30 by 30 transitions to: Bucket List

For the record... I do not think that I thought through what each item would entail enough when I made my list. There are a few things that are not completely within my control, a couple of things that are going to be ongoing things that are not realistically things that I can just "check off" a list and be done with. Also, there are a couple of things that I put on the list that I have lost interest in and kind of no longer want to do. I'm still debating what to do about those ones. Life is full of changes and life goes on - list or no list. That being said... I'm transferring the remaining items on my 30by30 list to my Bucket List. ;-) Its always good to have goals, right?

1. Take a "real" vacation with my husband! Not just to the family lakehouse (though it is nice, It is not the same as really getting away together - ALONE!). ;-) - DONE – Our Wisconsin trip was great.

2. I want to go to one (and only one) of the following: Colts game, Pacers game OR the Indy 500.... Those are huge Indianapolis things to do and I've lived here my whole life and not done any of them! * Changed to sporting event with hubby. So that includes the Cubbies. - DONE – Sallie took me to Pacers game and Isaac and I went to a Cubs game in Cincy.

3. Go on a trip with my "girls". We've been talking about doing it for years but none of us has had the money... but somehow we need to make it happen!! - I don't know that we'll ever have the kind of money to take the kind of trip we'd like to... but I'm sure we'll do something eventually.

4. Watch a silent movie. I don't know why but I think it'd be really fun! Charlie Chaplain here I come! – AFI Top 100

5. Going to a scrapbooking retreat with a group of my Scrappin' Sisters! This one will totally happen! Right girls?!? - DONE – we did a DIY retreat at the lake.

6. Take my older son to an amusement OR water park. He loved the carnival rides at the county fair... I know he'd love the kiddie area of Kings' Island or Holiday World... something like that. - DONE – we went to Great Wolf Lodge.

7. Get really good outdoor family pictures taken of us and the boys. I'm a photographer myself... but it is hard to do your own family's pictures! - DONE – I can't bring myself to spend a fortune on an expensive photographer but I am willing to spend a little by having friends do our pix and so far I've been really happy with them.

8. Have my entire house clean at the same time. (I'm not saying I will do said cleaning... just that it will be done!) - Um, yeah. Not sure if this will ever happen but one can always hope!

9. Ok, please don't laugh or think I'm awful! I want to go skinny dipping! Though I'll probably have to do it alone because my husband does not do water.

10. Do some community service OR mission trip. I've kind of let stuff like that sit on the back burner since I had kids and I think it'd be good to give in that way again. DONE - family pictures for Sheltering Wings families.

11. I know this sounds lame but... I want to own a minivan. It is hard having two kids in car seats in a small sedan! It'd be nice to have my siblings be able to ride with us instead of having to drive separate cars! - DONE – love it! Thank goodness we got it when we did because now that we have three kids we could not all fit in the Cavalier together.

12. Feel comfortable in my own skin. Whether that includes losing weight, getting in better shape, or not... I just want to be able to look at myself and love me without being so critical of myself and pointing out all my flaws. - ** Its a work in progress. I think every pregnancy has given me more and more of an appreciation for my body even if I don't always like how it looks.

13. Get better at managing my time... sometimes I feel like I work all day and get nothing done! There has to be a better way! -I'm trying to get the hang of the FLY Lady thing!

14. Paint our master bedroom. It’s a fairly inexpensive way to change the look of a room and I think it’d help me to be satisfied w/ our hand-me-down furniture instead of longing for something new. - DONE – love it!

15. Get in touch with a few old friends that I haven’t talked to in awhile. I know that some friends are seasonal friends and aren’t meant to last forever… but sometimes it is nice to catch up with people that you’ve lost touch with too. ** I have been able to reconnect with some old friends via facebook.

16. Read all of Jane Austen’s books. I loved the movies of her books and I liked The Jane Austen Book Club… I think it’d be fun to make an “all Jane Austen all the time book club” of my own! - this seemed like a good idea at the time... but I have a hard time reading books if I've already seen the movie. So I'm not sure this one is going to make it to the Bucket List. ;-)

17. Find a new Christmas tradition to replace gifts. Every year we’re overwhelmed with the amount of toys and stuff that our boys get from friends and family. I want to stop exchanging gifts within our immediate family and take a trip or have a special outing that we do together instead – I’m working on it - just not sure what yet.

