I just hit my 30th birthday in November and so far, so good.  Everything they write about really is true – 30 isn’t that bad.  When you are in your late twenties, the looming big 30 seems scary, and then once it hits, you really don’t have anything scary to look towards for another decade.  You can just be who you want, be friends with who you want, and live how you want.  I made a *serious* list of things I wanted to do before 30 which I thought was a really great exercise and helped give me some things to work towards. There were also some personal goals that aren’t realistic.  You can’t plan your whole life. You can read about in detail here, but I did want to touch on some of my big milestones these past two years.

1.) Move to a new city.  I did it – Chicago here I am! I have a great job, great friends, and am enjoying the food culture more than I should be!

2.) Travel.  Although I didn’t make it to all the international locations I had wanted before 30, I was able to see Ireland with my family and I’m so happy I was able to do that, especially with the people closest to me.   However, I did make some traction within the US.  Moving to Chicago gave me a mid-west tour, including St. Louis and Columbus.  I saw San Diego, San Francisco, Napa, Charleston SC, Louisville, and New Orleans.

3.) Run a half marathon.  I’m so glad I had this on my list, because if I didn’t write it down, I probably wouldn’t have done it.  I did the Rock N’ Roll Half Marathon in Chicago and I definitely am making sure I keep this goal on my future to-do lists.

So what’s next? Well a 35 before 35 list of course.  If you haven’t made these types of lists before, now’s the time to start.  You only live once.  No regrets!

Stay tuned.