Looking Back At My 30 Things to Do During My 30's List

Well, I wasn't sure if I'd ever get back to this list.  But something was calling me to come on here and bring some closure to it... so here I am.

I had originally planned to do this blog post as a six months to go check in.  But since that came and went back months ago when I wasn't actively blogging, we're just going to wrap this up and move forward.  So now as a newly 40 year old, I'm officially saying goodbye to my 30's and my 30 Things to Do During My 30's List.

For those of you who are new here, ten years ago I decided to make a list of thirty things that I wanted to do during my 30's.  I decided to make this list after discovering that a lot of people make 30 things to do before turning 30 lists.  I didn't do it before I turned 30, so I decided to make one for while I was in my thirties.  Then, I kicked off my 30th year with a Rapunzel and Tangled themed birthday party.  Instead of turning 30 with dread like most people do, I chose to look at it as the next big adventure.  

Photo Source: Disney

Over the past ten years, I've had to make some tweaks to the original list.  There was my first revised list when my priorities changed.  Then, I checked in again at the halfway point.  My last revision and update was two years ago when I reached the 3/4 mark. After the coronavirus pandemic, there were a few things that didn't make sense to keep on the list.  But I wasn't too worried about it... a lot can happen in 10 years!

Here's the list for those of you who haven't seen it:

30 Things To Do During My 30's (Updated List):

1. Visit Disneyland During the 60th Anniversary 
2. Buy Our First House 
3. Go On Our First Disney Cruise
4. Get a Puppy
5. Have Kids
6. Attend a D23 Expo Convention
7. Take My Parents to Disneyland for the 1st Time
8. Go to Disney for Dapper Day
9. Ride a Horse
10. Get My Photo Taken with Every Disney Princess
11. Go to 10 Different NHL Hockey Arenas to Watch the Sharks
12. Go on a Christmas Disney Cruise
13. Visit Walt Disney World During the 50th Anniversary
14. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
15. Go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
16. Get Our House Organized and Decorated
17. Read a Book in French
18. Finish 5 Disney Races of Any Distance
19. Go to Aulani
20. Visit the Walt Disney Family Museum
21. Swim with a Dolphin
22. Go on All of the Opening Day Attractions at Disneyland in One Day
23. Reach Gold Level in Disney Cruise Line Castaway Club
24. Study French for 365 Days Straight
25. Travel Somewhere New
26. Sew Myself a Dress
27. Learn 10 New Crafting Techniques or Mediums
28. Go to Magic Kingdom on 10/1/2023 for the 100 Years of Disney Celebration
29. Launch Other Business Ideas
30. Take Nice Photographs at Walt Disney World for Our 10th Anniversary

I was originally planning to do three blog posts with a recap of 10 goals on each one.  My idea was that I could go into more detail about accomplishing each of the goals I was able to.  But right now, I simply don't have that in me.  A lot of these you've already heard about on here anyways... and I'm not going to get into the things that I didn't accomplish.  There are various reasons we didn't check some of these off... and I've become a lot more of a private person than I used to be a decade ago.

So without further ado, here are the simplified results of my list.

30 Things To Do During My 30's (Updated List):

1. Visit Disneyland During the 60th Anniversary ✅ 
2. Buy Our First House ✅  
3. Go On Our First Disney Cruise ✅ 
4. Get a Puppy ❌
5. Have Kids ❌
6. Attend a D23 Expo Convention ✅ 
7. Take My Parents to Disneyland for the 1st Time ✅ 
8. Go to Disney for Dapper Day ✅ 
9. Ride a Horse ❌
10. Get My Photo Taken with Every Disney Princess ⚠️ (Work in Progress)
11. Go to 10 Different NHL Hockey Arenas to Watch the Sharks ⚠️ (WIP)
12. Go on a Christmas Disney Cruise ✅ 
13. Visit Walt Disney World During the 50th Anniversary ✅ 
14. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon ❌
15. Go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party ✅ 
16. Get Our House Organized and Decorated ❌
17. Read a Book in French ❌
18. Finish 5 Disney Races of Any Distance ✅ 
19. Go to Aulani ❌
20. Visit the Walt Disney Family Museum ✅ 
21. Swim with a Dolphin ❌
22. Go on All of the Opening Day Attractions at Disneyland in One Day ⚠️ (WIP)
23. Reach Gold Level in Disney Cruise Line Castaway Club ✅ 
24. Study French for 365 Days Straight ✅ 
25. Travel Somewhere New ✅ 
26. Sew Myself a Dress ❌
27. Learn 10 New Crafting Techniques or Mediums⚠️ (WIP)
28. Go to Magic Kingdom on 10/1/2023 for the 100 Years of Disney Celebration ❌
29. Launch Other Business Ideas ❌
30. Take Nice Photographs at Walt Disney World for Our 10th Anniversary ❌

