Thirty Five

Entering my 30s was rough for me. The summer before my 30th birthday I quit a good job, sold a house in another state and was living in a 30-ft camper in a campground. Life was feeling bleak and very much on hold. I felt like there were so many things I had failed to accomplish as I stared 30 in the face, and I was really lonely. 

Five years later, so much has changed. I am in a very different place – literally. We have moved twice in the last five years [Hollywood and Signal Mountain] and we now have two precious boys [Jack and Isaac].

My lower cupboards are full of kid's plates and cups. I find toy cars, swords and dinosaurs in the oddest places. I have an ever-growing pile of kid's artwork that I haven't quite figured out how to deal with. I change poopy diapers on a daily basis, haven't had a good night's sleep in a while, and answer a never-ending string of "why" questions. But I wouldn't change my life for anything.

I didn't cross many new items off of my List of 100 Things to do in my lifetime, but that doesn't bother me. My life is full and, even with the hard moments, my 30s have been my favorite decade. Each passing year is better than the last.

I don't know if the changes in me are because of motherhood, or if it stems from the wisdom you can only gain with age. Perhaps difficult life experiences have helped me embrace where I am today instead of longing for what I don't have. I don't know. At 35 I am no longer looking for the adult in the room, and I don't feel like I have to prove myself to gain validation from others. I don't have regrets, even though there are some things I wish I could do. I am embracing the season of life that I am in.

There are elements of my life that I would change if I could – namely Daniel's long hours and commute time, but we have learned to make the most of a challenging circumstance, and I know that life as it is right now won't stay this way forever. There will be more hardships, but I believe that there are also wonderful days ahead.

Here are Five Things I hope to do before 40 (though, hopefully I will have many more adventures and projects):
1) Participate in a Triathalon
2) Remodel our master suite
3) Take an epic road trip to visit various National Parks
4) Hike 100 miles on the Tour de Mt Blanc in France
5) Take a multi-day paddling trip in the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area

I can say without a doubt that I am looking forward to being 35 and all that the coming year holds.

 

Things Lists From Previous Years:

2007 Things // 2009 Things // 2010 Things // 2011 Things // 2012 Things // 2013 Things

// 2014 Things

100 things I would like to do in my lifetime:

I have an ongoing list in my mind of things that I would like to do in my lifetime. Over the years I have crossed off some of the things on the list and have added new things. I recently read Mighty Girl's list and was inspired to commit to writing down my own list. A lot of my dreams have to do with travel and adventure. Some are work oriented and some are personal goals to accomplish some time in my life. I hope that I am someday able to mark off all the things on my list. But if not, I feel truly blessed to have done the things already marked off.

1. Visit all 5 Great Lakes
2. Open a coffee shop/bakery
3. Design a yearly calendar planner 
4. Hike 100 miles on the Tour de Mt Blanc
5. Climb/hike/visit the highest points in all 50 states  

--- Highest Points I have been to, to date: Mt. Magazine, AR; Mt. Elbert, CO; Mt. Mitchel, NC; Mt. Rogers, VA; Clingman's Dome, TN; Mt. Washington, NH, Brasstown Bald, GA; Cheaha Mountain, AL; Lakewood Park, FL, Black Mesa, OK  ---

6. Visit Patagonia
7. Tramp the Milford Track in New Zealand
8. Scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef
9. Learn how to ride a motorcycle/get my motorcycle license
10. Become a mother (Jack), times two (Isaac)
11. Get a dog
12. Raise and train a puppy (rethinking this one post kids)
13. Design and print a family cookbook
14. Stay married until “death do us part”  (in progress!)
15. Bike tour in SouthEast Asia
16. Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro
17. Learn how to sail
18. Ride 4-wheelers in the mountains 
19. Bike a century
20. Participate in a triathlon
21. Host a Thanksgiving dinner
22. Make Christmas stockings
23. Design and build a house
24. Live in Colorado
25. Spend a week canoeing in the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area
26. Visit Yellowstone (Moore Family Trip West in 2018)
27. Hike in the Grand Tetons (Moore Family Trip West in 2018) 
28. Raft in the Grand Canyon
29. Visit Carlsbad Caverns
30. Join a spelunking club
31. Visit Havasu Falls
32. Learn how to ski 
33. Ski in the Rocky Mountains
34. Hut-to-hut cross country ski
35. Ride horses on a beach
36. Open a bed-and-breakfast that also offers guided outdoorsy day trips
37. Live in the same city as my parents, sister and brother {as a grown up}
38. Marry my best friend
39. Get married on a budget of less than $2500
40. Knit a sweater (have knitted and crocheted 4 baby blankets!)
41. Learn how to make fried chicken as good as my mom
42. Visit Denali
43. Drive cross country and camp in national forests (Moore Family Trip West in 2018)  
 44. Own a Land Cruiser
45. Run a half marathon
46. Read 52 books in one year
47. Learn how to mountain bike 
48. Grow my own vegetables
49. Grow my own herbs
50. Keep indoor plants alive
51. Participate in a Muddy Buddy
52. Participate in an Adventure Race
53. Get to and maintain a healthy weight
54. Graduate from college
55. Teach
56. Build a zip line in my back yard
57. Learn and understand how to use CSS to design/develop a web site
58. Design a line of greeting cards
59. Make my own bread {without a bread machine} 
60. Go on a cruise
61. Travel overnight in a sleeper car in Europe
62. Hike in the Alps
63. Cook every day for one year (reevaluating this, I need a night off every week!)
64. Visit Papua New Guinea as a grownup
65. Learn how to scuba dive
66. Go parasailing
67. Skydive
68. Shoot a gun
69. Learn how to crochet
70. Be financially able to retire by age 55
71. Make a profit, buying, renovating and selling a house
72. Illustrate a children’s book
73. Mountain bike in Moab (Moore Family Trip West in 2018)  
74. Visit missionary friends in South Africa Scotland
75. Visit missionary friends in Papua New Guinea
76. Visit the Great Wall of China
77. Make a quilt
78. Write a book
79. Own a cabin in the woods
80. Fly a plane
81. Learn how to rock climb
82. Go snow shoeing
83. Own rental property
84. Become completely debt free {including mortgage}
85. Sleep on a beach
86. Read my Bible through in chronological order
87. Start a compost pile
88. Visit all of the continents except Antarctica {I only lack Africa and S. America}
89. Use public transportation to commute to work
90. Learn how to roll a kayak
91. Get a haircut I love
92. Join a book club
93. Hike the entire Appalachian Trail {section hike or through hike}
94. Learn how to make and decorate cakes and cupcakes that look and taste professional
95. Participate in building a house with Habitat for Humanity
96. Paddle the Gauley {in the fall}
97. Go Canyoning in Interlaken Switzerland
98. Visit an aquarium
99. Watch an eclipse (Solar Eclipse Fall of 2017, Lunar Eclipse Winter of 2018)
100. See a bear in the wild

