30 Before 30

A week ago I remembered that this year I turn 29. Contrary to the norm I am not freaking out about turning 30. Even though I am not where I expected to be by now, I have embraced all of the curve balls thrown at me in the past 10 years. I do have things that I want to accomplish before 30 though (even if I don't IT WILL STILL BE OK)

When I started making a list of the things I had only come up with 18 things. I decided to share them with my hubby and he was not impressed. Apparently, since skydiving is not on the list, then my entire list is boring. There are some things that people will find "blah" but it is what it is.

Click the links to read about the completion of each item.


1.

HAVE PASTEL HAIR: DONE!

I have only dyed my hair once in my life and it was junior year of high school. Even more blah, it was black. Since I think it may be seen as inappropriate in the business world to have pink hair I figured I should get it done before I am 30.

2. 

EARN A COLLEGE DEGREE: DONE!

This one is also very close! I will graduate with my A.S. this summer and I won't stop there. I want to continue and get my Bachelors as well. 

3.

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER: DONE!

I was a professional photographer before but I have never had my own company. I am going to school for business to have my own business. I have already taken the steps by honing my craft.

 A Moment In Time Photography will take off in the next year!

4.

Make $50,000 whether from a job, my business or combination of both. If I win it in the lotto, hey I'll take that too.

5.                      

Own a smartphone. I know, I know, this is one of the "boring" ones. But I don't have one yet. I am tired of people asking me "did you see the instagram picture I posted?" No, because I don't get instagram on my flip phone and you didn't share on Facebook!

6.

PASSPORT RE-STAMPED:DONE

Get my passport stamped...again. This is another wasted "bucket" item according to my hubby because I already have been outside of the country. In all fairness it was my Honduran passport that was stamp. My American (yes I said American when referring to the United States, get over it) has not yet been stamped! I even want to return to Paris and Florence. If I happen to see new cities while I am in Europe again, so be it.

7.

Raise my credit score...enough said.

8.

The car of my dreams use to be the Mini Cooper...when I was 18 and had no children. Now my dream car is whatever car that will last me 5 years, is safe and can hold 7 passengers. (I have to make room for grandparents).

9.

In reality it's move out without in-laws. Or should I say, have my name on the lease. Because I am sure as soon as I move out of the in-laws house I am going to have to move in my recently retired parents. I really hope I win the lotto so I can get them a place down the street.

10.

Let's get real. If I don't get fit by 30 it's safe to say that my odds for success will decrease with every year. Ideally I will like to complete a couch-to-5K challenge.

11.

Lose 50 lbs. You may think that goes with getting fit. I can lose 50 lbs without being 50 and I can be fit without losing 50 lbs. So just be be safe I put them both. I really need to get my habit challenge completed!

12.

Nobody wants to see a 30 year old hipster. Therefore I must be a hipster for a week while I am in my 20's. Also this would go in hand with number 1.

13. 

This is as daring as I would get. No skydiving nor scuba diving for me. I've never heard of anyone who died from paint balling. If it would include Zooey Deschanel then that would be AWESOME!

14.

Learn to cook and do it more often. I call it my adventures in cooking because it is one CRAZY adventure. I can only cook if I have a recipe. Don't give me a bunch of ingredients and tell me you have 30 minutes to make me a meal. You will starve or get plain penne rigate pasta with good old fashion sauce from a jar!

15.

Create a Family Tree for my boys. It's important for them to know who their ancestors are. Jayden was even lucky enough to meet his great grandparents on his dad's side. This tree would be digital.

16.

Have a Lara-Smith family reunion. My mom has a huge family and we tolerate each other fairly well. The family used to be concentrated in NY. Now they are all over. Louisiana, California, Delaware, Ohio, New Jersey. I would love to plan this family reunion.

17.

Go to a New Years party without the children.  I think at least 75% of my new years have been at home. If not my home someone else home and only like 2 parties were actual parties.

18.

Take an updated family portrait. Look how tiny my Tristan was!

19.

Take a creative writing class. How cliche! I think I have seen it in every movie. But oh well. 

I am more of an autobiographical writer. I would love to give fiction a try. Writing a children's book would be my first step then a teen thriller!

20.

This I thought would be plain old fun! I would probably send it to an 18 year old that has just entered college as an encouraging letter.

21.

ROAD TRIP!  My High School best friend and I had planned one straight out of High School but it never happened. I am not sure how plausible the whole bus idea is but a good old fashion road trip would do. Maybe something small like Florida to Illinois. Ideally,

Florida to New York for my next item on the list.

22.

