30 for 30

I'm excited to be hitting a big milestone with this birthday, the big 3-0! There are some things I've really been wanting to do but I feel like I won't do them without some motivation. So as 30 approached, I thought, why not come up with 30 things to accomplish during my 30th year. Kind of like a bucket list for year 30, all things I really want to do, just need some accountability to accomplish them. When I can check something off a list, I'm so much more likely to get it done. I'm highly motivated by accomplishing goals, I just have to have them written out. The title "30 for 30" stuck in my head and I later realized it's the title of a show Ty likes to watch about football or maybe all sports, I'm not sure. Anyway, here are 30 things I'd like to do during my 30th year. Check back next year to see if I accomplish them all.

Enjoying cupcakes together on my birthday!

1. Read at least one book each month which means taking a little time for myself every now and then. 
2. Go on at least 3 girls' night outs. I tend to get asked to do things a lot, but would rather be the one to put my kids to bed and would rather hang out with Ty. But then each time I actually say yes I realize how nice it is to have quality time with friends. So I'd like to go out with a girlfriend or friends at least once every 4 months, seems reasonable, right?
3. Plant some flowers that attract butterflies. I love butterflies and there are so many on the endangered species list due to loss of habitat. I keep thinking I need to plant some flowers that will attract butterflies, but just haven't made it a priority to do so. Now that I have a few plants I've been remembering to water and have kept alive for a while, I think it's a good time for that!
4. Have a few days with less than 12,000 steps. I can be a bit obsessive and force myself to get up and walk at the end of a long day just to make my 12,000 step goal. I'd like to cut myself some slack and have a few lazy days this year.
5. Get involved in another charity. I have been volunteering with the Lauren Elise Memorial Foundation for 3 years and became more involved last year. I loved being able to give back through the foundation and would really like to become involved in another charity so I can make a bigger impact.
6. Run a spring half-marathon. I haven't run a spring half-marathon since before the kids were born. There are a couple I've been really wanting to run, the Aquarium Run Half-Marathon and the Joplin Memorial Marathon. I'd like to commit to completing one of them this year.
7. Buy new underwear. I know this seems like a weird thing to put on here, but most of my underwear either has holes in it or is stretched out from wearing it while pregnant. I'm really bad about not spending money on myself, especially on clothes, even worse when it comes to socks and undies. So I'm putting this on here to pretty much force myself to do it!
8. Stick with strength training. So far I've been really good about doing my strength training every other days with yoga thrown in on the off days. Ty has offered to be my coach and help me kick it up to the next level.
9. Try out a free yoga class. There is an awesome park in our town that offers weekly yoga and Barre classes for free. I've always wanted to go but never have because I feel bad leaving Ty to put the kids to bed or being gone for a while on the weekend when we don't have much time with Ty. That being said, I've always wanted to go and I want to finally make it to one this year!
10. Take time out each day to snuggle with Carter. Most days at naptime I am so focused on getting chores done and cleaning house that I rush getting Carter to sleep. The minute I hear him snoring I am out of his bed and ready to work. I'd like to take more time to just lay and cuddle him. It won't be long before he's in school and no longer taking naps and I will be reminiscing about the days we laid in bed together and wishing I had taken the time to really appreciate it when I could.
11. Buy a new pair of jean shorts. I have one pair that I love and wear daily. When they get dirty, I pretty much don't want to wear shorts because I don't have any others I like.
12. Paint the kitchen. I've been talking about this and wanting to do it for soooo long! I hate the paint in there because it is all marked up and dirty looking. I've scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed to no avail. It's wasn't until Leina, my cleaning expert mother-in-law, tried scrubbing the wall and it was still dirty that I realized it was just crappy paint. I was under the impression I just sucked at cleaning walls.
13. Get professional family photos done. We did professional photos when Elise was 6 weeks old and it is the only time we've ever used a professional photographer to have family pictures done. I think it would be nice to have some professional photos not only because they turn out so much nicer but because I'm more likely to buy them and our pictures hanging in our living room are all pretty darn old!
