This past year has been one of big moves, big trips, big mountains, big running, and big lists. In terms of trying new things and having new adventures, I checked 20 items off of my 32 in 32 list. In doing so, I found out that brussel sprouts and green monsters are not only edible but possibly tasty, that a month of daily yoga is well-worth doing, that snowshoeing is fun, and that gel manicures are totally worth the extra cost once and while. I still want to knit a scarf and make my own bagels and pasta and non-fugly pie crust; and an international race is in my near future. Maybe a group run in NYC will be too.
1. Climb a mountain. ✔
2. Learn to make pie crust that doesn't look fugly.
3. Take a dance lesson. ✔
4. Give brussel sprouts another chance. ✔
5. Go for a run in the Parque de Dehesa de la Villa in Madrid. ✔
6. Enter a contest.
7. Try snowshoeing. ✔
8. Get a gel manicure. ✔
9. Go an entire day without speaking.
10. Knit a scarf.
11. Go on a picnic. ✔
12. Face my fear of oral surgery. ✔
13. Do yoga everyday for an entire month. ✔
14. Go on a group run in NYC.
15. Get a zoom lens for my camera and experiment with it. ✔
16. Make my own pasta.
17. Throw a dinner party. ✔
18. Bring my half-marathon total to 10. ✔
19. Keep a travel journal this summer and share some of it on the blog. ✔
20. Have a spa day with a friend. ✔
21. Run my favorite routes here before I move. ✔
22. Spend a Sunday afternoon in my favorite museum. ✔
23. Volunteer at an animal shelter.
24. Go an entire day only speaking Spanish. ✔
25. Create an inspiration board to put over my treadmill. ✔
26. Go for a run in Central Park. ✔
27. Visit the corral at Alcalá de Henares.
28. Go to the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto.
29. Run a race in another country.
30. Make my own bagels.
31. Try a green monster. ✔
32. Visit LA for the first time.
Although I don't plan to make a 33 in 33 list right now, I think this was a worthwhile exercise to push myself to try some things or at least think about trying some things that I might not have had I not made this bucket list of sorts. It's not on my 32 in 32 list or on the nonexistent 33 in 33 list, but the next adventure I have in mind is going tubing next weekend.
Have you ever made a bucket list? What's one thing that you would like to do before your next birthday or to celebrate your next birthday?
Nice work on your list - you accomplished a lot! I am glad that you had a wonderful birthday and felt surrounded by love!! Cupcakes + flowers sounds about perfect to me!
ReplyDeleteI made a bucket list for my 30th bday and I think I accomplished about half of it, which is more than I would have done had I not made the list, so I was still happy with it. I don't know if I will do another one, though. One thing I'd like to do before my next birthday is pass the final level of the CFA.
I have never made a bucket list. I don't have something that I want to do before my next birthday either. BUT, I stopped coloring my hair last summer and I am really really REALLY hoping it will be all grown in as 'natural hair' by the time I'm 50 rather than this half/half mess that I have right now.
ReplyDeleteI partly did it so that I could say I was "going grey gracefully" by the time I was 50. :-)
I love your list and would say you tackled quite a few things on there! Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteOoh great list and great accomplishments. Sounds like you had the perfect birthday weekend (especially the cupcakes part!) I hope that you continue to feel surrounded by love and support.
ReplyDeleteMy next birthday (33 like you!) will be June 5, and my due date is June 16, so I am keeping my goals limited- learning how to be a loving and patient mom (who doesn't try to keep too ambitious to do lists!)
Also, I and some friends (and even students) have remarked that March has been pretty challenging in many ways, so maybe there is just something in the air/earth's gravitational pull/climate change/tides that has done a number to our moods. Glad this weekend made me feel better. (It made me feel better, too)
oops, meant to say glad the weekend made YOU feel better!
DeleteThat sounds like a lovely way to spent a birthday! I tried to make a life list, but it keeps changing. :) I think a yearly list might work better for me, especially after reading yours and seeing all the things you checked off. Congrats on a great year, and here's to the next adventure!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lovely way to spent a birthday! I tried to make a life list, but it keeps changing. :) I think a yearly list might work better for me, especially after reading yours and seeing all the things you checked off. Congrats on a great year, and here's to the next adventure!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! You've done so much in 33 years already -- not only achieving a Tenure Track position in your field (woot! woot!), but managing to "have a life" as well, what with running, travelling, friends, and family. . . not to mention having good taste in entertainment (Buffy!) and shoes (Fluevogs!). Here's to the next 33!
ReplyDelete20 out of 32 is really, really awesome. You are a serious list-maker and to-list checker-offer :-)
ReplyDeleteMy big items before #32 (my next birthday) are really the items on my 2013 list: publish the paper, run the marathon. Anything else will be gravy, but I'm starting to think that "fall in love again" may have slipped its way into my agenda for the year. I'm not complaining.
Gah, I meant "to-do list checker-offer." Apologies!
DeleteYou came so close to LA when you went to San Diego! It's good you didn't do everything, or else what would be your goals for your 34th year? I am glad you had a good birthday and I love so many of the things on your list. (What mountain did you climb? Are you talking about the hike in Spain?)
ReplyDeleteHappy belated birthday wishes! I like item #23 that hasn't been checked off yet. I'm hoping some day to find time for that myself. When I get the kiddo more self-sufficient ... :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a great list. I'm a terrible list person, mainly because I usually lose the list or forget that it's out there. But your idea that it's a good exercise is so true.
ReplyDeleteGlad that you had such a lovely birthday!