Getting Closer to the Big 3-0

Well, here I am, just a little over a month from turning 30. It really doesn’t bother me right now to think about, so hopefully I won’t have some massive freak out on my actual birthday.

I’ve been able to check off a few more things from the list:

1. New couches.  Turns out that I didn’t need new couches. I thought the damage was too much after three years of abuse from the dogs and life at a camp, but I cleaned them up, bought some stuffing at Michaels, and they’re as good as new.
2. Participate in a women’s Bible study. During the time that Ben and I were living at the camp, I really felt disconnected from our church, my friends and ministry. Ironic, since we were “ministering” at Camp Gilead. It was the lowest point, I would say, in my spiritual life. I’m so thankful to be re-connected. Now I’m teaching the three-year-old Sunday school class each week, serving as a part of the video announcement ministry and participating in a Bible study. It’s been challenging, but very rewarding.

I updated the original list today.  I used the strike-through feature to indicate the things that just aren’t going to happen by my birthday, and used a blue font to indicate the things that are still possible.

Looking at the list that I made almost a year ago, a few thoughts come up:

1. I was being completely unrealistic with some of the things I put on the list, mostly because I would have needed some kind of financial backer to be able to do some of the stuff.  The likelihood of visiting the Grand Canyon and Key West, going on a hot air balloon ride, getting new couches, taking golf lessons, parasailing, paying back the A/C loan–all while making some major life transitions that threw our already fragile financial stability into turmoil–was never good.
2. I was optimistic. There’s nothing wrong with being optimistic. It’s not like the things on the list were do or die. And some of the ones that I’ve accomplished so far have been so rewarding (teaching college classes, paying off a credit card, taking part in a Bible study).
3. There’s an interesting mix of regret and lack of regret. I’m a goal-driven person, and I usually reach my goals. I don’t usually set goals that I don’t think I can achieve. A year ago, I would have thought that I’d have this huge sense of failure if I didn’t reach this lofty list of goals.  But I don’t. I think that my lack of regret comes from knowing that I still will do the things on this list, just not now. Some of the things on the list that I haven’t accomplished really do make me feel regret. The ones that were “feats of athleticism” like the marathon, duathlon, Ragnar, and bike rides were really ones that I wanted to accomplish. I still plan on doing them all, but they just weren’t in the cards for this year. The learning how to cook, the golf lessons, the parasailing, the tattoo…no big deal.
4. Sometimes reaching the goals came about in different ways that I expected. I wanted to get new living room couches. And based on what the couches looked like when we moved from the camp back to our house, most people would have agreed that it was a good goal. But with a good cleaning and the addition of some stuffing, I really was able to make some sad looking couches look really good again.  When I said I wanted to buy a really good pair of jeans, I was given two pair.
5. I set some goals that, if I had really thought them through, never would have made the list. For instance…reading a nonfiction, challenging book each month. Bottom line: life is too short to make yourself try to do things that you don’t enjoy. I enjoy reading; really, I do. But I don’t like to read heavy stuff. In fact, reading the heavy stuff makes me fall asleep. I like to read magazines. I like to read fiction. It’s important to learn and grow, but forcing myself to do it just to check off something on a list isn’t the way to go about it.

Hopefully I’ll have a few more things I can cross off before September 11 rolls around. I really do hope to skydive on September 10 to commemorate the end of my 20s!  Check back in for a wrap-up post sometime after I turn the big 3-0. 

April 1 – One More Checked Off

As I look over my 30×30 list, many of the items on the list are things that cost money. Some cost more than others, but almost all of the items have some expense associated them.

But there are a couple that involve paying off some debt, and these are the goals that are really the most important to me. I hate having debt hanging over my head.  So when I checked my bank account and saw that our tax return had been deposited, I immediately paid off the remaining balance on my Ann Taylor LOFT credit card, cut up the card and called to cancel my account.

And it makes me SO happy.

#8 – DONE.

