The resolution that could help us all in 2016

The disclaimer
You know when you haven't exercised in a while and you start back and
your heart rate's up just walking into the gym and
your body hurts after two minutes and
parts of you are jiggling in ways you've never felt before
and it's all so...discouraging?

That's my writing experience right now. I'm sucking some serious wind. But there's no time like the end of a year (or the beginning of one) to get me going, so if you can bear with some language flab, read on.

The article that started it all
Last week I read a fabulous NYTimes article by Tony Schwartz called "Addicted to Distraction." It started as many other "this-generation-is-deteriorating-my-brain" articles have, but it took a distinctive twist. It was personal, not hypothetical. Honest, not idealistic. And it came just as I was thinking about my resolutions for the coming year. Like the author, my initial thought when thinking about all that was overgrown in my life was add more (or less) of everything in every area: I was going to sleep more, eat less ice cream, exercise more, check my email less, put my phone down more, complain less. You get the idea.

It was lofty. Idealistic. And completely impossible. 

But, of course, my world was full of possibilities because it was a new year! a new start! a new me! Whatever. That unfounded optimism sort of baffles me now.

The ah-ha moment
Anyway, as I was reading, I started to get excited because the author shared my hopes to accomplish the impossible. And then he shared his story of complete failure, the many ways he's still tethered to the pet loves of his life: "The problem is that we humans have a very limited reservoir of will and discipline." Oh no! I thought. That could be me. That will be me in three weeks or less. Now what? Schwartz saved the day in the next sentence: "We're far more likely to succeed by trying to change one behavior at a time, ideally at the same time each day, so that it becomes a habit, requiring less and less energy to sustain." Palm to forehead. Of course. One behavior.

The one resolution that could help us all

So, here's mine: In 2016, I'm going to try to sleep more. That may earn only a slow clap and cocked eyebrow from some of you, but I'm all kinds of serious.

I've said it for years, but haven't lived by it well: If I were a counselor, the first question I'd ask every client on their first intake form would be, "How much sleep do you get on average per day?" Lack of sleep, I'm convinced, has its sly hands in most of our problems. Of course, it's not the only hand in our problems, but it's a big one, and for some reason, I don't care if I ignore it. "I know I'll regret it tomorrow, but I need some alone time/want to watch this show/need to (fill in the blank with any given thing on a to-do list)/accidentally scanned Facebook for 30 minutes instead of the intended five." Whatever it is, I'm up later than I wanted to be most nights.

Obviously, there are times when losing sleep is completely worthwhile and right, and times when I can't help losing sleep (ahem, having infants/children and anyone struggling with anxiety or insomnia). But on the whole, sleep deprivation is something I can prevent because at this point in my life, I can pretty much choose when I go to bed and when I get up. And it really does leak into every area of my life: I drink more coffee, have more reflux, snap at those I love, don't eat as well, am less happy, less focused, less thoughtful of others, and less motivated. It's more of what's toxic and less of what's life-giving and I want to reverse that.

So I'm going to work at going to bed at the same reasonable time every night (as often as possible) and waking up at the same time every morning. It's my one thing. It's not going to fix every overgrown thing in my life, but it should prune a lot of areas, and, most importantly, it's doable.

What's your one thing?

photo credit

Reality? Check.

So, remember how I read Jen Hatmaker's book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess" and how I was all:

 "I'm going to recycle more!" 

and 

"I'm going to use reusable bags everywhere I go!" 

and 

"I'm buying local!" 

and 

"I'm going to pause several times a day to make space for God!"

and

"I'm going to use tupperware and no more paper towels!"

and

"I'm going to block off a certain time for media!"

and

"I'm not shopping again!"

And then I got in my Jillian phase where I was all "I'm going to work out three days a week at 5 a.m.!"

I kind of hate that girl right now. 

She was so on top of things and healthy and disciplined and perfect. 

It's part of why reading other people's blogs is so hard for me because I start comparing myself to them and thinking "Gosh, I probably need to do whatever they're dong." Not good.

Maybe it was just the newness of January. Maybe it was the hopefulness of a new, undefiled goal, so new it couldn't be unmet yet. Whatever it was, it's gone now. Just about every part of it. I'm not sure what happened. Maybe just life? I just couldn't do it all all the time. 