Living in NYC as a kid, my dad took me to see the Rockets. But I never saw a Broadway show. Ten years ago I went with my friend V and we saw an OFF Broadway play (I love you, you're perfect, now change!) It was a great play but it was no Wicked!

23.

Besides being IN a Broadway show, my childhood dream was also to learn to play piano. If I can learn to play the Moonlight Sonata by 30 then I am good!

24.

Ballroom dance has also been a childhood fantasy. I have watched Strictly Ballroom and Shall We Dance like a million times! The Tango is just the most fun!

25.

Get Lasik! I am tired of contacts and eye glasses. I sound like a commercial! This would be conquering a fear of having lasers cutting up my eye!

26.

I know I will not find enlightenment in the next year but at least I want to be on my way to the 8 fold path. There's a local Buddhist temple that I have been meaning to visit. They offer classes and meditation. I like many of the principles. Many of you think I am crazy for wanting to follow Buddhism but it's what I like.

27. 

I attended Halloweenie Roast once. But I don't count that. I am not sure why I don't count it. 

28.

Before I am 30 I would like to party with teenagers! I mean legal teenagers. 18 and 19 year olds, that way I would not get arrested for corruption of a minor. I'll even go as high as 21. It will be my last hoorah before ACTUAL adulthood kicks in.

29        

                                       

Like anyone in their late 20's I am concerned about whether or not I'll ever have a wedding. So it's on the list. I know, I know, I already have the family but I've never had a wedding. I don't want a shotgun wedding of "lets just go to the courthouse and get it done." Eww how unromantic and so not me! I want the whole shebang!

30.

This may sound like a life goal but I think we should all be living our dreams everyday. 

Aiming for greatness every day and not letting obstacles bring you down is what growing up is all about. It's time to stop making excuses, stop blaming the world or anyone else. Live everyday with a purpose and that will be me living my dream before I turn 30 and everyday after.

The Dreamer in Me: Fictional Characters

I am not a big fan of actors. I think it's ridiculous how everyone idolizes them. I don't fawn over them or dream of being Mrs. Brad Pitt. 

I do however dream of being Mrs. Tristan Ludlow. 

I don't know what it is about us women falling for the damaged guy that we think we can fix. Like men are projects or something.

Fantasizing about fictional characters is a pass time of mine. 

Besides Tristan Ludlow who my own son was named after, there are other characters I imagine marrying.

For many years, my friend V and I would argue about Team Jack vs. Team Sawyer. 

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110131222015/lostpedia/images/3/3f/JackVsJames.jpg

For many seasons I thought that Sawyer was the way to go. But one day I decided that Jack was my man. 

It could have been the flash forward season when you realized that Jack was way more messed up than Sawyer. But to this day even after the series ended I still find myself fantasizing about Jack. The hubby and I were at a convention and we had gotten separated  When he came back he told me "I just saw Matthew Fox."  My eyes lit up and I jumped and screamed "Jack is here!" Then my hubby said "nah, i'm just kidding." What a cruel joke.

My other favorite fictional husband is a little more childish. He is animated ,which makes him even less plausible for me to ever marry. I don't care. 

Dimitri from Anastasia. Isn't he dreamy. It may be that he is played by John Cusack. Who doesn't see John Cusack as a hopeless romantic? I guess I like the illusion of a con man who gets changed by a woman. Then again if that was the case, I would have been Team Sawyer in my previous fantasy. What can I say. I am a complex lover.

Most recently I have one character that makes me weak at the knees. However I have a lot of competition. Not only with Carol but with another million women who watch The Walking Dead. 

O.K. I am back. I needed to change my panties. Daryl Dixon is my new obsession. I could care less for Rick, Shane, Glen (he is my second most favorite character), or the Governor. I would have them all die together before they killed off Daryl. I am pretty sure I would stop watching the show all together. Maybe.

Daryl is the best written character of all time. His story has been well developed and well evolved. I fall in love with him a little bit more with every episode; even if he only has 3 seconds of screen time and no lines. 

Obviously Norman is a fabulous actor. I first met him watching Boondock Saints on Netflix. 

Guess what! I am going to get to meet him!!!!! He is coming to town as a special guest in Spooky Fest! So excited. My husband tells me I have to pay for that and I said "I DON'T CARE!" Then I thought about and I really wouldn't pay because I am not that big of a freak. Let's hope he's a cool guy and lets me meet him without me having to pay for it. Because that would just make him a gigolo of some kind.

I'll keep you posted on my encounter or lack of.

