Today is my 30th birthday!
It’s crazy to think that I started this list almost five years ago. Mac was about a month into deployment #2. We’ve moved twice since then, adopted another cat, and have had some great adventures. Though, looking back, I wish I had set some better ways to measure my 30 by 30 goals because I did not even remotely begin to track some of them. {shrugs shoulder} Live and learn, right?
It’s also funny to reflect on how different crossing off these goals looks in 2018. When I wrote about visiting a new country, I planned to either visit one of my best friends while she was living in Australia or to go the Caribbean on a relaxing, post-deployment trip. I never would have guessed that I would visit new countries while on spring break in grad school.
1. Read the Bible completely. Every single verse, every single book.
2. Save $5,000 a year each year.
We’re still working on this one. My current financial goal is to pay off our cars then our credit card debt. We’ll focus on saving once we hit that mark.
3. Complete my Masters degree.
4. Pay off at least 50% of my undergrad student loans.
Done! My student loan are paid off in total, and I’m writing a post to share how I did that.
5. Run one organized race (5K or longer) a year.
This is a big fat fail. I realized that I really don’t like running, so I decided not to run any more races.
6. Visit all 50 states.
Nevada | Alaska | Hawaii
7. Get healthy.
I have to say that I feel much more on track with this goal than I have basically every other update. Keto has been good for me.
8. Lose weight.
I‘m down about 25 pounds since we started keto. Funny enough, I’ve ended each year at a lower weight than what I started at. I’m also not at my goal weight, but I’m happy with my progress.
9. Eat better.
How much can I judge this? We’ve been eating low carb, but we did house three packages of cookies over the weekend (I blame the hurricane).
10. Be more active and work out regularly.
My love for Pure Barre continues, and I’m so glad I found a workout that works for me.
11. Stay healthy.
I’m healthier than I was earlier this year, but I’m not as healthy as I could be.
12. Volunteer at least 100 hours a year.
This is one of those goals that I didn’t even begin to track. I know I’ve volunteered, but I have no idea how many hours. Whoops.
13. Keep growing my blog.
Slow and steady wins the race, right? I’ve really invested in my blog as a business the past few months. My goal is to make this space into a source of income in the next year.
15. Read at least 20 books a year.
Another goal I didn’t consciously track. I think I hit this goal if you average out what I’ve read since 2014, especially if you include all my textbooks from grad school.
16. Find a new church home whenever we move.
I don’t think I wrote proper, separate posts on my church hunt, but I have found church homes each place we’ve lived. I even taught Sunday School at my church in Colorado!
17. Stay in contact with my college friends.
You have to expect to drift apart from people you don’t see five times a day anymore, but I’m really glad I’ve maintained relationships with my undergrad friends. We try to meet up or visit each other a few times a year, mainly during our Christmas / holiday / end of the year travels.
18. Run a half-marathon.
Crazy ole me ran two. Nashville | Las Vegas
19. Attend Alpha Gamma Delta Convention.
20. Try out or create a new recipe a month.
Eh, probably not. Mac was gone a lot more than I expected him to be post-deployment (see the next one). Consequently, I didn’t need to cook as much.
21. Have date night at least once a month (when Mac is home, of course).
The biggest challenge to this goal was that Mac was gone for a majority of January 2014 – May 2017. So I crunched the numbers and figured out that he was gone almost 18 of 24 months from January 2014 to January 2016. But we probably crossed this off because we got out pretty much every week when he is home.
22. Donate my hair to Locks of Love at least twice.
2014 | 2016. I actually donated my hair three times (I posted my most recent haircut / donation on Instagram back in May but not on the blog).
23. Give blood at least four times a year.
Also a gigantic fail. I think I donated blood 3-4 times total.
24. Publish at least 300 blog posts a year.
Another fail. I took an unintentional blogging hiatus while in grad school.
25. Attend church regularly.
So I really should’ve put the church goals next to each other. I go to church pretty much every week (though I didn’t go on Sunday because of the weather).
26. Save enough money to buy a new car.
Joke’s on me. We bought two new cars. Now to finish paying them off!
27. Visit a new country.
France and The Netherlands! I also technically went through Belgium though that was on a train.
28. Photograph a sunrise and a sunset.
I originally planned to do these on the same day. Once upon a time, I also had grand visions of photographing stunning Colorado sunrises over the mountains, but Team Sleep won out. I have photographed sunrises and sunsets but not quite in the awe-inspiring way I once thought I would.
29. Document and blog an entire week of my life.
I think I wanted to do an hour-by-hour chronicle to give y’all an in-depth look at how mundane my life really is. While I didn’t do that, I have blogged a bunch of week-long trips, so I’m calling it good enough.
30. Enjoy 30 years of a crazy, wonderful, loved life.
Yes, yes, and yes. I am abundantly and undeservedly blessed. I could never have imagined where life would take me when I first posted this list in 2014, but I’m so grateful for the experiences that the past almost five years have brought me.
What an amazing 30 years you have had thus far!! I hope you are having an amazing birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! This is such a great list and I love the last one so much that I teared up. You have accomplished so much and have so much to look forward to š
Yay! You basically nailed it! Hope you had a wonderful birthday!