Today is my half birthday. I’ll be honest I didn’t even realize that until I was driving home from the gym yesterday thinking about the months ahead - so this isn’t something I usually commemorate. But, I feel like this half birthday is more significant than some of the others. Why? Well, I’m halfway through my 32nd year, which means I’m six months away from the so-called ‘perfect age’ of 33. So to celebrate this day and to give my self some serious goals for the months ahead, I’ve made a bucket list of 33 things I want to do before turning 33, as well as a list of 33 things I think everyone should do at least once before 33.

Bucket List Before 33:

1. Travel abroad.
2. Attempt to learn a foreign language.
3. Have a job that is torturous/challenging.
4. Read the Count of Monte Cristo.
5. Read a historical biography.
6. Read a Shakespearean play.
7. Read a Russian novel. (Anna Karenina is my personal favorite.)
8. Run a race. (Doesn’t matter if it’s a full marathon, a half-marathon, a 5-k, whatever.)
9. Pursue a passion.
10. Cultivate a hobby.
11. Rekindle a lost friendship.
12. Road trip. (I traveled from Boston to Milwaukee when I made the move detouring at Niagara Falls and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)
13. Spend significant time in the service of others aka go on a service project.
14. Know how to change a car tire.
15. Visit a nursing home.
16. Balance your checkbook.
17. Volunteer at a soup kitchen.
18. Spend at least a weekend completely detached from all technology.
19. Go camping.
20. Explore a new city.
21. Do something that scares you.
22. Cultivate silence so your brain has time to process.
23. Have at least one bad haircut. (LOL or many)
24. Vote. (even if most of the candidates are whack)
25. Attempt to learn a musical instrument.
26. Take a class on something other than your profession.
27. Go to the doctor for regular check-ups. (dentist too)
28. Attend a funeral.
29. Learn basic mending. (sew on a button, fix a hem, iron)
30. See a show. (play, musical, whatever)
31. Purge your belongings (Get rid of all that high school ‘stuff’ you’re still saving.)
32. Have a pet. (Even if it is just a fish)
33. Learn, through trial and error, your favorite drink. (beer, wine, mixed-drinks, fizzy water, whatever floats your boat.

 

33 Things I Want To Accomplish Before 33:

1. Run a 2-hour half marathon. (Running one with the family in August to celebrate my dad’s 60th birthday, so at least the day is already set.)
2. Publish my fourth book. (It’s a young adult novel that I am quickly falling in love with!)
3. Make headway in writing my fifth book.
4. Grow my blog following by 1/4 its current numbers.
5. Go on a service trip.
6. Explore the coffee shops and restaurants around my new home.
7. Be able to do a pull-up. (I know, pathetic that I can’t.)
8. Plan/host a blogger event.
9. Read Great Expectations
10. Read I am Malala
11. Read Lean In.
12. Read a Seth Godin book.
13. Read Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire
14. Read three other books on anything.
15. Take an online class.
16. Learn to sew and make myself something I actually wear.
17. Take a photography class. (Actually got this for Christmas and haven’t used it yet. Really looking forward to it!)
18. Explore some new areas of Chicago.
19. Reconnect with old friends/classmates.
20. Go on three new-to-me brewery tours.
21. Purge my closets and drawers in a legit and deep Spring/Summer cleaning.
22. Finish off the second year of teaching without dying.
23. Switch my address and actually get an IL license. (Yeah, it’s almost been two years, which is really bad and pathetic.)
24. Halve my remaining student loan. (Can’t wait to be done with this thing! I’m thinking 33 is the year to get it done.)
25. Try Stan’s donuts. (It’s been on my hit-list forever!)
26. Help plan a Scleroderma fundraising event with/for my sister.
27. Do 15 legit push-ups. (This one always escapes me for some strange reason!)
28. Create a new course for the Seniors.
29. Clean up the blog. (Ahh… this needs a lot of time and work, but so worth it.)
30. Do a fun run of some sort - Color Run, Dirty Gurl, Spartan, Tough Mudder - whatever.
31. Attend at least two Chicago blogger events.
32. Go on some kind of tour of Chicago - food tour, architecture tour, boat tour, beer tour, whatever.
33. Pie in the sky - Color the tips of my hair bright pink or purple. (Because why the heck not?)

Alright, those things made my Bucket List Before 33. What would you add?