30 Before 30

Happy birthday to ME! I can’t quite believe that yesterday was my last birthday that starts with a 2… and as much as I have been assured by my older friends and colleagues that your 30’s are actually better than your 20’s I still feel like I’m hovering at the edge of a huge milestone. Which I suppose I am.

 

Last year I put together a little 30 before 30 list, that I never actually published or shared, so given that it’s my final year to get all of these ticked off I thought it would be a nice idea to share it today. Reading from lots of other lists floating around online, I struggled a little bit in some ways to put this list together. I already know how to drive, have lived with a friend, already own my own home (my second one in fact) and I’m getting married next year, so a lot of the ‘big’ or more common things have already been ticked off. Even so, I really enjoyed putting this list of goals for my final year in my 20’s together.

1 Get a dog

Back when I was growing up I always had a dog, and have always wanted one of my own in my adult life. There’s never been the right time for one, as I’ve either lived in a rented house, or when I brought my first home I wasn’t around enough that it would have been fair to have one. I’m now at a point where I own my home, have the space and more importantly have the time. Mike has agreed too, so at the point we know where we stand with working from home in the future we’ll be able to start looking for our new addition to our little family!

2 See the Northern Lights

This has been on my bucket list for a long time so I really hope I can get it crossed off!

3 Go back to Nashville

I was supposed to have goneback to Nashville to get married this year, but it’s now been pushed back to June 2021. To be fair, of all the things we planned around as potential issues or roadblocks, a global pandemic wasn’t one of them.

4 Three Peaks

I’ve really fallen in love with walking and covering some mileage outside. I’ve been up Snowdon once many, many years ago, (and it was on the train so doesn’t really count) so I’d love to do the three peaks – I’ll bet the scenery is absolutely beautiful.

5 See more of the UK

We have some stunning places around the UK and I’d like to see some of them rather than just going abroad for holidays. This could probably be wrapped up with my previous goal.

6 Run 5k without stopping

I’m somewhat on my way with this one having started the Couch to 5K a few weeks ago.

7 Get more tattoos!

Despite having a fair amount of ink already, I want more! I’ve got plans for several, so hopefully I’ll be able to get at least a few of them done or started before I’m 30.

8 Get Married

Much like our trip to Nashville, this was interrupted by Covid-19. We’re all rescheduled now, so fingers crossed nothing else gets in our way!

9 Go on a girls trip

Be it a day, a weekend or longer I want to get my gal pals together and go on a trip together!

10 Get more house plants

I’ve got a nice little collection going at the moment, but I’d love more plants in other rooms of the house – I even brought myself a little watering can to care for my future plant babies!

11 Be in more photos

There’s many times that I’m behind the camera, and other than the odd group selfie I’m not in a huge amount of photos. Photos become memories, so I’d love to have more to keep. In fact on that basis I want to make sure I get many more photos in general, regardless of if I am in them or not.

12 Have a wardrobe I am happy with

I have tones of clothes I never wear, and they are taking up valuable space for me to get new things that I will wear. My goal is to have a wardrobe full of clothes I love and wear. A bit of a stretch for me perhaps..

 

13 Run a touch mudder course

Given how much these kind of events have been impacted I’ll settle for having one booked by the time I’m 30. Now I just need to rope a friend or two into doing it with me..

14 Get more piercings

I’ve got a rather extensive list of piecing’s I want, so hopefully I can get at least a few of them.

15 Go to C2C

I swear, we just aren’t destined to go. We’ve had tickets the past three years running and something has always come up and stopped us going. Although as we had tickets for this year which was postponed due to Covid they do carry over to next year so fingers crossed we get to go this time! 

16 Give Blood

This one is probably going to be pretty difficult for me and I wouldn't be that surprised if I didn't tick it off. I had a rather traumatic experience as a small child and don’t do well with blood tests. It’s typical that I pass out. I still want to give blood though, as it could save someone’s life one day – although perhaps I’ll have to forewarn them!

17 Have a picnic

Not on a picnic bench or populated area. I want something in the middle of nowhere, with no one to be seen for miles around.  

 

18 Complete a 30 day no spend challenge

Excluding of course things like my bills and food.

19 Redecorate a room in my home

I keep banging on about redoing my beauty room and not getting round to it. I’ll probably end up redecorating all other rooms in my home before I get to that one!

20 Visit a pumpkin patch again

I had such a great time hunting down my perfect pumpkin with the girls last year, and just as good a time using it to make a floral arrangement. I’d like to do the same again.

21 Learn about and invest in some shares

I’ll admit, I still don’t know a great deal about this, but I’d love to learn and start building a little portfolio of shares. I've got a little account running with fake money to get the hang of it, so hopefully in time I'll be able to step up to real cash.

22 Go glamping

I’ve been camping several times, but never glamping. It would be nice to have all the perks of camping but be able to sleep in an actual bed!

23 Have Christmas at home

I hate the stress thatsurrounds Christmas when it comes to people demanding your time when all you want to do is enjoy the time off work and relax. We had Christmas at home last year and it was lovely, so I want to do it again.

24 Group Holiday

Spending time with my close friends brings me so much joy, so I’d love for us all to go away somewhere together, have fun and relax.

25 Save for something big

Although I’m not sure what that ‘big’ thing is yet.

26 Make a blanket fort and have a movie night

As a kid my brother and I used to love making blanket forts, with sheets draped over the TV. I want to recreate it with fairy lights and an abundance of snacks.

27 Volunteer my time

Admittedly I haven’t got as far as deciding what I want to volunteer my time for yet, but there’s loads of options. From something as simple as helping my local community pick up litter in our local area to doing something on a regular basis, I want to give my time to help others.

 

28 Make more time for reading

I’m a little hesitant to set a target number of books to read, but I used to love reading in the evenings and have stopped again recently. I want to start introducing it again.

29 Do something for our anniversary

Our anniversary is in December, and the last two years we’ve not really been able to celebrate properly, so I want us to do something just the two of us to celebrate.

30 Make a 40 before 40 list

It would be interesting to know if I’m still blogging by then – I suppose time will tell!

 

Do you have a list of things to do before you hit a certain age?