Life Checks Not On The List

Because not everything got blogged about.

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29. Impromptu international trip

“You should come visit.”
“I think I can.”
A week later, ticket bought. A month later I was on my return flight home. Still can’t quite believe that happened.

30. Skating around a city ice rink holding hands with a boy

Maybe not “my boy” but it felt adorable just the same. The night before I left the county, I took some friends up on their ice skating invite. It's one of the parts of living in a Northern city that I feel like people talk about wanting to do, more than actually doing. I'm glad I did it.

31. Connect with one of my students well enough to invite her over for breakfast.

One of the things I loved about my college was connecting with professors and being invited into their homes. I’m legitimately friends with one of my undergrads and happy about it.

32. Attend a conference in my field where I didn’t know anyone when I went in AND make dinner plans with someone from the conference

This involved me googling her presentation, finding an archived version from a previous talk, and e-mailing an address that I wasn't sure was still active. But she didn't have dinner plans and so I'm glad I made the effort.

33. Travel to hang out with my sister for a week/be grown-up friends with my sister

My sister and I were sisters growing up, but not always friends. I feel like we've mostly made the transition to actually liking each other and not just loving each other because that's what you do with family.

34. Find a church home of my own (not just my parent’s default) and join that congregation

My pastor makes a point of saying you can be active in our congregation without being a member. Being a member doesn't get you any special benefits. But it's still important to me to know that this is my church home.

35. Have a theater subscription

Bought in part because of my checkmark to attend a show alone. I got a whole package of them to enjoy. But having the whole subscription felt like an even more grown-up thing to do.

36. Buy fancy shampoo. Use it.

I didn’t believe in the power of good shampoo until I got one that really works with my hair.

37. Fill out grownup documents. a) Start creating documents.

Filled out a document giving my parents power of attorney for healthcare. Hopefully they won't need to exercise it. But I want to make sure they get to make decisions instead of the state.