30 before 30--An Update

Well kids, the half birthday is almost here.  That's right, THE half birthday.  As in, 29 1/2.  If your minds are capable of remembering back to December 2011, you'll remember I created a teeny tiny list of things to accomplish before the 2-9 rolls over to 3-0.  Some items have yet to be completed, and some I absolutely blew out of the water.  Here we go.

me being all 29 and stuff.

1.  Go back to Ireland.  Chiggity Check!  You already knew that, I know.  Here's an update in case you missed it the first time.
2.  Read the Bible--all of it.  I partially marked this off the list because, well, I'm partially finished.  This whole reading the entire Bible thing was/is a much bigger undertaking than I imagined.  I signed up with YouVersion--a Bible app on the iPhone that gives me daily reading assignments in order to finish on time. As of today, I am 36% of the way through.  I will do this.  Actually, in all seriousness, I have re-learned/remembered a lot of Bible stories that I forgot over time and honestly, this whole daily reading thing has taught me a bit of discipline.  Never a bad thing!

3.  See the Rolling Stones in concert one last time.  Ok, here's the deal.  If this one remains unmarked, I blame Mick.  Currently, there are ZERO tour dates scheduled for the Stones in North America.  So, we shall see.  This could change.  For now, though, this one isn't looking too pretty.

4.  Co-host amazing engagement party for Alicia/Jack. Ummm, yeah, I did that.  I'm not going to pat myself on the back and say it was amazing, but everyone seemed to have a good time.  If nothing else, we got a pic of the happy couple cutting their first cake together.

5. Learn how to properly apply eye-makeup (or just make-up in general). *Insert long, exasperated sigh.  I simply missed this skill at some point in my upbringing.  I still have no clue what to do with all of the different eyeshadows.  I do really well to properly apply mascara.  So basically, I have a little over six months to figure this out.  Blahhhhhh.

6.  Start (re-start) a journal.  Ok, technically I have accomplished this task.  My mother-in-law gave me a Pregnancy journal when we found out the news.  I have failed to write in it daily, but a) it's a journal b) I do update it regularly and c) I married an attorney and have learned ways to make the grey area work for me.  So ok, we're clear.  I've done this one. 

7.  Take more photos.  I have been wildly successful with this one.  Here are a few of my faves.

8.  Develop better skincare habits.  Seriously, 30 before 30 list?? Come at me, bro.  For Christmas, I received a Clarisonic Mia.  She has changed my life and my skincare habits.  I also started using all-natural, all-organic facial products (Naturopathica).  I feel so much more responsible with my skin.  That makes zero sense, but just go with it.

9.  Read all of the books in my current Kindle queue. In truth, there were only four books in the queue when I published the post.  BUT, I read them all and about 10 more.  The other 10 are all about babies--how to grow a baby, how to have a baby, how to feed a baby, how to buy things for a baby.  You get the picture.

10.  Learn to use my sewing machine.  Sadly, this one remains.  Don't panic.  There's time.  Oh, and...I'm having a girl (link gender reveal post), so I basically MUST learn.  And soon.

11.  Make wedding scrapbook.  I'm working on it.  And I'm going to level up a bit by starting the baby's scrapbook, too.  Boom.

12.  Go to the NCAA Men's Bball Tournament.  The NCAA tourney is my new Bonnaroo.  I want to go every year--no matter what.  We had such an awesome time cheering on the Cats and soaking up the great atmosphere that is March Madness.  Extra bonus?  We saw the National Championship team win their first two games.  Not too shabby!

13.  Run a Half-Marathon.  Well, I'm no rocket scientist, but I'll go out on a limb to say this one does not happen before December 18th.  Laughable, really.

14.  Visit Savannah, Georgia.   My dear friend, Ashley, was married in April.  Lucky for me, she chose Savannah as her wedding destination of choice.  Check out more info/photos from that trip here.

