enjoying life

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35 before 35 Update

May went way too fast. Here is how I did this last month.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves at least once a year

2. Do a photography challenge

3. Visit 5 cities I have never been to before (4/5)

  • Tom and I had a wedding in Spencer, Iowa this month. (This one was easier to do than I thought! I will have this done next month!)

4. Tour at least one of the distilleries in the KY/TN area

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

  • I think I did this. I know I sent out some mail, but I cannot recall if it was 5…

6. Become a “professional” photographer

  • I did another infant shoot this last week. The family was great! Although the belly may start getting in the way of doing some things with bending over.

7. Run at least 10 races (any distance) (1/10)

8. Go camping with Tom

9. Pay for the car behind me in a drive through

10. See Tyrone Wells live as many times as possible

11. Tour Fort Defiance here in Clarksville

  • My mom is in town visiting this week, so she and I went this weekend. I was expecting buildings, but it was an earthworks base, meaning they basically hid in the foliage and man-made trenches. They do have a beautiful trail you can walk, which I want to take the dogs through since it is mostly shaded.

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12. Water ski with my dad

13. Do a 5K with my mom

14. Take a swing dance class with Tom

15. Read at least one fun book a month and one professional development book every three months

  • I just finished “Fault in Our Stars” this weekend. So good!

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

17. Do one new recipe each month

18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

19. Find a place to volunteer on a regular basis

20. Go hiking

  • Tom and did some hiking around a lake back home. I am not sure if it was text book hiking, but it was a trail in the woods…

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21. Ride in a hot air balloon

22. Go to at least 20 “new to me” restaurants. (14/20)

  • I went to three this month. In Missouri, I met up with some Clemson friends in Columbia at The Fieldhouse, which is a bar and grill place. It had decent food, but the service was awful. While we were in Iowa, I met a friend and her fiance for breakfast at American Classic Cafe. They had a pretty decent breakfast, but it was your typical diner breakfast. This weekend, my mom and I tried out a little German cafe/bakery here in town called Silke’s Old World Breads. THIS WAS SO GOOD! We just got a few baked goods and Chai teas after our visit to the farmer’s market, but I will definitely be taking Tom back for a full meal. It was quaint and had the perfect atmosphere.
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Cheese Croissants. YUMMY

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

24. Spend a day without electronics (phone, t.v. and computer)

25. Have a Kentucky Derby themed 3oth birthday party.

26. Explore Nashville while we live here

27. Watch at least 10 movies that I have not seen before that won Best Picture at the Oscars and at least 20 documentaries (not necessarily Oscar winning) Movies (0/10); Documentaries (4/20)

28. Sew an item of clothing from scratch

  • I didn’t do clothing, but my mom has been guiding me through the process of making all of George’s baby bedding. It all is looking great so far! We are also making a rocking chair cover and pillows galore.
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This is his blanket only half way finished.

29. Do a personal devotional/bible study on my own

30. Be a mascot for an event

31. Go on our honeymoon (preferably somewhere tropical)

32. Host an annual NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship game party

33. Go on a mission trip

34. Be on a recreation volleyball team

35. Become a mom

  • Only a couple more months till we meet our little guy!
by

30 Before 30 Update 4

Here we are another month has past.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves-so something that isn’t straight lines.

  • Done.

2. Do a 30 day photography challenge

  • I have one picked out. I am going to do it sometime this summer.

3. Visit 3 cities I have never been to before (1/3)

  • I am thinking maybe we can do a babymoon trip this summer.

4. Tour at least one of the distilleries in the area

  • We could still do this but I can’t partake obviously. The Jack Daniels one doesn’t do samples anyway, so we may look into doing that.

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

  • Complete.

6. Become a “professional” photographer

  • This last month, I had a lot happen. One of my pictures was featured on one of my favorite photography websites to be critiqued. I got a lot of great feedback on my work, so that was really exciting. This last weekend I was the photographer for a charity art auction. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot. One of my photos was also auctioned off, so that was a feel good photography moment.

7. Run at least 5 races (any distance)

  • I am not doing much of running or planning really.

8. Go camping with Tom

  • We are still planning this for our anniversary, however I will be 6 months pregnant. So we may have to make other plans.

9. Pay for the car behind me in a drive through

  • Ugh I need to put a reminder in my car because I never remember until I do these updates.

10. See Tyrone Wells live again

  • Going in May!

11. Tour Fort Defiance here in Clarksville

  • Not yet.

12. Water ski with my dad

  • The pregnancy complicates this a little bit.

13. Do a 5K with my mom

  • Not yet.

14. Take a swing dance class with Tom

  • I will have to wait until my doctor clears me for more activity.

15. Read at least one fun book a month and one professional development book every three months

  • I have slacked on the fun book. The last read was a struggle for me to get through. I did finish a professional development book.

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

  • I need to look this up to make a plan.

17. Learn how to make sushi

  • Well, the pregnancy is putting a stalemate on this too.

18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

  • The baby is due during football season, so it may not be feasible to travel with the bundle of joy to a football game.

19. Volunteer with MCFOTS and Special Olympics on a regular basis

  • Because I am pregnant,  I can’t volunteer anymore. So I may need to find something else, or just lay low for the time being.

20. Explore Land Between the Lakes

  • This is our anniversary trip plan.

21. Ride in a hot air balloon

  • This pregnancy is making this list interesting.

22. Go to at least 10 “new to me” restaurants in Clarksville. (3/10)

  • My supervisor took me to Johnny’s which is a mainstay for Austin Peay. It is a local burger joint. All grease and all goodness. Surprise it was no Chinese. Tom and I didn’t go anywhere the last month thanks to morning sickness.

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

  • Maybe babymoon?

24. Spend a day without electronics (phone, t.v. and computer)

  • Not planned yet.

25. Have a Kentucky Derby themed 30th birthday party.

  • Still a ways away.

26. Go to non-touristy parts of Nashville

  • We were going to do this when we were in Nashville on Valentine’s Day, but then we found out we were pregnant and then Tom’s car almost exploded. So we didn’t do as we planned. But we found out we were pregnant! And I ate McDonald’s in an AutoZone parking lot. I guess that was a non-touristy part of Nashville…

27. Watch at least 10 movies that I have not seen before that won Best Picture at the Oscars and at least 10 documentaries (not necessarily Oscar winning) Movies (0/10); Documentaries (4/10)

  • We watched a documentary on Auschwitz.

28. Sew an item of clothing from scratch

  • I know what I want to do, I just need to do it.

29. Find a church home here in Clarksville

  • Thanks to morning sickness, I haven’t been.

30. Become a mom

  • Ahhh YES!

So I have been thinking because of the pregnancy, there are a lot of things on this list that I am not going to be able to accomplish within this time frame. I am completely ok with that because being a mom is such a blessing. I do want to continue with this list, but I think I am going to change it to 35 before 35 to give myself more time and add 5 more things to do. I haven’t thought about what those things are, so I plan to have an updated list by April.

I am in charge of this so I can change it if I want!