Thirty before 30 – the official bucket list

I can’t find any photos of myself from 2002 – did no one have a camera? That’s probably actually a good thing… I wasn’t super camera ready back then.

A few months ago I read this list of 30 things everyone woman should have/know by the time she turns 30 on the Huffington Post. Some of it I agreed with – some of it I thought was lame. (Item number one in particular – why would you want to have an old boyfriend you could see yourself going back to? Unless you live in a rom-com, this is actually a super sad thing to have.)

Even though the Huffington Post’s list was kind of stupid, I liked the idea and decided to make my own list.

My 29th birthday is in a week, and inspired by the article and by my friend Mindy,  I’ve come up with my own 30 Before 30 list. Thirty things I want to make 100% sure I do before I step foot into my next decade.

Turns out, coming up with 30 things I want to do before my 20s die was actually kind of hard. But, I think this is a pretty good list and I think I can actually accomplish it. In no particular order:

• Shoot a gun with my dad. Shooting just feels like one of those basic skill things that I should at least attempt to learn how to do. And, my dad was a rancher in his life before kids, so he feels like the right person to ask to teach me.  I planned on doing this over the holiday break and then, two days before I left for Tucson, Sandy Hook happened. “Shoot a gun” no longer feels right to me as a life goal, so I’m changing this one to: Go on a long hike with my dad at Turkey Creek. He’s a huge hiker and knows all the best trails in Southern AZ, so this way I still get to spend time with my dad, without recreating using an object I don’t feel comfortable with.
• Attend a silence and meditation retreat weekend. Earlier this year a very zen coworker of mine suggested this to me after he returned from a 10 day silence retreat. (He probably wants me to stop talking so much. I don’t look super Irish, but am definitely blessed with the gift of the gab.) If I tried a full week, it would end like the episode of the L-Word where Bette tries this and goes all crazy. But I can do a weekend. Um, I can probably do a weekend.
• Take a real baking class. 
• Finish reading Love in the Time of Cholera. Jesus Christo – I’ve been trying to get this book read since I was 27. I’m still on page 200. I think it’s because Florentino Ariza is SO annoying and creepy and I hate him.
• Take a trapeze lesson. This one comes from my amazing, beautiful best friend Adriane. It’s going to be super-awkward.
• Ride a horse. Haven’t done this since my age was in the single digits.
• Take my mom on a hot air balloon ride. She’s always wanted to. I’m scared of heights. Seems like a must do.
• Participate in a grape stomp.
• Take and do well on the GMAT. 
• Take ballet. When I was 5 I quit ballet, because the teacher at Tucson Parks & Rec didn’t think I was graceful. (Who says that to a 5 year old?!) I’m still not, but maybe I can approach graceful-ish?
• Run a marathon in 4:45.
• Run one race – any length – a month just to stay in the habit.
• See the Grand Canyon. Yeah – born and bred Arizonan whose never seen it. Humiliating.
• Buy a washing machine. I hate spending money on boring things, even boring things I can afford. Putting this on here will force me to do it.
• Be a better friend. The kind of friend who calls people back, keeps up on letters, and isn’t afraid to actually talk about feelings and stuff.
• Finally get that brother-sister tattoo with my brother, and sister-sister tattoo with my little sis.
• Overcome my fear(s) of swimming, fish, and the ocean and go snorkeling with mom when we go to the Bahamas.
• Visit two countries that are not contiguous to the U.S.
• Do the 21-day Vegan Kickstart 
• Visit a state I’ve never been to, for non-work related reasons.
• Join the St. Johns neighborhood association. (Update I haven’t done this yet, but I did join the City Club and I’m counting it because it’s similar in spirit and also, I think we might have to move out of our St. John’s shack in which case joining the neighborhood association makes no sense.)
• Find meaningful volunteer work to do in my neighborhood and stick to it for longer than a month.
• Go home to spend time with my parents once a quarter.
• Get my Grammy to tell me her life story, and write it down.
• Get my Grandfather to tell me his crazy ATF moonshiner stories and write those down too.
• Write something and get it published again. Don’t be fussy or pretentious about where – four years is a really big gap in the old clips portfolio.
• Get in contact with the other Megan E. Irwin from Phoenix and find out if she is my evil twin.
• Visit the house I grew up in and say good-bye to it, finally.
• Get completely debt free, including student loan debt.
• Celebrate and make a big deal out of our 10-year friendiversary with Luis and Adriane.