30 Before 30 : 1 Year Later
Wow! It cannot believe it has been a year since I set out on my 30 before 30 quest :) It has been a week since I turned 30 and it really doesn't feel much different than 29. This past year was a big one for my family. It is funny to look at this list. There are things that a year ago I was 100% sure were going to happen (make a baby), and things that were just dreams (climb Mt. Fuji). It is funny to see how different reality is from what my expectations were. I did not accomplish everything that I set out to do BUT I did do other things that weren't on my list that I never imagined I would do. Here is a review of my list and what I did and did not accomplish :)
1. Donate Blood- Nope. I am still O- and I still think that is awesome. Between finding out that I have hyperthyroidism in September and getting a NEW TATTOO in April, I am disqualified from giving blood. The hyperthyroidism disqualifies me until my levels are normal, and the tattoo disqualifies me for a year.
2. Complete a 365 Art Project- Nope. I didn't make this a priority. Still something I would like to try to accomplish though. 3. Complete a Coloring Book Cover to Cover- Nope. Not cover to cover but I did get a good bit of coloring in. Something I would like to continue doing. 4. Learn a Poem by Heart- Nope. I did a good bit of research on different poems but I never found one that spoke to me enough to feel like it was worth memorizing. I am still on the hunt though. Let me know if you have any good suggestions! 5. Learn Japanese- Yes! Yay! One I can say I have made good progress on. Am I fluent? Nope, but I have made a lot of progress. I am pretty confident in all of my hiragana, including ten ten sounds. I can read things when I am out and about and I always get excited when I discover a word I know! My next step is to learn katakana, and sentence structure so I can start putting thoughts together.
6. Run Half Marathon #3 in 2016- YES! #3 & #4! I talked about each half marathon in my April update. I am pretty proud of myself.
7. Climb Mt Fuji- YES! This was my biggest unknown last year. I thought there was no way, but I did it! On my 30th birthday, we hiked 10 miles on the Yoshida Trail from the bottom of Mt.Fuji at Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine to the 5th station 2300m (7545ft). It was beautiful. Between the shrine at the bottom and Umagaeshi, where the mountain actually begins, we saw 3 people. 2 of them were picking wild strawberries. It took 4 miles and 2.5 hours to reach this point. At Umagaeshi we were offed cold tea & candies. From this point to station 5 we saw maybe 30 people. Most of the time we had to trail to ourselves. Uphill through the forest. There were stations along the trail but they were all ruins. Some were patches of dirt marked by signs, and other were cool falling apart buildings. When we reached what we thought was station 5 we found a little mountain hut where we got our walking sticks stamped and enjoyed a tasty lunch. Turns out station 5 was actually another km away. We needed to get over there since that is where the bus stop was and another trail we wanted to check out. After 9 miles of hiking we figured "What is one more?" So we took the Ochudo trail to the sunset. Some of the most beautiful views ever. Then we rushed back down the trail to catch the next bus down the mountain.We finished the evening at 7-11 for a bountiful birthday feast. It was the perfect way to celebrate 30!
8. Unplug for a week- Nope. I wish. My husband was sent on a 6 month all expenses paid trip half way around the world thanks to the USAF. I was more attached to my phone then ever :( 9. Make a Baby- Nope. Between finding out about my hyperthyroidism and my husband spending 6 months of the last year on a different continent, this one did not happen. In my mind a year ago this was one of my "for sure" goals. Funny how life has different plans. 10. Learn to French Braid- Nope. I have always wanted to shave my head. In March, while I did not shave my whole head, I did cut off a significant amount. The shortest I have ever had my hair. This made it slightly more difficult to learn how to French Braid :)
11. Vote for President- Yep! This was an easy one :) 12. Start a Blog (or restart )- Kind of.... I certainly blogged a little bit more, but not as much as I would have liked. I have lots of new work that I need to get posted. I post often on social media, and I just need to follow through by posting those pieces on my blog. 13. Go on 1 Date Every Month- Nope. Another one made difficult by hubby being a bajillion miles away. Since he has been home and before he left we were doing very well at dating. My gift to him for our wedding anniversary was a jar full of 52 dates with the hope that we can make dating a regular occurrence.
14. Learn Calligraphy- Yes! One of my goals that I accomplished first! I posted about it in my September Update. I love having this little skill in my back pocket. 15. Create 30 NEW! Works of Art- Done! I am pretty proud of this one. I discovered or rediscovered my love for flower painting. I have had lots of fun playing with watercolors and pens.
16. Go to Hong Kong or Tokyo Disney- Nope. BUT I did go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Osaka! My friend Beth and I took a mommy trip to Kyoto and Osaka and spent the WHOLE day kid free at the WWOHP. It was so magical!
17. Have a Solo Show in Japan- Nope, but... I have a show scheduled for February 2018! 18. Take a Class- Yes I took lots of little classes this year. A couple of pottery classes, a Japanese cooking class, and an ikebana or Japanese flower arranging class. 19. Make New Friends- Yes! I have had a lot of fun making friends over the past year <3 20. Knit a Scarf- Nope. Another one that I didn't make a priority. 21. Meditate- Nope. My goal was 5 minutes, everyday, for 1 month and while I didn't do that I did turn to meditation more often in moments of stress. Very helpful to concentrate on my breathing and mantras when life got overwhelming. 22. Go on at least 1 Adventure a Week- Yes! Probably the easiest of my 30 goals. We went on so many adventures this year and had so much fun doing it!
23. Go on a Yoga Retreat- Nope. Timing didn't work out for this one. 24. Visit 3 Ryukyu Islands- YES! Probably one of my favorite accomplishments this year! I went to Iejima when my mom was in town, and then Adam, kiddo, and I went camping on Zamami Island. While we were on Zamami we also visited Aka, and Geruma. The Keramas are one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. 25. Snorkel with Sea Turtles- YES! For our anniversary we decided to take an impromptu trip to the Keramas. We went camping on Ama Beach on Zamami Island. Sea turtles hang out at Ama Beach. We were able to swim and paddle board with sea turtles in the morning and in the evening each day we were there. It was amazing. The water was perfect, the fish were abundant, and the sea turtles were majestic.
26. Write at least 10 Thank You Notes- Nope. I had really high hopes for this one. This is one I would still like to accomplish. 27. It’s a Secret- Nope. The opportunity did not present itself :) "Secrets are the currency if intimacy." -Frank Warren creator of PostSecret.com 28. Boudoir Photo Shoot- Nope. Truthfully we didn't have the extra funds. 29. Visit at least 1 East Asia/ Pacific Country- Nope. Does spending 8 hours at Seoul airport count? Or going to Hawaii for Christmas? 30. Keep a Daily Gratitude Journal- Yes! I started a Creative Gratitude Journal in April and it has been such a fun project.
11.5 of 30 completed. Not fantastic but not too bad either. If I give myself bonus points for my new tattoo, cutting off my hair, going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, surviving my husband being gone for 6 months, and doing half marathon #4, it comes out to 16.5 of 30 :) My 20's were wonderful. I am excited to see what my 30's have in store! Thank you for joining me on this little journey.
