30 by 30 UPDATE

Well, as of yesterday, I am only 9 months away from turning 30!

How am I doing on the 30 by 30 list?

What have I accomplished in the last 3 months?

(Besides keeping myself and my animals fed and alive, that is!)

1. Go to 3 new American cities.

(I should be going, at least, to Boston, New Haven, DC, and New York this summer.)

I went to Boston, Worcester, New Haven, Farmington, Hartford, Mystic, New Britain, and DC! Plus the Atlanta Airport, the Cincinnati Airport, the Baltimore Airport and a lot of middle of nowhere train stations!
PLUS I have a trip planned for this December to someplace new that's super hush hush for now!

2. Travel to another country, bringing my total to 6 in the past 3 years.

(Might have to make a pit stop in Canada for this one!)

3. Eat something green (that's not gummy and shaped like a bear) every day.

(Or that's covered in cheese...)

4. Really pare down my closet.

Not quite "DONE" but I took 3 giant bags to Goodwill today!

5. Write 3 chapters of my dissertation.

6. Start a savings account.

7. Go to the gym regularly. For me, that's 3-4 times a week, no excuses!

8. Volunteer for a charity/charitable organization. Anyone have any ideas?

9. "Run" a 5K. I am NOT a runner, so maybe just do a 5K?

(DONE! 4/5/14 - 80s Retro Run at Shelby Farms!)

10. Get an article published in a peer-reviewed journal.

11. Be better at writing thank you notes and follow-up letters.

So this is kind of a constant thing, but on my trip I wrote and mailed all my thank you letters before I even came back to Memphis!

12. Learn to accept a compliment.

13. Go a week without complaining about anyone/anything.

14. Eat breakfast regularly.

15. Read 25 new books. I have a bad habit of rereading my favorites and not trying anything new. Time to change that!

I'm working on it!

1. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman

2. House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski

16. Get my French back to conversational level.

17. Learn enough German to have rough conversational skills.

18. Make schnitzel.

19. Make magenflasters like my gramma's.

20. Finally figure out how to use my "grown up" camera.

21. Take a spa day - massage, mani, pedi, facial - and just enjoy it, no phone, no conversation.

22. Visit all the museums in Memphis.

(I've been to the Brooks and the Pink Palace, but there are a ton more!)

23. Blog at least twice a week.

24. Work on my faith.

(Which is vague, but I'm really private about my beliefs.)

25. Take a trip to the Gulf Coast.

26. Try a new hair color.

27. Find the perfect pair of jeans.

28. Make at least 3 projects for myself with my sewing machine.

29. Start (and maintain) a book club.

30. Stop letting people take advantage of my kindness, just because I'm afraid of being alone.

SO most of these are still left to do, but I've done a ton of traveling, and a lot of them are long-term goals. I think a quarter into the year, I'm doing really well!