I think I did pretty good.  Some of the things I didn't accomplish were out of my control, and some of them just weren't high priorities anymore.  A few of them were works in progress, with me completing most- but not getting the entire list completed.  I'm happy with what I did accomplish!  Plus I had a ton of cool experiences that I wasn't expecting to do that definitely made up for the things I didn't do in my 30's.  Here's that fun list! 🙂

Other Cool Things That I Did In My 30's

- I Saw the San Jose Sharks Live in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2016 ✅ 

- I Saw Alan Menken in Concert (twice) at the 2017 D23 Expo ✅ 

- I Saw the Disney Princess Panel with the voices of Moana (Auli'i Cravalho), Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), Ariel (Jodi Benson) and Belle (Paige O'Hara) at the D23 Expo ✅ 

- Eliot and I Took a Photo with the Descendants Cast at the 2017 D23 Expo  ✅ 

- I Was in Disneyland For It's Actual 62nd Birthday Celebration (in 2017) ✅ 

- I Celebrated My 33rd Birthday in Walt Disney World (in 2017) ✅ 

- Happily Ever Hatter's Explosion of 3D Printed Mouse Ears Created An Entirely New Genre & It Allowed Me to Quit My Job, Be My Own Boss & Work at Home Full Time ✅ 

- I Attended the 2019 NHL All-Star Game in San Jose ✅ 

- Eliot and I Touched the Stanley Cup During All-Star Game in San Jose ✅ 

- I Saw a Few of the Disney on Broadway Concerts at the Festival of the Arts ✅ 

- I Went to Tons of Regular Season Games at the Shark Tank and on Road Trips ✅ 

- I Went to the Sharks Western Conference Final in 2019 ✅ 

- I Saw the Disney Princess Concert of Broadway stars... twice! ✅ 

- I Saw Two of My Favorite Childhood Bands That I'd Never Seen Live (Backstreet Boys in Bangor, ME in July 2022 and Hanson at the 2023 Food and Wine Festival) ✅ 

- Eliot and I Met a Bunch of San Jose Sharks and Sharks Legends ✅ 

- I Met Disney Imagineer Joe Rhodes at the 2022 D23 Expo ✅ 

- Daddy and I Saw the Entire Cast of Frozen Get Inducted as Disney Legends ✅ 

- I Celebrated the End of my 30's Aboard the Disney Wish! ✅ 

All in all, my 30's were pretty good.  They weren't really what I was expecting when I first set out to make this list.  But even with those jaded visions of things not coming to pass, they were still good overall.  (And losing my Dad in my 30's was definitely not on my Bingo card...)  Now I'm ready to put my 30's behind me, and look ahead to the future and what exciting new experiences and things my 40's will bring!

And that's a wrap on my 30 Things to Do During My 30's List! °o°

Spring 2023 Bucket List

The First Day of Spring was last week, so it's definitely time for me to get cracking on my spring goals.  I have to be honest, Eliot and I have been so busy lately that I've barely even given much thought to my Spring 2023 Bucket List.  But after a little bit of reflection, I finally worked out a list of goals that I'm happy with.

This year, I'm scaling the list back a little bit.  Last year, I had 20 goals on my spring list... and by the time I did my recap, I had only accomplished 5 of those goals.  I'm feeling like I need to put my focus elsewhere at the present moment, so I've decided to worry less about my goals and more about getting what I need to get done finished.

But, I've still got 15 goals... so let's check out my Spring 2023 Bucket List!

Melissa's Spring 2023 Bucket List

1. Spring Cleaning
2. Read a Book
3. Fly a Kite
4. Make an Easter Craft
5. Have a Picnic
6. Go to a Mariners Hockey Game
7. Make Chocolate Covered Strawberries
8. Visit the Beach
9. Have a Game Night with Eliot
10. Spring Manicure
11. Make a Wreath
12. Go on a Walk or Hike
13. Weekend Getaway
14. Enjoy Watching Nature
15. Go to a Portland Sea Dogs Game

While this list of spring goals is small, it is also mighty.  And my biggest goal right now is to get some work done on our house, so the rest of this seems manageable.

