Going on Thirty

I recently saw a blog post titled Thirty Things I've Learned which made me realize that I'm almost thirty, have no bucket list, no idea where I'm going with my life, and no legacy to hand down to my three children (at least not any that I can be proud of since all I've got right now is about $60k in student loans). How sad.

So here I am on the cusp of turning thirty and feeling...not so much like a failure but like I could have done more before reaching such a pivotal age. My sister will be 28 this year and has visited almost every continent on Earth. I've got friends who have started their own companies or published books or just seem to always have everything together (yes, I realize I shouldn't compare myself to others because we're all on different journeys, but I'm only human).

Before anyone says that I'm harping too much on thirty or that I'm focusing too much on what I haven't done instead of on what I have done, this isn't meant to be a poor me pity party. This is just my way of getting my rear in gear and finally doing something about it. I find myself too often jealous of others or excluding myself, and I don't like those feelings. I don't want to be paralyzed by my feelings of self-doubt or lack of self-worth anymore. I want to be comfortable making plans with friends

All that to say that I'm creating my bucket list. For now it'll be thirty things I would like to accomplish for my thirtieth year. I know it will grow as I come up with more things I want to do. It'll never truly be finished which is probably a good thing because it means I'm living.

1. Lose some weight. I don't need to be a size 2 or 4, but I do need to get healthy. For me.
2. Get out of debt. This doesn't include buying a house eventually.
3. Own a home. I'm sick of throwing money at a pit that isn't even mine.
4. Make new friends. But keep the old. I need to start putting more work into my relationships.
5. Monthly dates with the hubby. But especially more work in my most important relationship.
6. Bite my tongue. I need to stop gossiping especially about a particular coworker.
7. Spend less time on my phone. My phone needs a curfew and a limit to how often I can play on it.
8. Spend more time with my kids. My kids deserve my presence more than my phone.
9. Nightly walks with the family. Around the neighborhood or to the park., this will help with 1, 7, & 8.
10. Learn a new language. Or at least brush back up on my French, but I'd also like to learn Gaelic.
11. Write every day. The book isn't going to write itself, and you'll only regret not trying.
12. Read every day. It'll help your writing, promise.
13. Take the kids on a road trip. California, New York, D.C., Florida. Any or all.
14. Take the kids to Disney. Land or World or both!
15. Take the kids to Harry Potter World. Because duh!
16. Go back to Scotland. Or move there.
17. Visit my sister in whatever country she teaches in next. I miss her too much when she's gone.
18. Visit my brother-in-law and family in whatever country he gets stationed in next. Ditto #17.
19. Visit my brother in Australia. Ditto #17 & 18.
20. Keep in touch with my cousins. I miss them like crazy.
21. Get a pen-pal. Letter writing needs to come back.
22. Write More Love Letters. Not just for people I know, but for strangers too.
23. Declutter the house. This will be ongoing and probably never complete, but a girl can dream.
24. Live with less. See #23.
25. Meal plan every week. Less eating out, more money in the pocket, less debt. Win win win.
26. Go back to cooking at home more. See #25.
27. Finish those craft projects. Seriously. There's no reason to have so many started and not finished.
28. Sing and dance with the kids, especially while cooking dinner. Fun and burns calories.
29. Finish the baby books. Little by little, you can get these done.
30. Pay it forward. Because I've been helped in the past, so I should be doing the same.

I think that's a pretty good start. Some will obviously never be crossed off because they're ongoing tasks, but some of them can be worked towards while some are fairly simple. I'll add to my list as I come up with more things I want to do.