Life After 30

Wellp, I did it! I achieved my '30 by30' and completed my project.  It was absolutely a blast and fulfilled it's purpose of getting my mind off of turning thirty. However, I was surprised by how it all hit me the day after my birthday. No more miles to run. No acts of kindness to perform? I didn't have to be at the temple...where would I go? What would I do? Well, I'm happy to say I still got up and ran :) and I thought it was the perfect time to make some more goals.  Some have said life begins at thirty and so here we go.... :)

Here's some highlights of my birthday weekend...I loved every minute of it and am so thankful for the friends and family that celebrated with me.

My last day of Instagram Gratitude in pictures. The word of the day was Self Portrait. This was the best I could do  :)

Highlights from my birthday. Beautiful balloons and goodies at work (plus lunch!), gorgeous flowers and a temple trip to finish up my project.  Such goodness!

The biggest surprise of my birthday-a Kindle tablet from my family!! I was absolutely shocked!!! I'm so thankful for my family and their love for me. They even included a "30 Things We Love About Amy" in it....almost made me cry!! 

 

Day 29: Birthday Eve!

I received my first '30' birthday card yesterday! It was from my Aunt Kate and she wrote inside, in her fabulous handwriting, 'It only gets better from 30'. I hope that's true, it sure is feeling like it. :)

I finished my running goal this morning! 30 miles total in May! My app says I ran thirty one, which I'm okay with, but I'm pretty sure it rounds up..  I'm so excited that I finished it! I want to keep running for the simple reason that I never want to have to start running again. It's finally gotten bearable and something I don't loathe and I know if I quit now it will easily become that again. Honestly I think one of the things that helped me achieve this goal was that it was public. I couldn't imagine logging on here and having to report that I didn't make the goal. So I'll let you all know what my next goal is. :)  The other goals are chugging right along. Tomorrow I just have to do my last two temple names and my random act of kindness.

Today's RAOK is to invite others to join in on the fun. Here goes....

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED....

 

IN HONOR OF AMY'S 30TH BIRTHDAY....

 

TO GIVE ONE RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS....

 

 

 

Really, do it, it's actually pretty fun :)

 

I listened to this song the other day by Hilary Weeks and loved it.  It's pretty much how I feel about these random acts of kindnesses. I'm sure I'm not changing anyone's life with these small acts, but hopefully I can give just a moment of hope and at least a smile. :)

 

 

 Somebody's down to their last dime
Somebody's running out of time
Not too far from here
Somebody's got nowhere else to go
Somebody needs a little hope
Not too far from here
And I may not know their name
But I'm praying just the same
That You'll use me Lord to wipe away a tear
Cause somebody's crying
Not too far from here

Somebody's troubled and confused
Somebody's got nothing left to lose
Not too far from here
Somebody's forgotten how to trust
Somebody's dying for love
Not too far from here
It may be a stranger's face
But I'm praying for Your grace
To move in me and take away the fear
Cause somebody's hurting
Not too far from here

Help me Lord not to turn away from pain
Help me not to rest while those around me weep
Give me Your strength and compassion
When somebody finds the road of life too steep

Somebody's troubled and confused
Somebody's got nothing left to lose
Not too far from here
Somebody's forgotten how to trust
And somebody's dying for love
Not too far from here
Now I'm letting down my guard
And I'm opening my heart
Help me speak Your love to every needful ear
Someone is waiting not too far from here

Let me know how they go! :D

Tally To Go:
RAOK: 1
Miles to Run: 0
Temple Names: 2
Days Left:1

Days 24-28 Memorial Day Weekend!

The month is quickly coming to a close and I'm pretty sad about it, but not as sad about turning 30. I think that means that this project is working! This weekend was so busy but full of goodness. 

FRIDAY: On Friday some friends and I took part in an important birthday tradition....a free meal at Tucanos Brazilian Grill. Tucanos is a yummy place to eat, it has a ton of Brazilian meats and a salad bar that I love and the best thing about it is they send you a free meal postcard during the month of your birthday. Yesss! So my friends and I went on Friday, with some family visiting from California.  It was great! And at the end of the meal as the waiter asked us if we had saved room for dessert, I called him over and told him I wanted to buy a dessert for someone else, anyone, he could choose, just send the bill my way. I don't think he fully understood it at first, he thought I wanted to secretly buy one for our table but then I explained the whole project and what I'm doing and gave him one of my "Random Acts of Kindness" cards to go with it and he got the idea.  He ended up giving the dessert to a couple dining at a table in our vicinity and watching their faces light up with gratitude was pretty awesome. I kind of love kindness, especially the random kind. ;)