18. Begin home-schooling my boys. I was home-schooled and while I think there are many advantages to doing it… I’m a little intimidated. I want to get organized enough to do it well. ** Doing Kindergarten w/ Nate right now. So far so good.

19. Decide if we are going to have more kids. When we got married I wanted four kids and Isaac wanted two. Well… after having one via unexpected c-section, and one vbac at home…one who tries my patience daily and the other who pulls at my heartstrings constantly… I’m not sure if I can handle any more kids. - DONE – Christine is the perfect addition to our family!

20. Expand my photography business. I’ve kind of just let my business be primarily friends and family so far. But I’d like to take it a little more seriously and actually do some marketing and put my business out there for more jobs. I want to do this for two reasons: 1) I love taking pictures and want to improve my skill and a lot of that comes from experience. 2) It would be helpful to our family financially if I was able to bring in some extra income. ** Now is not the right time to expand. But I do still have a few gigs here and there for friends and family and that is fine for now. You can see my work HERE.

21. Get all my completed scrapbook pages into albums! I have piles of pages that are stacking up that I have no albums to put them into!

22. Finish reading through the whole bible with my husband. We got off to a good start awhile back and got out of the habit. Need to start back up and finish this time! - working on it.

23. Go to a Hearts at Home conference. I’ve wanted to go for a couple of years now and have not been able to work it out. One of these days… it will happen!

24. Find a way to show my husband how much I appreciate him. He is such a big part of my life and while he certainly challenges me… I think I take all the good things about him for granted sometimes. - DONE - or so he tells me! ;-)

25. Help make some positive changes to the women’s ministry at my church. I think there are a lot of women who would benefit from some regular fellowship time where we can develop our relationships on a deeper level than what we can do on Sunday mornings.- DONE – slowly seeing some changes happen.

26. Go see Wicked (or some other live musical). I have always enjoyed musicals and haven’t been to many live shows lately. I’m one of those dorks who will sing along and annoy whoever is sitting next to me!!

27. Become involved in a mom’s group/play group of some kind.

28. Write out our will. It is not a fun job. No one (ok, I don’t) looks forward to thinking about what will happen when their gone from this world. But it has got to be done.

29. Take a continuing education class for fun. I was looking in the paper a few weeks ago and there were a few that I am interested in: cooking, etiquette, sewing, how to build your photography business, and others. Maybe I could talk someone into doing it with me!

30. Read a book that my husband recommends (from cover to cover!). My DH and I do not have similar taste in books at all. I read mostly fiction with some fluffy self help or DIY books in the mix. He on the other hand reads mostly theological stuff that generally bores me!

The big 3-0 is finally here!!

I'm officially THIRTY!! Oh well... kind of uneventful. I did have a nice date with my hubby but nothing monumental. My gift from him and my mom is going to be redecorating our bedroom so I can't wait until we get that done!! Anyway, I thought I'd do an update of my 30 by 30 list.

FYI - I decided that this is my list and I can make up my own rules... so if I have not already mentioned this I am giving myself through this year that I'm thirty to continue working on my list. I've made a pretty good dent in it but still have a few things to check off and I say nothing wrong with giving myself a little extra time, especially since I only started the list at my last birthday. Anyway - here is the list and what I've done so far:

1. Take a "real" vacation with my husband! - DONE!! We had a great trip to Wisconsin last summer. We'll definitely have to do that again sometime!!

2. I want to go to one (and only one) of the following: Colts game, Pacers game OR the Indy 500.... Those are huge Indianapolis things to do and I've lived here my whole life and not done any of them! * Changed to sporting event with hubby. So that includes the Cubbies. - DONE - actually I went to my first Cubs game w/ my husband and I got to go to a Pacers game w/ a friend! Great fun! Way better in person than watching the game on tv!!

3. Go on a trip with my "girls". We've been talking about doing it for years but none of us has had the money... but somehow we need to make it happen!!

4. Watch a silent movie. I don't know why but I think it'd be really fun! Charlie Chaplain here I come! – Have yet to watch a silent film but my DH and I have been watching classics from the American Film Institute's Top 100 list. We've seen some really great old movies!

