6||Share Your Style

Share your style. What fashion trends do you love, frequent, or avoid?

Based on yesterday's musical selection, you may not believe that I actually consider myself a classy-ish sort of lady. I value comfort and class, and in that order, to be completely honest. If I'm at home, odds are I'm in workout clothes (hoodies and running shorts are my jam), but I do like to get dressed up when necessary. I appreciate the business casual aspect of my job. Some days, my only confidence over my students is that I'm better dressed than they are. 

In the States, I would often be mistaken for a student which always blew my mind because I have always been intentional to outdress them, especially in formal situations... Like Capitol Hill in DC. Where, you know, I saw important people like John McCain. And STILL got mistaken for a student and had to show my driver's license to get chaperone clearance with my student group.

Anyhow. 

I love a well-fitting pant. I also love a good dress. I am working to switch over my wardrobe to high quality pieces but even my higher quality is relative. My three favorite places to shop are The Loft, JC Penny's, and Gap with a side of Target and Old Navy thrown in. So, you can see, even my high quality endeavors are still on a budget. 

I also have a shoe habit that I'm working to break. Really, I am trying to embrace quality over quantity but I still have enough shoes to last me for awhile. I just wore out a pair of flats and I still can't bring myself to throw them away. They are just too cute and versatile and I can't find a replacement pair anywhere! But due to my last six-ish years of shoe buying, I'm good to go for awhile.

Since moving overseas, I've been working to establish a capsule wardrobe. I think I'm finally there, I just need to sort out my clothes and make it happen. Being a business professional in a tropical climate is not the easiest, especially when I cannot buy clothes on the general market, so I am trying to be as intentional as possible with what I have and what I wear. I like classic pieces that are versatil across seasons. I'm not much of an accessorizer past earrings (thanks, mom!) but I do indulge in earrings as well!

At the end of the day, I aim to be comfy and classy in a way that is modest but reflects my personality as well! All of the pins in this post today are ones I used to inspiration in my own dressing. Some of my Pinterest board actually exists and some of it is just dreams. Especially the purses. The purses are all dreams. Shoes before purses after all.

Follow Aubrey McNary's board Looks Aren't Everything on Pinterest.

The 2015 Blog-Tember Challenge. Day 1. Day 2. Day 3. Day 4. Day 5. Day 6.

March Goals

I'm much less late with this month's goals than I was with last month's. Actually, being late to the party has been the theme of the year so far. See please Exhibit #1, Exhibit #2, Exhibit #3, Exhibit #4, and Exhibit #5. At least I started the year out on the right foot and managed to remember my birthday. Ahem. Five out of seven is not a good track record.

Anyhow, March. Hello. I can't believe you are here already. I still feel like we should be back in January somewhere. I think the consistent weather helps me to lose track of the days. Every day seems the same and, in turn, I have no way to track the seasons. We are down to basically twelve weeks of school. Cue the part praise, part panic. Or mostly panic, to be honest. So much to do in such a short period of time!

This month, I intentionally wrote down my goals and will hang them over my desk. These goals look very similar to February's goals. And January's, I know. I made progress, for sure, but not enough for completion. So on the list they stay until I have accomplished the goal completely and wholly.

I extended my thesis goal because I'm hitting crunch time hardcore there and I did complete my goal of (more or less) memorizing Philippians 2:14-16 and (completely) my Thai phone number. Each of these goals would take up so little of my day, I'm frustrated that I have let myself be so lax about taking care of them. 

It's a new month and a fresh start... Make it happen, Aubrey!

May your March be blessed.

30 Before 30, v.27.0

I am a full two years into this journey and I find it crazy to see how life has happened in the last six months. I definitely feel older with this 27th birthday, but I also feel the same as I always have been. Bring it on 27... I'm ready and waiting.

