a happy adulthood with my awesome family.

Life doesn’t always go as expected, does it?

I went to university for my undergrad and struggled to pay for it. I put off going to teacher’s college while I waited to finish paying off my undergrad. When it was paid off I was getting married and the teaching environment was completely toxic – I could go to school with very little chance of ever standing in front of a classroom. So, I put of that dream. I found a respectable office job and had babies, all the while wondering if I would ever do something that meant something to me.

…All the while wondering if I had failed at adulthood.

Then I looked at my two precious little boys that I helped bring into this world – their little moppy-haired heads and their impish smiles. How they grow and reach and discover the world as if they could own it. And they are beautiful. They have the world at their fingertips. They mean the world to me.

I pray I have many years left on this adulthood journey. I still feel like there are so many opportunities left to discover. But I’ve stopped worrying about what I will be. I just be. I just focus on what I love and I do those things. And somehow, I’ll pave out a way. I’ll lead my children until they can choose their own paths, and I’ll redefine what success means to me.

I wanted to be a teacher and now I sing the A-B-Cs.

I wanted to be an architect and now I create a home.

I wanted to be a doctor and now I kiss away ouchies.

I wanted to be a writer and now I am telling my story.

Get to know Laura and her family on her blog, Mommy Miracles, on Facebook, on Twitter @LauraORourke, on her photography page, and on Instagram @lauralorourke.