Week 1

Week 1 was uber eventful in my day-to-day life, but not so much in the Big 3-0. I finished out the school year on Thursday, finished out the 'dance' year on Sunday, and somewhere between those two realized that I had NOT finished the homework for grad school that was due Saturday night...

With all of that being said, I haven't accomplished anything on the list yet. HOWEVER I have actually gotten my lazy tush on the treadmill five times in the past week. I hadn't used a treadmill before other than to walk as a warm-up, so that was a mildly daunting experience the first time. Something about having the floor move on its own when I'm not in an airport carrying luggage just seems wrong. I have a looooooooooooong way to go before I'll be Ten Miler ready, though (possibly need to add a few more 'o's'  to that...).

 http://www.artistx.co.uk/treadmill-chocolates-cartoon.php

With any luck I will be able to report in Week 2 that I am officially progressing on some of my list. For now, it's time to finish catching up on the minutia  of life... like that pesky grad school work that just won't go away.

By the way, as an addendum, I am NOT going back in time to bike the C&O Canal on Memorial Day weekend 2010. Thanks to Mom who caught that one :-) Memorial Day 2011 for the biking.

Here they are!

Alright - after much input and conversation I'm really excited about all the things I'm hoping to accomplish in the next year! Here (in no particular order) is the list of things I will do for the first time between now and June 13th, 2011:

1. Run the Army Ten Miler on Oct. 24th - This was actually the first thing I signed up for back in April that made me start thinking of this list. The Queen of "Not running unless something big and scary is chasing me and close enough it might have a chance at catching me" is officially going to run 10 miles. Hell MAY have frozen over ;-)
2. Run the Warrior Dash on Oct. 10th - Once I signed up and paid money to willingly wallow in mud I knew that this year was going to be one filled with some interesting experiences for me.
3. Do the Ropes Course at Needwood Lake - The third thing I agreed to do prior to officially deciding to do the list. This one sealed the deal - it was time to do something different in the next 365 days.
4. Spend some time volunteering with Habitat for Humanity
5. Go to New York City - I know... hard to believe that the musical theater nerd hasn't ever made her way to NYC. It's time to change that one!
6. Hear an opera at the Met
7. See my first ACTUAL Broadway musical (cheap tickets count!)
8. Go on a cruise
9. Go out of the country
10. Watch the top 30 AFI films (after all of the running I'll be doing in October, if I don't find myself in a hospital, I know I will need some recuperation time ;-))
11. Learn Spanish - at least enough to tell parents at school about the upcoming concerts and how their children are doing in my class.
12. Bike the Creeper Trail from Whitetop to Abingdon with my Dad
13. Go camping
14. Go to the Kentucky Derby
15. Go for a hot air balloon ride
16. Get my ears pierced - go ahead and pick your jaw up off the floor - yes at 29 I will be getting the first hole in each of my ears ever. If there was any doubt before that I'm a freak of nature it has now been removed ;-)
17. Get a tattoo - I'm planning something (small!) to commemorate the beginning of my 30s and everything I've accomplished
18. Attempt to ski the bunny slope without careening into a tree or small child. Commence prayer now :-P
19. Go jet-skiing
20. Ride on a motorcycle
21. Go to a pro football game
22. Bike the C&O Canal (all of it... this will be a 3-day weekend event that is currently planned for Memorial Day 2010 - training to begin after I find my legs again post-Ten-Miler!)
23. Celebrate the 4th of July where you can FEEL the fireworks (and smell the crowd around you who has sat outside sweating all day long alongside you in the DC summer heat and humidity ;-))
24. Get my personal health in order - all those silly physicals and check-ups and things that I might have maybe not done as regularly as I should throughout my 20's - I want to have that knowledge going into my 30's and then I plan on keeping up with it in the years to come.
25. Try five foods I've been squeamish about - I wasn't so sure about sushi 2 years ago and now I can't get enough of it. Let's see what else I might like!
26. Cook or bake something impressive from scratch (i.e. bread that doesn't come out of my bread machine or a Julia Child-esque dish)
27. Go to a firing range
28. Go to a casino - with a monetary limit - and then quit when the money's gone!
29. Go paint-balling and play Laser Tag
30. Write and maintain a blog - hey look guys! You're already involved in one of my 30 simply by reading!

So there are my 30. I reserve the right to change them if life takes an unexpected turn and I can't complete one or I find an opportunity to do something in place of one of them. If you're interested in joining me on any of them (except number 24 - I don't really want help with number 24 unless I start asking for suggestions on good physicians or dermatologists or dentists, thanks!) please let me know! One of the things that has been most exciting for me is the number of people who have said that they want to accompany me on one or more of these activities. I can't wait to see how many people I can bring together from the different areas of my life to meet each other and support me in this endeavor!

So - with that being said - Here's to the next 365 days!