5. Going to a scrapbooking retreat with a group of my Scrappin' Sisters! This one will totally happen! Right girls?!? - DONE - we did a DIY retreat late last summer. It was so much fun. Hope we can do it again sometime!

6. Take my older son to an amusement OR water park. He loved the carnival rides at the county fair... I know he'd love the kiddie area of Kings' Island or Holiday World... something like that. - DONE - just before Christmas we went to Great Wolf Lodge and Nate had a blast.

7. Get really good outdoor family pictures taken of us and the boys. I'm a photographer myself... but it is hard to do your own family's pictures! - DONE - we had a good friend do our family pictures in the fall and we loved them. Course we'll have to do it again since we're going from family of four to party of five in a couple short months!!

8. Have my entire house clean at the same time. (I'm not saying I will do said cleaning... just that it will be done!) - um, yeah... not done... but its a work in progress. ;-)

9. Ok, please don't laugh or think I'm awful! I want to go skinny dipping! Though I'll probably have to do it alone because my husband does not do water. - I'll be waiting until warmer weather to even think about checking this one off.

10. Do some community service OR mission trip. I've kind of let stuff like that sit on the back burner since I had kids and I think it'd be good to give in that way again. - DONE - I have done family pictures for Sheltering Wings families and hope to make it an annual event.

11. I know this sounds lame but... I want to own a minivan. It is hard having two kids in car seats in a small sedan! It'd be nice to have my siblings be able to ride with us instead of having to drive separate cars! - DONE - last year (summer/fall) we bought a minivan from some friends. We love it!!

12. Feel comfortable in my own skin. Whether that includes losing weight, getting in better shape, or not... I just want to be able to look at myself and love me without being so critical of myself and pointing out all my flaws. - Another work in progress.

13. Get better at managing my time... sometimes I feel like I am busy all day and get nothing done! There has to be a better way! - I'm working on implementing some good patterns into my schedule to make better use of my time.

14. Paint our master bedroom. It’s a fairly inexpensive way to change the look of a room and I think it’d help me to be satisfied w/ our hand-me-down furniture instead of longing for something new. - getting ready to... my mom and I are working on the details of redecorating our bedroom. Hoping to have this done before the baby comes.

15. Get in touch with a few old friends that I haven’t talked to in awhile. I know that some friends are seasonal friends and aren’t meant to last forever… but sometimes it is nice to catch up with people that you’ve lost touch with too. ** DONE! Facebook!! Its great reconnecting with old friends from previous jobs and college!!

16. Read all of Jane Austen’s books. I loved the movies of her books and I liked The Jane Austen Book Club… I think it’d be fun to make an “all Jane Austen all the time book club” of my own! - not so into this one anymore. I tried to read Emma and I just have issues reading books that I have already seen the movie of. Maybe I'll try one of her other books later.

17. Find a new Christmas tradition to replace gifts. Every year we’re overwhelmed with the amount of toys and stuff that our boys get from friends and family. I want to stop exchanging gifts within our immediate family and take a trip or have a special outing that we do together instead – DONE. We went to an indoor waterpark just before Christmas last year and I think we'll try to do some kind of trip like that every year and only exchange stockings instead of a bunch of gifts. Now if only we could get my MIL to do the same! ;-)

18. Begin home-schooling my boys. I was home-schooled and while I think there are many advantages to doing it… I’m a little intimidated. I want to get organized enough to do it well. - DONE. I've been working with Nate and we're taking it slow for now but I think we're getting the hang of it. Its a work in progress. ;-)

19. Decide if we are going to have more kids. When we got married I wanted four kids and Isaac wanted two. Well… after having one via unexpected c-section, and one vbac at home…one who tries my patience daily and the other who pulls at my heartstrings constantly… I’m not sure if I can handle any more kids.** DONE!! God decided for us! We're expecting baby #3 on May 1st!!

20. Expand my photography business. I’ve kind of just let my business be primarily friends and family so far. But I’d like to take it a little more seriously and actually do some marketing and put my business out there for more jobs. I want to do this for two reasons: 1) I love taking pictures and want to improve my skill and a lot of that comes from experience. 2) It would be helpful to our family financially if I was able to bring in some extra income. - Waiting on this one since I'm getting ready to have a baby, I figure holding off on business building for the time being is the best move. Maybe in the fall I could tackle a photography class or something.

