14 in 2014

Those who know me well know that I'm a list girl. At any given time I have a couple different to-do lists going - things to do today, work items that need to get done, house projects, and the list (ha!) goes on and on. So when I turned 29 a couple years ago, and suddenly found myself staring down the barrel of turning 30, I knew I needed a list.

Now I'm not one of those people who thinks my life is over at 30 or anything like that. Quite the opposite actually. At 30 (almost 31 now) I feel like I know myself better now, and am more settled and secure than I EVER was in my 20s. I know that my 30s will bring me new joys (and challenges), but I feel (mostly) good about where I am and who I am right now. Additionally, I have known too many lives that have been cut short, that I see each passing year and birthday as a big time reason to celebrate.

The thing about me is that I a) am not very adventurous and b) am a total cheap wad. These things have only gotten worse as I've gotten older. I'm comfortable in my day to day routine, and I don't do great with change, so it's easy to just let life pass me by a bit (ugh, that's not as depressing as it sounds, I promise). It's also hard for me to be willing to do things for myself, especially if it costs money.

So as I was approaching 30, and realized I needed some sort of list, I thought about things a lot. What were the things that I had always meant...wanted...hoped to do that I either hadn't gotten around to, cost too much, or was too nervous to do? I sat down and made a list. I dubbed it my "30 Before 30" list. 30 things...some big, some small, some fun, some kind of boring...that I wanted to do before I turned 30. Of course I could make a list of really fun, extravagent things (2 week trip through Scandivavia, anyone?), but I wanted this to be a list of attainable things...so that at the end of the year I had a sense of accomplishment rather than a list of things that didn't happen. You can see the full list here: http://thecarlsonschronicle.blogspot.com/2012/05/30-before-30.html

It was a really fun year getting the list done! By the time I turned 30, only 2 things were left undone. One (Learn how to drive a stick shift) because of poor planning - I should have figured out where I would actually get a car with stick shift. And one (Go on a hot air balloon ride) because of plain old bad luck. We scheduled that sucker many, many times and it got cancelled because of bad weather. And now, another year later we STILL haven't been able to do it. Soon, I hope!

After that year I found that I was actually better overall at loosening up a little. Since then I've done even more things that I have wanted to do for a long time. I just bit the bullet and did it - and never really regretted any of it!

I've missed having a list like that, so I decided that another list - albeit a smaller, less extravagent list - was in order. And so "14 in 2014!" Same idea - a list for the year of things that I've been wanting...meaning...hoping to get around to. Without further ado, here is my 14 in 2014 list (in no particular order):

1. Get up to 1,000 geocache finds (we are in the low 700s right now)
2. Read at least 14 books (perhaps not a huge feat for some, but I'm not a big reader. I enjoy books, just don't usually make time to read them)
3. Finish - and order - Linnea's 1st year photo book (I started this sometime during the 30 Before 30 project if I recall)
4. Visit the Bakken Museum (I've heard good things, have always been curious, but never have been)
5. Take a family trip to Decorah, IA (the home of our alma mater - we haven't been there in years!)
6. Start and maintain a once sentence/day journal (I've always wanted to journal - I got a one sentence journal for my birthday last year, and feel like it's something I could actually keep up)
7. Start and maintain a "Linnea says" journal (girlfriend says lots of funny things - I don't want to forget!)
8. Set up giving for church (we try to remember our offering each week and never do, and have talked about setting up automatic donation for a long time but haven't)
9. Commit 5 random acts of kindness (I have been wanting to do this and then I was further inspired by this post: http://mom-a-logues.blogspot.com/2014/02/random-acts-of-kindness-week.html Thanks, Dawn!)
10. Make 20 new recipes in the year (For the 30 Before 30 project it was more meals - this can be anything...just something new)
11. Eat a Juicy Lucy at The Nook (yeah, we're burger fans!)
12. 50 blog posts in the year (I am so tempted to aim for more than that, but like I said...I want it to be attainable - 50 allows space to fall of the wagon, and get back on, etc.)
13. Start and finish at least one sewing project (I've done a couple things here and there, but now I have a sewing machine of my own and want to be more intentional about it)
14. A new water sport opportunity (kayaking down the creek and/or stand up paddle boarding) (I fully intended to do stand up paddle boarding last year, and it never happened)

The plan is to blog each item as I accomplish them. But in the mean time, here are some of my favorite pictures from my 30 Before 30 list:

 #16 Participate in a mud run - with two of my best buddies and fellow mud runners, Jackie and Sarah

#17 Try water skiing (again) - with my friend and teacher Gary

#1 Eat a Juicy Lucy at The Blue Door Pub (not pictured: the Juicy Lucy, which was delicious!)

#29 Ride a mechanical bull

#18 Try a new winter sport (I chose snowshoeing) 

#7 Explore the Walker Sculpture Garden

#25 Get a make-up consultation (I kinda surprise myself how nice I can clean up...)

#4 and #5 Try a new recipe each month and have a lobster dinner - this was a two for one!

#19 Climb a rock wall

#27 Take a carriage ride

#11 Hide a cache on my own (with my little geocache buddy "WeeNorge"

Here's to another fun year! I'm looking forward to it.