1. Finish my Master's degree. I have my thesis proposal defense scheduled for Friday and have been given June 19 as my date of final completion!
2. Knock out Baby Steps 2 & 3. I am struggling. Sadface.
3. Complete the C25K program.
4. Build my blog to 100 followers.
5. Take an international vacation... alone.
6. Coach in a state basketball tournament.
7. Buy a nice camera to document life's adventures. I need to figure out how to use my camera and then document this post!
8. Read and notate through the Bible five different times, in four translations (NIV, NKJV, ESV, NASB).
9. Run a marathon.
10. Hit my goal weight (160 pounds... Dream weight is 145 pounds).
11. Do something really nice for somebody... something I never thought I'd be able to do... somewhere, at sometime.  Something has been done and I'm leaving it at that.
12. Send out snail mail Christmas cards one year.
13. Read 100 new (never before read) books. 1Fat Angie. 2Single Infertile Female: Adventures in Life, Love, and Infertility. 3Sparkly Green Earrings: Catching the Light at Every Turn. 4The Help. 5Monster. 6The Book Thief.7Eat, Pray, Love. 8Same Kind of Different as Me. 9Winning Balance.10Thirteen Reasons Why. 11Zack's Lie. 12Water for Elephants. 13The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 14The Girl Who Played With Fire. 15The Language of Flowers. 16The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. 17Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. 18Jack's Run. 19Gone Girl. 20My Sister's Voice. 21The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet-- A Memoir. 22Divergent. 23The Fault in Our Stars. 24Inferno. 25The Time Keeper. 26Arranged. 27The Anti-Prom. 28The Boyfriend App. 29Going Vintage. 30Deception Point. 31The Tyrant's Daughter. 32Hollow City. 33And the Mountains Echoed. 34Unbroken. 35Calico Joe. 36Insurgent. 37The Memory Keeper's Daughter: A Novel. 38Allegiant. 39Looking for Alaska. 40The Hurricane Sisters: A Novel. 41An Abundance of Katherines. 42The Lovely Bones. 43If I Stay. 44Where She Went. 44Paper Towns. 45Night. 46Will Grayson, Will Grayson (46/100)
14. Try at least 30 new recipes. 1Knoephla Soup. 2Parkerhouse Rolls. 3Broccoli Salad. 4Caramel Rolls. 5Jello Salad. 6Garlic and Parmesan Brussels Sprouts. (6/30) Bad blogger alert. I hosted a large dinner party last fall and never blogged about the evening or my recipes. This will happen, though!
15. Write 500 notes of encouragement to those around me. (5/500)
16. Go skydiving.
17. Crochet a baby afghan.
18. Have a photo shoot done of myself... Insecurities set aside.
19. Go on another missions trip. This one may be in the works. Details are being worked out right now.
20. Complete a semester of calculus.
21. Earn my permit to carry a concealed weapon.
22. Sleep a night under the stars.
23. Get three stamps in my passport. (1/3) I have two international weekends booked in the upcoming two months!
24. Make a kite and fly it.
25. Achieve complete financial independence. Although I am currently struggling pretty hard with #2, I can see that I am slowly but surely moving to total financial independence.
26. Take a dance class.
27. Tear a phone book in half.
28. Solve a Rubik's cube.
29. Learn to swim.
30. Visit New York City... Perhaps for a 30th birthday celebration?

February Goals

Sorry but not sorry I'm late on posting this month's goals. I spent this last weekend taking myself on a weekend date of sorts and just decompressing from the, honestly, stressful month that was January.  I also spent about an hour of that weekend writing this post only to lose it somewhere in cyberspace between here and there. I am super bummed and have zero energy to rewrite everything. Regardless, a quick review of January, if you please.

1. Update my Franklin every day. I have been so unproductive in my days because I haven't been listing and prioritizing my to-do list each day. #Nerdbomb #Colorcodedtoo (I think I made it four days into the month here.)

2. Implement a revised budget. I fell off the budget bandwagon when I moved last year and that needs to stop. I have been living in Thailand long enough that I have a decent understanding of what I need to do with my finances. Now I need to make it happen. (Still flying by the seat of my pants to pay the bills.)

3. Clean and organize my email accounts for fifteen minutes each day. I have three different inboxes and now is the time to get them back to a manageable status. I never understood what people meant when they were "behind on email," but boy do I understand it now! My plan is to knock out my work email first, my personal email second, and my school email last. (People keep sending me work email... I feel so counterproductive. But I did improve in this area last month!)

4. Complete 50% of my thesis bibliography. I have almost officially hit panic mode. I have about two and a half months to write a thesis. I need to get a TON of reading done this month. Since my Works Cited page must include at least 40 resources, I will need to have read, notated, and filed at least 20 different resources this month. I also have to submit my thesis proposal and my topic proposal, but I get no choice in those matters. January is going to be very grad school heavy. (I think I finished with twelve or thirteen sources? I definitely didn't make my goal but I didn't completely suck it up either.)

5. Finish 1/3 of my 3/30/90 workout goal. In the midst of everything else to do in the month, I need to remember to take care of myself. I saw this pin the other day and found myself very attracted to it. I'm committing to a better lifestyle practice and trusting the results will come. It's reasonable, it's attainable, and it's now mine. (Uh, well, two workouts. Not even close.)

