My lovely list of 15 Things to do before turning 30!

Yes I chose 15 because 30 seemed a bit extensive, therefore I thought cutting the list in half would be a bit more realistic to achieve.  I haven't done one of these for quite sometime, so I thought now would be good timing to make my list as it is quickly approaching... EKK! I'm 27 now, but in just a few years and the BIG 3...0 will hit me like a ton of bricks!!  Am I scared.  Nah.  It's a number.  I have plans already in the making for that day as well. :) :) :)

My 15 THINGS

to

have mastered

 and completed by

my 30th BIRTHDAY.

1.  Have another baby.  Even if this means I will be prego at the time of my 30th bday.  I think by then is almost perfect timing.  I definitely don't want a baby NOW!  Everyone and their grandma is prego right now, or just having a baby.  It's like a epidemic!!! Anywho that's not my problem, my problem is next spring I'm student teaching, I could never work that chaos out where it would all work out.  I'm thinking after my first year of teaching would be fine.  I want to focus on my very first year of teaching before diving into babyhood again. :)  I keep thinking about it and I can see myself having another little boy... I love the name I've had forever for another little guy and no one has this awesome name that is why I'm not speaking a word of it. I also would love to have a girl, I would love to have a redheaded brown eyed little lady named... (my list is growing).    Anyway that is the obvious #1.

2. Family Vacation to... anywhere but Missouri.
I want Jared, Jett and I to go on a road trip somewhere.  It can't be in Missouri though.  I want to go somewhere new, it doesn't have to be a beach either, but I would eventually like to see the ocean.  I would also LOVE to see the REDWOOD FOREST.  I don't know why but I've always wanted to see the trees!!!  One day... oh yes... one day we are going to travel to England and Ireland.  Those two are my top two HAVE TO BEFORE I DIE traveling spots. 

3. Get a teaching job at my hometown school!!!
Well, this of course is the tricky one.  This scares me to death.  I've already been okayed by the principal to student teacher there, so I will at least be familiar with most of the teachers.  I'm just scared of the interviewing process.  Just thinking about it makes me wanna puke!  I get worked up with a lot other things, but this freaks me out more than anything.  I almost wish Drury U would put on some sort of mock interviewing session.  I just want practice...  speaking in front of adults has never really been my strong suit.  SOOOO SCARED!  This has been my goal from when I decided to start down the teaching path, I wanted to teach in hometown.  It's my comfort zone.  Plus the principal that was just hired there for next year use to be one of my teachers at Drury U and she was amazing, I learned so much from her.  She was incredibly compassionate, knowledgeable, and an amazing person.  I just really hope I get a job there, but I know I'm going to be fighting a ton of other people for a job and that is what really scares me.... :/

4. Get back to my pre-Jett weight... maybe even a little less.
Ugg... to be thin again.  Yep.  One day the skinnier girl will return oh yes she will.. haha.

5.  Possibly own a VW bug.  That's my dream car.  Seriously I would LOVEEE to have one, I think they are adorable.

6.  READ MORE!!
I have so many books I want to read and I feel I never have time to read them.  I have a stack of TO READ books already and I absolutely love going to BARNS and NOBLES

7. Write More!!
Writing has always been something that I've loved to do.  I use to love poetry.  It was really childish stuff, but I've always had a passion for it.  I've also loved writing in my journals just about random things.  I would love at one point in my life to have something published, I would love to write my own book(s).  I had a poem of mine published in a book, but it was all from a website so I'm not so sure it was a big deal.

8. Master Organization.
This is my enemy.  Organizing things.  I know that my life would be so much easier if I would just try a little harder to organize and keep things organized.  I'm so weird, I have a bit of OCD about things, and get antsy when my house is just a crazy disaster, but then there are days that I'm just exhausted and I don't care what it looks like.  I'm hoping since we are moving, that I can just start over with good habits of organization.  Hopefully that is.

9. COOK... A LOT!
I'm really debating about trying to eat "CLEAN".  I read a lot of recipes that I would LOVE to try and they are really simple.  I'm also hoping when we move that since we won't be right in town that we will stop eating out so much.  I really need to just COOK more, and not the easy way out like frozen dinners in a bag, I really want to do some from scratch meals that will be healthy for everyone.

10. Try a lot harder not to let people and their words bother me!!!
This has been my struggle since I can remember. I take everything personally. I think a lot of my self esteem issues has to do with 1st and foremost my mother. She really doesn't think before she says something. Then there are the people I have once and still today have somehow surrounded myself with. People that say they are your friend but really just bring you down. Don't get me wrong this has gotten a whole lot better since I got married and separated myself from a few people, but still today there remains a few I keep telling myself are really good people most of the time, but then they do something that really makes you question yourself ???? And this is a friend of mine?? And they are treating me like nothing in my life matters to them.. ??? Yeah. I guess I have always been that girl that you can walk all over because I try and care about everyone even if they do something mean to me. I've let a few people have a lot more chances than others and I'm starting to see their true colors which is just making me sick. Okay enough ranting on this one.

11. Have better self-confidence.
I guess 10 and 11 are somewhat similar, but this one is just for me have a little higher self esteem. I'm sick of focusing on the negativity. I need to clear my head and have a better image of myself. I know I'm a big girl, but I'm working on getting healthy. I know I have horrible skin, but I do everything I can to try and clear it up. I may not wear that much make up, but I honestly shouldn't have to to feel beautiful. I had an acquaintance recently suggest a book that helps with women that continuously focus on the bad things about themselves and I'm going to find it and hopefully that will at least lighten my spirit a bit.

12. Become closer to God in my own way.
This is a touchy subject with some people I know, but I feel like I need to do something different. Would going to church help, probably a little. I would really like to find a new church. Something that all of us can genuinely enjoy. I would really like my husband to join me on this adventure and definitely include Jett. I guess it really hit me the other day when Jett told me "Mom, when we move and I sleep in my new room, if I'm scared I ask God to help me so I'm not scared."  I was just floored.  I knew about his conversation with his teacher the day before because she told how unique and interesting the conversations were of these 5 year olds.  They have a couple of foster kids as well living with new families, a little girl that her parents are separated, and Jett, that is moving to a new house.  She said they were all a little scared about their new surroundings so she put them at ease and told them to pray and God would protect them.  When I heard those words come from my son that has very rarely stepped inside of a church, I almost started crying.  I don't know really if it's a find a church thing or just start small with maybe praying before bed with him.  I don't want to force religion on him, but I want him to know that God is here if he wants to learn about him.

13. Get updated on my scrapbooks, photo albums, and anything else that holds memories!
I'm so behind, sooooo very behind on all of this!! I'm determined to print out pictures and get some scrap booking stuff going!!  I NEED TO! There's about 5 years lacking in all of my photo albums.  I was really good that first year, I even documented a lot of stuff in my journal as well.  Slacker me, hasn't done anything like that in awhile. :/

14. Have a getaway weekend with the hubaroo!
I've always wanted to do this, just to get away with just Jared on a weekend.  Some spontaneous road trip somewhere.  Nothing fancy, just one of those crazy amazing weekends just to get away.  If I didn't have so much going on right now, I'd say now would be perfect because I really do need to get away from people pronto!

15. Come up with another 15 things to accomplish and achieve them that are not on my list. HA!  Some of these seem pretty easy to accomplish with a little work involved, others seem like huge life events and others just take a little time and money.  I think that most of these can get done in a couple of years, but we will see.  Hopefully I can tackle some of the big stuff at least! :)