15.  Call Mim everyday.  I call Mim (almost) everyday on my way home for work.  Yes, there were/are days here and there where I fail to make the call, but for the most part, Mim and I talk daily.  I'm so thankful for putting this item on my list.  It changed everything.


16.  Lose 10 pounds.  BBBBBahahahaahahaha.  Hilarity at its best.  Rather that lose 10 pounds, I found 6.  Without a doubt, by October, I will have gained many more.  I'm still holding out hope to cross this one off between the months of October and December.  I can do this.


17.  Go to Bonnaroo 2012.  Not gonna happen, dudes.  Something tells me 115 degree heat indices + 6.5 months preggo + no shower for four days = DISASTER.  Maybe I'll just move this one over to the 40 before 40 list.

18.  Have a successful blog.  While we are still working on this one, our little bloggy blog has made some serious progress since December.  Our new look gave us quite the shot in the arm, and now we have more readers than ever.  It wouldn't be possible without you, so thanks!  Seriously.

19.  Paint/Redecorate Study.  First, we must replace the word "study" with the word "nursery".  So, yeah....this one is in progress.  There will be updates.

20.  Paint/Redecorate Bathroom.  Continuing with the theme, let's replace "paint/redecorate" with "totally build a brand new bathroom addition on to the house".  At 5.5 months preggo, it seemed like a great idea.  More info on that later.

21.  Paint/Redecorate Guest Room (yellow one) Upstairs.    I just realized that I started the blog post about this project, but never submitted the update.  The room is (almost finished).  We need a couple more items, but I'll give you a sneak peak.  Before and after.

Before--excuse the junk.  Yikes.

After--MUCH better.  You can't tell, but photos from Ireland are all over the room. 

22.  Host Awesome Pool Party.  Typically this happens for Memorial Day Weekend but, because of #20, it had to be moved back a bit this year.  Coming soon to a July 4th near you.

23.  Have a "date" with Dugi.  Thanks to my awesome hubs, Dugi made an appearance at my 29th surprise bday bash.  Love him.  Don't worry, Dugi makes another appearance on this list.

24.  Watch E.T.  Watched it.  Loved it.  Ridiculed myself for having not seen it before age 29.

25.  Take Frank to Red River Gorge.  As it turns out, Frank has zero desire to ever go to the Gorge.  I've tried and tried, but I'm not having much luck on this one.  There's still time, I guess.  Level up, Frank.

26.  Find a way to make Hydrangeas bloom.  I obtained special fertilizer (thanks, Mim!) and worked tirelessly to get these bad boys to bloom last year.  Nothing.  This year, however, there's hope.  It's a bloom, albeit a small one.  There are lots of other clusters just waiting to bloom.  So exciting!!

27.  Have an awesome 30th Bday bash.  I don't know that this will necessarily happen, but I know my 29th bday bash was pretty awesome.  So, I'm totally ok if this one doesn't move off the list.

28.  Make the perfect pecan pie.  After seeing my 30 before 30 list, Dugi e-mailed me his very fave pecan pie recipe.  He claims it's as close to perfect as one can get and, of course, one of the key ingredients is alcohol related.  I planned to make it tonight, but well...I'm tired.  So, maybe tomorrow.

29.  Make map hearts.  I wish I had a good excuse.

And last, but certainly not least...

30.  Start thinking about/planning for a baby.  Remember when I said that there are some items on the list that I totally blew out of the water??  One might say I, oh...I don't know....overachieved on this one.  I just decided to skip the thinking/planning stage and actually have a 2 month old by the time I'm 30.  I mean...why not, right?  **This is the part where I really wanna add a 4D pic of Emma Jane, but Megan won't let me.  Suffice to say, there's a big ol' baby girl in there. Trust me.  

So, here's the recap.  Seventeen of the thirty items are completed.  Three of the items on the list (Bonnaroo, half marathon, and the Stones) are out.  And seven are in the works currently.  This is doable.  Six more months to go!