29 in 29 - a completed birthday bucket list

Happy Birthday to Me,
Happy Birthday to Me,
Happy Birthday to Me-eee,
Happy Birthday to me!

Here goes. On the day I turn 30, I am looking back at the list I created exactly one year ago and checking progress to see just how well I did.

I will go ahead and tell you I didn't accomplish everything I set out to do, but I had a crazy good time doing what I did. It was a year of blessings and fun and memory making and brightening days and living with intention.

As I revisited this list throughout the past year, I crossed out and added links and/or pictures to anything I checked off, italicized anything in progress, and left undone those not yet addressed.

This is the original post from November 29...the day I turned 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.

So freeing. It's not something I could do often. I like the feeling of being connected, but the feeling of being fully present with my boys is a gazillion times better.

 

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.

 

I even convinced Brian to join the fun! We rendezvoused for a fun breakfast date and then spent a fabulous Friday being Baker's mommy and daddy. We even got to serve at the Gene Stalling's golf tournament, and took advantage of a priceless photo op. We had so much fun we're already planning this in the upcoming year....when we're thirty. Womp. Womp. Womp.

 

 

 

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.

 

For once, I let the snooze button sleep in. Totally worth it. Totally.

 

 

 

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

Love Does by Bob Goff
A Simple Act of Gratitude by John Kralik

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver

The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond

For others, see my Summer Reading List
  

 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.

This is one of my favorite parts of each week - sitting down with my favorite pen and stationary, fancy address stamp, and sending happy thoughts to those I hold most dear.

 

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.

I love this one being ongoing. I think we'll promise to do this once a month for all the months of the rest of our forever.  

We had our last of these (for this year at least) when we went to Nashville to celebrate our birthday weekend.

I mean, just look at him, who wouldn't want to date him for the rest of their forever?

 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.

This is hard for a planner. Super duper hard.

 

One.

Trip to Chattanooga. We transferred Baker from his crib to the car and hit the road for a fun-filled day trip!

 

 

Two.

A date with my biggest love on a school night. Talk about living on the edge!

 

Three.

Does an unplanned hospital vacation count?

 

 

 

Four.

This. A daddy and his boy and a favorite fishing hole. I am realizing that some of life's most precious moments are the ones I can't perfectly orchestrate.

 

 

 

Five.

Four words. Impromptu. Ice. Cream. Date.

 





 



 

Ten. Train for and run a race.

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.

Does a nine month race to the delivery room count? Consider this my training phase.

 

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.

We haven't done this yet,;our hearts have been called to serving elsewhere at this point. But, I am still very open to this if the Lord opens this door for us.

 

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.

 

"L'7 Weenie!

Yeah, yeah, Oscar Meyer even, footlong, dodger dog, a weenie!"

Sandlot, anyone?

  

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.

 

This summer, I assembled a new desk, with tools and without my husband. And it functions. Perfectly. Don't miss those key details. And, for the record, I now know how to pop my hood. Boom. Maybe that will make oil changes slightly less embarrassing.

Forget the rest. As an almost thirty year old, I will delegate the rest. Smart women "of age" know their limits, and know when to sit back and let someone else do the dirty work.

 

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.

Doesn't look like this one is happening this year. Big time bummer!
I was given birthday tickets to the Iron Bowl this year and cannot wait to celebrate in Bryant Denny!
 

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.

 

Blueberry growing, Blueberry picking. Blueberry eating. That, my friends, is how it's done.

 

 

 

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.

Florida. Bow Chicka Wow Wow Chicka Wow Wow

Alabama. Duh.

Mississippi. Check.

I'm okay with being an overachiever here. You know, for the purposes of this bucket list.

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.

 

I'm not a hair color virgin anymore!

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

Twenty-two. Do a service project with Brian and Baker.

We did this with our Bible Study class. It was amazing seeing families working together to love and serve our community through acts of kindness.

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.

