Thirty gets a bad rap

I remember a few years ago as I was approaching turning 30 freaking out about the milestone birthday. Would I be married by then? What is up with finding my first gray hair at 28? Everywhere I looked I would see an article or blog post on 30 things to do before you turn 30 lists. After finally turning 30 and realizing that life didn't just stop and that your thirties are not as bad as described by Cosmo magazine, I thought about what was still left to be accomplished in this new decade of my life.  Instead of dreading my 30's I want to fully embrace them, so I made a list of things I had yet to accomplish that I wanted to do before the end of my 30's. I stole the name for this list from the ESPN series 30 for 30, since I have 30 things to do before the end of my 30's. So far I have come up with 24 things to put on my list. Do you make any life lists?

30 for 30 List

1. Visit Europe.
2. Take a photography class.
3. Take a calligraphy class.
4. Visit New Orleans (completed 12/12)
5. Become an educational consultant for side income.
6. Pay off a significant chunk of my student loans from my masters.
7. Visit the Pacific Northwest.
8. Buy a pair of designer heels.
9. Go skydiving.
10. Take rock climbing classes.
11. Make a career change from teaching (completed 4/2013)
12. Really learn to mediate.
13. Learn to bake something not out of a Betty Crocker box.
14. Do a zipline.
15. Make more visits to see my nephews.
16. Continue to learn to feel more comfortable in my own skin.
17. Host a dinner party.
18. Take an improv class.
19. Get into freelance writing.
20. Visit at least one part of Asia.
21. Live abroad for at least a year.
22. Visit South America.
23. Get back into doing yoga regularly,
24. Go to a UF?FSU game on Gator turf and proudly wear FSU colors.