35 in 35

Tagged with life in general

Happy New Year, everybody! I'm excited that it's 2016. I'm looking forward to making 2016 my year, and of course, I have a few things I'd like to achieve. Since my birthday falls so close to the end of the year, I figured I'd list 35 things I want to do while I'm 35 instead of making a list of resolutions. I've been working on this list for weeks and I'm excited to finally post it.

Personal

  • Move back to New England. This is the big one. I've been in Portland now for a year and a half, and while I love a lot of things about it, I don't love living so far from my family. Sometime in 2016 I will be packing up my things and moving 2500 miles back to the land of Dunkin Donuts, Celeste Pizza, and, of course, Friendly's ice cream.
  • Take a trip to the Cape. Cape Cod is my favorite place in the world, so I want to take a trip there. Just a weekend would do. I want to smell the salt air and walk on the flats and pick up pretty shells. I love the Cape.
  • Grow out my hair. I like having short hair, but I also like changing it. A lot. I've never kept it long for decent periods of time, so this year, I want to grow it. Maybe I'll even document the hair growth process here!
  • Cook at least one new recipe a month.
  • Cook more at home. I go out to eat so much these days, and while I still want to enjoy delicious restaurants, I want to cook more, too.
  • Host a holiday or event. I've never really hosted many parties and I've never hosted a holiday, so I'd like to do one of the two. It will more than likely be some sort of party, but it's better than nothing!
  • Listen to more music. Music is such a big part of my life, but I've slacked off for years on finding new music to listen to. I don't even know how to do it anymore! I'm hoping to figure this out in 2016 and I'll utilize my Spotify account a lot.
  • Learn tarot. I've been talking about learning tarot since my friend Josh gave me a couple readings back when I lived in Indiana. I finally bought a deck right before the holidays, so I want to spend some time learning how to do my own spreads.
  • Meditate. I always feel weird talking about meditation and I feel weird wanting to do it, but I think it will help with the big changes happening in my life right now. I want to start with 5 minutes in the morning before I start my day.

Reading/writing

  • Read 25 books. I wish I could make this 35, just because, but 25 is a much more realistic goal. I read 22 books last year, so hopefully I can jump it up to 25 this year!
  • Participate and finish Nanowrimo 2016! I'm so happy I finished Nanowrimo last year, so I'm hoping I can finish this year too. Whether I write by myself or write with a group, I'll make it happen again!
  • Write in the blog at least 8 times a month. This averages out to 2 posts a week, which I think I can do. I love writing and would love to continue writing more often in here.
  • Fill up my current paper journal. I started my current journal at the end of November, and I'd like to fill it up before the end of 2016. I can do it!
  • Write in my paper journal at least 3 times a week. Ideally I'd like to write in it daily, but I know that's not realistic for me. 3 times a week is a good starting point.

Craftiness

  • Knit my first sweater. I've tried knitting sweaters in the past, but not since maybe 2008, but none of them ever looked right. This year, I want to make one. I'm thinking of knitting a Mama Vertebrae as my first, as I've heard it's pretty straightforward.
  • Spin all the fiber in my stash. I only have 11 bumps of fiber in my stash currently, so it's feasible I can get through them all. I'm still sitting on a couple from 2006, which I so need to spin!
  • Finish 3 cross-stitch projects. I'm not even halfway done with the Harry Potter cross-stitch I'm working on right now, so this might be a little too ambitious. We shall see.
  • Find a local knitting group. I haven't belonged to one in such a long time, and I miss it so much. 2016 will be the year I get back to it.
  • Knit a pair of socks for Christmas 2016. I love the tradition of knitting socks for Christmas, so I want to continue it in 2016.
  • Buy no new yarn besides at fiber events. I have enough yarn as it is, so I only want to buy yarn at fiber events. Speaking of which...
  • Attend at least 3 fiber events. Rhinebeck, I'm looking at you! I'm hoping for a few other events, because I've missed attending them.

Tech/Career

  • Attend at least 3 conferences. I'm hoping to attend Design 4 Drupal, Nerd Summit, New England Drupal Camp, and hopefully Wordcamp US and Wordcamp Boston!
  • Learn how actions and filters really work in Wordpress.
  • Learn a new CSS technique. I'm looking at you, Flexbox.
  • Put up a portfolio site, finally! I've been wanting to do this for years, and 2016 will be my year for this!
  • Re-categorize and organize the posts here. I have so much content here, from 2000 onward, and I want to make more of my archives public. I also want to move back to using categories instead of tags, but I don't know how long that will take. I have over 1000 posts here, which is unbelievable!

Fitness

  • Start running more consistently again. I've only run a handful of times in the past year and a half, so I've lost most of my endurance. I want to run at least 3 times a week to start. I just need to get better at doing it regularly so I don't lose it again!
  • Run another 5k. I'd preferably like to run a 5k in under a half hour again, but I'm not sure I can do that with my first race back to it.
  • Run another 10k. My last 10k was terrible, so I want to redeem myself. I won't get under an hour with the first one I run again, but that will be a longer term goal.
  • Run another half marathon. I have such fond memories of running my first half marathon that I want to run another. Seriously, I count that as one of the best days of my life.
  • Run a Turkey Trot. I miss having this as a Thanksgiving tradition!
  • Run the Hot Chocolate Run! This is my most favorite race ever, so of course I want to run it again. And again. And again.
  • Join a running group. I love running with other people, so I'd love to do this again!
  • Join a gym. I'm thinking I'll want to run indoors when it's cold outside this time around, as navigating streets covered with ice and snow isn't something I want to do any longer! I also would like to do some strength training.
  • Find a method of cross-training that sticks. I'm thinking either yoga or strength training. I might start with yoga and once I'm feeling not so intimidated, I'll try lifting weights. I'd love to have muscles.