30 by 30

Not too long ago, I finished reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I really enjoyed it, which might be surprising when I tell you that I didn't really enjoy her writing style, nor did I relate to her very much. But there is something bewitching about the pursuit of happiness (even Thomas Jefferson thought so!), and the thought that we can control how happy we are.

I felt that this correlated well with my desire to compile a "30 by 30" bucket list of sorts. So I've been mulling it over for a few days now, and I think I've come up with a pretty decent list. I've created 6 categories with 5 goals in each one. I felt that each of these categories were things that I already found joy in, so why not improve upon them?

I'll list the goals in order, 5 per category. The categories are: Physical, Spiritual, Things to Read, Skills to Learn, Music, and Experiences to Have.

Some of the things I chose because I've never done them before and I've always wanted to. Some I chose because it's been so long since I did them, I barely remember anything about them. Some will be hard, some will be easy. Some will take a long time, some will take 10 minutes. But I'm rather excited about each of them. And, to be fair, I've been thinking about this stuff since my birthday. Some of the things are already completed, like reading the Old Testament all the way through. But I still wanted to include them on this list. We'll just call it "retroactive" to August 8, 2010.

So, without further ado, here is my 30 by 30 list.

1. Go to a Zumba class.
2. Cross-country ski in the city forest.
3. Hike Angels Landing.
4. Play a full round of Frisbee Golf.
5. Climb a tree.
6. Read and study all of the conference talks from October 2010.
7. Keep a journal for at least 30 days in a row.
8. Read and study all of Preach My Gospel.
9. Go to the temple at least once (this seems like a ridiculously low number, I know, but it's hard with 2 kids, one of whom can't eat without me, no family/babysitters, and a temple that is 2 hours away.)
10. Find a family name to take to the temple.
11. Read Anna Karenina.
12. Read the Old Testament all the way through.
13. Read the complete works of Jane Austen.
14. Read all the Harry Potter books again.
15. Read Articles of Faith by James E. Talmage.
    
16. Sew matching dresses/skirts for my girls.
17. Create a new recipe.
18. Bake a cake from scratch.
19. Learn to milk a cow.
20. Make a denim quilt.
21. Learn to play all the hymns on the organ.
22. Learn to play a new song on the guitar.
23. Learn to play a new song on the ukulele.
24. Listen to The Messiah in its entirety (sing along when possible).
25. Learn to play the William Tell Overture on the piano (I might need to get a new arrangement for this one. . . any suggestions?)
26. Visit Chicago.
    
27. Host a Pie Party.
28. See Niagra Falls.
29. Go to a Farmers Market and buy something.
30. Use my passport.

I swear, that list doesn't look very long on paper, but it feels long. It feels very, very long. Get excited, you are going to hear about each of these as they are completed. Here's to hoping that I can get this done by August 8, 2011!