welcome back!

It was my 29th birthday a little while ago (6 weeks? something?), and was chatting with my friend EG about my recent birthday and her upcoming in october birthday when she will turn 30! So I'm doing a 30 before 30 list, and she's doing a 31 before 31 list. And dude, I've got 10 months to do 30 things. 3 things a month. Totally doable. And baby, we've got til May 2012!

Here's how it stands:

Learn bass guitar
Write something every day
Stop commenting on/discussing my weight
Cook through an entire cookbook >> yeah, I know, which cookbook? I honestly haven’t decided which one yet! I’m thinking the Moosewood one, but of course, the darling Alex is already writing a blog about that.
To not buy any new pants until all the ones I currently own are unwearable
Visit a friend out of state
Visit an out of state city
To move all of my stored crap out of my mom’s attic
To get rid of all extra crap out of the attic
To get rid of all extra crap in the basement
To knit a blanket
To learn how to actually crochet
To not start a new craft project until all other projects are finished
To be physically active every day
Better knife skills
To really focus on my church activities and not feel so stretched by them
Do a musical theater project
Meditate and pray for 30 minutes daily
Bake a cheesecake that has no cracks
Put $25 at least into the savings account
Finish decorating the house
Fix bottom of kitchen cabinet
Go to Jump Back Ball
Have an every other month lady brunch
Do without reading books for a whole day
Participate in/create a food competition
Be a better cat mom
Give up snark/sarcasm for a full month
Stain all porches
Do yoga once a week

So this is neat! The list breaks down as follows:

LET’S BE MORE GROWN UP, SHALL WE
To move all of my stored crap out of my mom’s attic
To get rid of all extra crap out of the attic
To get rid of all extra crap in the basement
Put $25 at least into the savings account
Finish decorating the house
Fix bottom of kitchen cabinet
Stain all porches
Be a better cat mom

COOKING SKILLS GET MORE BADASS
Cook through the entire cookbook
Better knife skills
Bake a cheesecake that has no cracks
Participate in/create a food competition

CREATIVE CRAFTINESS
Learn bass guitar
Write something every day
To knit a blanket
To learn how to actually crochet
To not start a new craft project until all other projects are finished
Do a musical theater project

LET’S GET PHYSICAL PHYSICAL
Stop commenting on/discussing my weight
To not buy any new pants until all the ones I currently own are unbearable
To be physically active every day
Do yoga once a week

TRAVELING BROADENS THE MIND
Visit a friend out of state
Visit an out of state city

ZENNISHNESS
To really focus on my church activities and not feel so stretched by them
Meditate and pray for 30 minutes daily
Do without reading books for a whole day once a day
Give up snark/sarcasm for a full month

FUN ACTIVITIES FOR EVERYONE!
Go to Jump Back Ball
Have an every other month lady brunch

And the fabulous EG read a book that honestly I cannot remember the name of which recommends that you plan out your activities so that there is a cohesive plan. That book is totally on the ball. You need to have a plan about these things, so I’m totally planning out three a month until May 17 2012. It will be a planned out 10 months of achievementing. After I put together the list, however, I noticed that most of my list are continuous, do this all the time sort of activities. So July and August are really top heavy, because I’m trying to begin these habits. Hopefully I will get this most of these done before their month deadline.

JULY
Write something every day
Cook through an entire cookbook
To be physically active every day
Meditate and pray for 30 minutes daily
Put $25 at least into the savings account

AUGUST
To move all of my stored crap out of my mom’s attic
Stain all porches
Do yoga once a week
Stop commenting on/discussing my weight

SEPTEMBER
To get rid of all extra crap out of the attic
To get rid of all extra crap in the basement
Finish decorating the house
Be a better cat mom

OCTOBER
Visit a friend out of state
Do without reading books for a whole day
Have an every other month lady brunch

NOVEMBER
To not buy any new pants until all the ones I currently own are unbearable
Better knife skills
Learn bass guitar

DECEMBER
Give up snark/sarcasm for a full month
Bake a cheesecake that has no cracks

JANUARY
To knit a blanket
Fix bottom of kitchen cabinet

FEBRUARY
Go to Jump Back Ball
To really focus on my church activities and not feel so stretched by them

MARCH
Participate in/create a food competition
Do a musical theater project

APRIL
To learn how to actually crochet

MAY
Visit an out of state city
To not start a new craft project until all other projects are finished