SATURDAY: Saturday was busy and chaotic but so fun.  I was able to run again, finally. The wall of laziness last week had really put a damper on my running.  And I realized, on my run on Saturday, that I had 8 miles left to run in four days. Sounds do-able, right? Well normally it would be, just two miles a day, but then I realized that one of those days was chalk full already with a temple trip before work and working my second job until 10 pm, there really wasn't time for a run that day. So during my first of two miles on Saturday I mentally figured out that if I ran 3 miles Saturday and 3 miles Monday I could eliminate running one day and finish by Wednesday. So that's what I did. I wasn't sure if I could do it, but I just continued on until the three miles was finished. It really wasn't that bad and I'm glad I pushed myself to do it. 

 

So Proud! A new personal record!!

Saturday's RAOK was to empty the spare change in my wallet into a tip jar.  We have a local frozen yogurt joint that I found out had a tip jar.  So on my way to the temple on Saturday I stopped for some fro yo and emptied my change. The girl behind the counter watched one handful of change, then another, and finally another (who knew I was carrying around so much change?!) and she just looked at me and said "Oh thanks, you're awesome!" :)

Isn't their tip jar clever? It says "Tipping isn't just for cows" Teehee..

I was able to go to the Draper temple on Saturday. I have to admit, even though the Mt. Timpanogos temple being closed is costing me more gas money, I am loving the opportunity to visit other temples in Utah! Draper is a gorgeous temple that sits up on a hill. It has a great view of Utah Valley too. Beautiful!!

SUNDAY: Sunday's act of kindness was to 'Be Grateful'. I have kept a gratitude journal for years and write in it every so often, catching up on the things I'm grateful for in my life. So I wrote in it again on Sunday and focused all of my prayers that day on gratitude, asking for very little, but instead expressing appreciation for all that I've been given. As my '30 Book' quotes "I now believe in growing old gratefully, not gracefully"

MONDAY: Monday was awesome!! The random act of kindness for Monday was Service. I spent the morning helping out my roommate and her siblings at the health and rehab facility where she works putting on a flag ceremony and pancake breakfast for war veterans. It was fun and especially nice to get to talk with some of those who have served our country so willingly.  After that it was pool time! :) And then finally to finish off another three mile run. Good stuff!

Not the best pic, but the Veterans being honored

 with "God Bless America"

Flag Ceremony with the Boy Scouts

 

 

TUESDAY: This morning I got up bright and early and headed to the Provo temple. Only two more names to go now!! At lunchtime I am planning on my act of kindness for the day, picking up trash at a local park.  Should be good. Only two days left!!

 



Tally To Go:

RAOK: 2

Miles to Run: 2

Temple Names: 2

Days Left: 2

Days 21-23: Catching Up...

I've hit a wall of laziness!! This week has been uber unproductive, so I'm deeming today a "make up day". I don't know what it is but I have been lovin the lazy life this week. Just one more week of this project left and I want to finish strong. So here's a recap of the last few days and me making up for the unproductivity of it all.

Tuesday's RAOK was 'Make a Donation' so I took a box to DI (our local thrift store) and our extra plastic bags to Target. It was great for me too, that box has been sitting in the trunk of my car for a year or so. It was good to finally get rid of it and I hope that someone can use the jeans and t-shirts inside. And plastic grocery bags are another of my pet peeves. I don't know why some stores think each item you buy needs its own plastic bag but it kind of drives me crazy. I love Target for so many reasons, but especially because I can take my huge pile of plastic bags and give them away and they recycle them. What a great idea!

Wednesday's act of kindness was to give compliments. It was fun to see how one simple compliment could really brighten someone's day and I am honestly surrounded with such amazing people, it was hard to just pick one compliment per person!

No run on Monday or Tuesday made Wednesdays run extra hard and mentally tough, but I pushed through and ran two miles Wednesday morning.  That makes the total down to only 8 more miles to go!! Yay!

I was also able to go to the Oquirrah Mountain Temple on Wednesday night. It is such a beautiful temple, love it! So now the temple names total is up to 17, only 13 more left there.

