Happy Birthday To Me + 30 Before 30

This was me on my birthday last year, with my little cousin Camilla.

Today is my 28th birthday!  Hubby turns 30 next month, and his quiet sobbing has made me realize time will really fly in the two years before I turn 30.  I love a good list, and I'm kind of obsessed with reading other people's life goals.  I feel a mix of smugness (hey, I've already done that, so yay me) and inferiority (crap, I never even thought to try something that cool, I'm so lame) when I read them.  So I thought I'd make one!

Sitting down and picking 30 things was hard.  I have a list of at least 100 things I want to do in the next two years.  So I knocked off many (but not all) of the DIY themed projects and focused more on life . .  .

Here's my 30 before 30 (in a random sort of order):

1. Do research abroad UPDATE: yup, yup, yup
2. Finish my PhD! UPDATE: YES, feels so good to cross this one off!
3. Take a pottery class NOPE
4. Create a video tour of the house NOPE
5. Sell the townhouse, without a realtor UPDATE: Well, we sold the house . . .
6. Buy a house on Lake Superior UPDATE: We did it!!
7. Start renovating a new house, and build a better blog for chronicling the process UPDATE: Yes to the renovating, No to the better blog (it's coming)
8. Become really adept at time management & spend less time on the internet UPDATE: slow internet has helped me accomplish this!
9. Create a life list NOPE
10. Return to Europe for a vacation with the Hubs UPDATE: this counts!
11. Get published in an academic journal UPDATE: YES! It's going to be published this fall!!
12. Make a darn yarn wreath already UPDATE: this was so fun, why did I delay?
13. Become stronger (inside & out) UPDATE: I'm way less fit (although I'm working on it now that the snow has finally melted).  I've gotten to a point that I don't give a shit what people think so that counts!
14. Buy a child in need a smile UPDATE: I decided instead to donate to women's shelters, food banks and the Salvation Army (in cash and in kind) throughout the year
15. Have another project featured in a magazine (see my first feature here) UPDATE: see it here!
16. Start an Etsy shop UPDATE: I have opened an Etsy shop!
17. Finish the home scrapbook I started & put photos in photo albums (I'm so behind!) NOPE
18. Start biking UPDATE: we dusted off the bikes and took them for a spin!
19. Build a play workshop for my little cousin, Jack (the play kitchen for his sis was so fun) AWWW, NOPE
20. Try stenciling UPDATE: see here & here
21. Be a better feminist UPDATE: I'm working on it everyday
22. Do something with the backyard (anything but dirt piles) UPDATE: In the townhouse we were forced to improve the backyard right before we moved so this was begrudgingly checked off
23. Improve my Hungarian UPDATE: Yup, being in Hungary for four months helped!
24. Paint a piece of furniture turquoise UPDATE: done and done, but I want to do it again!
25. Start a new hobby (that doesn't involve renovating) with Hubby UPDATE: Success!
26. Get a teaching position at a University (need to do step 2, first) NOPE
27. Build a small wardrobe with only stuff I love, that fits - no more crap! NOPE - I've worn nothing but yoga pants since December.
    
28. Try to like avocados (seems like an adult thing to like) Haha, NOPE
29. Learn to use my camera fully NOPE
30. Start volunteering again (it's been a few years since I sat on a Board of Directors for a not-for-profit, but I did volunteer as a coordinator in 2011 - it's just hard to find an organization that is the right fit) UPDATE: I'll be getting involved in my community this summer. 

Hmmm.  Seems a bit daunting.  Maybe I better get cracking on the avocados and yarn wreath . . . because I don't think the lake front house will materialize soon.



P.S. Even though it's my birthday today, I have a gift for you!  Click here for a chance to win a custom designed stencil.