So I'm not exercising and I'm not pausing and I'm not buying less plastic, and I'm (gasp!) using paper towels. And here's the thing: IT'S OKAY. It's a season. Some days I need to choose other priorities over those things. Some weeks, I just need to buy easy meals so that we can eat together as a family and not experience the stress of trying to figure out what the hell to do with the overabundance of collard greens in my fridge. Some days, I need to spend time in the Word in the mornings more than I need to work out (and most mornings it can't be both). Sometimes, it's just worth the extra plastic to buy the onions pre-cut so that I can have dinner on the table in time. In other words, it's okay to be human--my mantra for my 30s. 

It's also okay to shoot for the moon and make it, to be on top of things and disciplined and healthy. Those are really, really good things. In fact, I really, really want to get back to that and am taking some steps in that direction. But, for everything there's a season, and right now, I just don't have it all together. And that's okay. 

Disarray, rest, and the one-sentence journal

Moo and I just got back from being out of town for a week, and between the unpacking and the lunch-making and bottle-washing and the rediscovery of all our toys and the explosion of mail that happens when you return from a trip, my house looks a little scary. Looked. It's getting there.

Tonight isn't for straightening, though. It's for lighting a pear candle and opening windows of crisp air and thunder with rain. It's for hot green tea and feet up and a freshly washed face. 

It's for Silence. Stillness. Solitude. The combination I lack and long for most. It's where my good thinking happens.

I've been thinking a lot about my little writing resolution moment this summer to write regularly. I know words like "little" and "moment" make my resolution sound trivial, but that's sort of my point. It feels like it was just a fling. A little affair with writing that's lost its luster and its consistency and has just petered out. 

But. 

I know I'm a writer. I also know that my resolution to write every day and read books on writing just isn't quite realistic at this point in my life, at least not the way I envisioned it. So, I'm rethinking things. How can I write regularly? How can I make that happen? 

I've been reading more magazines than books the past couple of weeks--partly because I'm in between books and am not sure what to read next (any nonfiction recommendations out there?) and partly because it feels good to finish something in one sitting, like an article. Anyway, I read an article recently about keeping a one-sentence journal, writing one sentence about each day (more if you'd like). That didn't sound too daunting to me. One sentence a day. There's a new journal by my bed just waiting to be broken in, and this might be how I'm supposed to do that. It's been sitting there for weeks because I'm intimidated by all the white space. So, that's the next step for me.

You writers out there, what do you do to make writing happen?  

Oh yeah. I turned 30.

My birthday was back in March, but somehow I forgot to blog about it. Probably because I'm so old now. Or because there was a tornado complete with hail, high winds, and threatened power outages that day. Seriously. Work was even let out early. After last April's tornados, Alabama doesn't (and shouldn't) take tornado warnings lightly.

photo credit

Because of those tornado warnings, Phil and I had to cut our birthday date short and just grab a quick dinner. Thanks to some sweet (and courageous) friends, we had free babysitting AND a free dinner at Brio. About 40 minutes into our meal, we heard what sounded like the percussion section of a band serenading us, but in a matter of seconds, the noise started pounding so loud that we couldn't hear each other talk. We looked out the window to see hail the size of softballs in the street and were thankful we had parked in a parking deck. Quite the birthday display...and the end of our dinner.


So, here's why I'm excited about being 30:
Thirty is having enough behind you to be confident in your own skin but enough ahead of you to still be excited about the future. Thirty is old enough to be taken seriously but young enough to still get carded every now and then. Thirty is established, but no where near "arrived" (if there is such a thing).

Remember my 30 before 30 goals? Yep. Most of them happened. But several of them didn't. I still haven't sung karaoke. Or snorkled. Or finished typing my grandfather's WWII letters. Or changed a tire. BUT, here's the thing. In my 20's, I would have berated myself for not finishing the list. Now, in my 30's, I'm learning to be okay with doing what I can, but leaving space for being human, for being imperfect. So I didn't accomplish all my goals. Big whoop. Since I was the one who made them in the first place, I'm pretty sure I can a) change them, b) extend the deadline, or c) choose not to do them all. No one cares (except me if I let myself).