The World Through the Perspective of an 8 Year Old: The 2013 TIME 100 Poll

Everyday I am more amazed at how my eight year old Jayden views the world. 

As you know he is a huge Minecraft fan. I hear stories about Notch, Harobrine, "Budder" and Jeffrey ALL DAY! Therefore, I have to be a fan by association. I won't lie, the game has grown on me. If you can't beat them join them. To be up to date with the world of Minecraft I became a Facebook fan. Today we got a status update that Notch is in the running for Time's 100 list of 2013. Surprise, surprise, Jayden told me we had to vote "absolutely" for him. 

I decided to go through the list with him and here are his thoughts.


Mohamed Morsi (President of Egypt): I obviously need to keep up with my current events because I didn't know who he was. Jayden said "Absolutely! Every president should be on the list." This turned into a lesson on government and leaders. I explained to him that not every leader of a country was elected and not all leaders are good leaders. He said we learned too much yesterday so we didn't research Morsi.

Kim Jong Un (North Korea Leader): I used him as an example as a bad leader for his obsession with missiles.

Psy (Gnamnam Style): He didn't recognize him without the sunglasses but when I told him who he was and was like Absolutely.

Jackie Chan: He said absolutely because he is the voice of Monkey in Kung Fu Panda

Then we walked away. 

Revelations of One Day

Quick updates:

I have postponed my 21 Days Straight Challange. I wish I can say it was due to the fact that I had emergency surgery on March 28 to remove my gall bladder, but I had already willfully failed by March 15 because my Minecraft craft (hehe the repetition always makes me laugh..like RomCom Con, Happy Endings reference) consumed me for 3 days and I didn't go to the gym although I did remain active. Walking for 5 hours at a convention is a workout!

You are probably still wondering about the surgery. Even if you are not I will explain further anyway!
My son's fun exciting spring break was a bit foiled by my hospitalization. My "contributor" (who STILL has YET to post ANYTHING) and I had many fun activities planned for the kiddos. An accumulation of many unfortunate events occurred.  Some even on her part; wouldn't it be awesome if she posted about her side of the events! HINT HINT, wink wink, nudge, Morris code, smoke signals. 

The rainbow during the rain: I got my parents and one out of two brother's come visit me with his whole family utilizing my second brother's car. Ergo, my other brother did his part too =)

Now that we are all caught up I can start with my true purpose of this post; my revelations.

1) I only seem to dream when I am sleep deprived and extremely exhausted when I knock out.
2) I seem to be at my most productive, creative and ambitious when I dream
3) I just realized that there may be a confounding variable in my previous assumption: I may just very be having another manic episode. Are vivid realistic dreams a symptom of mania? Note to self: Google that.
4) Studying in a group may not be efficient (time management wise) but it sure is effective and mostly rewarding.
5) Being in my study group will always yield a proportion of half the time studying and half the time A.D.D.ing (yes, I use a noun as a present participle, I even like using it as a verb. After-after thought: I had to Google "present participle" too) with a standard deviation of .10
6) I have a hypothesis that states neediness and independence are not on the same spectrum but in fact are on two different spectrums. Meaning, I don't believe that becoming more independent will make you less needy. One factor will either make you more independent but not necessarily less needy.
7) 5 hour energy drinks are not ALWAYS effective.
8) You accept stranger's flaws but you should adore your true friends/soul mate's flaws. Ted Mosby knows a lot about the latter; then again he has spent over 8 years trying to find his children's mother.
9) Life is all about perspective and my change irradically sporadically (I seriously thought the opposite of radically was the former).
10) I lose my patience with my kids more than I like and I always regret it but in the heat of the moment my reaction is ALWAYS faster than my thought process.
11) I am almost positive my children will grow up never doubting if they're loved , if I support them, if they're awesome, if they're important, if they're appreciated.
12) I do however think that what they think makes me awesome will then be interpreted as "crazy" when they get older and develop their cognitive abilities.
13) Opposites may attract but they also create too much friction (Insert Sheldon Cooper's correction here).
14) For a person that is not really a Big Bang Theory fan I always find myself thinking "how would Sheldon Cooper respond to that?"
15) Telling my hubby he's not affectionate enough does not yield the results I desire.
16) I compensate for my hubby's lack of affection toward me by being overly affectionate towards him.
17) I will graduate with my A.S. with enough credits to have obtained a B.S/B.A.
18) My bumpy start with college 10 years ago have developed me to be a better learner.
19) I truly believe things happen for a reason but not necessarily are predestined.
20) These were too many revelations for one day.

The last one may or may not have been a revelation as much as an after though. I really wanted to end on an even number.