Years ago, I wrote a Thirty Before Thirty list. Since that birthday has come and gone and we're already half-way to 31 (I say we like you're invested in my aging process), I thought I'd revisit the list, to check out my success rate.
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1. Sit down and talk, candidly and openly, with my father. And not about sports or movies or American Idol. I'm not quite ready to expand but I did this. I did this more than once. Pass me a drink.
2. Take a cross-country road trip and eat locally the entire time. Wow, 26-year-old me thought she would have some generous vacation time in her future, didn't she? I did take a cross-multiple-state road trip and ate well except for the times I ate at Burger King. I think this practically counts.
3. Sip on mimosas at brunch with my mom and my sister.
4. Scrapbook my engagement and my wedding. Why did I ever think scrapbooking was for me? I pass on this goal. I do want to make a photo book of my wedding/honeymoon, so I'll add that to the before-35 list.
5. Send out every birthday card I intend to for an entire year. (Same goes for anniversaries and births.) Ambitious, Jennie!
6. Have a child with my husband. My buds. I'm so grateful.
7. Go to my 10-year high school reunion ... skinny. I rocked that reunion.
8. Speaking of, LOSE THESE THIRTY STUPID POUNDS. Lost them, gained them, lost them, gained them. You know how it annoyingly goes.
9. Take Mike to Tulsa and introduce him to my uncle and aunt, two people I haven't seen since I was 13. The two people in question didn't deserve to meet Mike. I did take him to Tulsa to hang out with my grandma, who we love--we go once a year or so--and that's absolutely enough for me.
10. Buy Texas A&M season tickets. Past Jennie was delusional about both her vacation time and her bank account.
11. Become a full-time and money-earning writer. I have been paid (many times!) for my writing, and I'm grateful for that. I'm also grateful for my full-time job that has a lot of writing involved.
12. Run a half-marathon. Wait, let me rephrase slightly: finish a half-marathon. I added the halves and don't even feel guilty for that.
13. Go back to Tahoe City and eat breakfast at Rosie's, the place Mike and I ate breakfast together two days after we got married. I still really want to do this. I think for our ten-year anniversary.
14. Change my social security card.
15. Go to the Oprah show. Preferably when she's giving cool shit away. Sad face.
16. Buy a car.
17. Buy a house. It's a pretty house, too.
18. Take my child to both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Our time on the west coast! We have Atlantic Ocean plans in the works over the next couple years.
19. Send my husband to Vegas without me. This year, I think! He's going in December with some friends.
20. Build up a recipe collection and cook consistently. My Pinterest recipe board is killer, for reals. Also, I cook way more often than I did in 2007.
21. See a therapist and sort out the last of the things that need to be sorted out. Working on it!
22. Pay off every last cent of my debt. HA!
23. Watch my brother graduate from high school (holy hell, how is this only three years away?).
24. Meet a handful of incredible women who inspire me to be a more honest and stronger woman. This was in reference to some blog friends and I met them and loved them and want them to all move to my street.
25. Finish every book I own. I need to stop buying more books, I'll tell you that much.
26. See Greenday in concert (you with the eye rolling; who invited you?) So awesome.
27. Visit Portland. A couple of times! (I especially liked the time Mike surprised me with a trip.)
28. Dance to Journey with my son or daughter in the middle of the living room.
29. Take my mom on a spa weekend, just us. We should really do this. A spa weekend sounds glorious.
30. Forgive myself for all of it. Working on it.
