25 Things I Would Like to Do in My 25th Year

Every year around her birthday, my dear friend Betony makes a list of things she would like to do in the coming year. She puts one item per year on the list. I have always loved this idea, but in the last few years, my birthday has snuck up on me before I actually made the list.

This year, I am turning 25.

And, friends, I am trying to handle it with much more grace than I did when I turned, say, 23 (where I cried and lamented the loss of my youth…) I want to own this year. I want to look back on it and know that I spent time doing things that I wanted to do. I hope that completing (or at least nearly completing) the items on this list will help me to reach my overall goal of living more intentionally.

So, here they are. 25 things I would like to do in my 25th year:

1. Run a half marathon. I have wanted to do this for a long time, but this year, I will make it happen!

2. Train for a half marathon. This is not an unintentional repeat. I know that if I don't put the training on my list, the actual running of the half may never happen. It's also important for me to realize that the path to the race is just as important as the race itself (maybe more important…).

3. Organize the tupperware cabinet. I am not sure I've ever seen anyone with an organized tupperware cabinet. I could be the first!

4. Try food from a different country each month.  I live in the most ethnically diverse zip code in the US, obviously this is on the list! First up, Korean.

5. Go to the John Hancock Tower. I was able to visit the Willis (Sears) Tower this year, but I heard the Hancock Tower has a different and really cool view.

6. Do daily devotionals from The Book of Common Prayer. Zach and I were great at this for the first half of 2012, and it was such a fantastic rhythm, but we fell out of practice at some point.

7. Learn the location of each of the 50 states. Yes, fifth grade somehow failed me--and I'm sick of having only a very general idea of where each state is!

8. Truly enjoy each season through seasonal activities. (I'm starting with the advent calendar Zach and I made!)

9. Read at least one book a month for fun. Which means I will also be watching less television!

10. Drink more water.

11. Ride my bike more.

12. Learn the names, characteristics, and actual locations of the neighborhoods around me.

13. Walk from my apartment to downtown Chicago. It's about 8 miles. Zach and I have been wanting to do this but didn't make the attempt before it started getting cold.

14. Go to the beach. I live somewhere with a beach now!

15. Watch more improv.

16. Bake more. I enjoy it so much and there are so many new things to learn how to make!

17. Participate in a poetry slam. This is the scariest one on my list. I have a poem written and practiced already. I just need to do it!

18. Give up screens one day a week. For my eyes/brain/soul.

19. Grow in my job.

20. Write grants successfully! I have a dollar amount in mind, but I don't want to limit myself…

21.  Go camping. This is a bit tougher now that we live in the city without a car, but I love to camp, and I really want to go this year!

22. Go to a Cubs Game. Because I think you have to if you want to live here.

23. When it comes to coffee, drink predominantly black. I really love it, but I always get suckered into the idea of a latte… which I never finish, anyway.

24. Find a regular volunteer position.

25. Continue spending time with my awesome small group.

How Moving to the City Slowed My Life Down

Six months ago, my life was completely different.

My husband, Zach, and I lived in the smallish town where we grew up. We lived near both of our families and saw both at least once a week. I was knee deep in teaching research paper unit to my eleventh grade English Class. I was on a slew of committees each with their own weekly, biweekly, or monthly meetings. And I was in the middle of changing careers, applying to grad school, and planning a community art show. It sounds pretty crazy, but my life has always been like that.

Then I moved to the city. And everything froze.

It was just me, Zach, and the third largest city in the nation. For the first time possibly ever, I had to be still.

There were no more weekly family dinners. There were no familiar faces when running to the grocery store. There were no meetings. There were no students.

At first it was a bit lonely. Coming from a large family, I am energized by being around people. A lot of people. All the time.

Zach and I didn’t meet anyone in our building for two weeks. We explored the city. We watched copious amounts of Netflix. We slept in. In the beginning I was restless. I resisted my new empty schedule. I found volunteer opportunities. We jumped into a small group at a church we’d only attended once. I started seeking out Kiwanis Clubs.

Then, one day, three weeks after moving, I realized I had something going on almost every day of the week. Suddenly, I was stacking obligations on one another, and I wasn’t very passionate about any of them.

So I took a step back. I started to cut things out of my life one by one which is something I had never done before, and something I probably could not have done if I had stayed in Greeley.

Once I cut things out of my schedule, I actually had time to do little things I had always neglected (read: dishes). Zach and I have spent our entire marriage jumping into things we thought would make us adults. We have piled on so many external responsibilities that we often let the little things go—it was easy to do when we were running from one thing to the next constantly. When we moved here we actually took the time to cook (almost every night!), wash the dishes (right after dinner!), and make our own coffee (which makes our moms happy, and saves us tons of money).

None of the things I have just listed are remarkable. But they are things adults do. Things that Zach and I felt like we “skipped” in the busy-ness of our first years as adults. We needed to remove some of the time-clutter in our lives, and moving helped us to do that.

So, I am trying something new, something I've always wanted to do, but never found the time to. I am taking the time to live intentionally. And, as part of living intentionally, I want to write more. I love to write, but one of the sad truths of being a super-busy English teacher is that your hard-pressed to find time to write. My hope is that this blog becomes a place where I actually write.