The best. No pictures allowed. What happens on a girl's trip stays on a girl's trip.

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.

Does a rental car count? I had a wreck and had to trade vehicles for over a month.

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

No amusement park, but we had a blast taking Baker to the Zoo!

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.

A Nashville Birthday Party

Brian and I both celebrate November birthdays. His is November 20 and mine is November 29. This year we both turn the big 3-0. Instead of gifts, we decided on a birthday getaway.

It was perfect!

Since we both had to be back at work on Monday morning, we opted for something short and sweet. We left early Saturday morning and made it just in time to meet my sister, Jessie, for lunch. She treated us to Hattie B’s. Their hot chicken deserves a blog post of it’s own. Y’all, it is incredible.

I think Baker was a fan too.

 

 

We could not check in to our hotel downtown until 3:00, so we stopped at a neighborhood park for some big swings and big smiles.

 

 

 

We moseyed around for a bit, and then left Baker Boy with Jessie for a slumber party.

Brian and I dashed back to the hotel to freshen up before our dinner reservations.

I even snuck in a picture. A little bump in a big city.

 

 

 

 

We were on the 22nd floor at The Sheraton.

The view of the city was incredible.

 

 

 

 

Dinner at The Southern did not disappoint.

The food was delicious, the ambience was magical, and my date was the most handsome date in the entire room.

 

 

 

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped on Broadway.

The music and atmosphere are electrifying!

 

On Sunday morning, we rescued my sister from an early-rising, apartment-destroying toddler.

The three of us walked down the street to Provence Bakery in Hillsboro Village.

 

It was delicious!

 

 

We have added Nashville to our list of cities we love.

It's especially special since my sister lives there.
A free babysitter, yummy food, birthday celebrations, and good music...score for a fabulous weekend!

 

Nashville, we will see you again very soon.

Jessie, consider this fair warning to toddler-proof your adorable apartment.

 

 

Birthday Bucket List - A Check Up

I am almost nine months into this being twenty-nine thing.
It's neither here nor there that I am also closer to thirty years old than I have ever been in my whole entire life.

In true Type A, crazy planner, over the top, Jenn Bell form, I am revisiting my list to see where I stand.
I will cross out and add links and/or pictures to anything I have checked off, italicize anything in progress, and leave undone those not yet addressed.

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.

 

I even convinced Brian to join the fun! We rendezvoused for a fun breakfast date and then spent a fabulous Friday being Baker's mommy and daddy. We even got to serve at the Gene Stalling's golf tournament, and took advantage of a priceless photo op. We had so much fun we're already planning this in the upcoming year....when we're thirty. Womp. Womp. Womp.

 

 

 

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.

 

For once, I let the snooze button sleep in. Totally worth it. Totally.

 

 

 

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

Love Does by Bob Goff
A Simple Act of Gratitude by John Kralik

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver

The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond

For others, see my Summer Reading List
  

 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.

This is one of my favorite parts of each week - sitting down with my favorite pen and stationary, fancy address stamp, and sending happy thoughts to those I hold most dear.

 

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.

I love this one being ongoing. I think we'll promise to do this once a month for all the months of the rest of our forever.  

 

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.

This is hard for a planner. Super duper hard.

 

One.

Trip to Chattanooga. We transferred Baker from his crib to the car and hit the road for a fun-filled day trip!

 

 

Two.

A date with my biggest love on a school night. Talk about living on the edge!

 

Three.

Does an unplanned hospital vacation count?

 

 

 

Four.

This. A daddy and his boy and a favorite fishing hole. I am realizing that some of life's most precious moments are the ones I can't perfectly orchestrate.

 

 

 

Five.

Four words. Impromptu. Ice. Cream. Date.

 





 



 

 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.

 

"L'7 Weenie!

Yeah, yeah, Oscar Meyer even, footlong, dodger dog, a weenie!"

Sandlot, anyone?

  

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.

