30 by 30 [ May 17, 2010, 9:52 pm ]

In an attempt to better myself, challenge myself and get the most out of life, I'm compiled a list of goals that I want to complete by the time I'm thirty. Since I'm closer now to 30 than 20, I've decided to be adult-like and face it with bravado, flair and gusto. So here are 30 goals in 5 different categories that I'd like to accomplish by the time I'm 30. This list actually started when I turned 26 and as time goes on, the more bold you see the better, because that means I've accomplished a task. Wish me luck!

Personal Growth:
1. Ask someone out
2. Accept a date with someone unexpected
3. Go on a weekend vacation by myself
4. Go to class one day without makeup on (EAD 893, April 2, 2009)
5. Go one month without buying any coffee house drinks
6. Jump off the Black Rocks in Marquette
7. Heal from the hellacious break-up and find closure (It's a process, but I feel about 1000 times better now that I've learned to re-love)
8. Tell my dad I forgive him
9. Keep a plant alive for three months minimum (the hyacinth I was given counts because it was a bulb when I got it and I coaxed lovely purple flowers from it before it died--it is an annual after all--Spring Semester 2009)
10. Go on a t.v. fast for one week
11. Dance on a bar (November 2008)
12. Take a motorcycle riding class
13. Say �yes� just once when I have the instinct to say �no�
14. Redefine what true love means to me
15. Learn how to cook an authentic foreign dish
16. Give my sister a great graduation gift
17. Accept a dare
18. Give up the internet for one week
19. Plant a tree
20. Make a list of 100 things I like about myself (finished July 2009)
21. Participate in four �buy nothing� weeks
22. Take myself on a date once a week for one month
23. Write a letter to read to myself on the morning of my 30th birthday (written on the eve of my 27th birthday)
24. Leave a 100% tip for good service (March 2009)
25. Send a Christmas card that features solely me (December 2008)
26. Fall in love with myself
27. Have one computer-free weekend (June 2010--who needs a computer when you're running around the West Coast with a BFF?)
28. Go two months without shopping at Target (my Lent give-up for 2009)
29. Purchase new plates and silverware post-graduation (done November 2009)
30. Reach out to someone who has been abused and make some good come from my situation

Mind, Body and Soul:
1. Tone my arms
2. Learn to meditate/calm my mind for 10 minutes
3. Do a 5K race (March, 6, 2010!!!)
4. Learn to tango, mambo or salsa
5. Honor friendships on Sweetest Day or Valentines Day by giving a rose to a dozen people
6. Donate blood at least once a year
7. Re-learn to do the splits
8. Go for a walk three or four days a week for one month
9. Compose a sexual bucket list (Summer 2009)
10. Read the Bible
11. Get a bikini wax
12. Stay up until sunrise and watch it
13. Kayak in Lake Superior
14. Try Sudoku�finish at least one puzzle
15. Write in my healing journal for 30 days straight (November-December 2008)
16. Work out twice a week for six weeks straight (training for a 5K will do that to you!)
17. Drop two pants sizes
18. Attend a domestic violence vigil (October 2008)
19. Give up candy for one month
20. Get a facial
21. Improve my posture
22. Find out my blood type
23. Lower my blood pressure
24. Go one week without caffeine
25. Use the stairs more and the elevator less
26. Take a yoga class
27. Purchase a Nativity scene/set
28. Try reiki
29. Have three vegetarian or vegan days (1/3)
30. Volunteer for an organization I believe in (domestic violence, LGBT rights, children�s foundation, etc�)