21. Get all my completed scrapbook pages into albums! I have piles of pages that are stacking up that I have no albums to put them into! - um yeah... still need to work on that one! ;-)

22. Finish reading through the whole bible with my husband. We got off to a good start awhile back and got out of the habit. Need to start back up and finish this time! - We're working on it!!

23. Go to a women's conference. I’ve wanted to go to Hearts at Home for a couple of years now and have not been able to work it out. One of these days… it will happen! - still having a hard time getting someone to go to Hearts at Home with me!! But I did get to go to a local women's conference a few weeks ago that was awesome! It makes me want to go to Hearts at Home even more!

24. Find a way to show my husband how much I appreciate him. He is such a big part of my life and while he certainly challenges me… I think I take all the good things about him for granted sometimes. - According to my DH I do a pretty good job on this one. So I guess this one counts as "DONE" even though it is something I will continue to strive at.

25. Help make some positive changes to the women’s ministry at my church. I think there are a lot of women who would benefit from some regular fellowship time where we can develop our relationships on a deeper level than what we can do on Sunday mornings. - sigh... its a work in progress. Change isn't something that my church handles well so I'm having to be patient and let things happen a little at a time. But there have been some small steps forward so I say "DONE" but will keep on keepin' on.

26. Go see Wicked (or some other live musical). I have always enjoyed musicals and haven’t been to many live shows lately. I’m one of those dorks who will sing along and annoy whoever is sitting next to me!!

27. Become involved in a mom’s group/play group of some kind. - I still want to do this. I am hoping that scheduling might be a little easier when Joe is in developmental preschool instead of having 5 dif therapies at dif times throughout the week to work around.

28. Write out our will. It is not a fun job. No one (ok, I don’t) looks forward to thinking about what will happen when their gone from this world. But it has got to be done. - sigh... not happened yet.

29. Take a continuing education class for fun. I was looking in the paper a few weeks ago and there were a few that I am interested in: cooking, etiquette, how to build your photography business, and others. Maybe I could talk someone into doing it with me! - DONE... At this time in my life it would be difficult to say the least to take a continuing education class. So, I bought a photography seminar series on dvd and plan on going through that a little at a time. Yeah! I can't wait to get started.

30. Read a book that my husband recommends (from cover to cover!). My DH and I do not have similar taste in books at all. I read mostly fiction with some fluffy self help or DIY books in the mix. He on the other hand reads mostly theological stuff that generally bores me! - I'm working on it. He picked this ginormous theology book that is going very slowly. We'll see.

Hhhmmm.... I haven't gotten as much done as I thought I had. I think I counted 14 out of 30 done and a couple were partially done. Oh, well. Keep on keepin' on. Its been fun to have these "goals" in the back of my mind this year and I will continue to work on them this coming year as well.

My "Make A Wish" Moment!

So, after reading my last post about my 30by30 list a friend called me up and asked if she could help me w/ one of my "goals" by taking me to my first Pacers game. Well, sure! Her husband said I was her "make-a-wish-kid". Works for me!
She has the hookup through her grandparents who have these awesome front row season tickets. So not only did I get to go to a Pacers game but I got to go in style! We had special parking and seriously... our seats were a mere few feet away from the players! I could not have asked for a better way to see the game or better company. We both have two little ones and it is difficult to find the time to get together sometimes so it was great to spend the evening with a good friend.
Third Eye Blind had performed before the game (though it was an outdoor thing and it was raining so we did not see the concert). The lead singer talked to the press during the game. He was right in front of us, I could have reached out and touched him - if there hadn't been security sitting right there. If you watch the game you can see me behind him scrambling to get my camera out to take this pix! I'm such a dork. ;-)
Isaac turned the game on to see if they could see me. The PaceMates came out to perform before the game and Nate says "Look its Mommy!". Aw... isn't that sweet. Way off, but sweet. Since I was wearing that bright orange shirt it was actually pretty easy to spot us in alot of the shots. So thanks to my good friend I can now say I've been to a Pacers game!