Oh look... I didn't cross anything off because I didn't get anything finished! January was a struggling for me. See #4. Grad school ate everything, especially my thesis proposal and topic proposal. I am keeping this goal set for the next month with these two changes:

4. Complete 100% of my thesis bibliography. Read, read, read. And then read some more for good measure, no?

6. Memorize my Thai number as well as Philippians 2:14-16. I switched back to a smart phone last month and I still don't know my Thai number. The worst part is that I never learned my first Thai mobile number either. I never call myself, so it's not very convenient for me to remember. Ha! Likewise, I have a scripture goal this month... Many things to discuss there, but here's to the first step of making it happen!

January Goals

Instead of making resolutions for the entirety of 2015, I have decided to instead start making monthly goals. I have never been very good about following through on my resolutions and as I have watched a couple of my favorite bloggers (namely Erin and Shay) practice making monthly goals, I have decided to join in on the practice too. 

I'm already scared just looking at the first five months of 2015, but bring. it. on. By the end of May, I will have finished my first year teaching at a new job, written my thesis and prepared for its defense, applied for graduate school (again!), and paid down 15% of my total remaining debt.

Here we go, 2015. Let's get this show on the road!

1. Update my Franklin every day. I have been so unproductive in my days because I haven't been listing and prioritizing my to-do list each day. #Nerdbomb #Colorcodedtoo

2. Implement a revised budget. I fell off the budget bandwagon when I moved last year and that needs to stop. I have been living in Thailand long enough that I have a decent understanding of what I need to do with my finances. Now I need to make it happen.

3. Clean and organize my email accounts for fifteen minutes each day. I have three different inboxes and now is the time to get them back to a manageable status. I never understood what people meant when they were "behind on email," but boy do I understand it now! My plan is to knock out my work email first, my personal email second, and my school email last.

4. Complete 50% of my thesis bibliography. I have almost officially hit panic mode. I have about two and a half months to write a thesis. I need to get a TON of reading done this month. Since my Works Cited page must include at least 40 resources, I will need to have read, notated, and filed at least 20 different resources this month. I also have to submit my thesis proposal and my topic proposal, but I get no choice in those matters. January is going to be very grad school heavy.

5. Finish 1/3 of my 3/30/90 workout goal. In the midst of everything else to do in the month, I need to remember to take care of myself. I saw this pin the other day and found myself very attracted to it. I'm committing to a better lifestyle practice and trusting the results will come. It's reasonable, it's attainable, and it's now mine.

Here we go, 2015. Meet you at the end!

19|| Be Your Own BFF

I can about feel my sister rolling her eyes at me right now. This is the third "Blog Every Day in [Whatever Month]" challenge I have attempted and I had been doing so well until this last week. And then I caught the flu bug that has been circulating amongst the teachers and ended up with six days of body aches, headaches, fevers, chills, etc. I feel about 85% better and have a chiropractor appointment on Tuesday to hopefully get the rest of this crap out of my system. She has probably assumed that I fell off the bandwagon again, but I'm determined to finish this one out... And I'm still trying to make up ground from starting late!  Here's to a weekend of playing catch up in all areas of life after six days of just trying to survive...

If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?

Be the friend to yourself that you are to other people.

(via)

Why is it that we are all too willing to extend patience and understanding to our friends and family (and even people we don't like...) but not to ourselves? Why is it that grace covers a multitude of other's sins, but not our own?

(via)

I saw another quote on Pinterest but didn't grab it because I was at work and didn't want to show that I was cruising Pinterest at work. #Ashamed #ItwasFridayafternoon I've gone back to look for it a couple of times since and can't find it, but it posed a question similar to this:

If you had a friend who said the same things to you that you say to yourself, how long would you keep that friend around?

Psht... That person would be kicked to the curb, hard and fast. I'm not talking about the friend who speaks truth into my life and pushes me to be a better person, but about the one who criticizes me for my eyebrows not being done and my stomach looking too pudgy while feeding my thoughts of insecurity and self-doubt. Nobody would keep such a funsucker around, so why do we do it to ourselves?

Remember... Be the friend to yourself that you are to other people.

30 Before 30, v.26.5

 As of today, I am 1.5 years into this journey. I'm making progress in some places but I can really see where I need to pick it up here in the next couple of years!

