It’s time for our monthly contest and I was all set to ask a different question, but then this You Tube video came through in an email from my mom and it changed my direction. (And then I promptly got it in 3 other emails, saw it on a couple of blogs, and heard Anderson Cooper talking about it on CNN last night.) What a great video! It’s all about a gutsy lady who had a dream and made something happen with it. So this month’s contest is to leave a comment and tell me what your dream is. Now I know fully well that some of you will not be brave enough to write it down for everyone to see, with your name attached! But I hope that you do. It seems like step one in any dream is to be bold and put it in writing, right? Of course not many people take the time to read the blog comments on our monthly contest (except for me!), so you don’t have to worry that someone you know might see and recognize you. On the other hand, some people DO take the time to read them and with a question like this, you could inspire a whole lot of people by putting your dream out there. I look forward to seeing what you all dream about doing or having or being, somewhere in the future. Will you share? (Hmmm – and another thought – if any of you read a comment and your first thought is, “Well I could help her/him with THAT dream. ” – email me. Maybe we can put some dreamers and enablers together to make things happen.) One of my dreams is to live in Colorado one day – thus today’s photo. We’ll draw for winners next week on Wednesday, so you have a week to leave your comment. I have some skeins of Wollmeise to give away.
Speaking of Wollmeise, we did a mini update with some of it yesterday, but since the great majority of our boxes are being held up by customs in Chicago, we won’t have more for who knows how long. In the meantime, we have a few things to take care of around here (Spring Fling, May Sock Club, “Don’t Be Blue Kits”) so even if it does arrive soon-ish, it will still be awhile before it’s going to go up. (Translation: no need to stalk and watch for it.) Maybe some of the customs agents in Chicago have had a dream to capture a case of Wollmeise for their very own….
Sheri whohadadreamtohaveafamilybusiness
ThankYOUforhelpingtomakethatdreamcometrueforourfamily!
My seven-year-old daughter and I were discussing the concept of needs vs wants the other night, so the timing of this is perfect. Her wants were mostly of the furry and four-legged variety, much like mine were at that age. For me it wasn’t so easy to come up with the wants. Honestly, right now it’s hard for me to let my mind wander and imagine the wants, as the needs are pressing and constant, and as a mom to two little ones others’ needs and wants always seem to come first. So, thank you for posing this question, to give me a little time to dream.
I dream of a season in my life where I can stop driving downtown to a job 5 or 6 days a week and instead watch my daughter (and eventually my son) get on and off the school bus everyday from my front step. Preferably the front step of a farmhouse on a farm filled with animals and gardens and love. And apple trees.
Honestly? Well my dream is to be able to quit my job and have a small self suffiecient farm. I want to be able to knit, spin, dye, make soap and cheese, have a small year round greenhouse for veggies etc, some goats, sheep and chickens, and make a living with small goods like on etsy and the farmers market. Now this would not support the family but would be equal or more than my current (what i feel is pitiful) income i now have. It is not far fetched but hubby is a city boy at heart and we would have to sell our current home for something with a little more land. I have worked since age 12 and am 39 next week…. i want to start playing and not be on someone elses schedule for a change! smile
One of my longest held dreams is to travel to Europe – too many places there I’d like to see to even list!! Another dream would be to raise my 3 children to be healthy, happy adults. A more immediate dream – loose 20 pounds and get in better shape!
My dream: to live on a farm with goats, horses, chickens, dogs, cats, cows, and any other animals I want. To have a vegetable garden that can feed my family and friends. To wear Carhart winter coveralls when i work outside and do my chores in the winter and to wear denim coveralls in the summer: to smell leather hanging in the barn that smells like horses; to take walks in the woods with my goats; and to be able to sit on my front porch in my pajamas and drink my morning coffee and listen to the life that is living on my farm.
This was my dream and I am blessed to be living it.
My dream is to be happy with my life and enjoy my work as well as my friends and family. I want to be able to look forward to going to work. Even if I don’t make a lot of money, as long as I have enough to pay all my bills and eat well (-and support my yarn habit!) I don’t think I’d need much more.
