I stole this idea from a good friend of mine. It was a lot of fun to write out! I recommend it for every decade-birthday. Thinking back over the opportunities and good memories of the last thirty years makes me feel grateful for the life I was given rather than dread at getting older. So here are 30 things I’ve done in the last 30 years!
I lived on a Reservation in Arizona for the first four years of my life, and I was given the Hopi name, Bacamana, which means reed girl, by a Hopi woman at our church.
Flew in a glass-bottom helicopter to live in a village at the bottom of the Grand Canyon for two weeks. (One of my earliest memories). My parents were working with the Havasupai Tribe there.
Played soccer through my Sophomore year of high school
Signed my first publishing contract
Won a first place medal in the Gingerbread Run 5k in Hindman, KY. Have yet to run in another 5k.
Followed a pregnant woman and her husband who had a New Zealand accent through LAX to find my flight. It worked.
Rode across the countryside on Clydesdales where LOTR scenes were filmed.
Attended a symphony at the Sydney Opera House
Viewed Paris from atop the Eifel tower after taking the stairs.
Sang hymns in a Swiss castle dungeon where my Mennonite ancestors were once imprisoned.
Posed in front of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.
Married a man whose birthday is the day after mine.
Attended Mass at the Notre Dame Cathedral in 2011
Almost fell into the river while white water rafting in NC.
Spent 4 years as an Elementary teacher, 5 summers as a reading tutor for students with dyslexia, 3 years as a preschool aid, and 5 summers as a camp counselor.
Had two babies with no epidural or pain medications.
Played fiddle in a bluegrass band
Spend many nights star gazing on the roof outside my bedroom window.
Sang eight-part harmony with the Rosedale Chorale to the Canadian border security. They made us stop.
Gave myself a small mohawk-like fringe trying to cut pine sap out of my hair when I was nine.
Binge watched Boy Meets World with Rachel Fisher during a huge snowstorm that canceled school for two weeks.
Have had two hairdressers working on my hair at once on multiple occasions because my hair is so thick.
Part of a traveling college drama group.
Walked around in a “blizzard” in Rome
Climbed through secret passages to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica in Florence, Italy.
Visited a Concentration Camp in Germany
Saw the stairway in Austria where a scene from The Sound of Music was filmed.
Boated down the waterways of Venice.
Traveled from Ohio to Arizona by train—went home by car, stopping at St. Louis Arch.
I free jumped off a 30 ft. boulder into the Red River at Red River Gorge.
Time to start working on the bucket list for the next 10 years!
You have had an exciting 30 years! So many special memories!