30 by 30 update

Today is the 30th and its been awhile since I've posted about my list of 30 things I want to do before I turn 30 so I thought I'd do a little update. Here are the goals that I've been able to check off of my list lately:

1. Take a "real" vacation with my husband! Not just to the family lakehouse (though it is nice, It is not the same as really getting away together - ALONE!). ;-) - Isaac and I went to Wisconsin together in July. While I would certainly like to do more trips together (longer ones), I definitely count this one as a "real" vacation. Blogged about HERE.

2. I want to go to one (and only one) of the following: Colts game, Pacers game OR the Indy 500.... Those are huge Indianapolis things to do and I've lived here my whole life and not done any of them! * Changed to sporting event with hubby. So that includes the Cubbies. - so I ammended this one a little from the original form but its my list and I can do what I want, right? Anyway - Isaac and I went to a Cubs - Reds game in Cincy in August. It was great! Blogged about HERE.

5. Go on a scrapbooking retreat with a group of my Scrappin' Sisters! - This one totally happened! And it was a good time! Right girls?!? Blogged about HERE.

11. I know this sounds lame but... I want to own a minivan. It is hard having two kids in car seats in a small sedan! It'd be nice to have my siblings be able to ride with us instead of having to drive separate cars! - We were blessed to be able to buy a used minivan from some friends at church for much less than we had anticipated paying for a van. We are lovin' it! Blogged about HERE.

18. Begin home-schooling my boys. I was home-schooled and while I think there are many advantages to doing it… I’m a little intimidated. I want to get organized enough to do it well. - I finally chose a pre-school curriculum and began using Heart of Dakota with Nate this week. So far so good!

19. Decide if we are going to have more kids. When we got married I wanted four kids and Isaac wanted two. Well… after having one via unexpected c-section, and one vbac at home…one who tries my patience daily and the other who pulls at my heartstrings constantly… I’m not sure if I can handle any more kids. - Well, whether I can handle it or not... God made the decision for us and baby #3 is on the way! We are due around the beginning of May. While this wasn't exactly "planned", we are very excited and hopeful about this new addition to our family. Pictured is a baby at around 9-10wks - which is about how far along we are. What a miracle!!

Loser?

So, one of the things on my 30x30 list is feeling comfortable in my own skin. I have been really struggling with this one lately.
When I weaned Joe last Aug/Sept-ish I was at 165lbs, which was about what I weighed when we got married in '03. I was feeling pretty good, but still felt that I could use to lose some more weight. But my metabolism changed alot when I stopped breastfeeding and winter set in, keeping me indoors alot more and now, I'm 25lbs heavier. I am down to just a couple of pairs of pants that fit me at all, none without a muffin-top. This is not good for my wardrobe, bank account, health or self esteem!
But I am taking action. I've started a 30 day trial of Curves through the Avon/Curves Fitness Study. I worked out at Curves twice last week (then we were out of town), and I went yesterday. This morning I walked two miles and did some weights with a friend at her appartment's gym.
I'm trying to make better choices at meal times without being on a "diet". I'm really bad at diets. I'd much rather not have the things I love be off limits because if its off limits it just makes me want them more!
Its not exactly the Biggest Loser or anything but I could use your prayers as I try to get healthier for me and my family's sake!

30x30 Amended!

