Saturday, September 21, 2013

30x30




"I'll do it better in my next 30 years." - Tim McGraw 

It's coming.

In just 341 days. 

And folks...there's nothing I can do about it.

I've had several total breakdown moments like Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally" when she realizes that she's going to be 40. Harry is trying to console her and goes, "Yeah...in 8 years!!!" and she replies, "But it's just sitting there, like a big dead end." 

I can so empathize...because in 341 days I will be 30.

See how I counted the days to make it sound like it's still a long way away?? Creative, huh?  But you read that right. I'll be THIRTY - the big 3-0 - in less than a year.

I mean, 30. That's older than the cast of Friends when the show first started. (If I lived in an awesome apartment with 5 of my best friends, maybe I wouldn't be so bitter. Or maybe if I had Jennifer Aniston's hair.)

So in order to avoid the paralyzing depression that accompanies losing my twenties forever and the realization that my life has not turned out according to my type-A plan, I decided I needed a list. A list of things to look forward to. A list of things to get excited about. A list to make the last year of my twenties my best year yet.

The list isn't about skydiving or doing random acts of kindness, although I did try to include some adventure and some giving back. Instead, I thought of all the things I've said I wanted to do, but have never done. I've thought about the things that fill my heart with happiness, and made a decision to do more of those things.

This is nothing original. It's just my attempt to make the next 341 days full of adventure, full of time with friends and family, full of living. I don't want to spend the last days of my twenties whining. I want to spend them smiling.

So without further ado, here is my 30x30 list - 30 things that I want to check off before August 29, 2014. I'll be blogging about each one after I finish.

30x30
1. Run a half marathon
2. Pay off my credit card
3. Read all of the Chronicles of Narnia
4. Send a postcard
5. Knit a scarf
6. Watch all of the Harry Potter movies
7. Eat at Grits and Groceries
8. Organize my sock drawer
9.  See a concert at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville
10. Watch the sunrise from a gorgeous location
11. Get my tattoo
12. Pick apples and make a homemade apple pie
13. Go on a fall hike and see a waterfall
14. Go on a road trip, take tons of pictures, buy stupid souvenirs, and blog about it
15. Cook dinner at the Frazee Center
16. Call my Nana once a week
17. Join Downtown Presbyterian Church
18. Bike the whole Swamp Rabbit Trail
19. Submit a children's book for publication
20. Memorize an entire psalm
21. Make and mail Christmas cards
22. Learn to play "The House that Built Me"
23. Read a book of poetry
24. Finish my Master's plus 30
25. Make pancakes for friends
26. Leave a 100% tip to a great waiter/waitress
27. Take my class to sing at the nursing home
28. Make cookies for the janitors, cafeteria staff, and office staff at my school
29. Put together a box for Operation Christmas Child
30. Plan to be surprised

PS: This won't be nearly as much fun without you. What number will you help me with??

Now I know: 
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

2 comments:

  1. Ooooh! May we help with more than one? First, I will give you our new address to help with numbers 4 and 21. Next, I happily offer our house for a destination or pit stop for numbers 10 and 14. Finally, we hope to be part of number 30 more than once.....so watch over your shoulder! Love you, girl!

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  2. GREAT LIST. I am totally in for #7 - thats on my list too! - KC

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