At the beginning of the school year, I drove a student home on her birthday. She was sorely depressed after having a subpar day and being forgotten at school. My friend turned around to the backseat and attempted to brighten up the girls day by suggesting that she make a to do list. If she could pick anything, what 15 things would this 15 year old want to accomplish this year?

That’s where I first got the idea. I had heard about 25 year old bucket lists and such, but I liked 15 for 15.. or in my case 24 for 24. Until last night, I had hardly put any thought into it. I knew I wanted to travel to Asia, but that’s about it. So after dropping my brother at the airport (goodbyes are always depressing) I pushed myself to think about all the awesome things that could happen this year.

So here it is.. My list of 24 things I will accomplish as a 24 year old.

1. Take a dance class (It’s about time I found the time..)
2. Learn a language (Brush up my French? Or finally learn some Italian?)
3. Take a photography class (How long have I owned my Nikon?)
4. Organize my contacts
5. Paint
6. Get back to blogging
7. Beast out at networking (I better since I finish teaching in May. Anyone hiring?)
8. Read 24 books
9. Travel to Asia
10. Save $12,000
11. Take 3 inspiring people to lunch (and pick their brains)
12. Scuba dive or snorkel (I get anxiety under water)
13. Day of nice
14. Go on a blind date
15. Run a 10K
16. Visit 2 new US cities
17. Take a whole weekend off (no cell phones, no internet)
18. Create a travel scrapbook
19. Buy myself a nice piece of jewelry
20. Buy expensive art
21. Get abs
22. Big girl haircut
23. Set a goal and surpass it
24. Start a retirement plan

I’m excited because Maggie’s birthday is next week and she has a list as well. I know that she has “Try an Escape Room” on her list so I’ve been looking at taking her somewhere like Paranoia Quest for her birthday so she can tick that off. I think it’s great that we both have lists because I think we can help hold each other accountable. And we created our lists separately but still ended up with a lot of overlap.

I am going to take pictures (yeah #3) and document my accomplishments to make it more exciting for myself. Maggie set up a fun birthday activity for Friday that will help knock off #5. I’m starting #4, 6 and 8 today. And most exciting is the trip we are planning to Thailand (#9)!! Somehow this is way more exciting than presents.

And no we don’t wear tiaras on our birthdays (despite the picture above). That’s from Maggie’s fake bachelorette party last year.