New Year

I announced on FaceBook that I planned to create a "30 before 30" list to attempt this year. I just turned 29 on December 29th, and I can't get over how much momentum my life seems to be picking up. Every year goes by faster than the rest, so I want to be more intentional about how I spend my time. I wont share my whole list here - partly because it's not done yet! It's really hard to find 30 things to accomplish (reasonably) in one year. Had I made this list when I was 25, though, I could have put things like "have two kids", "buy my first house", "learn photography", etc. But now it would be cheating to put those on there.

So far my list includes a few main areas - spiritual growth, health/fitness, finances, personal and business goals. Lucky for you, one of my "personal" goals is to blog at least once a month. That is setting the bar pretty low, but when measured against the rest of my list I couldn't justify more without setting myself up for failure.

Here is a sampling of my list (in no particular order).

1. Read through the Bible cover to cover. I'm ashamed to not have done this yet. I've read the whole Bible, just not like this and not all in one chunk of time. I just finished Exodus today. Woo hoo!
2. See the Holy Land. Not trying to brag, but this is totally happening! Frank and I are joining his Dad, Step-mom Janet, and his sister Jen and husband John on a 2 week cruise for the Journeys of Paul tour. We leave at the end of September, and we are SO excited!
3. Lose 15 pounds. Now that there are no kids on the horizon and I have my back more or less in check, I finally feel free to really work hard on my weight. Frank is a great motivator/encourager. Tonight we went for a run/walk. So far I've lost 1 pound! Hey, it's a start.
4. Blog once a month.
5. See a Broadway musical. I don't care where or which one. Frank has promised to take me, and he will be a wonderful date because he will enjoy it as much as I will. I love him for that.
6. Run a 5k. That may not seem like a big deal, but at the moment I can't even run a half mile.
7. Learn 20 new recipes. This week I tried something called "Birds Nest Pie". It was SO yummy! Even Allison had seconds and she is picky!
8. Do a family service project each quarter.
9. Sponsor another child through Africa New Life Ministries.
10. Get Posh Eyewear on page one in Google for all relevant search terms.
11. Develop a family devotional plan that works for us and our kids.
12. Do 50 push-ups at one time. Right now I can do 8. Hahaha...
13. Memorize Ephesians. I started this in college and got the first 2 chapters done. It's always bothered me that I didn't finish and have forgotten most of what I learned.
14. Read Atlas Shrugged. Thanks, Jen for the suggestion!
15. Ride in a hot air balloon. This just sounds fun, but I kinda doubt it will happen.

Any idea what else I could put on there?

I will actually go ahead and promise at least one more blog this month. I have quite a bit to share about what is going on with my girls, too but this all seemed relevant since it is the new year, and I'm always open for some accountability.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with your families!