 

 

Today's random act of kindness is to SMILE.  This one is kind of letting myself off the hook and have an easy day, cause I'm a smiler by nature.  I don't know what it is but smiling is just something that comes natural to me. I'm pretty happy go lucky and genuinely happy most of the time and there's no hiding it on my face. I feel like I'm pretty lucky to be one of those people, rather than someone who naturally frowns and so today I'm sharing my smile with the world. :) It is funny how many people notice a smile and how it can put us all at ease sometimes.  In the words of Buddy the Elf.... "I like smiling, Smiling is my favorite."

 

 

 

Tally To Go: 

 RAOK: 7

Miles to Run: 8

Temple Names: 13

Days Left: 7

Days 17-20: Do you believe in karma?

karma: the good or bad emanations felt to be generated by someone or something:

 

I don't know that I necessarily believe in karma, but I do believe in this scripture

 

"Fear not to do good...for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward."  

 

I received this in the mail today....

 

A personalized thank you from a member I helped with a loan last week. It came in the form of a postcard and was such a sweet surprise!! Totally made my week! (And it's only Monday...)

 

What a weekend! This past weekend I went on a little getaway with some of my best girl friends to St. George, Utah. It was beautiful and a very much needed weekend away from work and worry.  Ah, loved it.  But today is Monday and that means back to reality, and so here's a recap....

Friday: Friday's RAOK was to hold open doors for people, which came in handy since we were shopping at the outlets all day. I was so excited and a little distracted by shopping that I sometimes forgot to hold doors open. Good thing my friends reminded me...they would all stand at a door and wait for me to open it for them :)  I'm glad I have good friends that help me remember to be kind and provide those opportunities... ;) There was one mom that was especially appreciative of the gesture. She had a big stroller and another young one walking with her. I want to remember to hold doors open for people more often, it's so easy and can mean a lot to someone.

Friday's Instagram Gratitude word of the day was memories, and boy did we make some memories!

Saturday: Saturday's random act of kindness was 'no complaining'. I guess that one wasn't too hard being on vacation in sunny St. George, but it was kind of nice to hold back from complaining about anything. Obviously not complaining helped me focus on the good, but I was surprised by how easy it was once I put it out of my mind. I would think, 'Man, you know what I don't like...' and then dismiss the thought and not think of it again.  I like that. And I'm sure the friends I was with enjoyed no complaining during our 3 hour road trip home :)

I finally ran on Saturday at our hotel. It was hard but there was no complaining about it :) I'm glad I did it, that's all I have to say.  We also were able to go to the temple in St. George over the weekend. It is such a gorgeous temple and I'm so glad we could all go together.  So it was a productive weekend, two more miles and one temple name down.

 

Look what I found on Saturday! I better hurry and get to reading this baby...only 10 days left! ;)

Sunday: For Sunday the RAOK was to write a missionary.  In our church we have a missionary program where missionaries volunteer 18 months to 2 years of their lives and are assigned to go to a certain area, or mission, to preach the gospel and talk to people about our church and religion.  I served my mission in Long Beach, California and honestly it was the best experience of my life. It is sometimes hard as a missionary being away from your family and friends and so we are always encouraged to write to missionaries to help them and encourage them in the work they do.  I remember having tons of friends and family write me and let me know things were great at home and that I was doing a great work.  I survived on those letters.  So I took a couple minutes out of Sunday and wrote my friend Irene. She is currently serving her mission in the Cleveland, Ohio area and she's an awesome missionary. We've been writing for about a year and she'll be home soon. It's exciting to see through her letters how she is growing and the success she is having.

 

Monday: Today's random act of kindness was to make cookies for co-workers. So that's what I did.
               Mostly male co-workers + chocolate chip cookies = a very happy office


Tally to Go:
RAOK: 10
Miles to Run: 10
Temple Names: 18
Days Left: 10

Days 15 & 16

I don't want May to end!! I am honestly having so much fun! It's been exhausting and kinda hard sometimes but so so SO fun and exciting.  Here's the past couple of days....

Yesterday's RAOK was to bake a cake.  Since we have a friend who's birthday is on Friday, I decided to make him a birthday cake and we all got together for a little birthday celebration last night. It was a blast.