My dream is set in some pastoral location surrounded by beautiful countryside, children, my husband (to be played by my boyfriend (if you are reading this, dear, consider it a hint)) our sheepdog, and our flock of sheep… and maybe an alpaca or llama ( I hear llamas are good at chasing away predators….). We would be able to make a living through the farming, and our work (which we can do from home thanks to the magic of the internet) that satisfies our passions….. sounds wonderful, yes?
Well, my dream is a work in progress. We are building our sheep flock and our fiber business. I am self-employed here on the farm – it would complete the dream to make it successful enough so that my husband could quit his job and become a full-time shepherd, too. Of course, that would depend on affordable health insurance for the self-employed to become a reality.
The really BIG dream is to win the lottery and have a farm for endangered livestock, with enough money to allow us to hire help – so that we would be able to travel and still maintain the farm.
My dream is have more time to pursue my hobbies, and to one day have a studio in a community like Taos or at an art center like the Art Centre in Christchurch, NZ where I learned to spin. I’m so inspired when I’m around other artistic people.
My dream is to sell this book and then write and sell another…I dream about being able to provide another paycheck for the family and showing my kids, not just telling them, that they really can do anything they put their mind to.
I have been working for the last year in creating my dream by starting my own small business and becoming a consultant to help our area nonprofits grow and thrive. Little by little, with a lot of hard work it is all coming together. I hope to grow my business until I’m ready to retire and then sell it so that I can knit to my heart’s content 🙂 To make it even better, my dream is that my family will all move back within driving distance so we can see each other often.
Here goes:
1. I was a history major in college and as a result I have always dreamed of taking a trip to Greece. I want to explore every inch of it and soak up all of the history, art and culture it has to offer. Whoa, I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
2. My real grandiose dream is to have a wealthy clientele clamoring for all my hand knitted items (I would do customer orders too) so I could make a lucrative living by doing what I love, knitting.
3. Sheri, you could help me out with the last one: I am dreaming of being one of the winners on Wednesday and snagging a skein of the much sort after Wollmeise 😉
My dream is that some day soon my marriage to Chris, my husband and partner of 16 years, will be honored and respected in every state of my beloved country.
My dream is not to need to see any doctors or dentists for six months — not likely for me but that’s why it’s a dream. As someone who broke a tooth on Easter Sunday (and not even while eating candy), I could really use some good luck by winning a skein of the big W!
Sheri, My dearest dream is to have my husband live nine more years at least for our 50th anniversary. He has had two heart attacks, is a Type II diabetic, and has started to have kidney problems. I am terrified of losing him because I know it would kill me to be alone. I am terrified of being alone, scared of an empty house, have no children, no family, no friends, nothing and that scares me to death. So, please, you and all your readers, pray for us and beg God to keep my darling alive.
Ann Carpenter aka Furknitter on Ravelry, in Dallas, Texas
My dream is to raise (almost) all our food on my own land–garden, orchard, maybe some chickens and ducks and geese, maybe even a pygora goat or two for the yarn and the milk!
I’ll need somehow to acquire the land, the expertise, and the energy to do it all, but once I’ve got those, it should be a piece of cake, right?
My dream today is that I score some of that Wollmeise because I keep hearing that it is dreamy…I’ve been dreaming about it…and following it for over a year…never the lucky one to score any…just following it:(
My dream is to retire to the coast of Maine, where I can sit on my porch and hear the ocean while I knit.
Well, my biggest dream is one that only my husband can help me with: become a mother. It’s been my dream for a long, long time, and fortunately it looks like it’ll become a reality sooner rather than later.
Aside from that, I also want to write a novel one day. Oh, and maybe get my hands on some Wollmeise. 😉
I’d like to live in China again – partly because when I was there was one of the best times of my life, but also because I felt like I left too soon. I can work on my Chinese here, and try to do that, but it is hard. This dream is not out of reach, but it would mean giving things up – something that at this point I’m not ready to do.
Other than that: someone to clean my house, unlimited funds to remodel it, unlimited time for knitting!
