Screw News Years Resolutions – I’m going to give 30 before 30 a go!

So, my New Years Resolutions for 2013 didn’t go down as well as planned. Quite a few of the major ones failed *spectacularly* (if I do say so myself…you can read all about it here). So instead of duplicating the same fabulousness in 2014, I have decided to change tack. I have decided that instead of New Years Resolutions, I’m going to try this “30 before 30” thing. I have no idea if I can honestly come up with 30 things to do before I turn 30 (Edit – wow! I actually did!), or if I have even the slightest chance of getting them done in time, but…here goes.

1. Get healthy – this is pretty obvious. I just need to get healthy, get in shape, lose the extra weight and finally be happy with myself and my body. I figure it’s going to take a while, but I want a realistic deadline, and trying to get this done before I turn 30 seems like a pretty good milestone. I’ve also been told that if I don’t get my arse in gear before then, it becomes much much harder to shift the weight. That’s not good.

2. Finish my degree – as obvious as this is, I want this thing DONE. It’s been a massive weight for the past 10 or so years, and it would be great to finally have it finished so I can relax for just a few months before being stupid enough to try my hand at a Masters or something equally as tough! As part of this, it includes getting my MSCA cert. Would be nice to have a piece of paper that says I really do know what I’m talking about, contrary to popular belief!

3. Get my motorcycle license – for those who don’t know, my other half (well…husband now, but that just sounds weird) is a motorcycle rider. I’ve pillioned on the back of a mates bike *once* and I loved the feeling…minus the part about me being on the BACK of the bike and not being in control of this awesome contraption that made me feel like I was on a roller coaster. Seriously, how do bikers not ride them all the time?! So yes, the aim is to get my motorcycle license before I turn 30. I realise this will scare the pants off my family, but considering we already have one biker in the family, it shouldn’t be too hard for them to digest.

4. Visit Europe – it’s something we’ve always wanted to do. And dammit, I want to go to the original Legoland and have my photo taken there. So we *will* do it. And before I turn 30.

5. Complete a decent size knitting project – I know, seems a bit strange, but to this day all I’ve managed are scarves and beanies. I’d like to have at least attempted to do something big for myself, like a cardigan or jacket. No idea if I can manage it, but I figure it’s worth a try…even if it turns out to be hideous.

6. Have a go at Roller Derby – this is something I *really* want to try. It looks amazing. I love the idea of it. I’m particularly fond of roller skating, and I’m sure some people would say that I have some pent up aggression, so this sport seems right up my alley! Next sign-up is in early 2014, so let’s see if I have the guts to sign-up!

7. Go camping at least once – I’m not a big fan of camping, as those closest to me would attest. I’m just not a fan of the lack of electricity, internet and piped hot water. But I figure it’s something I should do properly at least once. It’ll probably only be Alex and I (I’m putting my foot down…I’m sure sometimes they’re adorable, but I’m not camping with or near children), but it’s definitely something I want to do. And as long as there’s some form of 3G reception, I should be okay…right?

8. Go on a long-ass road trip – this will probably end up tied in with the above, but I think a long road trip would be a hell of a lot of fun. Go somewhere you’ve never been before and see everything you can between home and there. Flying is great, but you miss out on so much, so I think it would be awesome to take a long road trip somewhere out in the middle of nowhere! Considering we live in Queensland, and we have some extremely beautiful country up this way, it would be lovely to see some of it.

9. Volunteer for something – it doesn’t have to be big, it doesn’t have to be something on-going, but I think volunteering to do something or help someone would be really nice. Once I can come up with where/what I want to do for this, I’ll update it here.

10. Learn how to surf – this is a wishful item, and something I may never do, but I figure putting it down means I may get a chance at it. I *REALLY* want to learn how to surf. I love the ocean, I love swimming, I love everything about the beach (minus the sand in your undies…) and I think surfing would be amazing. I want to do this. REALLY want to do this.

11. Become a better cook – I love cooking and I enjoy cooking for people, but I have my “safe” meals that I do day in, day out. I want to experiment more, try new things and become better at stepping out of my comfort zone when it comes to cooking. I also want to be a bit more adventurous when it comes to ingredients.

12. Start (& finish!) a craft project – aside from knitting, I love craft. All craft. I love beading, scrap booking, cross-stitch, calligraphy…I need to find something arty to do that can be a project for myself, a piece of artwork I’ll get to keep and treasure. Doing the small pieces for the wedding (such as my handfasting cords and our card box) was really lovely and I honestly loved the time I spent doing them.

13. Keep my blog updated with a new post at least once every two weeks – this is a massively bold statement and I have no idea if it’s something I can do, but it’s something I should aspire to do. I want to have my blog updated as often as possible, but I don’t want it to just be filler stuff. I want it to be meaningful, both about my life and my work, so I’m hoping there should be something worth posting about every two weeks!

14. Convince my brother and (soon to be) sister-in-law to let me help plan their wedding – as someone who’s just gone through this, I know how stressful it can be and how you really do need help (again, huge shout out to those who pitched in and helped, even when I said I didn’t need it!). I want to be able to offer advice and help on their wedding, from the perspective of someone who’s already gone through it! I also want to state that I don’t want to impose my idea of what a wedding should or shouldn’t be on them – it’s their day and their moment, and I want to help make sure that their day is as fabulous as it can be and reflects *them*.

