That photo is me, at 25, when I still had dreadlocks.
The long weekend saw the passing of two important events, wrapped up into one great day Firstly, I turned the ripe old age of 30. Secondly, the blog celebrated it’s second anniversary.
I started this website on something of a whim, on my 28th birthday. Primarily it was going to be a place to post all of the photos we take that would otherwise languish on my hard drive for ever and ever. Along with photos of course go adventure stories from the aforementioned trips, and maybe the occasional gear post or recipe. Mostly though, it was so that Mike’s family could stalk us with ease and to save his mom from having to get a FaceBook account to see our pictures 😉
It’s still mostly about those things, but we include a lot more helpful information aimed at new and old backpacers alike. We attract attention from various parts of the web for our gear reviews, recipes, and tips on dehydration. We hope to see this website continue for many years to come (since we have no intentions of giving up our adventuring).
Which brings us ’round to that turning 30 bit.
I will admit, this was a hard birthday for me. Not when it came down to it, but month ago, when I could see it on the horizon I started to feel…depressed. Which is a rather silly thing to feel in anticipation of one’s birthday. However, I somehow convinced myself that I hadn’t managed to accomplish nearly as many things as I wanted to in my 20’s and now they were gone and before I knew it I would be 80 and still feeling like I hadn’t gotten much done.
A bit absurd, I know.
So after Mike and the rest of my friends whacked me over the head a few times and reminded me of all the awesome I’ve gotten up to over the years, I decided to should take a look over my Life List and see how I was making out.
95 things accomplished, out of a current 426.
Around 22% complete. Not too shabby, considering that list only came about in the past 5 years or so 🙂
Some of those things do not seem life changing, but each one was added for a specific reason, even if they seem silly or frivolous. After all, it would be hard to come up with 1,000 seriously life-altering things to get done. So I aimed for a mix of amazing things, and more easily-accomplished but great memory-making things.
I would like to accomplish 30 more things over the coming year, to celebrate the milestone of leaving my 20’s and apparently officially becoming a “grown-up” (a title I would only accept with great reluctance).
Here are some good candidates for the coming year:
12. Complete a multi-day thru-hike
23. Learn to roller blade
24. Take belly-dancing lessons
80. Play paintball
111. Learn to snowboard
113. Take my kids to a water park
118. Camp in the winter
161. Teach my kids to downhill ski
365. Ride The Mindbender at West Edmonton Mall
396. Go back to school
Believe you me, the 30’s are awesome! You feel more and more confident and sure of yourself in this decade.
I love my thirties and would not take my 20’s back if they offered me that possibility.
I’ve enjoyed my thirties for seven years now, I still feel like a big kid still, what with my love of cartoons and videogames but mix in the assurance my thirties gave me, I feel great 😀
Remember age is just a number and those who have a stay young attitude, look just as young as well 🙂
Life is good for me and I see great things in the horizon for you too! Happy Birthday!
Smooches! Dee
Thank you Dee 🙂 I am so glad to hear that you are well. I’ve thought of you, and hoped that whatever path you find yourself on these days, it’s a joyful one.
*Hugs*
Cal
My dear god girl can u ever write, I have been enjoying looking at your pictures and reading your blogs for the past hour it is so well put together and so very, very interesting, you could easily be writing editorials for a newspaper or your own book
And don’t worry my dear you are every bit as beautiful at 30 as you were at 25