So... I've amended my 30 by 30 list a little bit. I figure its my list and my life and if I want to change my list then that is my prerogative! Right? Anyway... here is the list with the changes and updates:
1. Take a "real" vacation with my husband. Alone! ;-)
2. Go to a professional sporting event (of one of "his" teams) with my husband.
3. Go on a trip with my girls!
4. Watch more classic movies. Isaac and I are going through the AFI Top 100 Movies and we've found some good ones! *changed from silent film
5. Scrapbooking retreat.
6. Take Nate to amusement or waterpark. I think we might do that for his birthday this summer.
7. Get good outdoor family pictures done.
8. Have the entire house clean at one time. sigh... I don't know if this one is going to happen!
9. Go skinny dipping! Too cold!
10. Community Service. This weekend I'm giving some families staying at a local shelter the gift of family pictures.
11. Own a minivan. *This one may not happen before I'm 30.
12. Feel comfortable in my own skin.
13. Get better at managing my time. *Its a work in progress.
14. Paint our master bedroom.
15. Get in touch with some old friends.
16. Read all Jane Austen's books... *This one I'm changing to read "a" Jane Austen book. I've seen a couple of the movies already and I find it really difficult to read a book when I already know what happens.
17. Find a Christmas tradition to replace gifts.
18. Begin homeschooling my boys. *This should happen in the fall.
19. Decide if/when we're having more kids. *Thinking about it.
20. Expand my photography business. I've got a few gigs lined up. And I want to start marketing.
21. Get all my scrapbook pages into albums! * Daunting!
22. Finish reading the entire bible with my husband.
23. Go to Hearts at Home conference. *Hopefully in October!
24. Show my husband that I respect and appreciate him. He said that I can mark this one off because I already do this through lots of little things that I do. ;-)
25. I'm combining this with the original #27. Its going to be help develop and grow my church's women's ministry.
26. Go see a live musical. *We're hoping for Wicked in June!
27. Become involved in a mom's group/play group of some kind.
28.Write out our will. *Not looking forward to this one!
29. Take a continuing education class for fun.
30. Read a book that my husband recommends.

30 by30 in progress

Ok, so I haven't actually completed any of the things on my 30 by 30 list just yet but I'm working on a few. Here is what is in the works:
#15 - Get in touch w/ old friends - a few days ago I bumped into a girl that I used to work with at American Airlines. I miss those girls! She doesn't live than far from me now so we might try to get together sometime.
#5 - scrappin' retreat - me and my scrappin' sisters are trying to plan a DIY retreat sometime this summer. We're having scheduling delays but I'm confident it'll happen!
#10 & #20 - I'm planning on doing some charitable photography. Its something that I really enjoy and what better way to incorporate my hobby into a service project?
#22 - finish reading the bible w/ my hubby - we've been picking it back up again... its a work in progress.
#16 - Read Jane Austen's books - two of my sisters and I are reading Emma together now. We each took a quiz to find out which of Austen's heroines that we were most like. I am Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility - so that I will lead the discussion on that book. ** I think I might not actually read all of them.... we'll see.

Take the Quiz here!

Anyway... thats where I'm at... I'll keep you updated as I check things off the list and continue working on things.

Final Additions to 30 by 30 List

ok, its taken me a few weeks but I've finally finished my list of 30 Things to Do Before I'm 30.
I wish I'd have started this list awhile ago. The list would be different and I'd have made a dent in it by now! Things like "get married" and "have babies" would be checked off. But I didn't think it was fair to put things on the list that I'd already done. Anyway, don't judge me... some of these things are mature... others practical... but a few are just silly - but if you know me at all then you wouldn't expect anything else from me! So, here you go. Let me know what you think!

21. Get all my completed scrapbook pages into albums! I have piles of pages that are stacking up that I have no albums to put them into!

22. Finish reading through the whole bible with my husband. We got off to a good start awhile back and got out of the habit. Need to start back up and finish this time!

23. Go to a Hearts at Home conference. I’ve wanted to go for a couple of years now and have not been able to work it out. One of these days… it will happen!

24. Find a way to show my husband how much I appreciate him. He is such a big part of my life and while he certainly challenges me… I think I take all the good things about him for granted sometimes.

25. Help start a monthly ladies fellowship time. Our church has great teaching in place but I feel the women of our body would benefit from more time to develop and deepen our relationships on a personal level that we just can’t do on Sunday mornings.

26. Go see Wicked (or some other live musical). I have always enjoyed musicals and haven’t been to many live shows lately. I’m one of those dorks who will sing along and annoy whoever is sitting next to me!!

27. Help make some positive changes to the women’s ministry at my church. I think there are a lot of women who would benefit from some regular fellowship time where we can develop our relationships on a deeper level than what we can do on Sunday mornings.

28. Write out our will. It is not a fun job. No one (ok, I don’t) looks forward to thinking about what will happen when their gone from this world. But it has got to be done.

29. Take a continuing education class for fun. I was looking in the paper a few weeks ago and there were a few that I am interested in: cooking, etiquette, how to build your photography business, and others. Maybe I could talk someone into doing it with me!

