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30 Things To Do Before Turning 30
For Christmas, one of my stocking stuffers from my husband Zeb (oh yeah, I’m married! I suppose we do have a lot to catch up from since my last blogging phase from 2011-2018!) was a cute rom-com fiction book called “Love, Lists and Fancy Ships.” The main character is a 29-year old yacht stewardess who created a list of 30 things to accomplish before she turned 30. While reading the book, I was 28 and about to turn 29 myself. The number “30” startles my gag reflex. It’s an age that sounds so much farther in the distance for me than it really is. I feel like I just finished college still. I know I’ve hit the major adult milestones in my 20s – bought a house, got married, and found out I was pregnant with my first baby. But I still don’t feel “adult” enough to qualify for the 30s club just yet.
To make the new decade more palatable, I decided to copy the main character from this novel and write my own bucket list to make the most of the rest of my 20s.
The morning of my 29th birthday, Zeb and I went to brunch together at a local spot here in Idaho. I started a new note in my phone and began listing activities I hoped to do before my next birthday. By the end of our brunch, I had 17 items I would commit to doing over the next 365 days. We brought the note back out at dinner with my parents that night and rounded out the 30 items.
And here it is:
30 Things To Do Before Turning 30
- Visit a National Park
- Stand-Up Paddle Board
- Run a Half Marathon
- Visit a Museum
- Sing Karaoke at a Bar
- Do 30 Push-ups in a Row
- Officiate a Wedding
- Read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
- Try Caviar
- Fit Back into my Wedding Dress
- Volunteer at an Event
- Plant a Garden
- Catch a Fish
- Practice Calligraphy
- Watch All of the Harry Potter Movies
- Give Birth
- Make Homemade Bread
- Sled Down the Bruneau Sand Dunes
- Attend a Concert
- Swim in an Ocean
- Learn New Winter Sport
- Hike a New Trail in Idaho
- Visit a New Country
- Make a Coffee Table Scrapbook
- Ride a Roller Coaster
- Take a Dance Class
- Play 18 Holes of Disc Golf
- Jump in a Pool with all my Clothes On
- Go Tent Camping
- Travel to 3 Different States
Zeb says its cheating to add “give birth” since I’m nine months pregnant as I wrote this list (oh yeah, another catch-up moment for those blog readers that haven’t heard from me in 3 years. Surprise!) but I think it’s a pretty momentous occasion during my 20s that I should get some kind of credit for on this list of activities!
I plan to create a journal/blog entry for every item on this list as I cross it off and document the year through the photos and stories this brings up. So stay tuned to see how we work our way through this list before I turn the big 3-0 on February 12, 2023!
Virgin Pina Coladas for Breakfast
Gooooood morning!
My breakfast today was as bright as the morning sunshine. My best friend came over for a HIIT workout together in my apartment’s gym. She is following Kayla Itsine’s Bikini Body Guide, and I like to join her on Friday’s to sweat together. Body weight exercises and strength training is something I skip many times when I’m by myself because I’d rather jam out on the treadmill. But Kerri’s workouts always leave me dripping with sweat and grateful for a workout buddy.
I requested a non-leg workout and she delivered with an ‘Arm & Abs’ routine that murdered our shoulders. The workout consisted of 8 different exercises, completed through 4 rounds of 7 minute intervals. The exercises included alternating mountain climbers and pushups, squats to cleans, and weighted jackknives. We got through it with some country music and recovered with this beauuuuutiful breakfast smoothie:
Virgin Pina Colada:
Serves 3
- 1 ripe pineapple, cut in wedges
- 3 bananas
- 1 cup ice
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup coconut water with pulp
- pineapple for garnish
Just add everything to a blender, and serve in a chilled glass! Can’t go wrong with pineapple, coconut and banana. We sipped on our smoothies with a side of hazelnut coffee. It was a well-deserved relaxing morning after such an intense fitness session.
And some fun nutrition facts for you:
- Coconut water is tapped from young, green coconuts. It has simple carbohydrates (sugar) and electrolytes, along with more potassium than a banana.
- 1 cup of pineapple provides more than your daily requirements for Vitamin C. It also contains beta-carotene, and it’s enzymes have been linked to decreasing inflammation.
- Americans consume more bananas than apples and oranges combined.
And because it’s SO sunny and warm in February I think I’ll take a little run outside as soon as I hit ‘publish.’
Oh and one funny story! Kerri and I have had many strange cases where we think/say the same thing at the same time. We also like to immediately share our new favorite songs with each other. Today, I said “Oh I Shazam’ed 2 new songs! There’s one I thought you would like.”
Kerri said, “So did I…..”
I said, “Wait….is one of them” and at the same time we both said “BRIGHT?!”
Ahhhhh best friend telepathy. We had both heard the same song, both used the Shazam app to find out what it was, and both wanted to share it with each other. <3
Happy Friday! :)
Olympian-Worthy Track Workout
You know you’re a running nerd when you consider professional runners a celebrity sighting ;) I belong to a local track club, which happens to be located in one of the running Mecca’s of the country. So last night’s stormy track workout brought more than thunder. Olympians Ryan Hall and Shalane Flanagan as well as professional athletes Sarah Hall and Emily Infeld graced us with their presence!
As an aspiring marathoner, meeting the fastest American female marathoner Shalane Flanagan was pretty darn cool. She is currently training for Berlin, where she hopes to break the American record. Which would equate to 5:19 miles (26.2 of them in a row…). I need to find out what that girl puts in her coffee to make her so stinkin’ fast! ;)
After we finished playing paparazzi, we had an actual work out to get to. Most of us amateurs were not-so-subtly trying to “impress” our elite onlookers (Ha! key word trying.)
The workout: (described as “simple, old school rep workout)
4 x 200 meter sprints (with 1 minute rest between)
immediately followed by
4 x 350 meter sprints (with 2 minute rest between)
immediately followed by
4 x 200 meter sprints (with 1 minute rest between)
Holy Heart Rate!
This speedy “All Out” effort workout is similar to HIIT because it pairs bursts of intensity with bouts of rest (although the rest in this situation was a bit long). The sprints make my heart pound faster than any long run can do. Such great cardiovascular strength building!
Fun fact: Emily and Shalane are members of the Bowerman Track Club. Bowerman, as in Bill Bowerman. As in track coach of University of Oregon in the 1970’s and subsequent co-founder of Nike, Inc. He created shoes for then-athlete Steve Prefontaine. Steve Prefontaine, as in the legendary long-distance runner who once held seven American records. Just a little running history for ya!
The rain is done! Muddy trails await :)