Creative:
1. Buy a DSLR camera
2. Find a use for my bridesmaid dress
3. Complete an essay project for my mom�s 60th birthday
4. Participate in a craft exchange with at least one friend (October 2009)
5. Submit at least 3 essays for publication to various magazines
6. Expand my blog readership
7. Complete �The Artist�s Way�
8. Frame and display my best shots from my UK trips
9. Grow an herb or two (clarification: real herbs, NOT illegal herbs)
10. Re-read the Harry Potter series
11. Attend a Renaissance Fair (September 2010--so fun!)
12. Own a Polaroid camera (July 2010 thanks to a Twiter friend!
13. Try video blogging
14. Try improv
15. See Spring Awakening on stage (February 2009--so good!)
16. See The Lion King or Mamma Mia on stage
17. Post a Missed Connection on Craig�s List (June 2009)
18. Host a theme party (80s, toga, ugly sweater, etc�)
19. Try henna (September 2010)
20. Finish UK 2008 scrapbook
21. Read the Feminine Mystique
22. See part of the AIDS quilt
23. Organize all my NMU and MSU photos into albums�real albums not digital ones
24. Design one piece of crafty art to hang on my living room walls (November 2009)
25. Participate in the Gimme Your Stuff exchange
26. Get paid to write something
27. Read five book recommendations from friends (1/5: The Undomsticated Goddess)
28. Memorize a Maya Angelou poem
29. Start a holiday tradition
30. Make all holiday gifts one year (December 2008)

Professional/Investing in my future:
1. Complete my Masters Degree (May 8, 2009--one of my proudest days EVER!)
2. Attend at least one professional conference a year (3/4)
3. Find a mentor
4. Be a mentor
5. Keep in contact with my closest cohort friends after graduation
6. Pay off my major credit card
7. Begin learning Finnish
8. Purchase an external hard-drive and backup all my laptop files
9. Participate in the Day of Silence
10. Present at a national conference
11. Invest in stock
12. Reduce my shoe and purse collection by 25% (Moving is a great motivator for minimalizing...and I'm sure Goodwill was happy with my massive donation!)
13. Invest in at least one good suit
14. Have at least $5,000 in savings by the time I�m 30
15. Bake cookies from scratch for my staff (December 2010)
16. Clear the clutter from my desk and actually use it
17. Add to my 401(K)
18. Begin watching CNN/news for a couple minutes a day
19. Apply for the EmpowHer ACPA Mentorship
20. Apply for at least one job I do not think I will get
21. Apply for at least one job in a different country
22. Present at a leadership conference (November 2008)
23. Take advantage of one training session offered for free through DRL or MSU (December 2008)
24. Write a book review or another piece to be published in a student affairs publication (June 2009 my essay was published in "More Stories of Inspiration" by NASPA)
25. Challenge my staff to grow through utilizing reflective learning regularly (an on-going goal that is fast becoming a regular practice--hurray!)
26. Volunteer at a national conference
27. Find a better/healthier work/life balance
28. Volunteer for a committee outside of my department (Spring Semester 2010--now a proud member of the Advisory Board for the campus women's leadership council!)
29. Stop swearing so much
30. Donate to my alma mater (NMU) and the SLFP


For Fun:
1. Buy a pair of real diamond stud earrings
2. Donate $5 to each goal I do not reach by the age of 30
3. Save $5 for each goal I accomplish and buy a frivolous item with all the money on my 30th birthday
4. Adopt a pet
5. Wear a wig in public for fun
6. Start planning a trip to Scotland/Ireland/Italy/Greece
7. Do the tourist-y things in Chicago: see Second City, tour Oprah�s studio�
8. Attend a Red Wings game
9. Drink pink champagne (New Years Eve 2008)
10. Travel to one continent I have not yet visited
11. Visit Scranton, Pennsylvania
12. Have my tarot cards professionally read (April 2009)
13. Kiss under the mistletoe
14. Reunite with my closest friends from NMU
15. Celebrate New Years in a big city and not Michigan for once (NYE 2009--Chicago, baby!)
16. Purchase a nice pair (read: Coach, Dolce & Gabbana, etc) of sunglasses
17. Attend an Oktoberfest celebration
18. Meet Jen Lancaster and let her know how much I admire her (May 6,2009--one oe my best days ever!)
19. Visit the West Coast (June 2010)
20. *private*
21. Return to Disney World (March, 2010--yessssss!!! Can I go again?)

22. Watch one movie featuring each of the Bonds (Connery, Craig, etc..)
23. Treat mom to a mother/daughter spa day
24. Eat Indian food with my friends at MSU
25. Purchase and give three scratch-off tickets to three random people
26. Make crab rangoons
27. Purchase new glasses with rhinestones on them
28. Buy three new dresses�one of them must be red (1/3)
29. Pay for the person behind me at the coffee house
30. Learn to make baked brie (December 2008)

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