30 before 30

Yesterday was my best friend Kelli's 29th birthday. She's only 2 months younger than me, which means that I only have 10 months left of my 20s! Not that I'm freaking out that much. 30's no different than 29, and I don't even feel 29 as it is. So I'm sure that 30 won't feel any different either. But it's a milestone, so I feel like I should commemorate it in some way.

After seeing several "30 Before 30" bucket-type lists on other blogs like Beantown Baker, Sugarlush and Joy the Baker, I thought I'd make one of my own. I started searching around for other lists, and noticed a trend. Everyone wants to be incredibly adventurous or athletic, running a marathon, traveling the world, or going skydiving. The only time you'll find me running is if there's a wild animal chasing me, and I won't even get ON an airplane, much less jump out of one. So my list might seem a bit more tame and simple compared to others, but hey. I've got 10 months and limited funds--I made a list I could actually accomplish. So here it is--my list of 30 goals I want to accomplish before I turn the big 3-0.

Self Improvement:
1. Lose a dress size
2. Ride my bike 15 miles (without passing out or dying.)
3. Get my hair cut finally. And actually style it every day
4. Get highlights
5. Pay off my credit cards (or at least significantly pay down)
6. Get back into couponing (not extreme couponing. Those people are crazy. Just the normal save money kind of couponing)
7. Get back into sewing (or another hobby I’ve given up on)
8. Decorate my house and put pictures up on my walls
9. Finish an entire crossword puzzle from the Sunday newspaper on my own (without looking at the answers)
10. Send out Christmas cards
11. Visit a new city
12. Visit another state
13. Get a passport (even if I don’t get to use it right away)

Reading: (I read a lot. My current goal is 60 books a year, which I’m only slightly behind on, but still doing well. The only problem—I read a lot of teen books. Paranormal teen books. Total mind numbing fluff. And I get most of them from the library, even though I have 2 bookshelves full of legitimate literature, most of which I’ve never read.)
14. Read 3 non-fiction books
15. Read 3 classic books
16. Read 3 Shakespeare plays
17. Read 8 books I already own

Food:
18. Bake 5 things I’ve never tried to bake before
19. Enter a baking competition (and win!)
20. Bake a pie
21. Make another tiered, fondant covered cake (I will master you, fondant.)
22. Try 3 kinds of foods I’ve never tried before
23. Cook 3 kinds of foods I’ve never tried making before
24. Make pasta from scratch
25. Cook more, eat out less
26. Put together a cookbook of my favorite recipes (even if it’s just for me)

Blogging:
27. Get back into a blogging routine (I've been a slacker lately! Sorry.)
28. Be more interactive in blogging (Giveaways and other ideas I’ve had rattling around my brain)
29. Give the blog a makeover? (I usually end up doing this once a year anyway)
30. Buy a fancy DSLR camera (and learn how to use it)


I'm excited to say that I've already accomplished one thing on my list! Yesterday Kelli and I went to get our haircut. It's seriously the first time in about 3 years I've actually had my hair cut. (I was a bit traumatized the last time, when I asked for a few inches cut off to trim up and shape and walked out with my hair about 8 inches shorter.) It was definitely time. I've been sick of my hair for a long time (especially after getting it stuck in EVERYTHING, including my pants while I was getting dressed), and haven't been able to do anything with it since it's been so long. I couldn't even dry it because it took FOREVER! Most days I'd show up to work with a wadded up ball of wet hair because I didn't want to spend the hour it would've taken me to do anything with it. But yesterday, both Kelli and I each gave 10 inches of our hair to Locks of Love and I feel 1000x better! No more nasty long hair! And I have bangs!!

So with 10 months left til 30, 1 down. 29 to go.