Last year, around my birthday, I came up with a list of 24 goals I wanted to accomplish before I turned 25. I will surely make a list again this year for my next set of ideas, but before I go forward, I thought it would be fun to hold myself accountable to the ideas I had. Some of them definitely have been accomplished, some have definitely not. Like not even close. But I'm happy for the little victories and fun areas of personal growth. I like being an adult a lot for this reason, I feel really like I'm growing into myself more and more. So let's see how I did...
1. Have a regular fitness routine. Meh. Didn't really accomplish this one because I'm just as on-again-and-off-again with running and working out as I was at this time last year.
2. Write a book. Swing, and a miss. I started a project (actually a really cool one!) but then employment, finding a job, and working my little butt off to be the best teacher I could be got in the way. And I still feel like I have miles to go in becoming a better teacher. But the book idea will have to simmer for now.
3. Read 5 books, just for the sake of reading them. We have a winner! Definitely accomplished this one. I read all 3 of Shauna Niequist's books this past year, along with a great collection of nonfiction stories from Annie Dillard, Soul Pancake, Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls, Sacred Marriage, The Meaning of Marriage, two books on teacher professional development, The Fault in Our Stars, and my favorite book that I read this past year, hands down, goes to The Book Thief. I was weeping, people; it was that good. The #1 biggest disappointment of the year in the literary department goes to Allegiant, Veronica Roth's third installment to her YA fiction series. It was bad. So I'd say Marcus Zusak gets my bid for Best Book of Anna Gesch Whartnaby's year.
4. Ged rid of clothes I don't wear. Also a success! I donated a total of 8 brown paper Trader Joe's bags to Goodwill. This doesn't mean, however, that my closet has any empty space at all. It just means I can mostly see all of the clothes that I own now. And that's a good thing.
5. Learn a new song in sign language. Nope. Forgot to do it completely.
6. Learn about wine. Again, nope. Unless "learning about wine" means "drinking more wine," I didn't get to that one this year. It will be in some form on the list to come.
7. Wake up really early to go to the beach to see the sunrise. A modified victory. I woke up really early one weekend to see the sunrise, but it wasn't at the beach. It was on my deck at my little apartment in Pilsen and it was very lovely. I then went to the coffee shop on the corner and I considered this halfway accomplished.
8. Take picture of murals in Pilsen. I got to take some great Pilsen pictures with Brian this year at Second Fridays for an open art gallery night. I'd love to go back and take more.
9. Paint a piece of furniture in a fun color. Nope. Just assembled furniture from IKEA and World Market instead. Getting married definitely changes your ideas of what you want to do when it comes to furniture.
10. Host people at my apartment for a fun event. Yipee! I had girls over for a Christmas party last December and it was both fun and delicious, as the treats that people brought to share were the best part.
11. Find a mentor. This has been one of the biggest parts of the last year in my life. I have been meeting with a mentor from my church since this past February, and it has had such a great impact on my spiritual life. I love her, look up to her, and wish that someday I'll have as much poise, confidence, and wisdom as she does.
12. Bake a cake or cupcakes from scratch. Check! Thanks 100% to the lovely Reese Eschmann Pyne, this one was accomplished.
13. Learn to use a grill. Halfway, as I've been more intentional about watching my mother-in-law craft delicious food on the grill for us to eat, but don't actually own a grill of my own to practice on. This will have to be a work in progress.
14. Create something crafty to hang up on the walls of my apartment. Done! I found cool map layouts of Chicago and Philadelphia and paired them with some frames I found to surprise Brian for our first apartment together.
15. Eat sushi. Yep. I liked it, but am still wondering how people eat that as their entire meals.
16. Pay off grad school and be debt free. Ahhhhh. This one feels the best. I feel the most grownup about accomplishing this one.
17. Spend less per week on groceries. Check! I found that I was throwing away a ton of food because I couldn't eat it in time before it went bad. I started making lists before going to the store and really stuck to them, which helped me a lot. Since I spent $40 on myself per week, I figured I could keep it to 80 or 90 per week on Brian and I together. So far that's worked out well!
18. Get a no-chip manicure. My sneaky sister-in-law Stephanie, who knew about my engagement before I did, offered to go with me to cross this one off the list just a few days before Brian popped the question.
19. Give more money away to church and charities. While this is always an area we can do more and more of, I would consider this past year a success! I got better with giving consistently to my church and got to sponsor a Campus Crusade member at Northwestern in Evanston for her year of service,
20. Go to a yoga class. Still haven't done it. I'm too nervous to look stupid as a newbie!
21. Start to figure out where I will live/work/be for age 25 and beyond. This one DEFINITELY was accomplished this year. I know that I will live, work, and be alongside of Brian Edward Whartnaby for as long as we both shall live. That was the best accomplishment of my 24th year.
22. Write more thank-you notes. Yep. Weddings will do that to you. I've also managed to write a few more just for kicks, and I recommend it as a cheap and easy way to make people feel really special.
23. Read the Bible more. In conjunction with #11, I would say this area has become more real in my life. Not just because it is happening more often, but because, little by little, it starts to feel less like an obligation and more like a place of rest. Still working on it too.
24. Go on a road trip to a place I've never driven before. Success! I drove myself to the Twin Cities for my dear friend Jen's wedding this summer. It is such a great area and now realize that Minnesota has excellent qualities, in spite of its football team.
Whew! It's been a good ride! The final count is 17/24, and I'd say that's not too shabby. I accomplished lot of big things this year and ignored lots of little ones. Stay tuned for what's on my radar as I embark on this next quarter century.
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