hit the ground running

i turned 30 last october, and decided it was time to start tackling my accomplist. it's essentially a "bucket list," but i am not a fan of that term. rather than a list of things i want to do before i kick the bucket, i call it my list of things i'd like to accomplish, hence, my accomplist. i had at one time in my 20s written down and printed off the list, and hidden it in a file folder somewhere in our office. but i think it was thrown out upon cleaning and organizing one day. i must have read it and assumed i could commit all those items to memory, because how could i ever forget what i wanted to accomplish in my life! well, then i got older and had a child, and amazingly, i think i have forgotten some of those items. go figure. but, i do remember a few important ones, and i think i'm going to continue adding to it every now and then. here's my list, as i can remember.

run a marathon michael and i ran in a thanksgiving 5k in november. it was my first official race and his second. it's no marathon, but it's a small step in that direction. as much as i enjoy running, after that race, i'm not certain i could do a marathon, or want to. (maybe i'll change that lofty goal to a 10k or half-marathon.) after the race, i ran maybe 3 times total, until yesterday. in terms of michigan weather, yesterday was an almost spring day. it was a teaser. and i looked outside all day, thinking, i'm going running today. we were out of milk, so i figured it would be a good distance to run to the store and back, pushing harper in the jogger. i had high hopes that michael would join me, but work kept him longer than usual. so, i put dinner in the oven and out we went. i ran way more than i thought i would, mostly because harper's crying and repetitive cold motivated me to get her home as fast as i could. we were out a bit too late, a bit too long, but it felt good to be back. the cold in my lungs, my feet pounding the pavement, observing all the new sights with harper. sights i've ran by before but didn't always notice. we've signed up for another 5k in may. it's going to be a long 8 weeks of training, but worth it. we trained for 5 weeks for the last race, and trained the entire time with the jogging stroller. but in the end, it was too cold on thanksgiving day to take harper. this time, she will be joining us.

donate blood more on this one to come- check for a posting in april.

write a book

get my doctorate we'll see...

open my own clinic i keep talking about it with various people, so perhaps someday.

plant a vegetable garden to be accomplished this summer during my first school summer vacation. pictures and plans to come.

be a photographer/take a photography class i'm currently taking a photography class, so we're half-way there.

not a bad start. maybe i'll accomplish all these in my 30s? lofty goal, but then, as michael has so often said lately, if you don't set goals, you have nothing to strive for. so sensical, that husband of mine.

and because i just have to include some photos of harper, here she is sitting with us after dinner, shoveling her puffs in her mouth as if she can't get enough of them in or get them in fast enough. we just stare at her in awe and wonderment sometimes. she's by far my biggest accomplishment.