30 things to do before i'm 30 - Part 2

11 - Attend the last night of the proms.
When I was a little girl my big treat of the year was being allowed to stay up with my dad to watch the last night of the proms, from the first time we watched it together I have always wanted to go and watch, however life seems to have gotten in the way. In the next 4 years I have every intention of going with my dad and one of my brothers - probably to Hyde Park as i'm not sure we can commit to attending the whole of the prom season.

12 - Visit Japan during cherry blossom season

A friend of the family once visiting Japan and came home with incredible photographs and stories, I remember sitting listening to them all fascinated and then trying to recreate the photographs with my colouring pencils (completely unsuccessful). Now I am older i'd love to go and experience the magic for myself.

13 - Run a marathon

This has been on my to do list for a long time, in fact I once started training for a marathon and then got injured so I had to stop. I used to love running, at school I couldn't get enough, and I ran all through college and university and then something changed, I appear to have fallen out of love with the idea of running. Once i'm out I love it, its the getting out that I am currently having problems with, i'll have to get out of this rut i'm in if i'm ever going to cross this one off the list.

14 - Make something - pottery/ceramics

In my future house (number 7) I want to be able to point at something and say 'I made that'. I'm under no illusions about how hard this will be, we had to use clay at school and I ended up with a sort of clay blob which was of no use to anyone at all! I might have to try and find evening classes to go to so that I can be taught exactly what to do :)

15 - Pose nude for an art class

This was suggested to me by a friend of mine and I thought it was so crazy I just had to do it. I have a really negative body image so seeing myself through the eyes of others might just be the push I need to start feeling more positive about myself, of all the things on the list this is the one that I am most terrified about!

16 - Volunteer

I have always had every intention to volunteer, be it in a local charity shop or something further afield, life just seems to get in the way. I am now determined that one summer before I am 30 I will have spent 6 weeks doing something good just because.

17 - Dye my hair a crazy colour 
I naturally have really dark hair which until recently has always been its natural colour. There was a crazy couple of months when I was 13 that I had blonde streaks put through it, this resulted in me looking like i'd had a terrible accident with a passing bird! I've previously had a bright red flash on one side of my hair which I loved, especially as it was so low maintenance. I'd love to go pillow box red but i'm not sure i'd be dedicated enough to keep on top of the colour, all I know is that sometime in the next 4 years my hair will be a colour other than brown/black.

18 - Be able to fix one thing in every room in my house, single handedly

I saw this idea on someone else's list and thought it was a great idea. It doesn't have to be anything huge, but I would like to know that I have the knowledge to fix something and fix it well. My father in law has a reputation at being a 'bodger' when it comes to fixing things so he might have to be the person to teach me!!

19 - Learn to change a tire

This has been added to the list after following a conversation on Facebook between two friends of mine who had been stuck on the side of a road waiting for the AA to come and change a tire on their way for a night out, I never want to be in that situation. Before my grandfather died he told me that it was important for a girl to know her way around a car so in his memory I am going to learn.

20 - Write more letters
I adore receiving letters in the post I just wish it would happen more often. When I was at university the highlight of my week was getting a letter in the post from my parents and grandma. I used to write letter to everyone - friends, family and pen pals in Carlisle, France and Germany. From now on I am going to endeavour to write letters on a much more regular basis, even if it is only to say 'hello' to a friend.

Listening to - Hollyoaks
Feeling - Poorly, spent the day on the sofa :(
To do - Eat dinner!!

30 things to do before i'm 30 - Part 1

I've been thinking for a while about having a list of all the things I would like to accomplish before turning 30 in 4 years, these are a mixture of things some of which can be done fairly quickly and others that will take a bit more time to accomplish, however having them written down somewhere means I am far more likely to actually try and get everything crossed off!

1 - Learn to drive

I've never had any real reason to learn to drive - I moved to London at 18 to study for my degree and then lived in Manchester city centre for 2 years before moving to Canterbury which has a train line which links to London in under an hour, however with the very real possibility of a move to Norfolk next year i'm definitely going to have to get behind the wheel. 

2 - Go in a hot air balloon

When I was very young a hot air balloon landed in the fields of my grandparents farm and ever since then I have wanted to go in one, there is something so magical about the idea of silently flying across the sky watching everything that is happening below. My family actually had a balloon ride booked a few years ago but we had to cancel as my dad got sick, definitely can't wait to achieve this one!  

3 - Learn to scuba dive

This year I overcame my fear of the sea and gave snorkelling ago, much to my surprise I absolutely loved every minute of it, I spent as much time as possible under the sea looking at fish and coral and just generally exploring the reef around the Maldivian Island we were on. Now I want to go one step further and scuba dive - I love the idea of being able to really explore the sea bed, it also appeals to my fascination with history as I would love to be able to explore a ship wreak. 

4 - Get a tattoo

There has always been something I love about tattoos. I love the fact that they are there for life and will serve as a constant reminder of where I was at a certain point in my life. I actually have an idea of what I want as a tattoo, I just have to decide where to have it done as I want it to be something for me rather than for other people to look at!


5 - Learn how not to take criticism to heart
I could receive 9 compliments and only 1 criticism and yet it is the criticism that I cary around with me. I remember pretty much every negative thing that has ever been said to me, and yet I would struggle to recite 5 compliments. I want to change this - it's not good to carry other people's negativity around. I think the best way to start is by writing down the compliments so that I have something to look over when I start to dwell on the negative comments.

6 - Do something so completely unexpected of me that people need photographic evidence to believe it happened
 Ever since I went to dance school I have always toed the line, I was desperate to get my belly button pierced but this wasn't allowed so I never had it done. I spent my teens taking ballet classes on a Saturday so I vey rarely went out. I actually have done something like this once before - on a school trip I was the only girl who successfully managed to climb and abseil a cliff face, my granddad was so proud I had done it and I have never forgotten the look on his face when I showed him the photographs. I'm not sure what the unexpected thing will be yet but        
i'll be sure to tell you when i've done it!

7 - Buy a real, grown up house
This is actually a joint project with Stuart. We would love to own our own house and have decided to make a conscientious decision to start saving. I am lucky that we both have pretty similar ideas of what we would like - either a new house we can put our own stamp on or an old house which has a history.

8 - Visit 30 countries before i'm 30
I love to travel, the thrill of experiencing new countries never bores me. I love everything about going away from the booking, planning where to visit and finally arriving at the destination. So far I have 7 countries crossed off - France, Wales, Spain, Dubai, Germany, Switzerland and the Maldives, living in Kent means I am going to start taking advantage of cheap ferry travel to do some more exploring.

9 - Speak my mind
I have an absurd desire to always please people, this means that no matter how I am feeling. Even when people have upset me I always want them to feel ok, I am the first to apologise in an argument and because of this I do genuinely believe that some of my friends believe me to be a bit of a push over, i'm not, I have opinions and I think I need to start letting people know if they have upset me, let me down or just made me feel lousy.

10 - Own a designer handbag

This is a totally gratuitous point, but I have ALWAYS wanted to have a designer handbag so this is why it has made the list! I want to be the person to buy the bag to reward myself for a job well done - at 26 I have my own dance school and I think this is something to be celebrated, hence the treat.




the next 10 will be coming soon...

Listening to - Ludovico Einaudi, adore him.
Feeling - Sleepy, I was up at 4.30 this morning and am vey much ready for a mid morning nap.
To do - Finalise my dance routines for this week and get an online food shop done so that I can eat!!