15. Read “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” – I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never actually read these. They were read to me as a young child, which means so much of the story was missed by a young girls excitement for sword fights and dragons. I want to read these books now, with the eyes of an adult, and re-live them. I’m hoping not to be tainted by my watching the movies…

16. Run a 5K fun-run – I want to do this and have wanted to do this from the first time I start C25K. I’m sure this is something I can do, I just need to put my mind and focus towards doing it. I’m sure I’ll be dragging some along with me! And while I may not be able to *run* the whole thing, at least finishing it would be good!

17. Grow plants…and keep them alive! – I’m a brown thumb, things just die around me. But I love plants and gardens and flowers and I would really love for our garden at home to be full of those things. So before I turn 30, I want to grow a plant of some kind that ISN’T a cactus and keep it alive past my 30th birthday. Maybe some gerberas that are in a position that the possum won’t eat… >.>

18. Research my family – now that I’m married, I feel I can official start poking my nose up that side of the tree to complete a full family tree for Alex and myself. I’d like to learn about genealogy and trace back our families so that I can tell any kids we have “THIS is where you came from”.

19. Make and decorate a cake for someone – after seeing the stunningly amazing job Miss Kerrie did on my wedding cake, I want to be able to do that and do it for someone. While I’ve done cupcakes, I’ve never done a whole cake before, and it’s something I’d really like to try. Probably not a wedding cake (WAY too much pressure!) but a birthday, or a family event of some kind.

20. Get a tattoo – I’ve wanted one for a while, still not sure on what I want to get or if my pain threshold can even handle it, but I want to put it down. Because I can.

21. Get professional photos taken – because we have professional photographers in our family, getting professional photos done was always done in-house. I’d like to break that and go and get some done of Alex and I that aren’t done by a family member so that we can just be us without needing to be what our family expects.

22. Do a proper clean out of our house – we have so much stuff. SO. MUCH. STUFF. We moved into a three bedroom house and the rooms are bulging with junk to the point where the spare room downstairs is just filled with boxes of stuff that won’t fit upstairs. I want to have a clean out that involves throwing out or donating things that aren’t being used or have out-grown their usefulness for us. I want to have room to live again.

23. Learn how to apply make-up properly – as a woman, I’m expected to know how to do this…and I’m hopeless at it. I use the same eye shadow, mascara, cover-up and foundation *everywhere*. It would be nice to know what suits my skin tone, how to blend eye shadow properly and how to cover up the blemishes that still manage to sneak through when I apply cover up.

24. Learn how to meditate – I look at other people’s 30 before 30 lists, and I see many people wanting to do yoga and wanting to go hiking and wanting to exercise more. While I do want to do some of those things, what people are aiming for is some form of self-peace. I want to learn meditation so that I can just sit and be and not have my thoughts racing at three hundred and fifty thousand miles an hour.

25. Visit Australia Zoo – amazingly, we’ve never been. We live less than 2 hours drive from it and we’ve never been to this amazing zoo. What. The. Hell. I need to fix this and I need to go, if only to say I’ve been to Australia Zoo!

26. Visit the library and check-out some books from authors I’ve never read – I’m always hesitant to buy books of authors I’ve not experienced before, just because I don’t know if the money is an investment or not. I haven’t been to the Library since I was in high school (wow…a long time ago O.o) so I want to go to my local library (which is a 5 minute walk from my house!) and borrow out some books of authors I’ve never read before. Might actually open my eyes (and my wallet!) to some new and awesome authors.

27. Go and watch fireworks – it’s been years since I’ve seen fireworks up close and personal, and I love the big, bright, banging, sparkly things. Absolutely love. So I want to go and watch them, up close and in person. Due to Alex’s “I will not go anywhere where there are lots of people and crowds and noises and NO” rule, I may end up having to do this alone…but it’ll be worth it! Not sure I’d do a New Years Eve, but perhaps a River Fire.

28. Wake up early enough and watch the sun rise – I’ve seen sunrises, but I’ve never sat and WATCHED a sunrise. I want to do that. I want to have the time to spend to just sit and watch one and enjoy it.

29. Submit a paper to a technical conference – this one terrifies me, but it’s something I want to do. I want to submit something to a technical conference and possibly even be selected to speak. Holy shit, just the thought petrifies me, but I figure I can’t hide forever and I might as well learn to speak! Not sure what the topic would be, but I’m hoping I can come up with something…suggestions anyone?

30. Organise my life – this is something I hope to get done, but it’s a massive undertaking. There are so many things that need to be done. I’ve already cheated slightly by putting the “Do a clean out” as a separate item, but I figure it should be as it’s just huge by itself. This item encompasses a whole bunch of things – getting our wills done, getting our banking in order, getting our eating plans sorted, getting an exercise regime started, organsiing our house in a way that makes sense…phew! Just talking about it is making me tired, but it’s something I want to do.

I would like you to note that nothing up there talks of Lego or computers or even my work. That’s because I didn’t want to include any of that. These things should be big, they should be meaningful, they should be long lasting…and who knows, I may not be interested in Lego when I turn 30 (HA! Yeah right! :P) I have no idea if I can do them all in my lifetime, let alone before I turn 30, but I’d like to give it a try!