My 30 before 30: July Update

As well as Monday seeing the arrival of the most famous (and eagerly anticipated) baby in the world right now, it also marked my half birthday. Whilst I'm definitely one for celebrating this kind of thing, it did bring home to me the fact that not only did I have just 6 months left as a twentysomething, but also that I now only had half a year to attempt to complete my 30 before 30 list! Shall we say never gonna happen?! Seriously though, whilst some of the goals on my list may be a little out of reach, I'm still going to attempt to achieve as many of them as I can and I can't deny the sense of satisfaction I feel when I make even a little progress. So, with that in mind, here's a little summary of how I'm doing just over halfway in:

6.  Complete Couch to 5K - I've made a rather hesitant start on this over the last couple of weeks. I'm currently still on week 1 as I've been finding it a struggle to fit 3 runs in a week, especially as the recent hot weather has made exercising much more of a chore, even in an air conditioned gym! I have got a vague exercise routine worked out now, so I'm hoping that using this as a guide will help me to stay more focussed and committed.

7.  Have a ruthless clear out of my wardrobe and drawers - this is still a work in progress. Over the past month I've taken most of my summer clothes out of storage (aka a holdall in my loft!) and put many of my winter clothes back in their place. Whilst doing so, I was also able to sort out a couple of bags of too small summer clothes which I donated to the local charity shop. I also made good use of a day off work on Friday by sorting out the clothes that I had hanging in my hall cupboard and filling 3 more bags with too small/ out of style clothes.

9.  Read at least 24 new books (2 per month) - whilst still quite a way behind where I intended to be at this point in the year, I am still keeping up with my reading. Over the past month, I've added "Where Are You Now?" by Mary Higgins Clark to my Read in 2012 list, and I'm currently about a third of my way through "Revenge Wears Prada" by Lauren Weisberger.

13.  Go on holiday somewhere new - two weekends ago, I went on a camping trip with some of my closest friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. We stayed near Skipton in North Yorkshire, and whilst I've visited several places in the UK, I'd never stayed in that part of England before so I've decided to class my 2 night trip as a holiday somewhere new!

20.  Organise at least 5 social events for me and my friends - I've wanted to see Ghost - The Musical ever since it premièred a couple of years ago. I did actually have tickets for the last time it visited Manchester, but had to forfeit my trip due to coming down with mumps a few days before. When I found out it was coming back, therefore, I knew I had to go no matter what. I rounded up a couple of other girl friends to go with me and the three of us saw it last Friday. And I'm pleased to say it was amazing...definitely well worth the wait!!

21.  Watch at least 10 new (to me) films - a couple of weeks ago a few friends and I had a movie night where we watched the fantastically awful Swamp Shark. There's quite a few of us in my social group that love bad creature features so it was a great choice! On the subject of bad films, I've also recently watched Street Fighter...it really hasn't been a vintage month for film watching, has it?! At least it means I've made more progress towards this goal I suppose!

And that's my half time progress report! Not fantastic, but definitely better than nothing :-) And what have you been up to lately? Whether it's big or small, if you want to share your story with me I'd love it!

'Til next time...

30 before 30: An Update

So do you remember my 30 before 30 list that I posted a few months back? Well, whether the answer's yes or no, I thought that now that I've started blogging again, it would be a perfect time to update you a little on my progress. So, just over four and a half months in, here's how I'm doing so far:

7.  Have a ruthless clear out of my wardrobes and drawers - I've made a start on this, having cleared out one chest of drawers so far and am going to be doing the rest over the summer, so I can make room for all the piles of clothes I've got mounting up, plus potentially a few new buys too.

9.  Read at least 24 new books (2 per month) - whilst this goal may now prove to be overly ambitious, unless I get a major spurt on for the rest of the year, I have read 3 new books since my 29th (Unsuitable Men by Pippa Wright, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey and Death by Honeymoon by Jaden Skye) and have almost finished The Great Gatsby too. Over the past couple of weeks, I've definitely been getting the urge to read more too, so it'll be interesting to see how close I can get to my original target.

10. Bake at least twice a month - I'm pretty sure I haven't achieved this goal every month, although I haven't really been keeping track as well as I should, but know that I definitely did hit the target in May, as I made Nanaimo bars, chocolate chip cookies and gingerbread over the space of 2 weekends. Hopefully I can stay in the baking habit for the rest of the year now!

11. Try 10 new recipes - I'm on 2 so far; the Nanaimo bars and the chocolate chip cookies I made last month were both things I'd tried for the first time. Look out for the recipes soon!