I want to find a home big enough for a craft room and my lovely Betsey Ross Spinet which resides with my mother. (It desperately needs to be refurbished.)
Then I want to learn to play stride piano.
As others have stated I have several dreams as well.
My number 1 dream is that after almost 2 years (May) I will finally start receiving my SSDI and will be able to repay all the debt that has occured in the last 3 yrs since my Spinal cord injury left me unable to work. My husband had to quit doing the work he loved (Funeral Director) to work for a major corporation and we had to move in with my parents this past yr just to survive. With this income (after the debts are paid) we will finally be able to save as well as build our dream home on 20 acres of my families land and start living the way we have dreamed of since before we were married.
That is my biggest dream. I would also love to be able to design knitwear, sell the designs as well as the actual items and teach others how to knit.
My dream would be to travel around the world with my husband. We have so many places that we want to go. We are fortunate to be able to go on wonderful vacations, but with our jobs and the mortgage…you know…all those pesky demands on our time…I dream about having the time and the financial means to be able to travel all over the world.
And to Ann Carpenter in Texas: I’ll send all my positive thougts your way…and you’re not alone. I bet you have a lot of Loopy Groupies that will pray for you and think of you.
I turned 50 this year and my dreams have changed over time. I’ve had a wonderful time raising four terrific children. I have a great husband and my dreams now are focused on transitioning to the post-children phase of our lives. I want to go on three cruises — one to the Scandinavian fjords, one throughout the Mediterranean and one to Alaska. Sounds so GOOOOD! Ready to go now.
my dream is to have a published leaflet, book something like that of my own shawl designs. I have been lucky enough to have a few published individually but I want to have a book and be able to say I did that
I have a second dream—my hub and I met 39 years ago when we were teens in Germany, someday it would be nice if we could go back
My dream is to finally be at my goal weight and be able to stay there. That means changing my habits and to stopping emotional eating. A side dream would be to live within walking distance of my job so that I could walk to work and relatively painlessly get exercise.
My dream is to go back to Kenya. I went there two years ago for research on water quality/scarcity, and fell in love with the people, culture and country. Unfortunately, I just graduated college and have large student loans to pay back, but my dream is within the next 5 years, to find a way to make it back there- either working with the Peace Corp, a long-term missionary project, or even with a company.
The people we encountered there touched my heart, and more than anything I want to go back to those rural towns and schools and help to better their standard of life, and help those children experience more of the world than their village.
I have so many dreams: I want to finish my ph.d. and teach at the university level. I want to be a writer and have something published. I want to move to provence for six months and learn how to really speak french, and I want to cook and bake so well that one day I can open a bakery/ cafe. Whew never told anybody that last one.
I recently became a Silpada Jewelry rep and my dream is to take it to the next level. Lead other women in their dreams. If I succeed I can go on a trip with my husband paid for by Silpada. A trip that we would not give to ourselves.
I looked at the YouTube video and Susan has a wonderful voice!
It sounds like in addition to dreaming, it helps to adopt the Nike slogan and “Just do it!”
I am mostly living my dream. I am married to my soul mate. We have a smiling, happy, healthy 9-month old baby boy. I want to get really old with my husband. I want to see my baby boy grow up and be happy. I’d like to have one more baby (a girl, please. And while I’m dreaming, the next pregnancy can be free of morning sickness and uncontrollable itchies, please).
And if someday we could live in a cottage someplace quiet near a beach within walking distance of a LYS, tea/coffee shop and library, that would be perfect.
My dream would be to have the willpower to finally start running and lose the 50lbs that I’ve gained the past three years trying to have a baby. There was a lot of ups and downs and a lot of really hard times. Now that we have sweet baby Sadie I feel like I’m not in the best shape to be the momma she deserves. I know I just need to get up and do it. It’s just a long road. Thanks for the contest!
My dream is to graduate, get a real job (I’m a grad student currently) so I can afford a small house with my husband, with enough of a yard we can start an “urban farm” with gardens, chickens, and maybe even two goats, and enjoy a simple life at home, even while still working.