For me, 30 is all about the freedom to be imperfect, to make mistakes, to give life all I've got and be okay if it's not enough sometimes. It's also about living thankfully. Think of all the things I have done that weren't on the list, like giving birth to Moo or starting (and somewhat maintaining) the Kitchen Challenge. So much to be grateful for that I can't even anticipate.

Sitting at the top of a new decade, the view is pretty nice. 

New Beginnings (Part 4)

This is the end of the "New Beginnings" posts for me. It's about the final steps to finishing something (anything).

Step 5: Take a day off.
This step has me doing backflips. It's life. It's exhale. It's margins. It's space. It's oxygen. I love, LOVE that this is one of the steps to finishing something because it's as true to me as gravity. Taking a day off is key to keeping life lively and anchored. It's a day to do life-giving things, a day to break from regular routine, a day to be a little more still, a little more reflective, a little more quiet. And it renews in a way that an hour here and there never can. I've been taking a day off each week for most of my life and I can honestly say that I have never once regretted it. The work has always gotten done. The bills have always been paid. The laundry has always been folded. Just not on that day, not on that day of rest. I've read a couple of helpful (although very different) books on this kind of rest: Keeping the Sabbath Wholly by Marva J. Dawn and The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan. Of the two, I liked Buchanan's book better, but they're both good.

Step 6: Have a plan for after the thing is finished.
This step makes me squirm. I barely know what it is I want to finish, much less what I want to do when I finish that thing. I'm really working on being more present and not having to have every bit of my future planned out, so there's some resistance from me on this one. BUT. I think it's a good point and something to be thinking about. The truth is, I don't know what my plan is for after this thing is finished.  And that's okay for now, but I don't want to stay there, so I'm chalking this one up to an "emerging" step.

As for how I'm going with my specific goals, I've been writing most days, started reading Fearless Confessions: A Writer's Guide to Memoir by Sue William Silverman, and have been brainstorming about what to write for an essay contest. I have to think and think and think and then the words usually pour out after that, so I'm thinking. This writing thing is hard business, especially when I feel like I'm fitting it into the nooks and crannies of my life.

New Beginnings (Part 3)

So. I want to be a (better) writer. YIKES! 


On to steps two through four!


2. Imagine yourself finishing.
As Bethany explains, "This is bigger than visualization (though that may help).  You have to KNOW that this goal is going to be accomplished. You have to know that finishing won’t make you loved or popular or rich or famous. You have to know that you are still going to DO THIS, no matter what."


I think I'm there, actually. It's what I meant when I wrote in my last post that I'm compelled to write. I'd even go so far as to say it's an act of obedience and worship to God when I use a gift He's given me. Loaded statement, I know.


3. Quit one thing.
The idea here is that we can become so busy doing other things that we neglect THE thing we really want to do. So, quit something to make room for something else. Makes sense. My decision to be a stay-at-home mom pretty much accomplished this step. By not teaching (a.k.a. working 10 hour days plus nights and weekends), I now have time to write more often and more intentionally. Have you noticed how the number of blog posts have increased now that I'm not teaching? Ahh...


4. Make the DAILY choice.
This one's the kicker for me. Even though I love writing, I never really WANT to do it. I rarely feel inspired and ready to write. I'm always glad to have written, but not always glad to write. It's like a good work out: tough to get motivated but a great Boo-yah! Take that! feeling afterward. So, here's where my smaller, more tangible goals come in. For now, here's what being a better writer is going to look like:

• Write every day. Whatever it is--blogging, writing a letter, journaling, drafting an essay--if I want to write, I need to do it daily. No excuses.
• Read books on writing and do any exercises it suggests. I'm not in a position right now to take a class or join a writer's group, but I do have several books on writing sitting on a shelf at home, just waiting for me to break in their spines. At least once a week, I want to take time to read part of a book on writing and practice some of the exercises it offers. I'll try to keep you posted on what I'm reading.
• Submit one essay to a magazine by the end of September. The point here is to practice putting myself out there. My goal isn't acceptance but experience. And when you write for a magazine, at least you have some sort of audience, even if it's just an editor sitting in her living room.

