846 days

I'm trying to decide whether 846 days seems like more or less time than a little over two years? My head is telling me I better get cracking on this list, but somewhere in the back of my brain the procrastination core of my soul says "you have plenty of time, no worries!" There is reason to worry. I feel like your late twenties is where you either make the change or you keep cruising on the road you are on. I can stick with retail or I can change careers. I can live paycheck to paycheck or I can get myself in gear and eliminate unnecessary expenses (or find a way to improve my professional worth) - the response is this. A list of thirty things I want to accomplish, and in some cases perfect, before I turn 30. So that gives me 846 days to make these things happen.

I guess you would need to know the list, right? No fun blogging about where I'm at with my goals if you don't know what's ahead of me (or what I'm avoiding). So, without much pomp and circumstance, here's the list with a little background explanation of each goal.

1. Learn French - it's a beautiful language, and will also be very helpful for the career I want to pursue

2. Spend a snowy day reading in a coffee shop - it's romantic and I love to read, but even more it is this picturesque daydream that continues to haunt me

3. Eat dinner at a restaurant by myself - probably one of the things I will avoid the most. As confident as I am in most situations, I feel extremely paranoid when I do things by myself (I don't even like to go to grocery store alone)

4. Read all the classics - some I have read before, some I have owned for years, and some have never crossed my path, but I feel like since I have a BA in English I should have read them all at least once.

5. Run a marathon - another avoidance. Not that I don't want to, but somewhere in my mind I feel like the preparation should take no time at all, so it's not always at the top of my mind.

6. Pay off all credit card debt - my biggest goal. I feel like I can't change careers or move out of state with this hanging over my head. I wish someone would have knocked some sense into me when I was reinventing my closet over and over again

7. Hike a mountain - because I feel like a mountain belongs somewhere in my goals, but let's face it, I am afraid of heights and I'm already conquering that elsewhere so I feel no need to "climb" a mountain and hang off the face of a massive piece of rock. A man-made trail will suffice.

8. Cook every recipe in a cook book - I am inspired by Julie & Julia, and I love to cook

9. Have a dinner party every month - I love to entertain, but don't do it as often as I'd like. Plus, I feel like in my late twenties I should be cementing this close group of lifelong friends that meet up at least monthly to catch up over good food and drinks... it's part of the fairytale life I have spun for myself

10. Find a wine I love - so far in the past 7 years (because clearly I only started drinking at the age of 21) I have found none. Any suggestions would be much appreciated

11. Join a book club - because books are cool, and clubs are cool, so clearly the two combined are AMAZING

12. Get a tattoo - have always wanted one and after many years I have finally figured out what I want, now to get over the fear of the pain

13. Sleep under the stars - romantic and fairytale, once again

14. Have sex - so.. it hasn't happened. Not because I'm avoiding it, not because I'm waiting for marriage, but mostly because I am incredibly picky and my relationships don't last long enough to get to this point (because there is a length of time they should last, and this is something that I do morally believe). Usually I tire of the relationship before we get to this point

15. Plant a tree - I heart Mother Earth, and I also use aerosol hairspray so I feel like I should give back in some manner

16. Ride a roller coaster - one time when I was younger I went on a roller coaster at Disney World. It wasn't a real roller coaster, just a log train that went around a couple of loops and I freaked out...like hysterical, couldn't breath, sobbing freak out. I'll try not to do that again

17. Complete my family tree - obsessed with the show "Who Do You Think You Are" and have never met one of my grandfathers or any of my great grandparents.

18. Restore the dollhouse - my grandfather built a dollhouse when I was little and while everyone was allowed to play with it at his house, it has always belonged to me. Needless to say after twenty years the structure is in tact but the decor is a little rough. I want to turn it into the shining monument of childhood that it once was.

19. Go on the Ohio African Safari - http://www.africansafariwildlifepark.com/index.html you can feed giraffes from your car, it's like a dream come true

20. Stay awake until sunrise - with a purpose, not just because I can. I've done this before during college, of course, but I'd like to do it because I'm having so much fun I don't realize that it's that time already

21. Learn CPR - I'm terrified that someone I love will need my help and all I'll be able to do is call 911

22. Reconnect with an old friend - because they were your friend once already, so clearly you have something in common

23. Find a pen pal - this is romantic, and educational, and just fun. I love receiving mail, and will love it even more when it's not a bill

24. Volunteer for a political campaign - this will be fun and advantageous for my career

25. Correct my posture - for many years my mother has been telling me to stand up straight, and it's only been just within the last few years that I've realized what a difference it makes visually. I want to be the girl that has beautiful posture

26. Have my teeth fixed - I hate my teeth but I hate the dentist more, at some point it's time to bite the bullet

27. Attend a Sunday service of every type - to expand my horizons and discover what faith means to me. I grew up afraid of religion, going to a religious school and loving mass, and feeling disdainful of organized religion... I want to find a place to call home

28. Win a contest or giveaway - hello, free stuff and fun... hopefully it's money and then I can put that towards the credit card debt

29. Have baseline blood work done - also something my mother has been bugging me about, and since I often diagnose my own illnesses (incorrectly, of course) I should probably make sure there's nothing really wrong with me to begin with

30. Weigh 150 - halfway there over the last year and a half.. time to get to the goal


I know this is a long post, and seems like a lot of goal and not a lot of action, but I'm truly going to get on board and get some of these things crossed off.