Who has a list for everything? Me! Me!

Confession: I will never stop being a planner.  I may be trying to live life a little fuller but that does not mean that I am going to give up my lists and spreadsheets.  Ask my husband, I have an unhealthy obsession with spreadsheets.  They make me happy.  I like agendas and lists and color coding things.  I am getting all worked up just thinking about it.

So it makes sense that I would create a list of things that I want to accomplish before I turn 30.  Which, strangely enough, I am on the downhill slope to.  I will be 26 at the end of this month, so that gives me about 4 years to accomplish what's on this list.  Some of these are serious, get-your-life together things.  Others are experiences outside of my comfort zone that I need to be pushed to achieve.  Others are some of my deepest hopes and dreams.  I am going to blog about them 5 at a time (in no particular order) so I can explain each a little bit.

Without further ado: my 30 Before 30 (#'s 1-5)

1. Travel outside the country.
I have been out of the country before: England when I was 10, and the Bahamas in 2008.  If I won the lottery, I would donate to charities and take care of all my debts as well as help out some family and friends, but I wouldn't buy anything material for myself.  I would pack up and travel the world.  I have the traveling bug but not enough money to pursue it.  So before I am 30, I want to travel outside the country again.  My top 10 places to go visit? Uganda (reason why coming in a future blog post), Greece, Italy, Spain, South Africa, Australia, Scotland, Norway, Brazil, Canada.


2. Interview my Grandmother and record her stories.
Have you met my Grandmother?  She is probably the coolest grandmother on the planet.  She taught me how to walk on stilts when I was ten and counts dirty words as double points in Scrabble.  She has traveled and lived all over the world.  She makes up stories for her grandchildren and then she even illustrates them.  She is whip smart and even at 80 she still studies because she doesn't think that you are too old to quit learning. Her house looks like a library and she organizes her shelves by putting authors next to each other that she thinks would have interesting conversations in real life.  Most of all, she has truly lived.  And her stories are amazing.  I have enjoyed listening to them for years and it would do the world a disservice not to have them recorded.

3. Fist pump at the Jersey Shore and meet a Guido.
You didn't think that all of these would be serious did you?  Actually, Justin is from Jersey and grew up relatively near "the shore" as he calls it.  He swears that he was not a Guido, but I don't know if I believe him.  Anyway, he has not been back up to Jersey since he moved away 6 or so years ago.  I would love to see where he grew up and what his life looked like before I was in it.  If we happen to take a detour by Seaside Heights, whatever. . .  GTL my friends.

4. See a musical on Broadway.
After all of my fist pumping in Jersey, I think I am going to need some culture. I have been to NYC twice, but never got to experience Broadway.  This is such a shame and needs to be fixed.  I will be looking to my friend Jenn W. for expertise and recommendations while accomplishing this task!

5. Run a 5K.
Time to get off my butt and move.  There was a point in my life (after a career ending tennis injury) that it hurt to walk and running was not even an option.  Lots and lots of conditioning and many years later, I was able to be active again although I will never be back to that pre-injury level.  However, I used the old injury as an excuse most of the time.  Time to suck it up, realize that I need to get active and be healthier.  Sure I have a weight loss goal, but I think I also need a fitness goal.  So, sometime in the next 4 years, I will run a 5K.  Without having someone chase me :)

Five more coming soon!