Syracuse NY Newborn Photographer | Fabulous at 40!

This Syracuse Newborn Photographer is getting ready to go over the hill! Gosh, I am old! And when I reflect on my life and how good God has been, blessing me with family, friends, and wonderful clients, I can’t help but feel grateful!

With my reflection, I have also been considering the future. I am a very ambitious person, and it tends to get me in trouble. I get lost quite often in dreamland, but I am a being of action, so there’s a good chance my dreams might showcase in reality.

So, I have compiled a “Bucket List” of “25 Things to Accomplish” while hanging out in my 40s. I tried to come up with a list of 40, but shockingly, I ran out of thoughts!

Here goes! Enjoy, comment, even tell me I’m crazy, or offer encouragement if you feel like I am going to need it!

Shelayna’s Fabulous at 40 Bucket List!

1. Make a good sourdough bread. I know, I know, sourdough has taken us middle-aged women by storm. Yet, for some reason, I can’t seem to get it right. I have tried different starters, and my bread is so dense you can’t chew it. I have tried to create my own sourdough starter and it won’t double and bubble! So, I am still working on it, and hoping to bake beautiful, yummy, healthy bread for my family.
2. Complete the Adirondacks 46 High Peaks challenge. This really should have been accomplished in my 30’s when I first learned about it. I have been saying for the last decade that this is my dream goal, and guess how many high peaks I have scaled? 0. Zilch. Nada. So, if I plan my 40s right, and focus on 4-5 high peaks a year, by the time my gray hair has turned white at 50, I will have as a badge of accomplishment!
3. Finish writing my book. Don’t we all dream of being a published author? I have been holding onto this dream since I was 15. I studied journalism at SUNY Oswego, and was going to change the world with my writing. Well, marriage and 3 kids later, and a dying newspaper industry, here we are. My current book’s topic is on praying over yourself. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer, and especially praying for yourself. How else can you become like Jesus? So, I have been working on some devotions and prayers, that are biblical and can help lead someone closer to Him. After all, I just here recruiting for heaven!
4. And if I am going to finish a book, I want to have it published! And not to be too fussy, but I have a publisher in mind! Pentecostal Publishing House is where I collect all my spiritual growth books, and yes, it would be a dream come true if they accepted my work!
5. Speaking of the spiritual matters in life…another goal, that I could accomplish in 1 years’ time, is to complete my General License minister’s training with the United Pentecostal Church International. My husband and I are both credited ministers already at the local level, and I am looking to continue my education and experience in the ministry.
6. Reading music is like learning a foreign language. I have been playing piano for many years and am self taught on block chords. So whether you call that playing or noise, is in the ear of the person who hears me. These last few years I have been on a musical journey to learn to READ music. The joke goes that Pentecostals can jam it up, but cannot read notes. For me, it has been true for many years. I have been studying on my own, learning notes and symbols, again, teaching myself. The end goal in 10 years is to be proficient in reading music.
7. And if I am going to learn to read music proficiently, then I am going to learn the fundamentals of Jazz! I love the fills, the downward runs, the style of jazz and the story it tells. My mind is not musically gifted, so it will take much effort on my part to understand how it all works. I have spent many tears on music and can’t wait to see the fruit of my labor!
8. I want to catch just one salmon via fishing. How hard can it be? My husband hates it when I say that! But seriously, it has to be easier than learning piano jazz! So, give me day at Salmon River, and let me catch a big old fish!
9. Bicycle the Erie Canal. My poor husband. He likes the quiet life. And he married his opposite. I love bike riding and adventure. I tell my girls all the time that I want ride my bike along the Erie Canal. Maybe within the next few years, we could all do it as a family adventure!
10. Photograph Star Trails. Did you ever think I’d find a photography related goal? With several failed attempts, that included Black Hawk helicopters, I have yearned to capture the stars leaving their lights blazing in circles around the heavens. My great uncle lent me Star Trail VHS tutorials years ago, and I have been hooked ever since. I am not a night owl, so when the sun goes to bed, so do I. This would take strategic planning that doesn’t include close to full moons, and Black Hawks.
11. Pay off our mortgage! The American dream is to own your own home. And we are so close!  By this time next year, we will no longer have a mortgage!
12. And while we are paying off the mortgage, I’d say let’s not stop there, but be debt free by 50! Again, this takes careful planning, and the need to STOP SPENDING! Obviously, life happens and gets expensive when we least expect it, but there are things we can and not do to help us stay out of debt.
