30 Before Thirty

A few weeks ago I turned 29 and I got to thinking of all these things that I want to accomplish before I turn 30.  A friend of mine always jokes with me about being old.  He's 25 and thinks it's all downhill.  But honestly, I've never felt younger.  I have a wonderful family, a great group of friends, so many things that I'm passionate about, with a good outlook on life.   20-year-old me would have never had the courage to start a blog or speak her mind, but as I've gone through my twenties I learned to not give a damn about what others thought about me and just focus on my happiness.  So I thought, what are thirty things I can do before I turn thirty that can bring me joy? 

30 Before Thirty

1. Get a tattoo.  This is something that I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember.  I don't know if it's because I didn't want something permanently on my body that I thought I would want and end up hating it 10 years.  But a big factor was money.  You have no money when you're twenty.  So now that I'm older and have experienced more I could pick a tattoo that has meaning and it will be something I cherish.

2. Do a 5k.  Run or walk. It doesn't matter.  As long as I'm out there being active then I'm happy.

3.  Pay down or get out of debt.  Now this one has a 50/50 chance of happening.  I have student loans, yo! Unless I come into a buttload of money that will get me and my family completely out of debt then sure, yeah.  But realistically, I'll continue to budget and we will pay down some of our debts.  I know a few credit cards will get paid down tremendously and that I'm perfectly fine with. The last few months of 2018 I started doing Dave Ramsey's Snowball Debt Method to help pay down our credit cards and it's working great.

4.  Get a piercing.  I currently have my nose and ears pierced and HAD my belly button pierced back in college.  I've always wanted to get my ear cartilage pierced, but again, I've never got around to it.  I also want to get my nose pierced again.  I currently have a skinny, gold hoop in my nose and I think another one right next to it would be so cute.

5. Get pregnant.  This one is a loooooong stretch.  My husband and I have three, handsome boys together and we would like to have one more baby.  Fingers crossed for a girl.  But we really don't have the room in our house now.  We're currently house hunting and trying to find the perfect house to be our forever home.   Which brings me to my next goal...

6. Get our house finished or close to being finished and ready to sell by 2020.  We're currently in the middle of a few projects with our house and all of them are really going to help boost curb appeal and overall vibe we're setting.

7. Go to the mountains.  I haven't seen The Rocky Mountains since I was 12 and I miss them.  Enough said.

8.  Toes in the water, ass in the sand.  I haven't been to the ocean for years and I'm definitely craving some vitamin sea.

9.  Visit a state(s) I haven't been to.  We have family in Iowa and they own Loya's Little House Bed & Breakfast located at their farm.  It's right next to a river and it's like something out of a dream from what I've seen in the pictures.  Surprisingly, I've never been to my aunt-in-laws house in the 12 years my husband and I have been together, but I have tasted her cooking and it's something that I dream about.

10.  Cuddle a penguin! PENGUINS ARE MY FAVORITE and the Sedwick County Zoo's Penguin Encounter is the real deal.  I would more than likely sob like a baby the entire time because they're the cutest animal ever, and I would do it proudly.

11. Go to a concert.  Backstreet Boys in September!!!

12.  Lose 30 pounds.  Listen, I love bread. But I need to love bread a little less and start off my thirties healthier.  So if you have some killer workouts, drop them down below in the comments.  Please and thank you.

13.  Learn how to sew on a button.  I'm sure I can just get on YouTube and learn this pretty quickly.  I have an idea but never had to actually sew one on an item.  Why didn't my mom teach me this?  Eh, I was probably too busy pretending to be a Spice Girl who was married to a Backstreet Boy.  No regrets.

14.  Go to a casino.  I want to try gambling.  My husband went a few years ago with some buddies for a bachelor party and played the slots.  He said it would be something that I would definitely enjoy.

