30 in my 30s

In 2013 (the year I turned 30) I made a list of 30 things I wanted to do in my 30s….Here’s an update on how I’m getting along.. The first is the original list made on September 16, 2013. The italized is my update from March 10, 2014. The bold is my latest update from July 8, 2015.

1. Go to Hawaii. We went to Hawaii in January and it was an amazing trip. Hope to go back very soon. We have plans to return to Hawaii this fall/winter.

2. Join a band again. I have not joined a band, but I did give my first piano lesson the other night and it felt so good to be doing something musical again. I feel like I am finding my way. I have been teaching Elija piano lessons for over a year now and I love having the little piece of music at least once a week. I also love having a piano in my living room and sometimes just sit down to play one song as I'm walking by.

3. Become a mom. I became a mom, but not the way I ever imagined I would. I am hopeful I will have the opportunity to become a mom again some day.

4. Compost. Haven’t done this yet, but as soon as spring hits, this will be a priority. I don't have an official "compost pile" per say, but I save kitchen scraps and just throw them outside.

5. Can something. Canned beans and tomatoes last year. And plan to can salsa and dilly beans this year. I did a lot of canning last year.You can read about that here and here. I plan to continue canning this year..in fact, dilly beans are coming soon.

6. Save money. Working on this. Have an emergency fund set aside and definitely are making steps to not spend as much. Just started the “You Need a Budget” software to help us track our budget. This is a tricky one. I need to be doing better with this, it has just been a challenge because our cash flow is so sporadic and different now. I plan to get a better handle on this in the next few years.

7. Be happily married. Feel like this is going well. :) Still going strong...2 year anniversary is this month!

8. Expand my yoga practice. I have been doing more yoga lately and hope to take a teacher training course in the very near future. I am on the home stretch on my online yoga teacher training. You can read about that a little bit here and here.

9. Learn how to back up a trailer and operate a skid loader. Had my first skid loader lesson. I’m sure there will be many more lessons as soon as the ground thaws. I can run the skid loader and backed up 2 trailers this spring, something I'm still working on.

10. Get involved in the community. I have not done anything too dramatic with this, but have been talking with Jan Libbey about the local food movement and getting involved with that. I was involved with the Clear Lake Farmers Market at the very beginning stages, but had to quit after losing Baby David and trying to get through Season 2 at the nursery. I plan to get involved in some way again, possibly with the farm to fork dinners.

11. Go out of the country again. (possibly Costa Rica or the like?) Haven't made any plans for this, I'm hoping we can sneak back to Hawaii yet this year.

12. Sew a dress. I may be abandoning my want to learn how to sew. I love to craft and create, but I don't seem to have the time to learn this; I would rather be learning more about photography and yoga.

13. Eat paleo. We eat “paleo” but definitely could cut out the sugar and treats. We do pretty good with eating proteins, vegetables, and fats. Of course we could do better, but I am really working on not obsessing so much about food and just enjoying it.

14. Establish my “adult style.” Weed out my closet and stock it with quality staple pieces. I am definitely learning what my style is, or what I want it to become. I am getting rid of items in my closet that just aren’t “me” and only bringing in pieces that I truly love. I wouldn't go so far as to say I have found a "style" but I have dwindled my closet down to very few pieces. I don't need a lot of clothes. I wear yoga pants and cotton v-neck t-shirts with hoodies almost everyday, and I'm ok with that.  I don't work outside the home much, so I really only need a few different pieces for "dress up." This is a constantly evolving thing, but I feel like its much easier to purge my closet than it ever has been.

15. Have a big garden and put away food for the winter. Hope to do a lot more of this this summer. I will put up tomatoes, salsa, hot peppers for drying, corn and strawberries for sure. I have the biggest garden in the history of my gardening. I loved every minute of planning it and realized that I was really holding myself back--I was so focused on making it perfect, when really gardening is about experimenting, trial and error. I have learned a lot from my gardens and have enjoyed writing about them. Here are some posts about my "Garden 2015" Planning for 2015 garden, Edition 1 , Edition 2, Edition 3, Edition 4, Edition 5, Edition 6

16. Eat all local meats and eggs. Not totally there, still buy some eggs and frozen chicken breasts at target, but am getting better at this. Maybe someday I’ll have chickens? I get chickens from Sugar Creek and beef from Sky View Farms. I wrote about eating local here.

