30 before 30 update: discover my story and write it down

this is actually something i've been wanting to do for a long time. i wrote about it before, in several posts (here, here, here, and here), about how i was trying to figure out what exactly my story is.

well. it's two years later. and i found it. and i wrote it out. and i shared it with the swamp tigers. (my community group. feel free to be jealous of our name.) i'm not going to write it all out here on my blog, because it's not something that i feel needs to be shared with the world wide web. but if you know me, and you ask, i'll probably tell you. there's nothing to really be ashamed of from my story, but i stories are not something to be taken lightly.

so. i'm crossing this off the list.

30 before 30 update: 25. walk the cumberland river pedestrian bridge

on my 29th birthday, my roommates and i spent the morning walking the pedestrian bridge. it wasn't as long as i excepted actually, but it was fun to walk across and get a great view of the skyline. here's one of the pictures i snapped along the way:

30 before 30 update: shoot a real gun

as part of my 29th birthday celebration, my friends stacy, suzanne, and chad accompanied me to gun city, usa. the place was every bit as shady as the name. we rented a 38 revolver and a 9mm automatic. i wasn't a fan of the automatic at all (i only shot two bullets from it), but i did shoot a few rounds out of the revolver and finally started to feel comfortable with it. i don't plan to ever own a gun, but i figured it was something i should experience and be familiar with.

enjoy the following pictures.

30 before 30 update: have a small emergency fund

i've actually had this for awhile, i just neglected to update my blog. here's hoping that by finally posting about it, i won't jinx myself and have an emergency.

30 before 30 update: become a member of midtown

yesterday i was able to cross something else off my 30 before 30 list. after attending the church for over 5 years, i finally became a member of midtown fellowship. there's really no good reason i hadn't become one earlier, and i'm glad that i finally did. life in nashville would not be the same without the community i have through midtown.
also, my good friend kateland was baptized on the same day. hers is a beautiful story of transformation, and i'm glad we were able to share the day.

30 before 30 update: organize files (paper & electronic), part 1

one of the things on my 30 before 30 list was to organize my paper and electronic files. a few days ago i finished the first half of that - the paper files. it was getting to the point where boxes of old pay stubs and bills were exploding in my closet. so i took a saturday morning, popped "crazy, stupid, love" into the dvd-player, and sat down with a 3-ring binder and a 3-hole punch and organized all the papers. it feels good to know i'm starting 2012 off organized in at least one small corner of my world. so, in case you're wanting to do the same, i dug around on the internet and found the general rules of thumb for record retention. i printed this guide off on a piece of paper and stuck it in the front of the binder:

Tax Returns & Backup Documentation – 7 years

Health Records – indefinitely: contact info of physician, medical history, prescriptions/treatments

Medical Records – 7 years if claimed on taxes, otherwise 5 years after end of treatment

Life Insurance – life of policy + 3 years

Medical Insurance – 5 years from date of service rendered

Home Insurance – 5 years, or 10 if you predict issues

Warranty – when expired

Home Repair Bills & Contracts – 10 years

Pay Stubs – keep each stub throughout the year. At end of year keep only year-end stub. Keep these for 7 years.

Bank Statements – 3 months

Financial Documents (stocks, bonds, etc) – indefinitely

Utility Bills – if claiming on taxes 7 years, otherwise 3 months

Mortgage Statements – ownership period of the mortgaged property + 7 years

Mortgage Documents – 10 years

Credit Card Statements – 3 months (although i suggest you go the dave ramsey route and not use credit cards, ever. at almost 29-years old, i never have.)

30 before 30 update: physician's visit

back in august i made a list of 30 things i wanted to do before turning 30. number 28 on the list was to visit a physician. at the time of my making the list, it had been 10 years since i last visited one.

well. ten years and a $20 co-pay later i learned....

.....

drumroll.....


....

i'm normal. whatever that means.

30 before 30 update: back to the future trilogy

i can officially cross #11 off my "30 before 30" list: watching the back to the future trilogy. i don't know why it took me 26 years to watch it, but it did. big thanks to nick for lending his dvd set.

overall, i really enjoyed the movies and can tell why they are such classics. and it's out of love that i present the following commentary:

part 1
-if i was lorraine and biff had assaulted me in high school, i don't think i would allow him to be around my family and detailing my car.
-when lorraine and george got older and saw marty grow up, wouldn't they think "hey, he looks just like that kid who set us up". i mean, maybe not, but still... gotta wonder.

part 2
-so four years from now we're going to have hoverboards, flying cars, automatic michael jackson servers at diners, kids won't play games with their hands anymore, and inflation will be crazy! ($40 for a pepsi?) i don't want to know what happens between now and 2015 that will cause all that crazy change to happen so fast.

part 3
-take the fringe off marty's shirt and he looks like a nashville hipster from 2011.
-all throughout the second movie and the beginning of the first movie, doc keeps mentioning how time travel was a bad and idea and he needs to destroy the time machine. so then why would he create a new one, just for the purpose of getting einstein bakc?
-how can doc stay in 1885 and procreate in 1885 without messing up timelines?
-now i want to watch seasons 4 & 5 of lost.

30 before 30

so i made a list of 30 things to do/accomplish by the time i'm 30... which is in 18 months (let's not go down that road right now, though). anyway. here they are. some are silly. some are boring. but they're all me.


1. reach a healthy weight.
2. read the entire bible, including the apocrypha.
3. read every unread book i own.
4. organize files (paper & electronic).
5. run a 5k.
6. have a small emergency fund.
7. write a hand-written letter and send it via snail mail.
8. leave the country. (it's been five years [minus driving around canada from 3am to 5am once in 2008])
9. visit a new state.
10. go to a drive-in movie.
11. watch the "back to the future" trilogy.
12. watch the dark side of the rainbow.
13. return to warner camp. (it's been six years)
14. buy a little black dress.
15. learn to drive a stick-shift.
16. do something concrete to better my photography.
17. shoot a (real) gun.
18. pay off my 401k loan.
19. become a member of midtown.
20. interview someone who makes a living doing what they love.
21. do something creative with my broken mug.
22. purchase domains for my blog, photographs, and etsy.
23. visit dinosaur world (kentucky).
24. visit mammoth cave.
25. walk the cumberland river pedestrian bridge.
26. make baked caramel apple donuts.
27. go camping. in the woods. in a tent. with friends. (it's been 11 years)
28. visit a physician. (it's been 10 years)
29. discover my story. write it down.
30. make a list of 30 people who have influenced my life.