Feel free to get in touch: megan @ 30candles.net
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Thank you so much for checking out my 30 before 30 Project! I am a California native living with her fiancé, dog, and two cats. Professionally I work as a User Experience Designer and focus on design patterns, accessibility, and design best practices. For fun, I coach my local roller derby league, the Santa Cruz Derby Girls.
On Tuesday November 13th, 2012 I turned 30 years old. In the years prior to my 30th birthday, I created a list of 30 items I wanted to complete before my 30th birthday. To me this was one way of celebrating a birthday that many people dread. Instead of hating the fact that I was growing older I decided to fill my years with fun and random activities.
Certainly having a 30 before 30 list isn’t a unique idea but I was truly inspired to create one after finding Nicole Balch’s 30 list (see her list here). I started my list mid-2010 as a way of making time for the fun activities that usually get sidelined in my life. The list first started with random items of activities that I had written about in my journal or had talked about with friends.
My original list contained many items that were later taken off or changed. As time past my priorities and life situation changed and my list adapted with that. It was important to keep the list full of ideas that were meaningful and fun. For example, one of the items that I took off of my list was “watch all of the movies on AFI’s 100 classic movie list “. I first put this on my list it was because I thought it would be interesting and entertaining to watch all the classic movies. After adding this item I quickly ordered Citizen Kane off of Netflix. The poor DVD then proceeded to let it collect dust for the next two months. I made several honest tries at watching it and could not get through the first 15 minutes. I then knew that this list item was something that wasn’t going to be fun or interesting for me, so it was replaced.
My final version of my list is filled with a variety of activities and I truly enjoyed doing everyone single one of them. I also had lots of help from friends and family to help make the list possible. To me, including them in the process of completing my list was one of the best bonuses of taking on this project.
Favorite List Item
My favorite item was going to Japan (item #14). This trip took many long hours to research and planning but it was all worth it. Going to Japan was something that I always wanted to do but never thought that I would be able to do. One evening Tracy and I were chatting about what was left on my list and I mentioned Japan was left. We decided then to just do it and dove right into the planning process. The trip was so special because it was our first big trip together and we got to see so many amazing sites in Japan.
Toughest Item to Complete
Running a 10k (item #25) took weeks of training and was physically tough to complete. When I first put this on my list, I wasn’t sure if I was actually going to be able to do it, I hate running! But training for this goal and having the support of Tracy (my boyfriend) made this a fun goal to complete. During the race I felt good and I was so stoked when I finally crossed the finish line.
List Item that I Would Most Recommend
Like many people, I had a huge fear of donating blood (item #5). In 2010, the derby league that I coach decided to have a blood drive. I knew that it was for a good cause and would benefit my league. I decided to sign up for a spot and donate blood. What made this process less scary was that I was surrounded by my leaguemates and they helped keep me calm. Since my first blood donation, I have now donated blood two other times (once in 2011 and again on my 30th birthday)
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