Life List Turning 30

Happy Birthday to me!!  

I have officially closed the door on my twenties and am now entering my thirties!  Wow!  I guess it is a time to contemplate what I have done and where life has taken me over the last decade. 


At the age of 20 I was living in a new state: Michigan.  I lived in the same house the first 18 years of my life and made a big life change.  I met the man of my dreams and got engaged.
At 21 I got married in the Salt Lake City temple and continued my college education at MSU.
At 23 I graduated with High Honors from Michigan State University with a degree in Business.  Tim and I moved to Birmingham, Michigan to begin our first careers out of college.  We were officially grown-ups.
At 24 I was managing a branch of National City Bank in Birmingham, Michigan.
At 25 I gave birth to my first little miracle, Xavier, and began an amazing journey as a mother.
At 26 Our little family moved back to East Lansing where Tim went back to school for his MBA. 
At 27 I chopped off all my hair and dyed it red!  I modeled for the hairstylists hair competition.  She won the competition and received a trip to Las Vegas.  We moved to Sunnyvale, CA for a summer so Tim could complete an internship program.  When we returned to East Lansing for the school year I became an S3 co-chair for the MBA program.  I also was pregnant with my second little miracle.
At 28 Tim finished his MBA schooling.  We packed up and moved to the East Coast while I was 8 months pregnant.  I gave birth to Gavin in Easton, Pennsylvania.  
At 29 I was called as Primary President in my ward with 100 primary children!  I had my first major surgery on an umbilical hernia.  I ran my first 5k Mud Run- the Warrior Dash!  I have met some amazing people in PA whom I hope to remain friends with no matter where life takes our little family!

It's funny because life definitely never turns out how you plan it.  I guess that is why it is a journey.  But I will say that my life, overall, has been better than I could have planned it.  I can't wait to see what the next decade has in store.

Now on to the second part of my post.....

I am a list maker...

I make lists about lists I need to make...

I like to cross things off so that

I feel accomplished...

A few months ago I came across a post on a blog I read. I remember thinking, I don't have 100 realistic things I think I can do...then it hit me, they don't have to be realistic.

How do I know what the next few weeks will bring or the next few years or decades. So I threw caution to the wind and started my own Life List.  I would jot things down whenever I found myself thinking "I wish I could do that" and all of a sudden I had 100 things down, some things I want, some things I wish, some things I hope for.

So as I enter my 30's I thought it a good time to share this with all of you...

So here it is, my carefully thought out List of things I want to accomplish before...

well...you know....
(and by the way....they aren't in any special order.  I just listed them as I thought of them)

1. Always make time to enjoy the little things, because they are the big things in the end
2. Try 10 foods I've never eaten before
3. Watch my children change the world
4. Get involved in improving childhood literacy in lower income areas- (i.e. Cops 'n Kids)
5. Teach my children true charity
6. Take a romantic trip to Paris, France
7. Stop complaining
8. Stop listening to others who complain
9. Manage my expenses more closely
10. Go to Disneyworld 
11. Visit NYC and see a Broadway Play
12. Take my boys to a Yankees game
13. Learn to say “no” without feeling guilty
14. Take a yoga class on the beach
15. Take a spinning class
16. Learn to act within your sphere of influence and stop worrying about things which are not within your control.
17. Invent something
18. Watch the 10 greatest American movies of all time (as ranked by the AFI).
19. Swim with Dolphins
20. Make a mosaic
21. VIsit the National Cherry Blossom Festival in DC
22. Experience weightlessness
23. Take a photography class
24. Take piano lessons again
25. Go on a cruise for my 10 year anniversary
26. Create a family tradition for each holiday
27. Volunteer yearly
28. Plant my own garden
29. Learn to sail
30. Run a 10k
31. Feed the sharks with Xavier
32. Climb a mountain
33. Pay off all student loans in 5 years
34. Learn to accept compliments
35. Finish reading the Book of Mormon as a family
36. Send my kids to college
37. Visit Italy
38. Learn more about my family heritage
39. Go on a mission with my husband
40. Go fruit picking and make my own jam
41. Have my own personal library in my house
42. Get closure on all my hurts, grievances and unhappinesses of the past
43. Fold 1,000 origami cranes and give them to someone special
44. Donate to a scholarship fund
45. Take a ballroom dance class with my hubby
46. Perform humanitarian aid in another country
47. Do the chocolate spa thing at Hershey
48. Perform a kind deed to at least 5 strangers without expecting anything in return
49. Take a trip with just my sisters
50. Start my own business (not sure what yet?)
51. Learn to tie a tie (with 2 boys, I better learn!)
52. Fly first class on a major airline (come on, I know you all want to do this)
53. Buy a house 
54. Stay at a Bed and Breakfast
55. Speak at a graduation
56. Host a murder mystery party
57. Run a 5 k
58. Ride a camel
59. Finally understand Football
60. Learn to play chess
61. See the Great Wall of China
62. Take a pottery class
63. Learn Spanish
64. Build a tree house for my boys
65. Visit the Grand Canyon
66. Fly in a hot air balloon
67. Take swimming lessons
68. Put a message in a bottle and throw it into the ocean
69. Rent a scooter at the beach
70. Learn to distress furniture
71. Live somewhere outside the U.S. for at least 1 year
72. Decorate bikes for the 4th of July and go on a patriotic bike ride
73. Attend a World Cup game
74. Have a lemonade stand with my kids
75. Vacation in Hawaii
76. Start a family recipe book for my kids
77. Walk (and maybe shop) on Rodeo Drive
78. Be someone’s hero
79. Go a day without using any electronics- computer, car, cell phone, internet, t.v., 
80. Visit Sea World
81. Cook all our family’s meals for a month
82. Become debt free
83. Learn to sew
84. Play golf
85. Train and complete a Tough Mudder
86. Send my boys on a mission
87. Grow old with my one and only
88. Write a letter to each of my children telling them what I want them to know about my life and the lessons I've learned.
89. Be a mentor to someone
90. Become organized
91. Develop a family budget and stick to it
92. Read all the classics on my high school reading list
93. Learn to let things go
94. Be thankful everyday
95. Be the mom that my kids deserve
96. Surprise someone who least expects it
97. Live peacefully
98. Allow myself to dream
99. Join the church choir
100. Sing Karaoke