Day 1: 352 Days Left

This is the start of a new beginning for me. A little over a week and a half ago, I turned 29 years old.
Big whoop, right?
It is kinda a big thing for me. Next year I'll be....gulp....thirty. Gasp! I know. My husband turned 30 last year, as did most of his friends. Now my friends are all starting to turn 30, or at least approach it. Thirty used to be an old age to me, the age my mother was when she had my youngest sister. Thirty is nearly ten years post undergraduate schooling. Thirty is the beginning of the end of my reproductive cycle. Thirty is when my body will refuse to lose weight, refuse to gain muscle. My kids are going to look at me and go "Ew! She's thirty!".  Thirty is scary, right?
For me, it actually isn't. For me, it's a goal to reach. It's just a number. It's the beginning of the summer of my life, the time when I am fully into adulthood and I continue in life to mature and grow as a person.
Yep. Lookout 30. Here I come. I'm ready for you. For the next 352 days, I'm going to change me. You're not going to change me; I AM going to change me.
This is what I am going to accomplish in the next 352 days:
1. Lose at least 30lbs. Not so hard, right? Wrong. I had two kids in the past four years, and I'd like to have at least one more. Since my daughter, I lost 30lbs of pregnancy and pre-pregnancy weight. At that point, I sort of hit a plateau and stopped exercising. I have stayed steady, but the rest needs to come off. More on this in my next post.
2. Try to have baby #3. Yeah, just throwing this one out there. We've been trying, but to no avail. More on this at a later time.
3. Get outside 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Is it getting corny yet with the reference to 30? Well, my birthday is 3/30...I digress. I want to become an outside person. Right now, I'm very much an indoor person: no bugs, no sunburn, no cold, etc. Now with kids, I have a need to be outside, at least for them. They need to be outside. I'm going to get out there and at least let them play. I also am starting a garden--a full fledged garden--with them this year. Even if I go for a walk, it'll count.
4. Try 30 new recipes. I am not a cook. My husband is the cook in this house. He actually loves it. For me, cooking is torture. Now that I am a full-time SAHM though, the cooking is part of my routine. I am going to find recipes that I find appealing and I am going to incorporate them into the lineup.
5. Write 30 awesome new hubs. I am a writer at ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com and also at my other blog, MommyKnowsWhatsBest.blogspot.com. The HubPages account is what's bringing in some money though. I want to increase the amount of articles I have there by at least 30 and make them awesome. That is all.
6. Enter my 30th year with flair and meet all challenges head-on. Yeah, my list is relatively short now, but as I think of more goals, I'll add them. Basically, I want to make this year rock. I want to meet all challenges and reach or even surpass my goals.
Here's to my 30th year. Cheers!
Marissa
ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com
MommyKnowsWhatsBest.Blogspot.com