1. Finish my Master's degree. One more academic year! At this time next year, I will be done!
2. Knock out Baby Steps 2 & 3. Still. working. on. Baby Step 2. Oi vey.
3. Complete the C25K program. This is another changed goal. I have started this program many times but have never finished it.
4. Build my blog to 100 followers. Again, a change to the program. I've been praying about the purpose of my blog and I'm excited to see what God does with it in the next couple of years!
5. Take an international vacation... alone.
6. Coach in a state basketball tournament.
7. Buy a nice camera to document life's adventures. Done! I purchased a Sony DSC-RX100 before I moved this summer. Now I just need to get figuring out how to use it.
8. Read and notate through the Bible five different times, in four translations (NIV, NKJV, ESV, NASB). (0/5)
9. Run a marathon.
10. Hit my goal weight (160 pounds... Dream weight is 145 pounds). Still working on this. I don't have a scale with me right now but I feel better than I have in a long time so I'm feeling better than were I had been.
11. Do something really nice for somebody... something I never thought I'd be able to do... somewhere, at sometime.
12. Send out snail mail Christmas cards one year.
13. Read 100 new (never before read) books. 1Fat Angie. 2Single Infertile Female: Adventures in Life, Love, and Infertility. 3Sparkly Green Earrings: Catching the Light at Every Turn. 4The Help. 5Monster. 6The Book Thief.7Eat, Pray, Love. 8Same Kind of Different as Me. 9Winning Balance.10Thirteen Reasons Why. 11Zack's Lie. 12Water for Elephants. 13The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 14The Girl Who Played With Fire. 15The Language of Flowers. 16The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. 17Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. 18Jack's Run. 19Gone Girl. 20My Sister's Voice. 21The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet-- A Memoir. 22Divergent. 23The Fault in Our Stars. 24Inferno. 25The Time Keeper. 26Arranged. 27The Anti-Prom. 28The Boyfriend App. 29Going Vintage. 30Deception Point. 31The Tyrant's Daughter. 32Hollow City. 33And the Mountains Echoed. 34Unbroken. 35Calico Joe. (35/100)
14. Try at least 30 new recipes. (0/30)
15. Write 500 notes of encouragement to those around me. (3/500)
16. Go skydiving.
17. Crochet a baby afghan. I still haven't found a pattern I liked so this one is back on the shelf.
18. Have a photo shoot done of myself... Insecurities set aside.
19. Go on another missions trip.
20. Complete a semester of calculus.
21. Earn my permit to carry a concealed weapon.
22. Sleep a night under the stars.
23. Get three stamps in my passport. (1/3) I'm obviously back in Thailand, but I'm waiting to get some travel plans going so I can get a couple more stamps!
24. Make a kite and fly it.
25. Achieve complete financial independence.
26. Take a dance class.
27. Tear a phone book in half.
28. Solve a Rubik's cube.
29. Learn to swim.
30. Visit New York City... Perhaps for a 30th birthday celebration?

Start date: February 15, 2013
End date: February 15, 2018

To My 18 Year Old Self

As many colleges and high schools are holding graduation ceremonies in the next couple of weekends, I've become a little reminiscent. Or a lot reminiscent. I've also been going through my keepsake boxes from when I was younger and earlier this week I went through all of my graduation cards from high school. I graduated high school with big dreams and high hopes. The next five years didn't exactly go as planned but I wouldn't change them for the world. As such, a note to my 18 year old self.

I wish I could go back and tell my naive 18 year old self that, in all reality, her college education would be a bust, but it would be the life lessons and friendships made during college that will count the most.

I wish I could tell her to just start off in education, but to be prepared for the joke that will be her English degree. I wish I could tell her that her education won't lead to the Master's degree she planned, to the accomplishment she assumed, or even the satisfaction she thought would come with finishing college- just like both of her parents have... multiple times.

I wish I could tell her that she may feel like she ended up becoming a teacher because she wasn't smart enough to do anything else, but she, as a pre-service teacher, had a better understanding of what it means to be an effective educator than do many veteran teachers because she has a special gift in working with adolescents.

I wish I could tell her that college will not nearly be the experience she thought it would be but it will draw her deeper into a faith that she didn't really think possible... that she will fall more in love with a God who cares so deeply for her, who has such a crazy awesome plan for her life, who made her in His perfect image and wants so badly for her to love herself, who doesn't intend for college to be the climax of her life because He has so much more in store for her.



I wish I could tell her that despite the struggles and the tears and the doubts...

It will all be okay in the end.

