30!

It's now official - I am thirty years old! Floyd says it doesn't feel much different than 29, so it shouldn't be too bad. I don't really mind getting older, but I sometimes wish being young could last a little longer. Cole asked me last night if I was going to get older during the night and when I said yes, he got a worried look on his face and then said, "how old are you when you get all wrinkly?" I told him probably not until I was 60 or so and he seemed pretty relieved about that. Let's just hope I hold out that long!

Back in February, I made a little list of 30 things I wanted to do before I turned 30. It's been quite a fun time, so here's the full report on how those things turned out...

1. Go skiing - Of all the things on my list, this turned out the worst. Actually, I had a good time, but Floyd? Not so much. It resulted in a trip down the mountain in the tobbogan and surgery for him. But little by little he's recovering and vows he will ski again next winter. Without needing a ride in the tobbogan. It was a beautiful day on the slopes - or beautiful hour at least. We didn't even last long enough to get a picture of me!

2. Run a race - I ran in the Health Days 10K with my sister, Kelli. I did not win, but I did out-sprint a guy in the last 100 meters or so and that felt pretty good. I always save a little energy for the end because I really like sprinting across the finish line. Also, the good news is that now that I'm 30, I won't have to run in the 19-29 age group anymore. That should help me place a little higher if I run next year.

3. Make Baked Alaska - This turned out exceptionally well, at least by my taste buds. It looked good and tasted good. The only bad thing was that our only guest was my dad and leftover Baked Alaska isn't really appetizing, so a lot got wasted. If you ever want to make an impressive dessert, try this.

4. Try I-Fly or the indoor surfing at the Solomon Center -I went indoor surfing at Flowrider. So so so much fun. My brother, Jake, and sis-in-law, Lauryn, came with me. I was very glad they were up for an adventure because I didn't want to go by myself and surfing is on the definite no-no list for Floyd right now. It was a blast. I will be going back, even though it is a bit embarrassing to be there with all the youngsters. A bit of advice - You. Will. Lose. Your. Suit. Do not wear a two-piece without very secure board shorts. I had on a tankini and things would have turned out ugly without those shorts. Almost turned ugly anyway.

Lauryn, Jake, and me - Lauryn's about the last person you want to be in a swimsuit pictures with - she's super tan and super skinny. We had to put Jake in between us.
What form! I did, eventually, let go of the rope. Even stayed up for a few seconds after I did.

5. Do a handspring - I did a couple of these one Sunday afternoon on our lawn. The first one I landed on my feet, so feeling pretty confident, I had Floyd tape the next one. For your viewing pleasure, here's how it went:

6. Go fly-fishing - Even though I didn't catch a fish, I'd say it was a successful trip because I did not yell at Floyd and he did not lose his patience with me. That has not always been the case when fishing together. Luckily, I only stated that I needed to go fishing, not that I actually needed to catch a fish. Floyd and I went fishing on the Weber River near Wanship. It was very pretty. I should have had a birthday in September because, as it turns out, June is a pretty bad month for fly fishing. The water was really high - but I didn't get swept away, so no worries. My favorite part was that the instant we got out of the car and started putting on our fishing gear, Floyd's voice changed. His fishing voice is hard to describe, but is more cheerful and has a little lilt to it. He loves the river.

If you think it looks like I know what I'm doing in these pictures, you are wrong. I really don't have a clue, but it was fun anyway.

7. Try tofu - Pretty much every recipe I found for tofu was tofu stir fry. I don't have anything against stir fry, but I wanted to try something else. I found a recipe for tofu tacos and that's what I made. It turned out pretty good and everyone ate it. I might make them again sometime...but tofu didn't really change my life.
8. Go to a concert - Well, there weren't a lot of really great concerts between February and June. I should have checked before I wrote this one. I almost got to go to the Eagles concert, but Floyd had surgery a few days before and wasn't mobile enough to make it. I did take Cole to the Joseph/Trek concert at Sky View, so technically I fulfilled this requirement, but I'm still looking forward to a fun concert with my sister later.

9. Make a snow angel - This was the first thing I did from the list since the snow was getting ready to melt. To make it fun, I made the snow angel wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Cold.

10. Play sand volleyball. The last one on my list - I played last night out in Newton. I thought it was going to be me and my parents playing, but Floyd suprised me and invited a bunch of our friends from high school - and some of them actually showed up! Actually, quite a few of them. I had a great time playing. It was like old times except that we were slower and there was less swearing. Cole also had a great time playing with all of the other kids at the park. When we got in the car, he asked if we could please do that again so he could play with his new friends another time.

11. Read "Walden". This one took me a while. I couldn't get into it at first, but finally did and can report that I liked it and I'm glad I read it. Here are a few things I learned reading it:
1- It's amazing how relevant it still is. He talks about issues like vegetarian diets and whether children should be allowed to use guns that sound remarkably similar to discussions we would have today.
2- Being a great writer doesn't mean you stick to all the rules of grammar and writing you were taught in school. The book doesn't follow any sort of logical flow and he ends plenty of sentences with a preposition. Makes me feel better about my own writing.
My favorite quote from the book was: "The morning wind forever blows, the powm of creation in uniterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it."