21. Watch at least 10 new (to me) films (to include at least 1 Tarantino) - I think I'm definitely well on track with this one! :-) At the cinema, I've seen Django Unchained (so I can say I've watched a Tarantino too!), Lincoln, Les Miserables and Iron Man 3 and I know for a fact that there's a few more films that I definitely want to try and catch in the weeks and months ahead too. Add to that the films I've watched on DVD/Netflix (I definitely remember Taken and most of Star Trek), and I think I may even have to set a higher target!

24. Start taking part in quizzes again - I've been part of a quiz team on 2 occasions since I created my list, both times on charity quiz nights with work and I've really enjoyed it. My next step is definitely to find a quiz night that I can start taking part in with (some of) my friends.

And that's pretty much it so far. Well, apart from one other goal which was really my number one priority for the year, and is something that I'm over the moon to have achieved, especially so early on in the year. I am so pleased to say that I've been able to tick the following goal off my list:

1. Get a new job!! - I am so happy about the fact I've achieved this, I really can't quite put it into words! Whilst I'm still in my old job at the moment, come September I'll be taking up my new post as graduate library assistant at one of Manchester's universities. Taking the leap to work in libraries is something that I have been considering for years, off and on, and I am thrilled that I'll finally have the opportunity to make my dream a reality. Whilst I'll only be employed on a year's fixed term contract, the job offer was too good a prospect to dismiss and I'm so looking forward to what the new chapter (sorry - but that pun was totally intended! ;-) ) of my working life may hold.

Sorry, but I couldn't resist saving the best for last! And now that really is all for now, but I'd be thrilled to hear from any of you, as always. Anything big happening in your life at the mo? Any goals that you've recently made/met, be they big or small? If so, just let me know!

'Til next time...

Happenings

Hello all! Well it's been about 6 weeks since I last blogged, and lots has happened in that time, both good and bad, happy and sad (but mainly positive, I'm pleased to report) :-). Here's a potted summary of what I've been up to:

Since the last time I blogged, I have been:

• Remembering my Grandad; not only on those obvious occasions like his funeral or his birthday, which was last Tuesday, but also at random moments too. We're all generally coping really well, but I think there will always be those times where something triggers a flood of memories, and those are the times we'll be smiling through our tears, knowing that we were lucky to have had such a wonderful man in our lives for so long.

• Singing, dancing and acting up a storm with my drama buddies at our stage society. Not only are we deep into rehearsals for our forthcoming pantomime, "Jack and the Beanstalk" (I'm playing the Queen and am also a performance director), but we also put on a charity show to raise money for a local hospice and the Salvation Army in memory of one of our best loved members who sadly died of cancer earlier this year. As well as ourselves, a cheerleading troupe, 2 bands and a male vocalist also took part and the show was a massive success. We performed to packed out houses on both nights (particularly on the Saturday performance, which was sold out!) and the whole thing felt like a really fitting tribute to a wonderful lady's memory.

• Spending quality time with my friends: I've met up with my best friend from school and been introduced to her gorgeous baby daughter for the first time, I've been to the greyhound racing and for an amazing Chinese meal to celebrate two different friends' birthdays and also enjoyed meals out just because I could. As always, being around my friends has been fantastic and I'm excited that there are more events coming up. Lion King, Manchester's Christmas Markets...I can't wait!

• Working on a new project at work: I've recently accepted the offer of moving on to a new team at work, which has been ring fenced to deal with a particular project. Whilst some aspects of my role have remained exactly the same and I've stayed with my current manager, which I'm delighted about, I've now got a whole new challenge to tackle and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in. Plus being on this team = better hours, which I love. No more early mornings or late nights for me :-)

• Shopping: Both for me and other people, for Christmas, birthdays or just for now, online or at the shops... there's hardly been a week gone by lately when I haven't been shopping. Regular readers of my blog will know that it's one of my favourite pastimes, and I'm only sorry that I haven't got a better camera so that I could post pictures of what I've bought on here!

• Rekindling my love of reading (no pun intended!):  Although I bought a Kindle back in the summer, I've especially started getting back into reading in the last couple of months or so and it's really become one of the highlights of my daily commute. Plus the free and low cost books in the Kindle store mean that I've been broadening my reading horizons and trying books that I may not have considered before. Expect a full post on this soon! :-)

Anyway, that's all from me for now. How's life been treating you over the past few weeks? Anything exciting to report? Tell me all...your comments brighten my day :-)

'Til next time...