Mt. Kilimanjaro

On February 3, my best friend from high school summitted Mt. Kilimanjaro (elevation 19,341 feet). I am ridiculously proud {jealous} of her and can't wait to hear more and see pictures from her experience.

Her accomplishment got me to thinking about the things I have aspired to do in my own lifetime. I have to admit that I haven't marked too many things off of my personal life list. Which is, admittedly, a little sad to think about. But on the other hand I have done some things I had never dreamed of... get married, renovate a house, learning how to scuba dive and rock climb.

One of the big things on my list is to climb to the highest point in all 50 states. This little dream came about the first year I did Wilderness Trek (age 12) and we summitted Mt. Elbert - the highest point in Colorado (elevation 14,433 feet).

Since conceiving of this dream, I have bagged 4 additional highest peaks: Mt. Magazine (AR), Clingman's Done (TN), Mt. Mitchell (NC) and Mt. Rogers (VA). I wish I could say that I had bagged more highest points in the {almost} 18 years since having this idea (on a side note... how has that much time passed?). I have climbed plenty of other mountains, just not the highest points in each state.

Maybe I will try to be more diligent in pursuing this dream. I have other things on my list to work on, including visiting a laundry list of countries, bike touring in South East Asia and competing in a Muddy Buddy.

What kind of things have you always wanted to do? What's holding you back? We aren't getting any younger...

Cheree above the clouds on South Sister Mountain, Oregon.

Dreams

I have come to a place where I am looking for a full-time job and doing so because that is what I am supposed to be doing. I am a graphic designer because my culture ordains that I fit a certain mold. Graphic design is what I do, but not who I am. I have forgotten this.

The other day, while reading John Eldridge’s book, The Ransomed Heart, I came to page 145 and the excerpt entitled On Mozart and Martha Stewart. What an eye opener this passage is to me.

This is precisely what happens when God shares with mankind his own artistic capacity and then sets us down in a paradise of unlimited potential. It is an act of creative invitation, like providing Monet with a studio for the summer, stocked full of brushes and oils and empty canvases. Or like setting Martha Stewart loose in a gourmet kitchen on a snowy winter weekend, just before the holidays. You needn’t provide instructions or motivation; all you have to do is release them to be who they are, and remarkable things will result. As the poet Hopkins wrote, “What I do is for me: for that I came.”

Oh, how we long for this – for a great endeavor that draws upon our every faculty, a great “life’s work” that we could throw ourselves into. “God has created us and our gifts for a place of his choosing and we will only be ourselves when we are finally there” (Guinness). Our creative nature is essential to who we are as human beings – image bearers – and it brings us great joy to live it out with freedom and skill.

I long to dream again and to be given over to my true life’s work or to have the opportunity to just do and be what I truly am. I used to dream of traveling the world. I used to dream about leading people on trips to connect them with the outdoors and with adventure. I have forgotten these dreams and others. They have been stored in boxes and tucked away in the attic of my heart.

Pursuit of Happiness...

Mary-Beth,
Thank you so much for sharing with us. I think it is awesome that you are quitting your job in order to follow your goals. I know you will be a happier person for doing that. I think my husband would let me do a similar thing, but I would have to have some kind of plan in place – he knows that I am the kind of person who needs a plan. I also come from a family of dreamers – we dream big but sometimes have problems following through. This may be why I am still where I am, there is a fear that if I try to pursue my big dreams I will fall short. I guess you never know until you try. Best wishes.

-Cheree

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Cheree,
You can do whatever you put your mind too, as long as you have FAITH! You have to take care of yourself, your family & all the people that are near and dear to you. This will make you a Happier person. Dreamers are the BEST! Just follow through!!!!! I will keep in touch with you, so follow your dreams make those plans and Be Happy! Life is way to short.

Best wishes,
Mary Beth