 

This summer, I assembled a new desk, with tools and without my husband. And it functions. Perfectly. Don't miss those key details. And, for the record, I now know how to pop my hood. Boom. Maybe that will make oil changes slightly less embarrassing.

Forget the rest. As an almost thirty year old, I will delegate the rest. Smart women "of age" know their limits, and know when to sit back and let someone else do the dirty work.

 

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.

 

Blueberry growing, Blueberry picking. Blueberry eating. That, my friends, is how it's done.

 

 

 

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.

Florida. Bow Chicka Wow Wow Chicka Wow Wow

Alabama. Duh.

Mississippi. Check.

I'm okay with being an overachiever here. You know, for the purposes of this bucket list.

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.

 

Preferably Garth Brooks. Consider this my current mission.

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.

The best. No pictures allowed. What happens on a girl's trip stays on a girl's trip.

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.

Conquering Chattanooga

Brian and I did something super spontaneous and totally uncharacteristic on Sunday.

 

We transferred Baker from his crib to his car seat and hit the road.

We were minus an agenda and itinerary.

We had no plans for lunch or dinner.

I hadn't even filled up with gas or washed my car.

Tsk. Tsk.

 

We had taken care of the important stuff.

We had charged the camera battery and rid our stockings of all our Christmas candy and off we went!

 

We were ready to conquer one of my favorite cities in one day.

Chattanooga, you will never be the same!

 

We started with lunch at Big River Grille.

My sister, Jessie, introduced us to this restaurant while she was interning in Chattanooga.

We love it!

I have tried something new each time and have not been disappointed.

 

 

I figured a selfie was totally appropriate.

I was already way out of my comfort with the spontaneity of the trip,

may as well take an awkward family photo!

 

 

Baker is learning to walk and wants to show off his independence every chance he gets!

Without a carefully planned schedule, we were able to let him take baby steps without fear of being slowed down and missing a stop.

We wore out the pavement on Broad Street letting Baker walk back and forth and forth and back.

It was kind of neat.

Even the people with carefully planned schedules, slowed down for a brief minute to share in our joy and celebrate our little one's milestone.

 

From this moment on, I was okay with nowhere to go and nowhere to be.

I was with the two I love the most and if all we did was walk up and down the streets of Downtown Chattanooga, well that was all right with me.

 

 

I mean, look at that face.

Pure joy.

Walk on, Baker Bell!

 

We made it to the aquarium and it was so much fun!

 

Baker is at such an incredible age for exploring.

His curiosity and interest in everything around him made this an adventure we will never forget.

 

We was not really interested in petting the stingrays and sharks,

what he really wanted to do was go swimming with them!

 

The butterfly exhibit was beautiful!

The colors of each creature were exquisite and breathtakingly beautiful!

 

One of our favorites were the penguins.

 

There were fish and other sea animals everywhere!

I hummed Little Mermaid's "Under the Sea" the entire time.

And may or may not have pretended to be Ariel once or twice.

 

We even got to sneak in the middle of the starfish!

 

He had the best time!

 

We also visited the River Journey - featuring all of the creatures in the rivers around the world.

Baker, however, did not see much of it.

Playing with the penguins and swimming with the sharks wore my baby boy out!

Brian and I enjoyed looking at all of the fish and alligators and turtles and frogs and I vowed right then and there, at 3:30 in the afternoon, smack dab in Downtown Chattanooga, never again to swim in a river.

Ugh!

I'll stick with waters where I can see my feet.

 

We walked, with a sleeping Baker to a Starbucks where we rested and recharged.

 

Some of our best friends, Mallory and Chad, recently relocated to Chattanooga.

We got to see their lovely new home before we left.

 

On the way home, we stopped at Cracker Barrel in Fort Payne.

I figured we were more likely to see Randy Owens there than the Western Sizzler down the street.

No such luck.

 

I am over my fears of surprises and spontaneous adventures!

This was the best day and I am already planning excited about where we will go next!