So, I have a Facebook friend who works at a McDonalds up in Idaho and he recently posted a picture of a receipt where the order taken came to a grand total of over a hundred dollars.  Yeah. At McDonalds. I don't know if it was the Duggar family or if they were feeding a small army but that was their bill.  Since seeing that I've been a little hesitant to do the whole 'pay for the person behind you' act of kindness because what if those people are behind you!?! haha.  It really scares me. So instead, on my way to work this morning, I stopped for a delicious croissantwich at Burger King and also got a $5 gift card for the person behind me. It may not have paid for their whole meal, but at least it could take a small chunk of a $110 breakfast bill. :)

No running for the past two days = a big itch to get my run on.  Maybe I will end up running some over this weekends trip.  I was able to go to the temple early this morning-finally! I got 5 more names done today which brings the total to 11. It was a beautiful morning for a temple trip! As I was leaving though I noticed a sign that said the temple will be closed for cleaning next week...haha...  Good thing I live in Utah and we have about 5 temples within a 40 mile radius.  I'm very thankful for that and hopeful about fulfilling that goal.  Happy Thursday!


Tally To Go:
RAOK: 14
Miles to Run: 12
Temple Names: 19
Days Left: 14

Day 14: Laugh

Today's random act of kindness is to laugh and spread laughter to others. So I sent random jokes of the day to some family/friends. Here's some examples.....

 

I love me some Italian jokes..

 

 

My mom is so smart! I didn't think she'd get that one...

 

 

 

To my little sister..she's kind of a hipster herself so I thought she'd like that :)

 

 

J is my fave :)

 

 

Har Har!

 

Love it!

 

 

 

Tally To Go:

RAOK: 16

Miles to Run: 12



Temple Names: 24

Days Left: 16

 

Days 10-13

Wow, time is flying.  We are almost halfway through May. That's crazy.  Here's a quick weekend recap....

Day 10 (Friday) - I gave blood! I did it! It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I gave in record time--it took me less than 6 minutes! I was pretty nervous right before but my phlebotomist was super nice and even took a picture for me.  It was pretty quick and painless and for that I am grateful. 

Look at that, I even managed to smile... :) Also on Friday, my Instagram gratitude word of the day was Nature. I realized this just as I was winding up my lunch hour late Friday afternoon. I had an 'oh crap' moment and decided to snap a pic right then. So I put my phone out the window, pointed upwards and captured this beauty.....

Not too shabby, right?  I like it. And it reminded me to be grateful for a beautiful vibrant sky and a gorgeous day.

Day 11 (Saturday)- My Saturday random act of kindness was to return shopping carts at our local Wal-Mart. I don't know about you but this is one of my pet peeves; people who leave shopping carts out, especially when they obstruct a parking spot. Seriously, people!?! So I decided to help out and return carts at Wal-Mart. It was great and I even got a little exercise walking the parking lot ;)

I was also able to run a couple more miles on Saturday.  Running is becoming addictive...I wake up in the morning and usually the first thing I think of is running. On Saturday I ran on the treadmill and decided that I like running outside better.  It used to be the opposite, but the weather has been so great lately and by running outside I feel like I'm actually going somewhere.  I'm starting to like it more than I dread it...Uh-oh.... :)

Day 12 (Sunday)- Since Sunday was Mother's Day and my mom is about two thousand miles away, I decided to hang with someone who might not have children close by or able to visit them, so I went to a health & rehab facility and visited with an elderly woman.  It was quite a bit harder than I thought it would be, but I basically walked in and started up a conversation with this total stranger. I was able to learn quite a bit about her, she grew up close by, her family followed her dad after "the war" and her children live close. She likes to read and thinks her daughters husband is a bum :) haha. It was a nice visit. I'm glad I did it, and it makes me want to do that kind of service more often, to get more comfortable with chattin it up with the elderly.

Day 13 (Monday)-Today's random act of kindness is writing out personal 'thank yous' to some people in my life.  I'm such a blessed girl, I have so many friends and acquaintances that have influenced me in my life and I think it's a good thing to acknowledge that.  I only had a package of about 10 thank you cards, though there are so many more people in my life who deserve a good thanks.
.

Two more miles in today brings the total up to 16 total miles run this month.  Only 14 more to go! I'm taking a trip this weekend and not sure if I'll have the motivation to get up and run on a mini vacation so I'm trying to get ahead so that I don't have to run if I don't want to, but with this new running loving attitude, we'll see what happens....