Let's do this Spring of 2023!!! °o°

Winter 2023 Bucket List Results

Well, this didn't go as planned... not one bit; but, that's life.  I'm going to make this Bucket List recap short and painless.  Usually, I like to write something about each goal.  This time around, I'm not going to waste my time with that.

Winter of 2023 kind of sucked.  When I wrote out my bucket list, I was still filled with the hope and promise of a new year and beginning.  Eliot and I started the year off on the right foot at Walt Disney World, and then Nana died.  Then, I basically lost all of my motivation at that point, and I spent most of winter trying to dig myself out of grief.

I didn't even think about most of these goals.  They just weren't important anymore, but I'll recap the ones that I was able to accomplish.  Here's how Winter 2023 turned out:

Melissa's Winter 2023 Bucket List

FOOD

1.) Make Waffles

2.) Drink a Special Winter Hot Cocoa

3.) Make Heart Shaped Pizza (February 9th is National Pizza Day)

4.) Bake Something

5.) Make Chocolate Covered Strawberries

6.) Make Hot Cocoa Bombs

7.) Make S’Mores

8.) Learn How to Make a Charcuterie Board

9.) Make Snow Cones with Real Snow

10.) Make Cotton Candy

TV & MOVIES

1.) Watch New Winter Hallmark Movies

2.) Watch New Valentine’s Day Hallmark Movies

3.) Watch Favorite Winter Hallmark Movies

4.) Watch Favorite Valentine’s Day Hallmark Movies

5.) Watch Irish Hallmark Movies for St. Patrick’s Day

CRAFTS

1.) Make a Winter Craft

2.) Paint on my Easel

3.) Make a Valentine's Day Craft

4.) Make a Seasonal Wreath

5.) Make a St. Patrick’s Day Craft

EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

1.) Do A Puzzle

2.) Go Sledding

3.) Send Valentine's Day Cards

I didn't send physical cards like I originally wanted to, but I was still able to post a few things online and send friends and family gifs through text messages.

4.) Read a Winter Book

5.) Take a Bubble Bath

6.) Have a Game Night with Eliot

7.) Build a Snowman

8.) Go to a Sharks Hockey Game

Eliot and I were able to attend a San Jose Sharks game out in San Jose on February 25th for Patrick Marleau's jersey retirement ceremony.

9.) Celebrate Happily Ever Hatter's 9th Birthday

I was able to take a little bit of time to celebrate nine years of my business!

10.) Watch the Super Bowl

Eliot and I tuned in to watch his Philadelphia Eagles lose to the Kansas City Chiefs.

11.) Go Ice Skating 

12.) Do Something Special for Valentine’s Day

Eliot and I didn't go out to do anything special, but he did bring me home some Russell Stover chocolates, Nerds Ropes and Cadbury Eggs... all some of my favorites.

13.) Have a Winter Carnival with Our Neighborhood

14.) Have a Snowball Fight

We had a very impromptu snow fight (started by Eliot) outside of our dentist office after we had our teeth cleaning in February.  

15.) Make Snow Angels

16.) Go to Ice Castles in New Hampshire

17.) Celebrate Our Dating Anniversary on February 28th

We didn't do anything special, but Eliot did stay home from work since it was the day we got home from our trip to California.  It was nice just to have him home with me.

18.) Go to a Mariners Hockey Game

We went to tons of Mariners hockey games this year and had a blast!

19.) Blow Bubbles (Will they turn into ice?)

20.) Go Somewhere with a Warmer Climate

We went to FL for the first half of January and CA for a few days in February.

21.) Do a Winter Nature Walk

22.) Have a Spa Day

23.) Start Using a Planner

24.) Do Something Fun on St. Patrick’s Day

We went to a Maine Mariners game on St. Patrick's Day!

25.) Clean the House During our Quiet Months

I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but I was able to make a little bit of progress!

And there you have it... Winter of 2023.  I'm ready to move past this and bring on the spring, flowers, warm weather and new beginnings!  Until next year winter!  °o°

Holiday 2022 Bucket List Results

Happy Sunday Everyone!  After a few busy days, I'm looking forward to having a lazy afternoon with Eliot watching football and relaxing on the couch.  Now that things have settled down a bit, I thought it was time to recap my 2022 Holiday Bucket List.  