30. Read a book that my husband recommended (from cover to cover, not just a couple of chapters!). My DH and I do not have similar taste in books at all. I read mostly fiction with some fluffy self help or DIY books in the mix. He on the other hand reads mostly theological stuff that generally bores me!

By the way.... this is my 400 blog post!! ah! I didn't realize I had so much to say to the world wide web!

More 30 by 30

So... while I am not making any "New Year's Resolutions" I have added a few things to my 30 by 30 list. Again, this is a list of things I want to do before I turn 30 (which is a year from Feb.). These things are in random order.

14. Paint our master bedroom. It’s a fairly inexpensive way to change the look of a room and I think it’d help me to be satisfied w/ our hand-me-down furniture instead of longing for something new.

15. Get in touch with a few old friends that I haven’t talked to in awhile. I know that some friends are seasonal friends and aren’t meant to last forever… but sometimes it is nice to catch up with people that you’ve lost touch with too.

16. Read all of Jane Austen’s books. I loved the movies of her books and I liked The Jane Austen Book Club… I think it’d be fun to make an “all Jane Austen all the time book club” of my own!

17. Find a new Christmas tradition to replace gifts. Every year we’re overwhelmed with the amount of toys and stuff that our boys get from friends and family. I want to stop exchanging gifts within our immediate family and take a trip or have a special outing that we do together instead – I’m just not sure what yet.

18. Begin home-schooling my boys. I was home-schooled and while I think there are many advantages to doing it… I’m a little intimidated. I want to get organized enough to do it well.

19. Decide if we are going to have more kids. When we got married I wanted four kids and Isaac wanted two. Well… after having one via unexpected c-section, and one vbac at home…one who tries my patience daily and the other who pulls at my heartstrings constantly… I’m not sure if I can handle any more kids.

20. Expand my photography business. I’ve kind of just let my business be primarily friends and family so far. But I’d like to take it a little more seriously and actually do some marketing and put my business out there for more jobs. I want to do this for two reasons: 1) I love taking pictures and want to improve my skill and a lot of that comes from experience. 2) It would be helpful to our family financially if I was able to bring in some extra income.

30 by 30 - The Beginning - my first 13 things

So, I'm gonna be 29 in February... I know... I'm getting old. But anyway... I got this idea from another blog and did a search and checked out a few others who have done similar things. I'm creating a list of 30 Things To Do Before I Turn 30. I'm off to a good start on the list but I'm open to suggestions so feel free to post your ideas! Here is what I have so far (in random order).

Take a "real" vacation with my husband! Not just to the family lakehouse (though its nice, its not the same as really getting away together - ALONE!). ;-)

I want to go to one (and only one) of the following: Colts game, Pacers game OR the Indy 500.... those are huge Indianapolis things to do and I've lived here my whole life and not done any of them!

Go on a trip with my "girls". We've been talking about doing it for years but none of us has had the money... but somehow we need to make it happen!!

Watch a silent movie. I don't know why but I think it'd be really fun! Charlie Chaplain here I come!

Going to a scrapbooking retreat with a group of my Scrappin' Sisters! This one will totally happen! Right girls?!?

Take my older son to an amusement park. He loved the carnival rides at the county fair... I know he'd love the kiddie area of Kings' Island or Holiday World... something like that.

Get really good outdoor family pictures taken of us and the boys. I'm a photographer myself... but its hard to do your own family's pictures!

Have all of my house clean at the same time. (I'm not saying I will do said cleaning... just that it will be done!)

Ok, please don't laugh or think I'm awful! Go skinny dipping. Though I'll probably have to do it alone because my husband doesn't do water much.

Do some community service OR mission trip. I've kind of let stuff like that sit on the back burner since I had kids and I think it'd be good to give in that way again.

I know this sounds lame but... I want to own a minivan. Its hard having two kids in car seats in a small sedan! It'd be nice to have my siblings be able to ride with us instead of having to drive separate cars!

Feel comfortable in my own skin. Whether that includes losing weight, getting in better shape, or not... I just want to be able to look at myself and love me without being so critical of myself and pointing out all my flaws.

Get better at managing my time... sometimes I feel like I work all day and get nothing done! There has to be a better way!

So... if anyone has any suggestions on things I should do before I turn 30... please leave me a comment! For more Thursday Thirteen posts check out the site.