It wouldn't let me put in a title! Weird.

So, about a year and a half ago, I made this list of things that I wanted to do before I turn 30:

1. Get a master's degree.
2. Learn Spanish - or, at least, get a good start on learning Spanish.
3. Purchase and learn to use a real camera - not a digital, or an automatic, but the real McCoy. I am really drawn to black and white photography.
4. Hike rim-to-rim at the Grand Canyon.
5. Learn (and frequently make!) my grandmother's cherry pie recipe.
6. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
7. Go to Hawaii.
8. Be well on my way towards licensure.
9. Stay in a yurt on the Oregon coast in the winter time and watch the storms.
10. Participate in National Novel Writing Month.

Since I now have less than 6 months before I hit the big 3-0, I thought I'd take stock of where I am on this list...

Here are the goals I have accomplished: 1,7,8
Here are the goals I have not accomplished, but have a plan in place to accomplish before the Big Day: 4,6,9...and maybe 10
Here are the goals I have not accomplished and have no plan in place to accomplish before the Big Day: 2,3,5...and maybe 10

Number 2, learn Spanish, I have no plan to accomplish because, when I made this list, I wasn't thinking clearly. I just got out of grad school a year ago -- I am not eager to jump right back into being a student, even if it is just one class, 2 nights a week. I have tasted freedom, and it is good.

Number 3, about learning to use a real camera, has proven difficult because...um...money doesn't exactly grow on trees. Cameras are expensive, film is expensive, classes are expensive. As mentioned above, I only finished grad school a year ago...and, since that time, I bought a house. It seems kind of frivolous to spend all that extra money on a camera that I likely wouldn't use much, since those kinds of cameras are heavy, and, when I go hiking, I like my pack to be as lightweight as possible. As a compromise, though, I have been thoroughly reading the manual for my new digital camera and using as many of its cool features as possible.

Number 5, learn (and frequently make) my grandmother's cherry pie recipe, has proven nearly impossible because, simply put, no one has the recipe.

Number 10, participate in National Novel Writing Month, may or may not happen this year. We'll see how I'm feeling in November.

All in all, though, I think I'm doing pretty well. I've gotten 3 of those goals under my belt, and I have a plan for 3 more to get done, too, maybe 4. 6-7 out of 10 isn't too bad, I think.