29 Experiences In My 29th Year

Today dawns my 30th year of life, and the final year of my twenties, as I celebrate my 29th birthday. While I have to admit to some sadness that my irresponsible and care-free youth is behind me now (and has been for some time), I’m excited to ring in the new chapters of my life, whatever they may hold. There’s something relieving about recognizing I am officially living my adult years, where less fluff matters and my focus is on enjoying what’s truly important in my life, and caring less about what anyone else thinks. Let’s hope this only grows as the years add up. To 29!

In honour of my birthday, I wanted to revisit the experiences I’ve had over the last year.

29 Things I Did In My 29th Year

1. Sipped piña colodas on a Caribbean beach.
   
2. Toured Colombia.
   
   
3. Survived a 24-hour multi-flight airplane trip with a toddler.
   
4. Made up and tried a different kind of advent calendar with my toddler.
   
5. Shared her first expressively aware Christmas with Z.
   
6. Took Z skating for the first time.
   
7. Knit some super cool kids hats.
   
8. Took a blogging course (a couple times) that made a huge difference. I’ve worked with so many fabulous brands this year, on this blog and others!
9. Published a few pieces on HuffingtonPost. (It sounds more prestigious than it is – they don’t pay).
10. Sold my first article to an outside, non-sponsored publisher.
11. Made some lovely new friends, and grew closer with others.
12. Decluttered the crap out of my house and my life (but I’m still not done).
    
13. Ran to the ocean. (The one and only time I went for a run this year. I’m sooooo active these days.)
    
14. Started a child swap arrangement. (Such a fantastic situation. Watch for a post on this soon.)
15. Camped out in our backyard. Twice.
16. Went camping elsewhere in BC. Twice.
    
17. Went to the Kooteneys for the first time.
    
18. Met a new niece and a new nephew.
19. Went to my first wine tasting event and my first wine tour.
20. Improved my cooking confidence and tried new dishes.
    
21. Attended the ECEBC conference.
22. Went back to work teaching preschool. (With my daughter in preschool for the first time there, too.)
23. Spent a month working in a Kindergarten class (actually a K-3 nature class) as part of a project to help the transition into school.
24. Renovated our kitchen. (Well, hired a bunch of people to renovate our kitchen. You can check out the video update here. I’ll get a blog post up once the final details are finished.)
    
25. Spent another summer combing beaches, exploring trails, swimming in lakes, and playing on trampolines and rope swings with my little love and her “summer sisters”.
    
26. Sent Z for her first sleepovers at Gramma and Grampa’s house.
27. Started BuyEthical.ca with a like-minded and lovely lady. (It’s slow moving as we organize details, but we’re continually working on it!)
28. Finally finished a dress I’ve been knitting for Z since she was a newborn.
    
29. Went up on stage for the first time with my guitar for open mic. (That was a big goal and a long time coming.)

What a year it was! And now… what does my 30th year of life hold for me?