I truly cannot believe over two years have passed since the last post here. Thinking about it, sometimes it seems like yesterday and in other ways, it feels like an eternity. The world we live in is so incredibly different but also faces so many of the same struggles that have plagued it for centuries.
There are many things I want to write about and a commitment I’ve made recently is to write more…here, in one of my many random notebooks or anywhere that’s available when thoughts strike. I’ve never claimed to be a prolific writer, but it feels nice to get thoughts out of my head and captured somewhere.
Somehow, I’m also getting closer and closer to turning 40 (something about how we get older every day?), and I recently decided during a fantastic webcast by Kim Becking that a great way to push myself would be a new list…you know I freaking love a list. Kim’s mention of her 50 by 50 list had me instantly thinking of things I’d like to accomplish over the next two and a half or so years I have before turning 40.
Many ideas came to me pretty quickly, and I also pulled out my Life List to see what I could include on the 40 by 40 list. The thing is, it’s really hard to think of 40 things! I also kept the travel items on the list to a minimum because it’s so unclear right now how much travel will be possible in the near future. After consulting some of my friends and thinking for over a week, I finally had a full list of 40 things that I want to accomplish by January 2023. I’ll be documenting a lot of those things here and any twists and turns along the way. Not much else to do but share the list!
40 By 40 List
- Write 40 Thank You letters to people who have made a big difference in my life.
- Do another 5K (Completed 12.4.2022)
- Go back to Zion National Park (Completed October 2022)
- Redo my front yard (Completed 6.14.2022)
- Reread Harry Potter (Completed May 2022)
- Get a new mattress and bed (Completed 11.29.2020)
- Hip Thrust 250 pounds
- Sleep under the stars (Completed 10.29.22)
- Write a short story
- Host a Winter Solstice get-together (Completed 12.21.2022)
- Finish organizing my home office
- Do Yoga every day for a week (Completed November 2022)
- Get a tattoo (Completed July 12, 2022)
- Visit Elephant Rocks State Park (Completed 11.2021)
- Work with a financial planner (Completed 3.2022)
- Make pasta from scratch (Completed 11.2021)
- Post on MakingMegan at least once a month (Completed 1.2023)
- Walk or bike the entire MKT Trail
- Make Bert Alyea’s Gingerbread Men at Christmas (Completed 12.23.22)
- Sit on the board of a non-profit organization (Completed 10.28.2020)
- Organize my books
- Complete an embroidery project (Completed 1.2023)
- Go to Amish Country with Julie
- Spend a long weekend at The Elms (Completed August 2022)
- Relearn Spanish (I’m already using Duolingo!)
- Visit the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha (Completed May 14, 2022)
- Learn a new card game (Completed November 2022)
- Reread As I Lay Dying (Completed 10.12.2020)
- Watch Casablanca (Completed 11.2021)
- Volunteer at the Raptor Rehabilitation Project
- Eat vegan for a week (Completed 1.2023)
- Lord of the Rings Extended Editions marathon (Completed 8.30.2020)
- Adopt a zoo animal (Completed 11.16.2020)
- Buy a bike (Completed Summer 2020)
- Have a skin check at a dermatologist (Completed 2.12.2021)
- Reconnect with someone I lost touch with
- Clean out all the things still at my mom’s house (Completed July 2022)
- Try acupuncture, cryotherapy or floating (or all three!) (Completed 9.16 & 9.17.2021)
- Make a 40 accomplishments list and post (Completed 1.2023)
- Create a 50 by 50 list (Completed 1.2023)
So there it is. I’m so excited to get started on checking things off my list and to enjoy the process of each of them. I hope you’ll come along with me and maybe even make a list of your own? Let’s do amazing things together.