A Birthday Bucket List - One Month In

I am a month into this being twenty-nine thing.
It's neither here nor there that I am also eleven months away from being thirty.

In true Type A form, I am revisiting my list to see where I stand.
I will cross out and add links to anything I have checked off, italicize anything in progress, and leave undone those not yet addressed.

I am having way too much fun with this!

This is the original post from November 29.
 

In honor of my twenty-ninth birthday, my very last year as a twenty-something, before hitting the big 3-0, I am making a birthday bucket list.

A list of things I want to accomplish in what God promises to be a year full of even more than I could ever ask or imagine.

So, why not?

 

  

One. Spend an entire weekend free of social media - no blogging, no Facebook, no Instagram, no Twitter, no messaging, not even any Googling. Just me and my boys. We live in a world that says, "If you don't _______ (fill in the blank - tweet about it, take a picture of it, post about it), then it never happened." Well, shucks. I'm proving that way wrong.

 

Two. Take off a day of work to volunteer at Baker's school. Here's to shucking my teacher badge for a whole day and wearing my mommy hat. Yippee skippy.

 

Three. Buy a stranger's lunch.
 

 It was actually dinner. See here. While this one is technically accomplished, I will strive to do this over and over. Because it is way fun!
 

Four. Watch a sunrise. Watch a sunset.

 

Five. Read a just for fun book. Read a devotional. Read a how-to book.

So far, I have read Love Does by Bob Goff.
Next up is A Simple Act of Gratitude by John Kralik. It is about a man who writes a thank you note every day for a year and then shares the significant impact an attitude of gratefulness has on his life.
 

 Six. Share the gospel with twelve people. Ten seems too predictable, thirteen seems way scary.

 

Seven. Send an I'm thinking about you happy note to at least one person every week.

I'm well on my way. And it's much easier now that I have some fancy schmancy stationery! Everything's better with a monogram on it!

 

Eight. Go on a fancy date with my husband once a month. Here's to high heels, and bright lipstick, and big hair, and dazzling, and wooing, and falling all over in love.

Brian took me to see Transiberian Orchestra in Birmingham for my birthday. I posted some pictures and a video here. It was a super fun date. I'm in charge of January's date. Yippee skippy! Stay tuned.

 

Nine. Do at least five spontaneous somethings - plan a vacation and leave in the same hour, eat something new off the menu at my favorite restaurant, make an unplanned purchase.

We did the first of these today! Brian and I transferred Baker from his crib to the car seat  first thing this morning for a day date to Chattanooga to the Tennessee Aquarium! It was a fabulous day! I will post picture tomorrow.

 

Ten. Train for and run a race. It's neither here nor there that I failed to acknowledge the length of the race. We'll see.

I bought a new pair of tennis shoes and running socks. They look really cute with my leggings. That's all I know for now. Baby steps, y'all.

 

Eleven. Adopt a child from World Vision. I have wanted to do this since Baker was born. While I think it would be perfectly fine to choose any child, I want a boy or girl who shares Baker's birthday. Each year, as we plan his party, we will also help this new friend celebrate the day of his or her birth. Birthdays are special, and should be celebrated as such.

 

Twelve. Get something waxed. Never have I ever, ever had any part of my body waxed. And as an almost thirty year old, I think it's a rite of passage.

 

Thirteen. Learn how to change a flat tire. Learn something new. Or at least how to pop my hood. Being married to a Mr. Fix It, I need to know none of these things. I think, as a woman of age, I should be educated.

 

Fourteen. Go to an Alabama football game outside of Bryant Denny Stadium. I have been to my fair share of home games, but it's high time I visit some of these non-championship winning SEC stadiums. Roll Tide, y'all.

 

Fifteen. Plant a garden with Baker. Grow fruits and vegetables. Eat them, cook with them, share them. Enjoy this. The dirt digging, and fingernail cleaning, and seed planting, and soil watering, and plant sprouting amazing process of things growing from the ground.

 

Sixteen. Go to a movie. Buy a huge drink and a big bucket of popcorn. With lots of butter and zero regrets.

 

Seventeen. Kiss my husband in four different states.

Tennessee. Boom.

Eighteen. Go to the beach. Build sandcastles, keep Baker up way past his bedtime to experience the thrill of hunting crabs by flashlight, go on a dolphin cruise, take cheesy beach pictures in coordinating outfits, get airbrushed t-shirts made to commemorate the event.

Nineteen. Go to a concert. Preferably one that involves the outdoors and cowboy boots.

Twenty. Sit down in chair at the salon, sans pictures, sans specific instructions with pointing and measuring, and all the details of how I want my hair cut and styled, and say only, "Go."

Eeeekkk. That one took a lot out of me.

Twenty-one. Buy a fancy bottle of wine. No fancy occasion required.

Twenty-two. Do a service project with Brian and Baker. I'm still praying about how this looks for us.

Twenty-three. Take a photography class.

Twenty-four. Join the Be the Match registry.

Twenty-five. Go on a girl's trip. Only friends. No children. No husbands. Tons of belly-aching laughter, inside joke sharing, memory making fun.

Twenty-six. Teach Baker the simple joy of cooking. Pancake batter head to toe, chocolate chips strewn haphazardly across the counter, syrup sticking to every surface. Yes, I think we will start with chocolate chip pancakes.

Twenty-seven. Test drive an impractical car. I envision something with only two doors, no top, great speakers, faster than law allows, music blaring.

Twenty-eight. Go to an amusement park. Ride roller coasters, eat funnel cakes, buy the expensive souvenir pictures.

Twenty-nine. Live intentionally. Love each day. Cherish those most dear. Be purposeful. Spread joy. Smell flowers. Read books. Hand write notes. Sing loudly. Skip in the street. Smile. Play board games. Walk barefooted in wet grass. Swing. Make homemade bread. Pick pecans.

I want this to be my purpose every single day. I am working on living a life with less clutter and more meaning.

Here's to a year of life loving, double dare taking, memory making, dreams coming true.