Checking In

So…here it is, mid February, and I’m realizing that I was really optimistic when I put together my 30×30 list. And I obviously thought that I would win the lottery sometime during this year to be able to pay for all of the things I wanted to accomplish. I feel like I should break my list down by “going to do,” “probably can do,” “hope to do,” and “no way this is going to happen.” But I’ve still got several months until I turn 30, and I’m not going to resort to that yet.  I just need to find someone to bankroll my life.

So here’s an update.

#2 – Skydive.

I didn’t really jump out of a plane, so I can’t officially count it. But for Valentine’s Day, Ben surprised me with a trip to an indoor skydiving place in Orlando. It was a lot of fun and really just confirmed that I do, in fact, want to jump out of a plane.

#8 – Pay off a credit card.

I haven’t actually paid it off yet, but I was really responsible when I got my paycheck for teaching one of my college classes this semester (see list, #3) and I paid a really big chunk towards my credit card. It felt GREAT.  I can’t wait to pay off the last little bit, cancel the card and cut it up into little tiny pieces!

#21 – Buy a really great pair of jeans.

Who needs to buy a really great pair of jeans when people can give them to you?  Ben’s sister gave me a pair of 7 for all Mankind jeans, and for Christmas, my friends Lincoln and Jamie gave me a pair of Joe’s Jeans. The Sevens are a really dark wash and skinny, so they look great with boots. The Joe’s are more casual and a lighter wash. Love my family and friends, love the jeans.  Check that one off my list.

#27 – Organize all of my HS and college photos into albums.

What a HUGE pain in my butt. I took WAY too many photos between my junior year of high school and my senior year of college. Because January proved to be a month full of sick days (sinus infection), I made some serious headway at getting these photos organized.  I took one of my sick days and had a Twilight movie marathon while organizing my high school photos. I sorted them by year (as close as I could remember) and put them in an album. I would’ve finished, but I didn’t buy enough extra pages to go in the album.  Looking through the photos was a lot of fun though. I estimate that I’m about 3/4 the way done with this one and can probably have it all done if I devote one more afternoon to the project.

I still don’t have my final three items on the list, so I’m going to spend some time thinking about some realistic goals that I can accomplish in the next 6 months. Suggestions are always welcome.

The Salvador Dali Museum

I’m in St. Pete this weekend for my half marathon, so after my race expo, Ben and I made a trip to the Salvador Dali Museum. I’m not a huge fan of surrealist art, but I’ve heard Ben talk about the museum since way back when we started dating and I’ve wanted to go for a while now. I was a little disappointed that some of his more famous and recognizable pieces were out on loan to other art museums around the country, but there was still some pretty cool stuff. And some pretty twisted stuff. And lots of bare boobs.

I wasn’t allowed to take any photography inside the museum, so here are some pictures outside of the museum.

Outside of the Salvador Dali Museum

The Melting Clock bench outside the museum

Another one outside the museum

With Bennie Boo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s the fourth thing off my 30×30 list.

So what if I can’t sew on a button?

OK, ok…I’ll admit that as a 29 year old woman, I probably should have known how to sew on a button before today.  But I can’t be the only one who purposely didn’t learn to do something, just so I wouldn’t have to do it.  Instead of learn this simple domestic skill, I would just safety pin the button to whatever piece of clothing it came from, fold it up, and save the pile for when Ben’s grandma came South for the winters.

But today, my mother taught me how to sew on a button. She gave me a pile of buttons, an old blouse, some bright red thread and a needle.

Step 1: Thread the needle. Seemed easy enough.  Took me a few tries. Apparently depth perception isn’t one of my strong points. I kept missing the stupid eye.

Step 2: Double up the thread and tie a knot at the end of the thread. Check.

Step 3:  Line up the button. Check. (I can handle straight lines.)

Step 4: Get the needle to come up through the back of the fabric and through one of the tiny little holes. Try (unsuccessfully) not to stab finger with needle. Continue looping needle until button was firmly attached to fabric.

