Halfway to 30

Two days ago was my halfway point between 29 and 30. I don't usually think to much of half birthdays but since I have a milestone birthday coming up, I thought it would be a good time to think of things that I want to accomplish before then. I know a lot of people do something like "29 before 30" but I don't have that many :)

1. Take better care of myself.  There are a lot of things I could lump into this but here is what I'm thinking. Keep trying to eat healthy and workout, wash my face every night, floss more, go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. I'm not a spring chicken anymore and I can't just let all of these things slide. I want to be healthy, have good teeth and skin for a long time so I need to start doing more to keep it.

2. Do more adult things. I want to start to save and budget my money, pay all my bills on time, keep my credit cards low, keep my house clean among other things. I'm not in college anymore so I can't keep spending everything I make and letting my house get so messy. I hate to clean and I suck at saving money so these will be hard.

3. Keep doing things I love, even if they aren't "mature". On the other hand, I don't want to stop doing fun things just because I'm older. I still want to go out with my friends until 2 am or watch TV all day because I feel like it. Growing older doesn't have to mean growing up. I need to be a responsible adult but still have fun.

4. Plan and take my big trip to Europe. I mentioned this on the blog before but in case you forgot (or had a mental lapse due to jealousy) my friend and I are going to Europe in May for our birthdays.  I need to start saving and really nailing down plans for this trip. I can't wait!!

5. Learn something new. I've always loved learning but I have a hard time picking new things or keeping at them. My plan right now is to learn some French before my big trip. I would love to be able to converse with the locals a bit so I am not as much of a tourist.

6. Appreciate myself and my life more. I always tend to focus on things about myself that I don't like. I am getting too old to keep putting myself down. Just because I'm not married or don't have kids doesn't mean I haven't accomplished a lot and don't have a lot to be proud of.  I own my own house/condo, I have a dog, I graduated with a doctorate after 8 years of hard work, and I have a lot of friends and family that care about me.

7. If I don't like something (or someone) in my life, change it. Too often I just let things slide because it is easier than making a change. I've wanted to live abroad for a long time but just haven't done it for various reasons.  I really want to start actively pursuing this dream and look for jobs in different countries.  Also, I have a hard time with confrontation. I've been trying to stick up for myself more and the world hasn't crumbled around me (yet). I'm not in high school anymore and I don't need to care so much about what people may think. Or (gasp) that someone may not like me.  You can't please everyone and you aren't meant to be friends with everyone. I just need to get over it!

8. Put myself out there more.  I feel like I sit around too much and feel sorry for myself. No one wants to hang out with me, I'm sad I wasn't invited to this or that thing, I have nothing to do... I need to stop saying these things, take the initiative and do what I want. If I want to have something fun to do, I need to start making more plans myself. If you want people to know you're up for fun, you need to start planning activities yourself. I always felt that I put too much effort into maintaining friendships so I stopped putting the work in. I can't just sit around expecting people to invite me to things anymore. I need to get social, meet new people, try new things and hang out with the people I really want to be around.

I'm sure I'll think of more but this is a pretty good list to start with!