As usual, things were absolutely insane for Eliot and me during most of the month of December due to our business and our busy season.  Add in lost electricity on top of Hell Week, and you've got an extra spicy mix of not to festive fun.  Add in some family stuff: Mom, Dad, and Nana were in a bad car accident, then they all got sick, Mom and Nana were in the hospital, and Nana's health was quickly declining... and you've got an extra difficult emotional holiday season on top of that.

Needless to say, this holiday season was quite a rollercoaster.  Now that it's over, I'm pretty impressed that Eliot and I still found some time to enjoy the season.  Christmas Day was not my favorite, but the rest of the season definitely made up for it.  So let's take a look at the positive parts of our 2022 holiday season!

Melissa's Holiday 2022 Bucket List

FOOD

1.) Drink Hot Cocoa

I wasn't able to accomplish this... it wasn't super important in the scheme of things.

2.) Bake Cookies

I wasn't able to do this, but that's ok.  I make cookies a lot anyways!

3.) Drink a Holiday Cocktail

I'm a little bummed out about this one... but oh well.

4.) Make Peppermint Bark

I had planned to make some of this for our neighbors... 

5.) Make Treats for our Neighbors

We decided to postpone our holiday party until sometime in the new year.

6.) Decorate Gingerbread Cookies

I didn't even give this one thought.  We simply didn't have the time to do it.

7.) Peppermint Frosty from Wendy’s

I'm a little sad about this... maybe next year!

8.) Cookie Butter Donut from Dunkin Donuts

This were delicious... I really enjoyed them!

9.) Dairy Queen Peppermint Blizzard

I didn't get one of these either, although I probably would have just tried Eliot's though!

10.) Friendly’s Peppermint Ice Cream Sundae

Again, this is too much peppermint for me, but Eliot and I might have split one.

TV & MOVIES

1.) Watch New Hallmark Christmas Movies

I was very careful with my wording on this one.  I wanted to watch all of the new movies, but I knew that a would never happen in the holiday rush.  I think I watched like 5 movies out of the new 30-40 movies Hallmark premiered.  Eliot and I have a lot on the DVR so I'll watch them at some point when I have time to actually enjoy them!

2.) Watch Our Favorite Hallmark Christmas Movies

Sadly, I didn't really watch many of my favorites... but we did record a bunch of them!

3.) Watch The Santa Clause

I didn't get to watch this, but I'm hoping to next year!

4.) Watch The Santa Clause 2

I didn't get to watch this, but I'm hoping to next year!

5.) Watch The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

I didn't get to watch this, but I'm hoping to next year!

6.) Watch the New Santa Clause Series on Disney+

I did watch the new series on Disney+.  I really enjoyed it and I'm glad that they are going to be making another season of it!  I'll have to watch it and the movies next year!

7.) Watch Elf

"Santa, I know him!!!"  I love this movie and I was sure to make time to watch it!

8.) Watch Frosty the Snowman

This is a classic and I was sure to watch it.

9.) Watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

This is my favorite Christmas movie... Rudolph was my childhood.

10.) Watch Noelle

I love this movie as well and I made sure to make time to watch it!

11.) Watch Same Time Next Christmas

I didn't get to watch this; I couldn't get our Hulu account to log me in.

12.) Watch The Grinch

I didn't get to watch this... although I did record it!

13.) Watch A Muppet Christmas Carol

I'm not sure if I've ever seen this before, but I watched it and really enjoyed it!

14.) Watch Midnight at the Magnolia

This is a favorite to watch between Christmas and New Years.

15.) Watch the Disney Christmas "Parade" Christmas Morning

We didn't catch the morning release, but we did watch the replay on Freeform!

16.) Watch A Christmas Prince

I didn't get to watch this, but I have seen it before.

17.) Watch A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding

I didn't get to watch this, but I have seen it before.

18.) Watch A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby

I didn't get to watch this, but I have seen it before.

19.) Watch Falling for Christmas

Eliot and I did watch this together.

20.) Watch Holidate

I didn't get to watch this.

21.) Watch The Princess Switch Movies

I didn't get to watch this.

22.) Watch Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas

I haven't seen this in years and I really enjoyed watching it again!

23.) Watch Mickey’s Christmas Carol

I didn't get to watch this.

24.) Watch Prep & Landing

We watched this while we were home over Thanksgiving with my family.