Up next: Steps 5 (Take a day off) and 6 (Have a plan for after the thing is finished). Step five has me doing backflips; step six makes me feel queasy. More to come!

New beginnings (Part 2)

You may recall the six steps to finishing something? Step number one: decide what you want.

So, here it is. Here's what I want. 

(Whew. It's a little uncomfortable to write this. 

It takes courage to say these things.)

 I want to be a writer. 

I know, eye roll, right? Everyone says that. They want to sky dive, they want to run a marathon, they want to write a book. Blah, blah, blah. But at this point, I don't even know if I want to write a book. I just know that I want to be a writer, and a writer is someone who writes--regularly. And, if I'm honest, I am a writer, but I want to be better.

Here's the thing: I don't want to write to be published (although what writer wouldn't want that?). I don't need to get paid to write (although I would happily accept money for my words). I don't want to write because I think it's a cool job (it's one of the hardest jobs I can imagine).

I want to write because I'm compelled to do it. 

It's a calling, 

a love-hate-joy-pain kind of gift that I can't shrug. 

It's not optional; I must write. 

It's in me. 

It's been in me for a long time, but that's a story for another day.

I'll be the first to say I have a lot to learn--like, a whole lot. And part of me hopes I always think that. The other part of me wants to get better, wants to find my voice, wants to gain confidence in creativity, wants to refine my craft.

Honesty moment. I'm freaking out a little right now. I'm completely insecure about putting this out there. I'm worried about what you'll think. I wonder if I even have it in me. I have this sinking feeling that this is just a whim, that I'll get all motivated and pumped up and "Yes! Let's do it!" and then in a few weeks or months or years it'll all fizzle out and mean nothing. I think all good writers have to give themselves regular pep talks to talk them down from lies like that. It takes a lot of courage to write (or to finish anything, for that matter).

What's tough about what I want is that I don't have a clear end goal (yet). I don't have a book I want to write or a magazine I want to be published in. I'm such a fledgling writer that those goals feel more burdensome than exciting. So, for now, I'm making some smaller, more realistic goals for myself. What are they? They're up next on the ol' bloggo, along with steps 2-4 (Imagine yourself finishing, Quit one thing, Make the DAILY choice). Stay tuned!

New beginnings (Part 1)

So, I have a writer friend from graduate school named Bethany. She blogs. She teaches. She writes books. Oh yeah, she runs marathons too. But here's the thing about Bethany: she'd be the first to tell you that she's not superwoman. She doesn't have special powers the rest of us don't have access to. She just knows how to set goals and go after them (and has the wisdom to know it's okay to fail sometimes too). In fact, she recently wrote a FREE eBook about it called How to Run a Marathon, Write a Book, and Still Have a Life.  It's a quick read (think 30 minutes or less) full of wisdom, reality, inspiration, and a good kick in the pants.

In the book, she has six steps to finishing something (anything):

1. Decide what you want
2. Imagine yourself finishing it
3. Quit one thing
4. Make the DAILY choice
5. Take a day off
6. Have a plan for after the thing is finished

So. There's something I'd like to start (and finish).  It's something I've known about myself for a long time, but I needed Bethany's kick in the pants recently to get me going on it again. More to come...

Until then, go check out the eBook and go after that thing you keep saying you'll do tomorrow! 

Three Things Thursday

One.  The kitchen challenge is in full swing, which is why I ate an almost-too-ripe banana today, a perfectly ripe pear, and salad on its last day of green, among other things. So far, so good! On the menu this week: homemade calzones with salad (enough for leftovers) and chicken kabobs (turned into wraps the next night). Not sure what's next. Maybe feta and tomato omelets?

Two. Was recently reminded a few weeks ago of a book I read in college called When Faith and Beliefs Collide by Carolyn Custis James. Several friends and I are thinking of reading it this summer. Anyone in?

Three. My latest favorite picture of Moo, who will be SIX MONTHS old next week! Sheesh. I love that kid.

Kitchen Challenge

I'm all about experiments, especially when they're temporary. So, my latest experiment is what I call "The Kitchen Challenge"--so creative, I know. Here's how it works: I just stocked up at the grocery store and my goal is to see how long I can make the food I have last without buying more. Exceptions: weekly, I'll buy milk, produce, bread, and other perishables as needed.  Other than that, I'll be cooking my way through the pantry, freezer, and fridge for the next...three weeks? maybe?  I'll have to get pretty creative toward the end.