My dream is to be happy, to love, and to be loved. Sometimes it seems like a lot to ask for…
My dream is to become a good spinner. And to write a novel. And to buy a little condo. And to be able to knit a lot faster!!
My dream is to live in Colorado and own/run a retreat/bed&breakfast for families of pastors and those in ministry in need of time away.
My dream is to watch my two sons grow up into men I will continue to love and admire. They’re 3 and 5 now, and I can’t believe it because they were wee newborns just yesterday, I swear!
I’ve always wanted to be a rock star. Since I don’t have the necessary talent to be a singing rock star, I’ve settled for being a rock star at whatever it is I happen to be doing – whether it’s parenting, the job that pays the mortgage, knitting, etc.
My dream is to be an international superstar
My dream once was to move to Colorado when I retire, have a small cabin outside of a rural area and have a place to enjoy my hobbies and the wildlife surrounding me. My dream has changed. I still love Colorado but since my daughter moved away for her job, my dream now is to move just close enough to her to enjoy time with her (and hopefully grandchildren one day) but not to close! I also used to want to lose weight but thankfully that dream has come true through a complete lifestyle change and a change of my eating habits. I went from a size 26/28 to a size 10/12 and feel terrific. For my height this is a great weight for me. I do wish I could run a half marathon one day with my daughter, but due to bad knees this won’t happen.
My dream is to become a much better knitter and a great cook. Don’t have a great comfort level with either right now – but working on it!
My dream is to help women all over come out of bondage, fear, and addiction by learning the life-giving truths in the Word of God.
I have been greatly blessed and am looking forward to giving it back!
My dream is to one day finally go to vet school.
My dream is to make a career out of my creativity. Have to wait utnil my kids grow up a little first. 🙂
maybe i’m simple, but i just want to be happy. no worries–money, health, job–just…..happy.
love, companionship, happiness. that’s all i want from life.
valerie
I want 5-10 acres of land in Western New York where I can raise ALpacas, knit and read, read and knit, and have a huge vegetable garden. Throw in a little time for wet-on-wet watercolorsa and walking the land with the dogs. As long as my family is with me, I would be just fine.
What wonderful timing Sheri! My mom had just sent me this link… it is so sweet!
I’m very interested in community and economic development, planning, and small business. I think these all combine into my big dream of being able to think creatively and innovatively and help communities develop a high quality of life with good jobs, homes and community programs. However I can do that, that’s my dream 🙂
P.S. My last order came in today- everything is beautiful!! Thank you!!
My dream is one we have started, but are stuck on moving forward with. DH and I want to raise grass-fed beef and lamb, and we have the farmland in Kansas, but can’t get there for a couple of years, if ever, due to a personal obstacle. Instead, we live in a city, and dream of the days we can spend down at the farm. If we can just get there before we are too old to handle the work! In the meantime, we have a good life now, and to remind ourselves of how blessed we are is the daily dream.
So many worthy dreams here – it’s been interesting reading them.
I bought a home last year – I’m faced with possibly losing my income this year – My dream is that the company I work for can continue to survive – we’ve already been given a mandatory pay cut in effort to keep going.
My dream life would be for myself or my mom to win the lotto so that we didn’t have to worry about money any more – we don’t need millions – just enough to pay off our debts and houses and live comfortably and travel some.
Continued health and happiness are such a blessing to us.
Wishing you the same! Melody
My dream is to figure out what my dream is.
Yes, I know that’s kind of circular.
Right now, my biggest dreams are totally attainable – with the right support (wouldn’t it always be nice to have more of that?). I want to dye yarn. Period. I have so many ideas in my head, and they just keep growing. They’re multiplying like bunnies. If i could just get the ideas out of my head and onto the yarn, I know I could sell it. Right now i’m in the “just starting out experimenting” stage. I’m loving it.
My other dream (more of a goal/plan, really) is to go back to Alaska. Cruise, simple vacation, I’m not that picky. I just want to go back. It’s like in the travel commercial – “I heard Alaska calling….” =)