17. Be a successful business owner for 5 years. Bought Natural Plus on March 1. Been a business owner for 6 days. This one is a tough one. I've learned that "success" is hard to define. We are in our second season at the nursery, and we are doing fine. We've learned so much. We're still in a transition phase, and now that we are in it, I see that the transition phase is going to last longer than at first anticipated. I love what we're doing and haven't looked back for a second.

18. Have my own puppy. Mika and Maggie are enough for now. Mika passed in April and since then we added a new member to our family, Lena.

19. Make my own fermented food: sauerkraut and kombucha. I have brewed kombucha, but stopped when I was pregnant. I may get back to it someday, but for now, I'm taking a probiotic supplement and eating my friends sauerkraut.

20. Take my kids up north every summer. I WILL do this before my 30s are over.

21. Read 100 books. Hmm...I haven't kept track of all of the books I've read, but I know I've read at least 10. Does checking them out from the library and attempting to read them count?

22. Become a “Master Gardner.” Did not complete this course, but I hope in the next few years, through experience through the nursery and around our home, I hope to become my own “master gardener.” I'm not a "master gardener" but slowly we are updating the landscaping around our home and have a really big garden this year. See #15.

23. Have chickens for eggs. Not sure this is in my future, I might just continue to buy local eggs, just seems easier.

24. Clean a fish. I may have to just get this done up north this year.

25. Stay connected to girlfriends. I have done okay at this. I have reconnected with friends from my past which has been nice. Friendship is interesting, it sort of ebbs and flows and certain people come into and out of your life at certain times. As I grow older, I realize its not about how many friends you have, its about the quality of the friendships that mean the most to you.

26. Take a business class. Done. And learned a lot. I HIGHLY recommend anyone who is attempting business ownership take the course at NIACC.

27. Make the farm house “ours.” Working on it. We have made huge progress in the last 4 months. It does feel like “ours,” but we do have a few projects we would like to finish up (mudroom closet, basement, upstairs bathroom, office, workroom) Last winter Dave did the upstairs bathroom and painted/floored the spare bedroom (was going to be the baby's room). We carpeted the room at the top of the stairs and made that our office/lounge. I really like hanging out up there and it has kept our downstairs living area picked up.  I have added some touches, like pillows, and curtains that have really made it feel more like home.  We still have the upstairs hallway and stairs, and front entrance to finish...this winter.  I have dreams of a new kitchen someday soon.

28. Have my nieces out for slumber parties frequently. Haven’t had a slumber party but have had them out to play in the snow this winter a couple times. So much fun. We had them overnight, but it has been awhile. I think its time to do it again.

29. Swap clothes with others to decrease spending on clothes. I have been doing this a lot. And it feels really good to share with others. And not spend money on clothes I still love to do this, I just haven't been doing it as much lately.

30. Volunteer. I did some work with My Happy Place, but haven’t continued that work. I hope to do something with the local food movement in the future. I volunteered with the CLFM, but plan to get more involved in another way very soon.

This is a great way to keep track of some of my goals for my life and its fun to look back at how much I've changed. In the last few months I've learned that we never really know how life is going to turn out. I've learned to go with the flow, relax a little, and let things happen. I've also learned that its okay to be vulnerable, take risks, and put yourself out there, otherwise its really hard to move forward with what you want.

Some of these goals have shifted a bit, I knew they would but its neat to see. Like #3: Become a mom. This might not be done the way I expected. Foster care has always been something in the back of my mind, and that might be part of my journey of motherhood. And #11 and #12 don't really seem all that important to me anymore. #8 (expand my yoga practice) is shifting as well, from having my own practice, to hopefully sharing this practice with others.

I wonder how the next year will shift these 3o things...