What'll be tough about this challenge is that we'll have nights where we eat what we have, not necessarily what we want. And I think that's good. I can get a little too entitled about food, thinking that it exists to serve my desires, when really food, while meant to be enjoyed, is primarily fuel. So, I'll have to let go of loving every meal and embrace resourcefulness. Did you know that the average American throws away between 15 and 40 percent of all groceries bought? Woah. I don't mean to get all "there-are-starving-children-in-Africa on  you, but there are starving children in Africa. Heck, there are starving children in America. Certainly I can put on my big girl panties and be resourceful for a few weeks. (Secretly, I'm hoping that those few weeks can become a lifestyle, although secretly, I'm hoping that lifestyle can still accommodate my love for frozen yogurt. :) All kidding aside, I'm shooting for a few weeks. Baby steps, right?)

Of course, it's quite possible here at the end of the school year that I just can't follow through on this experiment right now and need to opt for easy dinners, so I may re-challenge myself to this in the summer. I'll keep you posted on how it goes and let you know what I'm cooking along the way. Anyone else want to join me in Operation Resourcefulness?

Great Expectations

Before having Moo, I thought I'd have gobs of time during my maternity leave to accomplish GREAT THINGS, to check off some long-term to-do's, and did I mention accomplish things? That's right, I did. Because I love to accomplish. Oh, how motherhood is redefining that word! Throw in a child who only naps 45 minutes at a time during the day (I'm not going to complain too much, though, because he sleeps 8 hours at a time at night!) and there's just not as much time to accomplish as I anticipated. Probably good for this productivity addict.

Today's project was something I've been wanting to try for a while but could never get organized enough to do it: making a dinner menu next month. Woah. A friend of mine used to do this for all three meals a day and I was always amazed that she could think ahead far enough to plan meals for A MONTH. Woah again. So, one of my long-term to-do's was to try this monthly meal calendar and after spending little bits of time on it all day long, I finally finished! Check! (One of my greatest loves: checking items off a list. Yes, I'm a first born.)

Basically, I sat down with my recipe binder and started filling in blanks on a calendar that I printed, making sure to write in pencil in case I changed my mind. Here were my parameters:

• No cooking on Sundays
• Once a week: meatless meal
• At least once a week: fish
• Once a week: leftover day or freezer/crockpot meal
• Every week: varying mexican, Italian, and kinds of meats so that I didn't have two beef dishes back to back, for example
• As much as possible, choosing recipes that would use common ingredients so I don't waste food (Example: a bag of apples could be used on Monday night's chicken salad on greens and Tuesday night's pork chops and applesauce.)

I'm pretty excited about it. It should make creating my grocery list easier, and, while I'm sure I won't stick to every single meal, it's nice to have a plan and have items on hand. We'll see how it goes. For now, it looks all expectant and promising hanging on the fridge. :) 

Resolved

Resolve. 

Re-solve. 

To figure out again.

Each year, we begin with resolutions thinking we have an answer for making life better--and there's nothing wrong with that. I'll be making resolutions again this year, too. But here's the thing about resolutions: they have to be re-done each year (if not before) because we're ever and always in the process of becoming. So, last year, I made my 30 before 30 list, and it has served as a great motivator for me, but this year, I'm in another place. I need something different. I need to re-solve this life of mine.

So, this year I have ONE resolution: look to the good. Not look for the good, which implies that it may or may not be found, but look to the good, because it's there--always--in some way. 

God has sense of humor, of course. Today, as I'm typing this, my child has decided not to nap. As in not at all since sometime this morning. He's miserable but won't sleep so it's been a looooong day for all of us. As in I'm completely at the end of myself (and it's taken me the entire to day finish this post). On top of that, I have a few other personal struggles going on and it's just so dang easy to complain. To be angry. To be frustrated. To feel overwhelmed. To wish today could just end and tomorrow would be guaranteed to be better.

BUT 

in the midst of all the inconvenience, disappointment, frustration, and heartache, 

there is GOOD.

