Who knew finding a wedding date would be harder than making it to the Taj Mahal?

So way back in 2018 I made a post about 38 things to accomplish before I turned 39. I can’t believe that finding a date to a wedding would have been one of the harder ones to cross off! Like harder than getting to India or summiting a mountain. This past weekend, 4 years late (but well worth the wait) I was finally able to cross number 23 off the list.

The Original List

1. Do something special with Liv – surprised Olivia and my sister with a trip to NYC to see Frozen and Anastasia on Broadway
2. Host ten workshops promoting kristinaambrosia.com (formerly Rogue_Revel)
3. Summit a mountain
4. Publish something (again) – Elephant Journal and Rebelle. Check and check.
5. Run a half marathon – I did this. Alone. In a park. In Seattle. No bib number. No sideline support. No expectations.
6. Finalize my divorce (finally)
7. Make a piece of art for my house with friends – Did as a part of Chris Keller’s Sister Circle Experience. She is an incredible master of ceremonies and if you haven’t had the chance to work with her I would check her out.
8. Get through Destinos – Thank you Jen Jones Donatelli and your March Radness for helping me finally complete this goal after many unsuccessful years of trying. Another person I would recommend following. Her offerings have been life-affirming for me.
9. Volunteer – I was a reading buddy at Olivia’s school
10. Complete Nanowrimo – I was so close this November, but my day job put an abrupt stop to this 🙁
11. Learn something about Greek Mythology – just learned about Hades and Persephone in The Creative Fire by Dr. Estes. It really is such a beautiful story about the cycles of nature. Was pumped for Hadestown to hit Playhouse Square, but thanks to Covid I will need to wait awhile longer.
12. Quit a nasty habit – Almost 3 years sober and I think I’m going on 4 years smoke-free.
13. Stay at the Sylvia
14. Take a vacation alone
15. Rip out those damn bushes – Still yet to plant anything to replace them, but that wasn’t on the list so….
16. Get built-in built (I actually have no idea what I meant when I wrote this, so I’m counting it as a win!)
17. Participate in a book club – Christy, Ash, Holly, and Jen – I am counting our one meeting of Graffiti book club here!
18. Get another tattoo
19. I stole this one from Stephanie Franklin’s list: “Fly to another city just to have dinner with friends”
20. Actually, I stole two from Franklin: “Appear in a cabaret show [and] a Broadway play.” Oh, and be in a parade! (I was able to do this as part of a 4th of July community celebration with the May family – do you all remember how excited I was about this lol)
21. Pilot something new at work – Unity Pole thanks to a FB tag from Sarah Swzeda (would have loved to have been there for Human Books Rasel!)
22. Get a tenure track teaching position at Tri-C – I’m doing some soul searching on what this original goal is morphing into, but I think building my side hustle into something more substantial is my new direction and this website is proof that I’m taking concrete steps in that direction.
23. Attend a family wedding with a date – See picture proof above 🙂
24. Finalize plans to travel to India (see my post about my experience here)
25. Purchase a geode
26. Take Olivia to that diamond store with gems and minerals. They closed. So sad. But counting this as a win since out of my control. So now I’m happy!
27. Take Liv to that Christmas town in Michigan – Mom, Ash, and Aunt Di – I am so happy I got to make this memory with you all of you!
28. A house with a pool
29. Build a new patio complete with a pergola and fairy lights
30. Get more sleep (My go to bed alarm is set at 10:35 and I usually stick to that.)
31. Make my parents proud (I really hope I’ve done this.)
32. Make my daughter proud (see above)
33. Reconnect with old friends
34. Seriously consider teacher training (Teacher training complete, and you can now catch me teaching a weekly class at Mystic Yoga on Thursday nights at 6. Come practice with me!)
35. Get organized (this is about as unlikely as me appearing in a cabaret show, but I’ve always been about dreaming big so it’s going on this list) – I think I am much more organized than last year? Maybe? I hope? I’ve purged a lot after the house fell down 🙂
36. Learn to play a song on the guitar from my daughter
37. Be the subject of a still life art class
38. Attend Tri-C jazz fest (I have no idea how I’ve not been to this yet!)

So that’s 29/38 or a 76%. A passing grade, but I’ve always been an A/B type of girl.

Who can help me achieve my last nine?

I’m not above asking for help so if anyone can help me finally complete this list, I’d be grateful. Give my your ideas/resources/connections/advice in the comments (especially for numbers 19 & 20) and as always thank you for reading what I write, helping me live out my dreams, and taking the time to participate in the conversation. Janie – can you help me out with 37? Nick – since Olivia gave up guitar want to fill the void for number 36? I’ll need to wait till next year for 10 and 38.

What’s on your list?

I’m curious. Tell me. Maybe I can help you cross some dreams/goals off your list or put you in contact with someone who can!