Tally To Go:
RAOK's: 17
Miles to Run: 14
Temple Names: 24
Days Left: 17

Day 9

Ah, I'm a day behind in posting, but everything is chugging right along. As I figure up my tally, the Temple goal is concerning me, but I know I'll be able to make the time and get there.  It's funny because in planning each day to do my running, my random act of kindness, Instagram gratitude (which I'm also a day behind on...) and making time for the temple, I keep thinking, 'What the heck did I do with all this time before I started this project???' I thought I was busy then...now adding all this on top and I am one busy, but extrememly happy and blessed, woman :D

 

Yesterday's random act of kindness was to 'lend a pen'.  We all know that most of the time when you 'lend' someone something, there's a pretty big chance you're not going to see it again, so I converted 'lend a pen' into 'give away my two most favorite pens of all time'. I'm weird like that, I get attached to pens. I'm a writer. I love writing, office paperwork, journaling, and pens make that all the more fun. So it was a sacrifice, but it was great.  They went to a good home :)

 

 

 

Today's kindness act is to give blood. I've made my appointment, got a good nights sleep, and I'm about to go have my "big lunch" that they suggested...but I'm still a bit nervous.  Wish me luck! I'll update on it later, if I'm not passed out on the floor ;)



 

Tally to Go:

RAOK: 21 (not counting my blood donation today, because it hasn't actually happened yet...)

Miles to Run: 19

Temple Names: 24

Days Left: 20 

Day 8: Happy Nurses' Week!

I hate blood. I hate just about every bodily fluid. I'm not a "toucher". I was definitely not cut out for the medical profession. But I'm so grateful for those who are. I broke my leg two years ago this month and had to have surgery. It was pretty much the scariest thing I've ever done, but the doctors and nurses were so great. So kind and considerate. They even mailed me a get well card. They rocked. So today's random act of kindness, in honor of Nurses' Week, is to take a basket of lifesavers to some pretty awesome lifesavers.

Everything else is just chugging along.. I'll tally tomorrow.     :)

Day 7- No Road Rage

  Today's Random Act of Kindness: Have a Day of No Road Rage.  If I see ya out there, I'll be smiling ;)


Tally To Go:
RAOK: 23
Miles to Run: (2 more down today): 22
Temple: 24
Days Left: 23

Days 4, 5 & 6...

I really hope he likes Big Macs....

 

 

 

Saturday was c-r-azy!! I had a full schedule of running, temple, work, etc. I had planned ahead and thought I made time for my random act of kindness but the afternoon was buzzing by and time was winding down. I found myself with a mere ten minutes left; not long enough for what I'd had planned.  I scoured the area for another idea, a quicker one to do before I had to be at work. Just that morning my roommate and I had been talking about homeless people and she mentioned she always sees one guy on a corner across from the mall by a McDonalds. As I remembered that I pulled into the McDonalds drive in and was hopeful he'd be there and that I could maybe buy him a meal. He was there! But what do you choose as a meal for someone you don't know? Someone who's probably really hungry and tired? I don't really know but I found myself saying "How about a number one with a Coke" Then I rushed around and handed it to him. He had the softest bluest eyes I've ever seen and was holding a sign that had the words "Acts of Kindness" on it (I"m not sure what else it said, I didn't really pause to read it...) but those words were the biggest on the sign. What a sign! (--> pun intended ;}) He was very grateful and said "Thank you, thank you, God Bless Ma'am" It was awesome. :D  ...and I got to work on time ;)

For Sunday my random act of kindness was to avoid gossip. It's just so fun sometimes, isn't it? And I hate to admit, but one of my favorite things to do on Sundays after church is to sit in our living room with my roommates and recap the day at church. Did you see who so and so was sitting with? Are they dating? Did you see this new couple...or that one that got engaged? In our defense, much of it is not negative, just catching up on the latest in our congregation of single people aged 18-31, but still, it's gossip. And I want to make it clear, I go to church for the spiritual aspect of it, but sometimes the social gossip just falls in. So yesterday my goal was to avoid gossip.  It was hard. Like, hard. I think it was a good reminder though to get outside of myself and just simply hold my tongue once in a while. Perhaps that is one key to happiness, holding your tongue, especially in gossipping situations. It definitely made me more aware of how much gossipping I actually do! Every time I went to say something and stopped myself I thought wow, again, Amy, really, haha. I'm glad I did it, though. And if not for anyone else, it was an act of kindness towards myself. I think gossipping belittles us and doesn't always make me feel the best about myself. Lesson learned.

Today's act of kindness was by far much easier.  Today's was to 'call a relative'. Well, it's my Mom's 50th Birthday today, so I called home and had a great chat with her. She's a delightful woman; strong, independent and intelligent. It was great to talk to her, and she has such a positive attitude about her birthday this year.  She is so full of gratitude today that she's even made it to fifty that worrying about age is not on her agenda today. I love it. What an example. It was great to talk to her. Happy Birthday Mom!!