25.) Watch Prep & Landing: Naughty vs Nice

We also watched this while we were home over Thanksgiving with my family.

26.) Watch The Nightmare Before Christmas

I didn't get to watch this, but I'm determined for Eliot to see it sometime!

27.) Watch The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

I didn't get to watch this.

CRAFTS

1.) Make a Hanukkah Craft

In all of the rush, I didn't have time to craft anything.

2.) Make a Christmas Craft

In all of the rush, I didn't have time to craft anything.

3.) Take Christmas Photo(s) for Our Christmas Cards

Eliot and I didn't take formal photos, but I had planned to use our photo with Slugger for our Christmas Cards.  But I never ended up sending any this year.

4.) Make Christmas Accessories

In all of the rush, I didn't have time to craft anything.

5.) Make a Wreath

In all of the rush, I didn't have time to craft anything.

6.) Make Christmas Decorations

In all of the rush, I didn't have time to craft anything.

EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

1.) Play the Dreidel Game

We were not able to do this.

2.) Donate to Toy's for Tots

Eliot bought toys for the Holiday at Hadlock event and then we forgot to bring them with us.  Oh well, we've got a head start on next year!

3.) Read a Christmas Book

I was not able to do this.

4.) Wear Christmas Pajamas

Eliot and I did wear matching Christmas pajamas, but I didn't take any photos of us. 

5.) Send Christmas Cards

I really wanted to do this, but in the end, it just wasn't as important to me as being present in the moment with my family and trying to enjoy the holiday.

6.) Listen to Christmas Music

Eliot and I did listen to a lot of Christmas music while we worked on Etsy orders.

7.) Light all Eight Candles for Hanukkah

We weren't able to do this.  Our menorah is back in storage.

8.) Wear an Ugly Sweater

Eliot and I did wear our "ugly" sweaters to the Holiday at Hadlock event.

9.) Have a Family Game Night

Eliot and I had a game night with my cousin Luke and his wife Rachel.

10.) Hallmark Movie Writing Class

I took an online class on how to write Hallmark Christmas movies.

11.) Play Hallmark Christmas Monopoly

We weren't able to do this.

12.) See a Special Event (Theater, Show or Concert)

Eliot and I went to see Disney On Ice when it was in Portland.

13.) Watch/Attend a Christmas Tree Lighting

We weren't able to do this.

14.) Attend Holiday at Hadlock

Eliot and I had a great time at Holiday at Hadlock!  We can't wait for next year!

15.) Ring in the New Year at Walt Disney World

We ended 2022 and started 2023 off at the Magic Kingdom.

16.) Make New Year’s Disney & Blog Goals for 2023

I did make my goals for 2023!

17.) Make Personal Goals for 2023

I don't post these goals publicly, but I made 23 personal goals for 2023!

DECORATIONS

1.) Hang a Wreath on the Front Door

Eliot's Mom bought us a wreath for Christmas.

2.) Drive Around to Look at Christmas Lights

Eliot and I did this pretty much anytime we were out after dark.  I love Christmas lights!

3.) Decorate Outside with Inflatables

We got plenty of our inflatables up this year!

4.) Go See a Christmas Light Display

Eliot and I visited the L.L. Bean Northern Lights Christmas display on my birthday!

5.) Buy New Decorations for Our Collection 

Eliot and I picked up a bunch of new items this year... inflatables, door greeters, etc.

We also got to do a few things that weren't on my bucket list... 

Things Not On Our Bucket List

1.) Watched Olaf’s Frozen Adventure

I didn't have this on my Christmas list, but it's one of my favorite Disney shorts!

2.) Watched Prep & Landing- Secret Santa

This is new, and I watched it as well.

3.) Watched Winnie the Pooh A Very Merry Pooh Year

I've never seen this before, but it was really cute!

4.) Have Jelly Donuts (for Hanukkah)

Eliot bought me a few rounds of jelly donuts over Hanukkah.

5.) Watched Hometown Holiday

I watched this during the day and I watched it again with Eliot a few nights later.

And there you have it!  We were able to do 31 of my original 65 goals... and I also got those five extra things in.  So that's a grand total of 36 out of 70 things... or just over 50%.  Honestly, that's not bad considering everything that was going on.  It's also not bad considering I didn't really utilize the month of November when I usually do.

I'll definitely be ready to rock and roll once the calendar flips to November this year.  I'll have to get a head start on my holiday goals if I'm going to have so many!  °o°