13. And when one owns a home, and can put a nail wherever they please, I’d like to do some remodeling. Where to begin? My kitchen. So, after the house is paid off, I plan to start saving up to give one of my favorite rooms a makeover.
14. But the kitchen isn’t the only room that needs an update. The girls’ bathroom is in desperate need for some TLC, so I may have to flip a coin and see which one will come first!
15. Well, since we are on the topic of money, another goal is to set up a will or Living Trust for our family. I hate to even think of it, but life happens so unexpectantly and I want my family covered and as little convinced financially if it should take a turn for the worse. I would love some advice in this area! Feel free to comment!
16. Sticking with the money theme, and having some faith in our future, this year, I am totally doing it, I am starting a retirement fund for my hubby and me! We have always lived paycheck to paycheck, and eventually we need to be able to live and relax and enjoy life! So, with a little extra elbow grease on my part, we are going to have retirement savings started!
17. Back to reality and collecting fun and coloring items that go “cluck”! This goal that can be easily accomplished with a trip down to Tractor Supply this spring! But I don’t want just any chickens. I want hens that lay rainbow-colored eggs. Egg hunting is so exciting, and I love to see all the pretty colors we already get. So, I just need a few more shades, and I will be tasting the rainbow everyday at breakfast!
18. And while I am expanding the chicken coop, I’ll add another barn to hold my Jersey cow! With the amount of milk my family drinks in one year, I could buy a cow. And just the thought of owning a little brown cow makes me smile. Fresh milk, churn my own butter, and cream! Oh goodness, I am even going to try and make cheese! People think I am nuts, you probably do too…but hey, God gives us dreams and tells us to be fruitful and multiply. I am just being obedient!
19. Five and a half years left. That’s all I have before Chloe graduates. We haven’t crossed the finish line, but in spring of 2027 Rose and Rachel will graduate from high school! And I honestly didn’t know if Rose and I were going to make it through kindergarten. The road has been long, hard, and rewarding. We plan to finish and finish strong. So, come see me at the age of 45 and a half and I will be a retired, veteran homeschool mom!
20. And when that time comes, I believe my whole family should be rewarded for the closing of the Snow Homeschool Academy with a trip to Hawaii. Hey, if the girls are unable to make it, I’ll go alone with the principal! I told you I have big dreams. I am writing them down so I can make them happen!
21. Set up a green house for my tropical plants. I have been collecting, planting from seed, tropical plants and have nowhere to go with them. They need the higher humidity that doesn’t exist in NY, and not to be cooped up in my house all winter. Even our summers have done major damage to my avocado tree. And I love plants so I need a proper home for them, heated in the winter of course; It would be a sweet haven for them and me!
22. Every year our organization, UPCI holds it’s general conference that 60,000 plus people around the world gather to. I have been to one, when it was held in Louisville Kentucky at the age of 14. We couldn’t stay for all the services and arrived earlier in the week for the meetings. I have been yearning to go back for the full ‘church’ experience. For me it would be a vacation. I love to spend time in God’s presence with His people. One of these years, I am going to make it there!

These next few should probably be for the years in our 50s, but I am writing them down anyways.

1. Own an investment property. But not just any investment property. I foresee a sweet cabin located on a mountain lake. Sure I will hook it up to Air BNB, but I will block out dates for ministers and their families to come and rest. This pretty spot will have fishing and kayaking opportunities for days of adventure. Inside the cabin will be a study full of amazing books for rainy days and curious minds. It will be a haven of rest for those who are working hard, whether at the job, or in the missions’ field.
2. Retire from photography. As much as I love to see your smiling faces before me in the studio, I don’t plan to continue in this career path forever. Writing has always been my first dream, and if I can accomplish dream number 3 and 4, it may open a door to a whole new path that allows me to hang up the camera for business purposes. I dearly appreciate all the love my clients have bestowed upon me for the last 2 decades!
3. Last but not least, is Josh and I have a vision of traveling the states via RV and visiting every baseball stadium. We will get a first-hand experience of our beautiful country, while enjoying America’s favorite pastime. This is a two for one dream and accomplishing it with Josh would make my heart soar!

So that is Shelayna’s Fabulous at 40 bucket list. Crazy of course. Would you expect anything less? Please share any comments, suggestions, advice below for me!