40 Before 40

Recently I celebrated my 35th birthday and I started feeling a bit old.  If I were having another baby I would be considered advanced maternal age.  (Not that I am planning to have another baby, I'm just saying 35 is old.)  However, I am thankful to have had 35 wonderful years here on this earth and hopefully I will blessed with many more wonderful years. In pondering all this I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of 40 things I would like to do before I am 40.  So I did.

Here is my list:

            1. Climb a mountain.

2. Learn to knit.

3. Knit or crochet a fitted garment for myself.  Also knit or crochet some items for charity.

4. Improve my sewing skills and sew a garment.

5. Do a mini-triathlon.

6. Read a novel by Jane Austen.

7. Read the entire New Testament of the Bible.

8. Grow more of my own food.

9. Can some stuff from the garden.

10. Make some yummy salsa that we all like.

11. Lose 25 lbs.

12. Be able to do 2 chin-ups.

13. See the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore or the California Redwoods.

14. Invite someone other than family over for dinner.

15. Learn how to take a photo in manual mode.

16. Finish my children’s baby scrapbooks.

17. Get my photo’s organized, printed, in a book, and backed up so if my hard drive fails I don’t lose all my photo’s.

18. Declutter the house and try to keep it that way.

19. Run 5K in 30 minutes or less.

20. Memorize something.

21. Live frugally and be debt free (or nearly debt free) at 40.

22. Go outside as much as possible.

23. Swim in the ocean (learn to surf if possible).

24. Make a will.

25. Make vanilla extract.

26. Go on a canoe trip.

27. Camp in the backyard or pasture (sleep under the stars).

28. Go on a bike trip.

29. Read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

30. Keep a gratitude journal and record 1000 gifts.

31. Pick an obscure feast day and celebrate it (Make some fancy food).

32. Set up an awesome obstacle course in the backyard and time myself (and my kids) going through it.

33. Read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

34. Read Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers.

35. Stop and notice the flowers.  One summer take pictures of all the flowers we see and turn it into a book or something.

36. Create a morning ritual that includes exercise and prayer/reflection time.

37. Finger paint just for fun.

38. Make cloud dough, and try some other fun sensory play with the kiddos.

39. Work on being the best parent to my children as I can be.  Maintain a close relationship with them especially as they enter the teenage years.

40. Be the best partner, help mate, friend, and wife to my husband.

I look forward with joy to next 5 years.  Can you believe that when I turn forty I will have a 16 year old (yikes!), a 14 year old, a nearly 8 year old, and a 6 year old?  It should be fun and I look forward to sharing lot's of adventures with them.