17:40

About two weeks go now, I skipped my evening workout class because it was so nice outside that I wanted to exercise some place other than indoors. And due to my crazy schedule up to that point, I hadn't gotten a run in since January 25. At least that's what my phone said. So I was looking at approximately eight weeks without having gotten in a formal run. And, as is often my usual, I waited until it was getting dark outside to actually get myself moving, so I was nervous about it getting too dark for me to stay outside. (I don't like being outside in the dark by myself in our town. I don't mind being out after dark in other places, but I'm just not comfortable in that environment in my current town.)

I started out from my driveway and got moving. And I lasted for three minutes. Three minutes. Uhh... I have 13.1 miles to run in two months (a couple of weeks ago yet...) and I knew I won't be getting it done in three minutes. I had decided before I set out that night I would follow the workout plan for C25K, Day 4-1. Now I realize that a half marathon (21.7K) is a lot longer than a 5K, but I've had success with the running/jogging intervals planned in the C25K program, so I stuck with it.

I'm not going to lie... It took a little bit to find my rhythm. I hit 15 minutes and was ready to head home because I was only a couple of blocks away. I made myself turn the other way and keep running, but then the descending sun really did get to me and I ended up turning back to go home.

My entire workout last night lasted 17 minutes and 40 seconds.

I was ticked.

I was whining and complaining and being all sorts of Debby Downer in my head as I thought about how short my workout was.

I got myself back on the running horse (or the dreamill- pretty much the same thing) this past Sunday with every intention of running three miles, not matter how long it took. I was pretty sure from the activity level I had been keeping that I would be able to make it three miles, albeit slow miles. Just kidding... I was able to run 0.66 miles before I had to stop. And my workout totaled 1.66 miles. I probably could have physically made it the entire three miles, but I was going so slowly that I was running out of time and I didn't want to be late for church.

Last night I wanted to go four miles, but I only made it 2.6 before I could feel my feet hotspotting and I wanted to avoid blisters. I was frustrated with myself physicall, yes, but I also made a poor choice in footwear. (My feet are clearly not in Vibram shape anymore.)

I wasn't so much ticked this time as I was frustrated. I have set this goal for myself and I have somebody else I've committed to join in this endeavor, and I haven't been disciplined enough to have my body in a place to be able to do it.

As frustrated as I am, though, my perspective has shifted. For this, I am so grateful! I can't think of one time in my life before that I would have been able to take two months off from running and then bust out 17 minutes and 40 seconds of interval work. I am not a natural runner. Last night I was able to run a solid mile (in approximately 10 minutes) and my overall distance increased a mile from just two days before!

I've come to the realization that I will not be running a PR in May. Right now my challenge is to myself- that I will finish my training plan in a strong manner and be in better shape come May 10. I really want to stop looking at only my failures but also remember to find the good. I'm running to form a lifelong habit of fitness and wellness- that's what I need to keep in mind!

In-Betweens, Runs, Minds, Days, and Dresses

One. This week has felt odd. It has been some sort of in-between of basketball tournaments, weather seasons, and buckling down for the last 11 weeks of the school year. I feel like I may have hit some rhythm at this point, but I’m still not all too sure.

Two. Due to so much of the in-betweenness, especially with post-season basketball tournaments, my workouts have all too much ceased to exist. I am panicking about how I am going to build up mileage for my half marathon in May, but I officially started over on Wednesday night with my back end back in the gym and I am just going to have to do as well as possible until May actually comes.

Three. I was going to stop observing winter on March 1, but the -42 degree wind chills prevented that. Same with March 2. But since March third and its balmy 11 degree highs, I have been showing as much ankle in as many bright colors as I have wanted to. We still have some snow on the ground, yes, and the eastern part of the state had blizzard warnings Wednesday night and delayed starts or no school yesterday, but it’s mind over matter folks. MIND OVER MATTER!

Four. I teach only twelve days in March between spring break, a personal day, and the Close Up trip. For that matter, I teach only one full week (this week) but this first stretch of nine days sure does seem like a killer!

Five. And just because we need something good and shallow to end this post with, since there already hasn’t been a single thing of substance yet, I’m really wanting this dress. I don’t own much green, but I really do like wearing green and blues. I like the detailing around the waste and I see this dress being a good three, if not four, season dress.

Enjoy the weekend!

Licenses, Tournaments, Life, Crunch, and the Drawing Board

As has become my usual, I am linking up with the ladies of The Good Life, A. Liz Adventures, Carolina Charm, and Hello Happiness for "5 on Friday." Please join us!