 I have a healthy child. 

He has been happy most of the day. 

Phil has been home all day and has been a huge help. 

We have a warm house on a cold night. 

You get the picture. 

There's reason to be grateful and that's where I need to be--not denying the difficulty of the moment or day or season, but not dwelling there either. This is my re-solving, my becoming.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Phil. 4:8)

30 before 30 update

It's been 6 months since I made my 30 before 30 list, so it's time for a little update:

1. Read through the Bible (or at least be in the process of doing so). In progress. I'm still in Exodus, but am only a couple of chapters away from Leviticus and I've taken lots of detours along the way. I'm okay with it.
2. Publish something I've written. Hoping to get on this sometime this summer.
3. Take another big trip with Phil Done...sort of. Probably won't happen with Phil, but I did go to Boston with my Aunt in April, so I'm counting that. :)
4. Work up the guts to sing karaoke in public. Not counting on this happening, but we'll see...
5. Journal weekly. Hasn't been weekly, but has been regularly, so I'll take it.
6. Plant a vegetable garden in our back yard. Done. See the updated picture. I ate raw green beans and cherry tomatoes this week! Still waiting on the peppers & cucumbers to come in. 
7. Roll my own sushi. Done. 
8. Finish typing my grandfather's WWII letters to my grandmother. Also in the plans for the summer.
9. Learn to change a tire. Not yet.
10. Donate platelets. Not gonna happen for a while since I'm preggo. 
11. Find some new teenage girls to invest in since all mine are graduating this year. Done. Have some amazing girls from Samford that I get to hang out with about once a month!
12. Take more pictures. Working on this. Still a struggle...
13.  Invest in a bookshelf for our bedroom. Done. 



Our new reading nook!

14. Volunteer. Done. Helped with VBS this summer. Not that I'm done for the year, but it's a start!
15. Go to a Broadway show (doesn't have to be in NYC) Hoping to see Les Miserables (my favorite!) when it comes to Bham this fall!
16. Actually use my yoga videos. Um...yeah. Hasn't happened. Should probably get on that.
17. Shop at Whole Foods from time to time. Not yet.
18. Try at least 4 new restaurants in Birmingham. Done. 
19. Invest in at least one more piece of art crafted by a friend or family member. Hoping to make this happen at Christmastime...
20. Snorkel. Another one that probably won't happen. Oh well. 
21. Get a massage. Or two. Not yet.
22. Dance at wedding reception (call me crazy, but I hate dancing in public). Done! I slow danced with my 12-year-old brother at my other brother's wedding. Taught him the box step and he was a natural! I have to admit that dancing was his idea, though. :)
23. Watch a sunset. Or two. Sad that I have to put that on a list. Done. Phil and I spontaneously pulled over at a lookout with our takeout food in hand last weekend. A little taste of heaven. 
24. Play volleyball. Not yet.
25. Go camping again with Phil. Not yet.
26. Ride my bike. Not yet. 
27. Help a stranger. Not that I remember.
28. Write a letter to someone who has greatly influenced your life who has no idea the impact they've had. Not yet.
29. Cook a five-course dinner using all new recipes. Not yet, but several of you have offered to do this with me, so let's get going!



Thank you, Craigslist!

30. Paint our bedroom a color I like. Done. Changed this one. I decided I was fine with the color, but have been doing a little makeover on the room. Added a bookshelf & chair for a reading nook, moved around some furniture, and hung some pictures. Love it!

So, lots still in the works, but it's nice to have some of them checked off! Let me know if you want to join me for any of them!

And the winner is...

On the night of the Golden G's, it's only appropriate that I give the award for "Best Replacement Goal" to...

 (insert swelling, emotional music and beautiful women in breasty beautiful 

dresses and outlandish hair walking onto the stage)

Ashley!

with her suggestion to: 

"Write a letter to someone who has greatly influenced your 

life that has no idea the impact they've had." 

I'd like to thank Ashley, the Hollywood Foreign Press, and my most faithful blog readers, Melissa, Molly, Christen, Erin, & Virginia for all their inspiring ideas and kind comments. I'd also like to thank any blog-followers that I may have forgotten as well as all list-makers everywhere. Ashley, be on the lookout for a glowing review of YOU in the near future!