One last weekend up date...2 miles on Saturday + 2 more miles today = a total of 6 miles down! YAY! I'm quickly discovering that the running goal is proving to be the toughest. I'm kind of surprised by that, but hopefully it will become easier, and I'm starting to look forward to it so thats a step in the right direction...I hope... :)  I was also able to go to the Temple on Saturday and I did 5 names so total is up to 6 finished. Instagram gratitude is fun. This weekend I was reminded to be grateful for happiness, leaves and the morning sky. Good stuff. 


Tally to go
RAOK: 24
Miles to Run: 24
Temple: 24
Days: 24

Days 2 & 3

2 Miles down!!! Can I get a hallelujah?!?  Ugh, it was pretty funny actually because I've set my alarm for 6:30 almost every day this week and I've consistently snoozed my way to 6:45 or 7:15..but this morning I woke up so promptly and full of energy at exactly 6:26; fate sealed. My thought was, wellp, guess I'm gonna go running. So I set out and flirted with the idea of just one mile then kept reminding myself that 30 miles in less than 30 days ain't gonna run itself and I should at least do 2 miles.  It was cold. Both nose and eyes running. Allergies going nuts. My legs went numb, my pace was slow. It sucked. Ha! But I did it. My friends and I have this theory about "doing hard things" and how it might be really tough for a minute but in the end you're stronger for it. Hard thing for the day- check. 2 miles done-check... :)  Here's a groggy, blurry picture of the path I ran and what kept me going...David Guetta 'Titanium'. I'm thankful for both a nice running path and good music.  <3

Yesterday's RAOK was leaving a sweet something for the mail people. I left a candy bar both at our home mailbox and for our mail guy at work. Our mailman at work is one of my favorite people. He is hilarious, always makes that minute of dropping off mail a joyful one and he's even known to share a joke or two. He's pretty awesome. I was worried it might be kind of awkward leaving something for him because the mail is picked up at my desk, but when he came in I got so excited, I was like LOOK! There's something for you...: D  He got a big smile and gave me a fist bump and said 'awesome, well done'. haha. Loved that!

Today's act of kindness is leaving a dollar bill in a book I am returning to the library. I LOVE Provo City Library, it's one of my favorite places to spend hours on a Saturday. I also loved reading this book, Ella Minnow Pea...Get it? Like LMNOP...   It's a beautifully written book about a girl in a town that honors the creator of the sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" which uses every letter in the alphabet. The sentence is hung in the town as a statue of the greatness of that man, but chaos enters when letters start falling from the statue and thus are taken out of the vocabulary of the townspeople.  Such a fun book, so clever, I'd reccommend it to anyone, especially for word lovers. And so, I'm returning it today with a dollar bill in it, hopefully whoever reads it next will love both the book and the extra dollar. ;)

I was able to go with some friends last night to the temple, so one name down there. And the Instagram gratitude has been fun too.  There has been one thing that has surprised me and that's that people are actually paying attention to what I'm doing! haha. I guess when you blog about it and blast it all over Facebook people are bound to notice, but I really didn't expect it. I got a call this morning from my wonderful Grandma who just called to say how proud she was and that she had heard what I was doing and loved it. That totally made my day!!! I'm glad that other people think it's a good thing, cause I sure am loving it and the feedback is fun so keep it coming ;) 


Tally to go:
RAOK: 27
Miles to Run: 28
Temple Names: 29
Days Left: 27

Day 1

Well, there's good news and bad news...I'll start with the bad. I have to run 30 miles in 29 days... :)

Now, onto the good...I am so excited about this project!!  Today's random act of kindness was leaving some change taped to a vending machine for someone to have a drink on me.  One of my initial worries with this project was that it would be expensive. Acts of kindness are fun and great, especially when you buy people meals and leave extra large tips...but let's be honest, I just don't usually have that kind of money. So I'm trying to use what I can live without...starting with loose change! I cashed in my jar of coin from home and my car ashtray and found a little over 5 bucks! Wahoo! Who knew!?  With that extra money I can do at least 3 of the RAOK (Random Acts of Kindnes...) on my list.  Yay!

