the 30 after 30 list

i love lists. i love to make them. i love to read them. i also like goals, though i don't take the time to come up with them very often. but when i saw my friend mimi's recent post i was inspired to create some goals of my own. so here is a list, in no particular order, of some things i would like to do in the relatively near future...

1. go camping ✓


2. participate in a 5k ✓ [sorta]


3. take a 'real' trip by myself


4. buy at least one fresh fruit and vegetable every week


5. write to my pretend grandma every month ✓


6. take an all day [or longer] bike trip ✓


7. visit the creation museum ✓


8. make a secret surprise for my mom ✓


9. go to a mizzou football game in columbia ✓ [sorta]


10. write in my 'good things book' every month ✓


11. send someone flowers ✓


12. have a birthday party at harvesters ✓


13. listen to music in the jazz district


14. convince tara to come visit me ✓


15. make a 'glimpse of life' photo album ✓


16. learn how to enjoy every day


17. take a road trip to niagara falls with my mom ✓


18. convert all our family movies to dvd


19. read through the bible alphabetically ✓


20. go to the missouri state fair


21. pick some grace spots


22. visit the holocaust museum in st. louis


23. paint all the closets at my mom's house ✓


24. watch the bbc version of pride & prejudice with missy at the lake ✓


25. come out of retirement and return to my original role of counselor at kids camp ✓


26. take a trip with some fun friends [pullens, taltons & mims...i've got my eye on you] ✓


27. participate in the first 100 at chick-fil-a ✓


28. sled on art hill [stl] or at raintree lake [kc]


29. have a dinner party ✓


30. rent a boat at james a. reed

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the trolley run

for the vast majority of my life i have maintained a strict anti-running policy. i have never taken pleasure in the type of exercise that leaves me gasping for breath, grabbing my side and anticipating the explosion of my heart. i was always puzzled by the people who seemed to enjoy this sort of torture. i generally wrote off their insanity by explaining to myself that some people are just more prone to athleticism than i am, and left it at that. but in the past few years i have noticed a strange phenomenon as fellow anti-runners began to change their tune. friends who had loathed running just as much as me started running on a regular basis and participating in 5k's. my curiosity got the best of me and i decided to find out what all the fuss was about. i began pondering the possibility of participating in the four mile trolley run and when i saw the t-shirt design i was hooked. [it totally reminds me of the mystery machine] so i coerced some fellow teachers into joining me and off we went. seeing as how i had not trained for this race, my goal was simple...i wanted to survive. i also added a bonus goal of finishing in less than an hour. i am proud to say that i am, indeed, still alive and i crossed the finish line at 57:09. mission accomplished.

my official gear

before the race...back when they still wanted to be friends with me
kasie . kristin . margaret . shelly

my jubilant finish

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two friends for the price of one

i just got back from a long weekend in georgia with some of my favorite people. lindsey & fred have lived in macon for awhile and connie & adam moved there about eight months ago...so now i get a great two for one deal!

getting to see my friends and have time to hang out together is definitely the best part of trips like this. i love playing with their kids, i love opening one eye in the morning and seeing their cute little faces standing by my bed waiting for me to get up and i love staying up late and having good 'grown-up' conversation. the people were definitely the best part...but if i had to pick some other highlights i would have to mention that i also ate the most amazing caramel apples on the planet [seriously...there aren't words to describe their amazing-ness] and i took great joy in successfully conquering all thirty two levels of talking gina.

joshua . anna bell . miss shelly . caleb

fred . lindsey . shelly . connie . adam

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a thought on living in the moment

there are many people in this world who could benefit from spending a little more time planning, organizing and generally being productive. then there are people like me, who could really stand to cut back a little on the planning, organizing and productivity.

there were a couple of days this week that i had hoped to get jobs, but didn't...which isn't a huge deal. i'll survive. what troubled me is that when i woke up to a new day, free of responsibilities, i didn't set out to just enjoy it. instead, i racked my brain for 'productive' things i could do. mind you, my to-do list is pretty short at the moment, so i wasn't really needing a day of productivity. i finally got myself out of the house to go for a walk one afternoon and was thinking about how i want to enjoy each day more, and not just look at a new day as an opportunity to be productive. then i came across this quote by my good friend tom as i was preparing for bible study...

[Jesus] wasn't always looking ahead anxiously, making the present moment count only because of what might come next. no: he seems to have had the skill of living totally in the present, giving attention totally to the present task, celebrating the goodness of God here and now. if that's not a recipe for happiness, i don't know what is.

that's what i'm looking for. the skill of living totally in the present. but i'm not always sure what that looks like. sometimes it comes so easily, i don't even realize it's happening. for example, when i spend this weekend in georgia with the broomes and the browns, i doubt i will have any trouble enjoying exactly where i am and who i'm with. but in other everyday life situations, it's not always so natural to just enjoy what is right in front of you. 

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