There have been years where I opted not to share my list. I think we all have years like that. Years marked by loss and grief may be ones where keeping our lists honest also means keeping them quiet and close to our hearts. However, in years where we really pushed ourselves out of our comfort zones or accomplished things we are especially proud of, I think it's great to share our accomplishments with others, allowing us to exponentially increase our joy. Regardless of whether you choose to share your list, I highly encourage you to take some time to make one.
OK, here we go!
This year's list:
This year's list:
1. Parented teenagers. Multiple teenagers. And survived. Barely. I honestly don't know how. I should probably give most of the credit to Dan, my mom and step-dad, and my sister, Jessica. They keep me sane. I mean, I parented the other non-teenager children, too. But compared to this?? That was easy.
2. FINALLY took the Iowa bar exam. That damn thing. That all-encompassing, smothering, controlling, God damned thing.
3. Read 40 books. Many of my friends put me to shame on this one. I'll do better this year.
4. Made an attempt to maintain this blog. I will talk about this more in my Goals 2019 post, but for now, I'll just say that.
5. Learned the very basics of salsa dancing.
6. Along those same lines, committed to learning at least one new thing per month.
7. Constructed this adorable little Valentine box with Bizi.
8. Took a winter adventure to Briggs Woods.
9. KICKBOXING. I learned just enough to be a little bit dangerous.
10. Survived Bill's BBQ. And yes, I mean survived. Not because of the food. The food was to die for - almost literally. If you don't believe me, you just go check it out for yourself.
11. Ziplined alone down a mountain in the Poconos. Also hiked in the Pocono Mountains.
13. In connection with the previous item, visited Canada for the first time! What a wonderful vacation.
14. Tried African food (also for the first time). Yes, it was very good!
15. Took the kids on a week long road trip.
17. Fed a giraffe.
18. Saw Reba McEntire in concert!!! **BUCKET LIST ACCOMPLISHMENT** To be honest, I feel like this is more Dan's accomplishment. He surprised me with tickets and drove us to Des Moines. AND after returning home at 2:00 AM, he then turned around and left at 4:00 AM to drive another five hours just so we could accomplish the next item below. We may have overbooked ourselves just a tad that weekend... 😂😂
19. Tubed down the Niobrara River with our wonderful friends. (We also stayed in an Air BnB for the first time and survived a weekend with no cell phone reception!)
20. Completed my first cycling race. 25 miles in the pouring rain with one of my best friends. It was amazing. AND HARD. So very, very hard. Except the part where we stopped at the farmer's market in the middle to sample food and pet horses. I've heard everyone does that in the middle of bike races.
21. Learned to throw an axe. Yes, I did. It was fun.
22. Explored Baltimore, Maryland ON MY OWN while Dan attended a work conference. As bad ass as I feel for doing it, I don't recommend it. It wasn't safe and I'm lucky I didn't run into more trouble than I did.
23. Somehow maneuvered myself up into an aerial hammock. And did not die.
24. Hot yoga. That was quite the experience. Oh my.
25. Executed an extremely significant career decision. There's only so much I can say about this right now, right here. More (exciting) info to come in a couple months.
Before closing, you may remember this post in which I set my ten goals for 2018. I did a brief update in October, but in case you're curious, here is a final update on those goals. (Spoiler alert: I was not as successful as I had hoped, but I'm also significantly less bothered by that than I anticipated I would be.)
GOAL #1: Start this new blog - COMPLETE. See item #4 in the list above.
GOAL #2: Abs - FAIL. 😂😂😂 Sorry, not sorry that two of my favorite things are cooking and enjoying local cuisine while traveling.
GOAL #3: Hit my goal weight - FAIL. See goal #2. I think a more important goal is figuring out why a woman who wears the same size she wore in high school and can share clothes with her teenage daughters gives a flying flip about this number. How annoying.
GOAL #4: Run a marathon - preferably in a foreign country - COMPLETE. See items #12 and #13 in the list above.
GOAL #5: Be a better listener - COMPLETE. I could write multiple posts on how much I learned about listening this year. Actually, maybe I will.
GOAL #6: Read 56 books this year - FAIL. I only read 40. See item #3 in the list above.
GOAL #7: Learn 12 new things - COMPLETE. I learned: salsa dancing, kick boxing, canvas painting, brush calligraphy, ax throwing, aerial hammocks, hot yoga, and cookie decorating. I learned how to pay attention to important details when determining who belongs in my "circle." And of course, I learned (re-learned? Remembered?) TONS of black letter law (torts, con law, crim law, etc.).
GOAL #8: Take the Iowa Bar Exam - COMPLETE. More on this to come in later posts. See item #2 on the list above.
GOAL #9: No cussing - FAIL. See item #1 in the list above.
GOAL #10: Journal every night before bed - FAIL. Still determined to do better on this.
Success rate: 50%. Loser! Just kidding - actually really proud of my accomplishments this year. Can't wait to see what 2019 brings.
Happy New Year to you and yours!
22. Explored Baltimore, Maryland ON MY OWN while Dan attended a work conference. As bad ass as I feel for doing it, I don't recommend it. It wasn't safe and I'm lucky I didn't run into more trouble than I did.
23. Somehow maneuvered myself up into an aerial hammock. And did not die.
24. Hot yoga. That was quite the experience. Oh my.
25. Executed an extremely significant career decision. There's only so much I can say about this right now, right here. More (exciting) info to come in a couple months.
Before closing, you may remember this post in which I set my ten goals for 2018. I did a brief update in October, but in case you're curious, here is a final update on those goals. (Spoiler alert: I was not as successful as I had hoped, but I'm also significantly less bothered by that than I anticipated I would be.)
GOAL #1: Start this new blog - COMPLETE. See item #4 in the list above.
GOAL #2: Abs - FAIL. 😂😂😂 Sorry, not sorry that two of my favorite things are cooking and enjoying local cuisine while traveling.
GOAL #3: Hit my goal weight - FAIL. See goal #2. I think a more important goal is figuring out why a woman who wears the same size she wore in high school and can share clothes with her teenage daughters gives a flying flip about this number. How annoying.
GOAL #4: Run a marathon - preferably in a foreign country - COMPLETE. See items #12 and #13 in the list above.
GOAL #5: Be a better listener - COMPLETE. I could write multiple posts on how much I learned about listening this year. Actually, maybe I will.
GOAL #6: Read 56 books this year - FAIL. I only read 40. See item #3 in the list above.
GOAL #7: Learn 12 new things - COMPLETE. I learned: salsa dancing, kick boxing, canvas painting, brush calligraphy, ax throwing, aerial hammocks, hot yoga, and cookie decorating. I learned how to pay attention to important details when determining who belongs in my "circle." And of course, I learned (re-learned? Remembered?) TONS of black letter law (torts, con law, crim law, etc.).
GOAL #8: Take the Iowa Bar Exam - COMPLETE. More on this to come in later posts. See item #2 on the list above.
GOAL #9: No cussing - FAIL. See item #1 in the list above.
GOAL #10: Journal every night before bed - FAIL. Still determined to do better on this.
Success rate: 50%. Loser! Just kidding - actually really proud of my accomplishments this year. Can't wait to see what 2019 brings.
Happy New Year to you and yours!
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