There was a bit of a challenge with this particular act of kindness...Do vending machines even exist anymore? I had to think a bit about the last time I saw/used a vending machine. With some help I finally thought of grocery stores, they sometimes have drink machines outside. So I found one and left my $1.25 taped to the machine. It's waaayyy windy in Utah today so I taped it down pretty good and off I went.  I hope it stayed. Or that someone gets hit in the face with the dollar bill. Not so much the quarter.  :)

The Instagram gratitude word of the day is Food. One of my most favorite foods is chocolate! So I got myself a Hershey's Almond bar and was grateful for every bite. ;) 



 

 

 

 



Tally to go:
RAOK: 29
Miles: 30
Temple Names: 30
Days Left: 29

 

Welcome.  I've decided to prepare for my 30th birthday by finding joy and I believe that joy is found in two things.  Service & People. And so I've created the idea of  "30 by 30". Throughout the years there have been quite a few things on my "I wanna do that by the time I'm 30..." list, but the thing is, I said all those things when 30 was a lot farther away than it is now. The biggest thing I want to accomplish by the time that I'm 30 is finding joy in the journey.  I've heard it so often and really want to grasp that.  Thirty is a pretty big milestone for me, someone who has always believed herself to be young at heart, and I feel like in this world today there's so much to be troubled, depressed and discouraged by; but hopefully by seeking out and finding the good and then sharing that with others, I can truly learn to love the process more than the destination.  We've all heard the quirky one liners, "Joy in the Journey", "Don't Wait for the Golden Ticket", "Be Happy Now", but I'm ready to live them.  Soooo, for 30 by 30 theres a few things I want to find joy in accomplishing....

The biggest of these is Random Acts of Kindness.  I believe in people. I believe that everyone has a struggles, others usually more than myself. I believe there is good in almost everyone and that people appreciate being appreciated. I also believe in kindness. I did a smaller version of random acts of kindness on 11-11-11, eleven acts of kindness in a day and IT ROCKED! It was so much fun and I want to hopefully re-create that in the month of May.  30 Acts of Kindness in 30 days for my 30th birthday on May 30. It's destined to be good, right??

"I think you were a born runner"  That's what one of my good friends told me once. I thought she was crazy. We had just begun a pretty intense gym regimin (pretty intense = Jillian Michaels) and I wasn't struggling as much as everyone else. I've always been athletic and interested in sports but my body type doesn't seem to respond to my athletic attempts. I do enjoy running, once I get past that wall that we all hit. For me, running seems to clear everything, mind, body, and spirit. So for my "30 by 30" project I want to run 30 miles.  No, no, no....not all at once, you silly. Just 30 miles. In 30 days.  That's doable...Right?...Right?  ;)

I found this thing last month on Pinterest that was an Instagram gratitude challenge. I loved the idea. It gives you one word or phrase of something to prompt your gratitutde for that day. My initial thought was "Well, that's the only way I can be happy about being 30, is if I force myself to be grateful", but now I'm genuinely excited about it.  So add that one to the list, Instragram gratitude for 30 days.

The last of these is catered especially to Mormonism, I won't try to convert you or anything but if you're fiercly uninterested in religion, you should probably stop reading now... :)  As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints (that's what we Mormons like to call ourselves...) I believe in temples. Temples were built anciently in biblical times as sacred houses of worship and we also have temples on the Earth today. I'm so lucky and blessed to have a temple near, a few actually, and I want to use them as much as possible. The Temple is a pretty special place where we can go to serve and it is the most peaceful place I know of. Some of the work we do in the Temple includes service to others. And so my goal this month is to serve at least...you guessed it...30 people in the Temple this month.  It might seem like no big feat, that's just one a day, but with two jobs, trying to date & maintain a social life, doing a random act of kindness and running, it'll be...well, fun :)

P.S. Just in case you're interested, visit lds.org for more on Temples and Mormons.  And here's a picture of the Salt Lake City temple....Gorgeous, no?

 

 

So that's it, so far.  I will try to be better at the blogging business and track my progress. Throughout this planning for May to come and the thriy days that lie ahead I'm excited to see how this all pans out. As I said before, I think there's so many things in this world to be discouraged and depressed by and I feel like I could dwell on that. My negativity vaccuums are that I'm single, about to be 30 and have no children. Those really get to me sometimes, but I need to remember to BE HAPPY NOW and enjoy the journey, for realz. Also, I want to remember to appreciate myself as well, and to experience an increase in joy within. As one cute octogenarian told me just today, "Keep Smiling, and Be Good to Yourself."  Note taken.