12. Write a poem - I'm not really sure why I wanted to do this, but here it is (and by the way, I don't know how to write a poem unless it rhymes so I guess it's more of a limerick - sorry Floyd):

Wind

Morning breaks I hear you call
gently from the sky
Birds find a swell and off they go
I wish that so could I

The trees dance your haunting tune
to show you're ever near
Day is drawn, so tells the moon
But still your song I hear

A lullaby, whispered soft
to calm my sleepy heart
You take all prayers sent aloft
Your sound a wondrous art

13. Watch an old John Wayne movie in memory of my Grandpa Max. Floyd rented "The High and the Mighty " one Friday night. It's always fun to watch old movies. In a lot of ways, he was a terrible actor (not that I know anything about acting). The movie was entertaining though and it was fun to remember all the times I sat with my grandpa and watched a western with him.

14. Climb a mountain - I wanted my kiddo's to be able to come with me on this one, so I opted for Ensign Peak. The hike is a little steep, but pretty short. The views are amazing. My sister, Karlee, met us after work and helped me haul the kids up to the top. Another one Floyd missed out on.

15. Go golfing - I lost, but it was lots of fun. My dad, Jake, and Lauryn came went with me. We went to Sherwood Hills on a rainy day when there was a break in the storm. You'll have to scroll back up to the top of the post if you want to see the picture of this because I can't get it to move and I'm getting really tired.

16. Look at Saturn in my telescope - So awesome. The rings are just awe-inspiring. Floyd and I got the telescope out late one night in March and looked at it. If you've never had the chance to see it, you should try. It's worth it.

17. Go on a canoe ride. We went with Floyd's family at First Dam. It was pretty early in March and still quite cold, but fun.

18. Ride my bike at the ranch. One of my favorites. My sister, Kelli, and I rode along the top of the hills by my dad's ranch. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was late in May and the Indian Paintbrush, my favorite wildflower, was blooming like crazy. We laughed like little girls the whole ride, especially when we flew down the hills. I can't wait to go again.

19. Grow an unusual plant in my garden - my definition of unusual was something I hadn't grown before. In this category are kohlrabi, spinach, bee balm, lavendar, popping corn, and decorative Indian corn. Hopefully at least one of them survives until harvest. I'm hoping for the bee balm.

20. Sleep under the stars. May 23. I slept on the trampoline in a sleeping bag. It was very peaceful and I even left my contacts in so I could look at the stars.

21. Grind my own wheat to make wheat bread - this was fun to do, but didn't really taste a lot different than wheat bread made with the store-bought wheat flour. I guess that's good if we have an emergency.

It took quite awhile to grind the wheat - a pretty good workout for my arms.

22. Make a skirt for myself - Annie has the cutest coral-pink sundress, so I found some coral fabric. I love my white tiered skirt, so I used a three-tiered skirt pattern. I like it, but it's a little on the garish side, so I only dare wear it with a plain white shirt. I've worn it twice.

23. Attend a yoga class. I liked this. The class was 90 minutes long which seemed like soooo long to me before I went, but the time passed really quickly. The class I went to was serious about their yoga complete with Asian decorations, Asian music, "Namaste," and incense. No watered-down aerobic yoga for them. The yoga studio is less than a mile from my house, but it's pretty expensive ($12/class), so I don't know if I'll keep going or buy myself a Yoga for Dummies book and call it good.

24. Climb a tree. I climbed a few - one at First Dam, one at my sister's house, one at the creek by my parent's house, one at our house, and one at the ranch.

25. Get a massage. Lovely and peaceful. Repeat please.

26. Memorize "The Living Christ" - This wasn't as hard as I thought. Now the trick will be reciting it frequently enough not to forget it.

27. Jump rope. I actually did this quite a bit, but one time is particularly memorable. I was playing in the gym at my old middle school and my bro-in-law and sis-in-law jump roped with me. Jumping while other people turn is much harder, but I made it all the way to fellow #9 in "Cinderella dressed in yella...."

28. Go shopping AND try on the clothes before buying them. I took Annie with me and tried on seven pairs of jeans before choosing one. That's a record number of try-on's for me. Also, I tried on a shirt before I bought it - something I almost never do.

29. Watch the sunrise. I see the sunrise frequently, but on the morning that I slept on the trampoline, I fixed myself some cider and sat on the front porch to actually watch the sunrise. It was nice to sit and be still for so long. I love mornings.

30. Roast marshmallows over a campfire. They were yummy! We have a firepit in our yard, so we just roasted some one early spring evening. It felt nice to be outside and not freezing cold. We should use our pit more.

It was really fun to do this. One thing I learned is that you just need to plan ahead - nothing on my list was too crazy or expensive, but I wouldn't have done most of these things if I didn't write it down and plan ahead. I was a little bummed that Floyd got hurt and hasn't been able to do a lot of the things with me, but it was fun to get more people involved since he couldn't. Thanks everyone who came along on one or more of my adventures and thanks Floyd for all the time you've given me to do these things.