Step 5: Tie double knot to secure button in place. Snip remaining thread.

So there you go. I learned how to do two-hole buttons, four-hole buttons and “shank” buttons. It wasn’t super pretty on the back side of the fabric, but no one sees that so whatever.

And with that 45 minute lesson and practice session, I’ve crossed one more thing off my 30×30 list.

My mom is so proud.

Two Months Down and Only 2 Things Done

To be fair, I did make my 30×30 list about a month after I turned 29 so the fact that I’ve only accomplished 2 of my 30 things since my birthday isn’t terrible. It does mean that I have a lot of work to do. I also need to complete the list. No one said this was going to be easy, which is kind of the point. It’s supposed to be challenging.

But…I’m going to be positive about this whole experience so I’m going to turn my focus to what I have done in the past month since I created my list.

First of all, I started teaching college classes. I am officially “Professor Johnson.” It has a nice ring to it, right? I’m an adjunct professor in the online program at Southeastern University. This semester, I’m teaching Media Ethics. Next semester, I’ll teach Media Ethics and Introduction to Mass Communication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second, I took the advice of my friend Tracy and found some great nude pumps on the Ann Taylor website. And I got them on sale. They’re unbelievably comfortable and I love them. Here’s what they look like:

 

 

 

 

I’m not sure what I’m going to do next, but I am supposed to be reading one challenging book each month. I’m going to revise this to say “Read 12 challenging books this year” since I got a late start. Right now, I’m reading “The Four Loves” by C.S. Lewis. I supposeI should tackle some of the easier ones like learning how to sew on a button (Yes, I’m ashamed that I don’t know how to do this…whatever).

Until my next update.
<3, Sandy

My 30×30 List

I’m 29 years old. Have been for almost 2 months now. It seems to be a pretty good age so far.  And in my 29 years, I’ve accomplished a lot. I got my BA and MA degrees. I got married. I managed to get a great job that I love. I’ve had the opportunity to travel to lots of different countries including Mexico, Bolivia, Hungary, the Dominican Republic, France, England and Spain.

But there’s still a lot that I want to do. So I’ve made a list of 30 things I want to do before I turn 30. Here’s the list, which isn’t quite complete yet:

1. Run a marathon.
2. Skydive.
3. √Teach college classes.
4. Get down to my goal weight. (10 more pounds)
5. Take yoga classes.
6. Go to the Grand Canyon.
7. Race in a duathlon.
8. √Pay off a credit card.
9. Read a nonfiction, challenging book each month.
10. Start writing the book I’ve always wanted to write. (step 1: figure out what i want to write about)
11. Ride my bike from my house to my parents’ Florida house (about 75 miles)
12. Do a 100-mile bike ride.
13. √Participate in a women’s Bible study
14. √Go to the Salvador Dali museum in St. Pete.
15. Run the Ragnar Relay.
16. Go to Key West (If I run the Ragnar Relay, it starts in Miami and ends in Key West…2 birds, 1 stone.)
17. Get another tattoo. (Sorry parents…)
18. Go parasailing.
19. Pay back a loan that paid for a new (and absolutely necessary) air conditioner for our condo.
20. √Get new living room couches.
21. √Buy a really great pair of jeans.
22. √Buy some nude heels. They always look so good, but I’ve never bought a pair.
23. Take golf lessons.
24. Learn how to cook – preferably diverse and healthy stuff.
25. Go on a hot air balloon ride.
26. √Learn how to sew on a button (I know that I really should know how to do this)
27. Organize all of my HS and college photos into albums.
28. √Visit Fenway Park to see the Red Sox play.  (Ok, so this one was added after I already did it, but it still counts!)
29. √Purge my house of a lot of junk. I have so much stuff that I don’t need, and I want to get it out of my house!  (I added this one late also, but I’ve been working on it all year long.)
30. ?

UPDATE (8/4):  I’ve used the strike through feature to indicate the things that just aren’t going to happen by my birthday, and used a blue font to indicate the things that are still possible.