One. Now that I finally got my teaching license figured out (It wasn't my error... needed to send in some additional paperwork that should have been taken care of when I first was contracted two years ago but I was given a five year license at the end of it all so I am good and happy!), I need to get my driver's license renewed. It's not like I didn't know exactly when I was going to expire four years ago when I last renewed it and it's not like I didn't have the ten months previous to renew it and it's not like I didn't talk about renewing it at least twenty times and it's not like I didn't try once because I did. But, my driver's license is now expired and, at this point, I won't be getting that baby renewed until basketball season is over. Here's to concientious and increasingly defensive driving.

Two. We officially start our post-season tournaments tonight. We are going into the tournament as the fourth seed after finishing in a three-way tie for second during the regular season. Plain and simple, our goal is to win the tournament. We certainly have the skill set to win the championship... We need to come into the games with our heads on straight and the team's interest as our first priority.

Three. Not that I am a non-procrastinator anyhow (see #1) but I feel like life has such a sense of uncertainty right now. I can attribute this uncertainty to a couple of big things as well as a number of smaller things. I'm looking forward to things panning out in the next couple of months... Whatever that will look like.

Four. Oh boy... I am really starting to feel the crunch of race day. February has completely kicked my tail and I haven't gotten a decent run in for awhile. I've still been attending my boot camp class and I've practiced as much with the high school team as possible, but I still feel so far behind. I will clearly be hitting the dreadmill hard once basketball season is over.

Five. I'm sorry if I'm a broken record at this point, but grad school is kicking my tail. I thought I would get a short reprieve from grad school after this week of madness, but after a talk with my professor tonight, it's back to the drawing board on Sunday to fix my research project. It's almost midterm... Almost midterm... Almost midterm...

30 Before 30, v. 26.0

This morning, I published my "30 Before 30" list. I'm one fifth into this little journey of randomness and ricidulousness, so I figured I was due for an update. This has been a fun little project so far... I'm excited to see what I get done this next year as well!

1. Finish my Master's degree. Currently in my first of four remaining semesters!
2. Knock out Baby Steps 2 & 3. Still working on Baby Step 2.
3. Visit at least 15 states. (0/15)
4. Serve at a soup kitchen in each of those visited states.
5. Take an international vacation... alone.
6. Coach in a state basketball tournament.
7. Buy a nice camera to document life's adventures. I've done my research and am looking to pull the trigger in the next month or two.
8. Read and notate through the Bible five different times, in four translations (NIV, NKJV, ESV, NASB). (0/5)
9. Run a marathon. I'm aiming for this year!
10. Hit my goal weight (160 pounds... Dream weight is 145 pounds). I'm making a much more concentrated effort on this one but it's coming along much more slowly than I'd like... Womp womp.)
11. Do something really nice for somebody... something I never thought I'd be able to do... somewhere, at sometime.
12. Send out snail mail Christmas cards one year. I just changed this goal to something I could look forward to more. It's my list and I'll change it if I want to.
13. Read 100 new (never before read) books. 1Fat Angie. 2Single Infertile Female: Adventures in Life, Love, and Infertility. 3Sparkly Green Earrings: Catching the Light at Every Turn. 4The Help. 5Monster. 6The Book Thief.7Eat, Pray, Love. 8Same Kind of Different as Me. 9Winning Balance.10Thirteen Reasons Why. 11Zack's Lie. 12Water for Elephants. 13The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 14The Girl Who Played With Fire. 15The Language of Flowers. 16The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. 17Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. 18Jack's Run. 19Gone Girl. 20My Sister's Voice. 21The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet-- A Memoir. 22Divergent. 23The Fault in Our Stars. 24Inferno.
14. Try at least 30 new recipes. (0/30)
15. Write 500 notes of encouragement to those around me. (0/500)
16. Go skydiving.
17. Crochet a baby afghan. I've started something like 10 patterns but I can't find one I like. So I look for lucky #11, I guess.
18. Have a photo shoot done of myself... Insecurities set aside.
19. Go on another missions trip.
20. Complete a semester of calculus.
21. Earn my permit to carry a concealed weapon.
22. Sleep a night under the stars.
23. Get three stamps in my passport. (1/3)
24. Make a kite and fly it.
25. Achieve complete financial independence.
26. Take a dance class.
27. Tear a phone book in half.
28. Solve a Rubik's cube.
29. Learn to swim.
30. Visit New York City... Perhaps for a 30th birthday celebration?

Start date: February 15, 2013
End date: February 15, 2018