30 Before Thirty: The Final Result

I still have no plans to make hugely dramatic life goals for myself (see this post), but I do think having a small list of attainable projects in your back pocket is a good way to get things done, hence why I'll be making a to do list each month, just like the one I shared yesterday. And in light of that plan, I thought it important that I recount how I did with my goals for last year.

Here's what I accomplished on my 30 Before Thirty list:

1. Decorate for holidays other than just Christmas.
2. Make a quilt.
3. Enroll Charlotte in gymnastics/dance.
5. Watch all the year's Oscar Best Picture nominees.
7. Sew a costume for Charlotte.
9. Have family photos taken.
10. Teach Charlotte to swim.
11. Get a shared room (i.e. not a bedroom) decorated the way I like.
13. Make dessert more often.
14. Vacation somewhere other than Disney World.
15. Learn to style my hair in different ways.
16. Complete a craft with Charlotte at least monthly.
18. Improve my photography.
21. Take Charlotte to Sesame Place.
22. Reduce my reliance on paper towels.
23. Build something from scratch.
24. Host a party at our new house.
26. Read every book club book. (close enough anyway)
28. Organize my photos.
29. Prepare dinners regularly.
30. Use produce from my own garden.


Here's what I missed:

4. Learn more about Photoshop Elements. ... I definitely want to do this, but haven't even managed to install it on my new laptop yet. Hmmm, maybe that should get added to the to do list.
6. Learn to crochet. ... I've got high hopes to get this checked off the list sometime in the future too. Mostly because I've seen so many cute things that I want and would rather make than buy.
8. Learn to cook a good steak. ... Never happened, and to be quite honest I don't even care. We don't need to eat steak often so it's just as easy to go out to eat it when we do.
12. Organize all our bills and important documents. ... Ugh, utter fail here. Should add organization to the to do list too.
17. Attend church regularly. ... I feel we'll get better at this now that Charlotte has no qualms about going to her class.
19. Lose at least 30 pounds. ... Nope.
20. Have a date night with Mark at least once a month. ... Big time fail. It only happened once and we just ran errands.
25. Take walks as a family. ... Hasn't happened yet, but it is on the calendar for this month.
27. Revamp a piece of furniture with paint. ... Missed this one too, but again, it's on the calendar.


I'd hoped to have fared better than 70%, but I think that this 30 Before Thirty plan has put me in a rhythm of setting small goals for myself, which is most definitely a good thing. I've always had a list going in my mind of different projects I've wanted to accomplish, but have never put them out there for the world to see and set a deadline to them. So even though I barely got a passing grade, I consider this project to be a success because of the habits it has created in me. The true test will be over the next few months, as we see how diligent I am about coming up with a monthly list of tasks and actually crossing those tasks off the list. Fingers crossed!