15.  Spa Day. Momma needs some pampering and relaxation.  Actually, can I have multiple spa days?

16.  Complete a 30-day fitness challenge.  See number 12.

17.  Go skydiving.  Indoor or the real deal.  This is something that I've always wanted to do and I will do it someday.

18.  Organize and declutter my house.  This is something that I'm currently doing.  Last year, one of my resolutions was to get more organized around the house and I just carried that resolution over to this year too.  I did a pretty good job with it last year, but since discovering the KonMari Method, but my house is really looking great and I'm feeling great about decluttering and donating.  Plus, with us wanting to get our house on the market this year, this is the best time to get this house in tiptop shape.

19. Read 30 books. 2 down, 28 more to go.

20. Read the Bible.  Our church this year has challenged us to read the whole Bible.  Last year we did the NTin2018 Challenge, where we read the New Testament throughout the year.  Doing this has really helped me grow in my faith and has changed my outlook on life. I'm excited to see my growth at the end of the year.

21. Go to Waco, TX.  We all know and love Chip and Joanna Gaines. If you don't know who they are, are you living under a rock?  I want to visit their Silos, Magnolia Table, stay at their bed and breakfast and shop and learn as much as I can from Jo's decorating style.

22.  MUA on the side.  I LOVE makeup and skincare! My friends often ask me to do their makeup for parties, weddings, etc.  So this year,  I'd like to offer my skills to those who may need help getting ready for whatever event they have going on.  Proms, semi-formals, dates, office parties whatever the case may be.

23. Maintain and grow my blog and socials.  I tried blogging a few years ago and the timing was not right.  So this is my second go around and I know a lot more than I did back then.  Blogging has been something that I've wanted to do for a while and I have a good feeling this time around.

24.  Ride a roller coaster.  I can't remember the last time I was at an amusement park.  I always enjoy the thrill and the adrenaline rush you get when you're flipping, twisting, and feeling the wind whip through your hair.

25.  Take a friends trip.  Last year, our group of friends went to Kansas City for a concert and weekend trip.  We had the time of our lives.  All our children stayed home with their grandparents and were spoiled rotten, but we were able to let loose and leave our worries behind.  We ate the best restaurants, went to Top Golf, Power and Light District, and just spent the entire weekend laughing.  We decided that we need to make this an annual trip.  So we better get to planning our next adventure.

26.  Revamp my personal style.  Life of a stay at home mom consists of leggings, a messy bun, and t-shirts.  I personally love this, but lately, I've been wanting to bring some more style back into my life.  I worked retail for 5 years and had the wardrobe of my dreams and miss creating cute everyday outfits.  I want to bring back fashion into this stay-at-home mom's closet with the clothes I wear on a normal basis by creating new outfits that are still comfortable and cute.

27.  Get more involved with our church.  I have a knack for party planning and love decorating.  I've volunteered to help decorate our church for VBS this summer.  Growing up when I attended VBS, it was lightly decorated according to the theme and thought it was the coolest thing ever.  Until last summer when we dropped our children off at VBS and saw how TOTALLY FREAKING AWESOME their decorations were.  They had island/ocean theme and it put every party and every previous VBS decor to shame.  My children had the time of their life and raved about how cool the church looked.  I immediately signed up to help decorate this summer.  Besides helping with VBS I hope to do more volunteer work with our church in the coming months.

28.  Home office makeover.  We are currently revamping our basement and our home office is located in the basement.  After we finish the living area we plan to move onto the office.  Thankfully, it's all cosmetic.  New paint, some new carpet, and lights and we'll be good to go.

29.  Print out photos. I have a folder on my computer of photos I need to get printed.  They range from our wedding, babies, trips, everyday life.  I think my main focus on this project will be to get baby photos printed so I can completely finish baby books or to get them caught up to their current status according to each child's age.

30.  Learn more about photography. I need to learn the best settings for my camera, purchase lighting equipment and just document more moments of our family instead of with the portrait mode on the iPhone.  Maybe take a class and learn a thing or two as well as investing in a better camera.

I'm excited to see how much I get accomplished by next January when I turn 30.  Have any of you made a 30 before 30 bucket list?  Let me know and drop a comment below with your favorites from the list.

That's the word.  Until next time.
-C