Before I Turn 25

I want to spend my twenty-fourth year of life living purposefully, making conscious decisions that I can stand behind proudly. I want to set goals and keep them. I want to know what I am living for, so that I don't waste my time doing something that isn't going to help me achieve my goals.

In no particular order, my goals for the next year:

1. Blog regularly-I'm shooting for five days a week, but I'm not going to kill myself if it's only three or four-I'm in grad school after all.
2. Run in a 5K (officially).
3. Finish grad school- in December.
4. Hopefully by the time I'm 25 I'll have my first real job.
5. Read through the Bible-already started this one, so I should finish this in December too.
6. Stop playing meaningless games on my iPod. I'm ashamed to admit I get really addicted to my games and waste a lot of time. Today, I deleted those.
7. Make at least three meals a week.
8. Once it gets warmer, exercise 3 times a week. hmm...March maybe? I just can't run when there's snow on the ground. It doesn't sit right with me.
9. Get an internship--this goes along with finishing grad school.
10. Set aside time to spend with Seth each week. Whether it is a date, or just taking a walk together.
11. Before I turn 25 I will become more involved at church--volunteering, becoming part of a small group, something. I know I can't pull this off while I am commuting to classes. I may be able to pull this off during my internship, but for sure after it is over. I am giving myself an ultimatum: get more involved by 25.
12. Clean the apartment on a regular basis. I've already set up a weekly schedule, but then again I've already broken it too. I just need to make sure the floors don't go two months without being vacuumed.
13. Continue to grow my hair out. It has fairly dramatic layers right now and I'd like for it to be all the same length.
14. Don't color my hair. Yes, blonde may look fun from a distance, but it looks terrible on and takes forever to go away.
15. Don't buy anything for the apartment. I am not allowed to buy anything specifically for the apartment. We already have all the furniture we need and it is decorated enough.We aren't living here forever, so we don't need to buy anything that may potentially not work in a future home.
16. Spend more time with my family. I'd like to go visit at least every other month, especially since I have a niece now.
17. Purge, purge, purge. At least once a month go through my stuff and donate anything I don't wear or use on regular basis.
18. Manage stress better. I'd like to pray first before I fire off an angry email or cry because I get so frustrated trying to solve problems on my own.
19. Join the 21st century and get smart phones. Of course this means texting has to go so we can afford it.
20. I promise once I get a smart phone (aka iPhone) I will stop texting and driving. Mostly because it will be really difficult and by the time we get them I will have a five minute commute.
21. Do laundry at least every other week so I am not so overwhelmed by trying to do it all once. Getting married didn't double the laundry--it has multiplied exponentially.
22. Spend less time on the internet---and more time working on homework.
23. Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. And to listen to my body, when I am tired I need to send myself to bed.
24. Save money every month. Even if it is only $20. We need to learn to live on less than we make, not matter how little we make.