14. Send out a Christmas card this year. We missed sending one out last year and I'd like to get on the ball and send them out early this year. Typically what happens is I'm focused on Carter's birthday party and getting it all planned that by the time I think of Christmas cards, it would be too late to order them and get them sent out in time so I just don't.
15. Run a postpartum PR in the 5k. I ran a 20:29 at the Race Into the New Year in 2015/2016. I'd like to run faster than that in a race this fall. I feel like I have a sub-20 in my at some point in the future, but I'm not sure it will be this fall as I plan to focus more on the half.
16. Run a postpartum PR in a half marathon. I ran a 1:35:43 just 8 months after Elise was born. With how my summer training has been going, I feel confident I can drop some time off this fall. I'd really like to get under 1:30, but I'm thinking that's a goal for a different season when I'm motivated to run over 30 mile weeks.
17. Run a race just for fun and not worry about place or time. When I was pregnant I would always just go out and run what felt right and not worry about the pace I was running or where I fared place-wise. It was fun and I'd like to do that even when I'm in good shape.
18. Do another mud run or obstacle course run. We did quite a few right after Carter was born and they were a blast. I haven't done one since I got pregnant and then gave birth to Elise.
19. Run a trail race. I love running and taking hikes at the trails close to our house. I'd like to try out running a race there. I know they do them and I think it would be fun.
20. Start wearing my hair naturally more often. I've always hated my hair. It is more curly than wavy, but I've always felt like it wasn't curly enough to wear naturally and have always blow dried it straight (which is a lot of work and a pain in the butt) or straightened it. Ty has always said he loves my hair just air dried and natural and I'm starting to believe him. I tried out some styling cream stuff Leina had and I felt like it did make my curls look better. So I'd like to figure out a way to feel comfortable with the hair I have and go out in public with "crazy hair".
21. Work on Elise's baby book. I got it out right after she was born and filled some stuff in and haven't opened it since.
22. Finish Carter's baby book. I know I wrote in his more than I have written in Elise's but I'm sure there are things that need filled in.
23. Make a photo book from Elise's birth and newborn photos. I made a photo book with Carter's photos at newborn and each 6 months up to a year. I'd like to have the same for Elise.
24. Dance more. Carter, Elise, and I have so much fun when we just stop what we're doing and have a dance party. We just don't do it enough.
25. Have more unscheduled days. We tend to have a playdate or event to attend every day of the week. When we have a day or two with no plans and just do our own thing, it is so nice and I always tell myself I'm going to leave one day a week free for us to do whatever we feel like that day, but then something fun comes up and we're all booked up again. So this year I want to really try to keep at least one day a week free to just do whatever randomness we feel like or even not leave the house!
26. Re-do the entryway to our house. I love our entryway but after we painted the hallway I've always felt like it's weird to have the entryway a different color than the hall and it would look better if it was all one color. I have been meaning to repaint the walls, picture frames, and bench for a while. It's just one of those things that keep falling further down my list of things to do.
27. Paint the outside of our house. This is something we have planned to do ever since we moved in. When Ty and his dad put in our new door and replaced the fake door with siding, he was going to paint it but decided to wait until we painted the entire exterior. Well it's years later and it's still not painted. I think it's mostly just that I've never painted the exterior of a house so I feel intimidated. But our house is brick so it's mostly just trim. I need to just buck up and get it done!
28. Do a better job of staying in touch with my long distance friends. I miss my best friend, Ang, all the time. I just don't call her very often because the only time of day I am sitting down with a quiet house is when she's at work. I pretty much don't know anything about what's going on in her life right now and it makes me depressed to even admit that. I have done even worse with my other friends who live more than 2 hours away.
29. Have more at home date nights with Ty that consist of something other than just sitting on the couch and watching tv, things like playing games or sitting in the backyard next to the fire pit (not now, when it cools off!)
30. Do more little sweet things for Ty. I love doing something that is typically his chore or buying him a special treat when we go grocery shopping. It is so exciting when he realizes and gets a big smile on his face.