In case another goal on the list becomes unattainable, I did choose a runner-up, which is...

 Molly's intimidating but inspiring suggestion to 

"unplug for a weekend" 

(which I took to mean unplugging from the TV, computer, phone, etc.). 

Now that that's taken care of, I can get on with those goals! I'm off to a slow start, but have started reading through the Bible and am planning to journal tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe I'll even write one very special letter. 

Ousted.

Remember that 30 before 30 list? Well, I really tried to make it realistic, but I'm thinking that "learning to snow ski" might not actually happen before March 2012. Don't get me wrong--I hope it does, but the chances are pretty slim considering where we live and how little off time we have.

SO, I'm in the market for a replacement goal. And I need your help.

What should I add to my 30 before 30 list that's more realistic? If anyone gives me an idea that I actually use, I'll write a blog all about YOU (don't worry--I'll write about only the good stuff!).

Let those suggestions fly!

30 before 30 List

Inspired by a new year and the fact that I'll turn 30 in 14 months, I've decided to list 30 things I'd like to accomplish before age 30. Here goes (in no particular order):

1. Publish something I've written.
2. Read through the Bible (or at least be in the process of doing so).
3. Take another big trip with Phil 
4. Work up the guts to sing karaoke in public.
5. Journal weekly.
6. Plant a vegetable garden in our back yard.
7. Roll my own sushi.
8. Finish typing my grandfather's WWII letters to my grandmother.
9. Learn to change a tire.
10. Donate platelets.
11. Find some new teenage girls to invest in since all mine are graduating this year.
12. Take more pictures.
13. Invest in a bookshelf for our bedroom.
14. Volunteer.
15. Go to a Broadway show (doesn't have to be in NYC)
16. Actually use my yoga videos.
17. Shop at Whole Foods from time to time.
18. Try at least 4 new restaurants in Birmingham.
19. Invest in at least one more piece of art crafted by a friend or family member.
20. Snorkel.
21. Get a massage. Or two.
22. Dance at wedding reception (call me crazy, but I hate dancing in public).
23. Watch a sunset. Or two. Sad that I have to put that on a list.
24. Play volleyball.
25. Go camping again with Phil.
26. Ride my bike.
27. Help a stranger.
28. Learn to snow ski.
29. Cook a five-course dinner using all new recipes.
30. Paint our bedroom a color I like.

Items that I almost put on the list out of guilt/obligation but didn't because I don't actually want to do them:

• Run a marathon
• Learn to sew
• Make homemade pasta
• Sky dive
• Eat vegetarian/vegan for any amount of time

Consider this 30 before 30 list a little preview of some of my blog topics for the coming year. Happy New Year!

me, lately

What I've been reading...

Connie May Fowler's novel, Before Women Had Wings, Language Network grammar book, Real Simple, Cooking Light

What I've been listening to...

José Gonzàlez, sermons from LMPC, and Pandora

What I've been eating...

Virginia's recipe for BBQ ribs, Edy's Slow Churned French Silk ice cream, the last of summer's produce (tomatoes, peaches, strawberries, and blueberries).

BBQ Ribs: Buy a rack or two of ribs. Boil them for 40-45 minutes in a large pot and allow to cool. Place in large Ziploc bag and pour in a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce. Marinate overnight. Grill 3-4 min per side to heat through.

Where I've been...

Chattanooga for Labor Day weekend and Atlanta another weekend to see Phil's family, Pepper Place Market, junior high football games, friends' houses, delicious restaurants, two different churches

What's on my to-do list...

Fold laundry, dust, tackle that last stack of boxes from our move, organize my files, exercise, read for fun, call my aunt, grade 67 essays, check the mail, write letters, blog (done)

Deep things I've been thinking about...

Church denominations, women in the church, being a working mom (NO hint about a baby here, just something I've been thinking about), whether to keep our current church community that's 25 minutes away or start over with a church community closer to where we live, how to streamline our lives so that we have a balance of giving our lives away and resting. These could all be blog entries of their own!

What I've been watching...

Confesssion: Glee. I'm blaming my sister-in-law for introducing me to this show.