Hi there! Mama here.
So I was looking at my calendar last month, and it turns out I'm turning thirty next year. When I first realized this, I thought to myself, "Awesome! Woo hoo! Great! I can't wait! I'm so excited to be approaching this important milestone! After all, who doesn't want to turn 30?"
*cue crickets chirping*
Thirty. 30. Three, zero. The big 3-0. The first in a series of milestone birthdays that makes women want to cry, deny, or pass right by their annual date of birth. My best friend turns thirty in less than two months (you're welcome, Tiff!), but she says she'll just be celebrating the first anniversary of her 29th birthday instead. Pretty sly, no? ;) Now I know many people pass 30 proudly, with their heads held high and without much ado. After all, 30 is supposed to be the new 20, right? (Riiiight.) To those people, I salute you!
But me? I imagine it's going to be more like this...
So I was looking at my calendar last month, and it turns out I'm turning thirty next year. When I first realized this, I thought to myself, "Awesome! Woo hoo! Great! I can't wait! I'm so excited to be approaching this important milestone! After all, who doesn't want to turn 30?"
*cue crickets chirping*
Thirty. 30. Three, zero. The big 3-0. The first in a series of milestone birthdays that makes women want to cry, deny, or pass right by their annual date of birth. My best friend turns thirty in less than two months (you're welcome, Tiff!), but she says she'll just be celebrating the first anniversary of her 29th birthday instead. Pretty sly, no? ;) Now I know many people pass 30 proudly, with their heads held high and without much ado. After all, 30 is supposed to be the new 20, right? (Riiiight.) To those people, I salute you!
But me? I imagine it's going to be more like this...
I cried on my 20th birthday because I wasn't a teenager anymore (in fact, my dad wrote me a birthday card that year with those exact words, which he thought was really funny), so I can't imagine what's going to happen on the day where I realize my twenties are gone forever. It's not so much the idea of growing older that gets to me...at least I don't think so. It's more like I thought I would have my stuff more together than I do at this point in my life.
But in all seriousness, I just feel like this is such an important time in my life. I've been thinking about it for a while, and at first I decided that in honor of this upcoming milestone I need to do something BIG! Something incredible! Something that shows I've got something to show for my 30 years on this earth! Something that will make everyone say, "Wow! She's only thirty? She looks great and seems so carefree, not weighed down by the cares of this world. How has she managed to stay so youthful and do so many meaningful things with her life?"
It's similar to when I was seven months pregnant with my firstborn, when one day out of the blue I burst into tears, thinking, "I'm going to be a mom and I don't know how to sew! How could I have let this happen?" Without stopping to think, my Martha brain kicked into gear and I signed up for every class at Jo-Ann Fabrics so I could learn how to sew, knit, crochet, quilt, and decorate cakes in the eight weeks before he was born (because yeah, that's what motherhood is all about). Sure, I learned a lot of really awesome domestic skills, but I also spent a lot of money that--at that time--I probably shouldn't have, and got stuck with a king-sized quilt in a pattern I'm not crazy about and too many yarn balls to count!
There are definitely some things I want to do before my 30th birthday, and I think it's really important that I do something, but this time I'm starting a little sooner and I'm trying a different approach. The fact is that my life is different now that I have children to raise and a household to manage, and I don't have the same kind of time or money I did when I was in college or when I was first married. Right now I've got a little time in the evenings and occasional nap times (because most of the time I'm passed out right along with the kids during nap time) where I can get something extra done, so it's got to be something that I don't need a lot of time all at once to accomplish.
So when I realized last month that there were exactly thirty-four weeks until I turn thirty, I decided that in those next four weeks I would plan out 30 things I want to do before I'm thirty, and do one each week in the 30 weeks leading up to my 30th birthday. I don't have a particular order because some of the things are alternates that may only happen if certain situations present themselves (witnessing a live birth, for example), but the point is just to do something, accomplish some goal, no matter how small, each week for that 30-week period.
Two weeks ago was Week 1 and then last week was Week 2, and I have completed my first two goals: to can something and to learn a dance with my husband. I'd never canned anything before, but I'd always wanted to learn and I had a very timely opportunity while visiting with my above-mentioned and turning-thirty-before-me best friend, Tiffany. As far as the dancing, I had an eight-year-old Wedding Dances DVD that I bought before my wedding in the hopes of being really impressive on the dance floor...it still had the plastic on it!
So that's my plan: 30 Goals In 30 Weeks Before My 30th Birthday
Wish me luck!
It's similar to when I was seven months pregnant with my firstborn, when one day out of the blue I burst into tears, thinking, "I'm going to be a mom and I don't know how to sew! How could I have let this happen?" Without stopping to think, my Martha brain kicked into gear and I signed up for every class at Jo-Ann Fabrics so I could learn how to sew, knit, crochet, quilt, and decorate cakes in the eight weeks before he was born (because yeah, that's what motherhood is all about). Sure, I learned a lot of really awesome domestic skills, but I also spent a lot of money that--at that time--I probably shouldn't have, and got stuck with a king-sized quilt in a pattern I'm not crazy about and too many yarn balls to count!
There are definitely some things I want to do before my 30th birthday, and I think it's really important that I do something, but this time I'm starting a little sooner and I'm trying a different approach. The fact is that my life is different now that I have children to raise and a household to manage, and I don't have the same kind of time or money I did when I was in college or when I was first married. Right now I've got a little time in the evenings and occasional nap times (because most of the time I'm passed out right along with the kids during nap time) where I can get something extra done, so it's got to be something that I don't need a lot of time all at once to accomplish.
So when I realized last month that there were exactly thirty-four weeks until I turn thirty, I decided that in those next four weeks I would plan out 30 things I want to do before I'm thirty, and do one each week in the 30 weeks leading up to my 30th birthday. I don't have a particular order because some of the things are alternates that may only happen if certain situations present themselves (witnessing a live birth, for example), but the point is just to do something, accomplish some goal, no matter how small, each week for that 30-week period.
Two weeks ago was Week 1 and then last week was Week 2, and I have completed my first two goals: to can something and to learn a dance with my husband. I'd never canned anything before, but I'd always wanted to learn and I had a very timely opportunity while visiting with my above-mentioned and turning-thirty-before-me best friend, Tiffany. As far as the dancing, I had an eight-year-old Wedding Dances DVD that I bought before my wedding in the hopes of being really impressive on the dance floor...it still had the plastic on it!
So that's my plan: 30 Goals In 30 Weeks Before My 30th Birthday
Wish me luck!
-♡- Mama
In my next two posts, I'll tell you all about my first-ever canning experience and about dancing with my husband, and then I"ll reveal my goal for Week 3! In the meantime, are there any small goals you've set for yourself that you just want to get under your belt? I'm sure you've got something, and I invite you to join me this week and make that do-able goal happen!
RSS Feed
