In my 30th year

Hey, it's my birthday! I am officially out of my twenties. And as per tradition, here's an update on how I did on this past year's goals, as well as my new list of goals!

Tuesday, September 8:

6 done, 1 in progress/incomplete, 2 incomplete

1. Write thank you letters to 10 people who have influenced me for good.
I've always been a believer in giving compliments. There's this quote that kind of drives my philosophy on this: Don't say "I love you" unless you mean it, but if you mean it, you should say it. And I've been really aware of the good people in my life lately, so they deserve to know it.
DONE. This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I wrote this goal, but I'm going to count writing thank you notes for the cast of Damn Yankees. Because there were more than 10 of them, and they definitely influenced me for good. And I wrote them thank you letters. 

2. Complete all of the required Value Experiences for each of the Young Women Values in the Personal Progress program.
A few weeks ago, I was thinking, "I wish there was some sort of spiritual program for personal development in the Church, that's really specific." And then I realized that there is one! I completed Personal Progress over 10 years ago, but the program has changed since then and I'm excited to give it a go, and see what new things I can learn and experience.
DONE! 
Faith #1 - Establish pattern of consistent prayer (three weeks) DONE
Faith #2 - Thoughts on motherhood DONE
Faith #3 - Plan an FHE lesson DONE
Divine Nature #1 - Thoughts on developing divine qualities DONE
Divine Nature #2 - Interview mothers, develop attributes (two weeks) DONE
Divine Nature #3 - Improve relationship with a family member (two weeks) DONE
Individual Worth #1 - Thoughts on Heavenly Father's love DONE
Individual Worth #2 - Study patriarchal blessings DONE
Individual Worth #3 - Acknowledge worth of others (two weeks) DONE
Knowledge #1 - Thoughts on knowledge DONE
Knowledge #2 - Learn a new skill to help family DONE
Knowledge #3 - Memorize Article of Faith number thirteen, attend artistic/cultural event DONE
Choice and Accountability #1 - Establish pattern of regular scripture study (two weeks) DONE
Choice and Accountability #2 - Study For the Strength of Youth and live by it (three weeks) DONE
Choice and Accountability #3 - Discuss blessings and responsibilities of agency DONE
Good Works #1 - Acknowledge service in others (two weeks) DONE (see blog about it here)
Good Works #2 - Plan meals and share mealtimes (two weeks) DONE
Good Works #3 - Comfort and uplift others DONE
Integrity #1 - Establish and live by standards (one month) DONE
Integrity #2 - Self assessment DONE
Integrity #3 - Study integrity and record experience in journal DONE
Virtue #1 - Study and record thoughts on chastity DONE
Virtue #2 - Study and record thoughts on Holy Ghost DONE
Virtue #3 - Study Alma 5 and answer questions DONE
Virtue #4 - Focus on sacrament DONE

3. Get $2300 into savings.
This is about 3 months worth of living expenses. One thing I'm learning as we plunge into the world of professional acting is that while the money can be decent, it's not often consistent. Having some money in savings to help through the lean times is a good idea no matter what, but ESPECIALLY if you're acting for a living.
INCOMPLETE! *whomp whomp*
Deadline = June 15th
$210.02 as of February 25th
$260.03 as of March 2nd
$500 as of May 23rd
$1000 as of June 14th
But it will be okay! Another plan is in place! 

4. Some sort of work out goal. 
Okay, I know I'm being vague, which is lame sauce. I just don't know exactly what kind of work out goal I want to pursue yet. I'll update you as soon as I decide.
DONE! I came up with the 30/30/30 challenge. Here's the idea. You and one other person each agree to do 30 crunches a day for 30 days. If either of you misses a day, you owe your challenge partner $30. Exceptions to missing a day include grave bodily injury/illness. I challenged my sister-in-law, Camilla. And totally won. 

5. Do 3 PBS Art Assignments.
The Art Assignment is a weekly youtube show through PBS, hosted by Sarah Green. It highlights different contemporary artists and their work, and then they give you an "assignment" to participate in art inspired by their own work. You can post responses on youtube, or just enjoy the experience.
IN PROGRESS!/INCOMPLETE! 
1. "Stacked Books" 
2. "The One That Got Away" (Here's a link to the assignment video. I've chosen not to share my contribution to this project here. I didn't use any names, but since it involves another person, I felt it was best to keep it anonymous. You can watch an update video about future plans for the project here, and you can listen to a preview of the planned podcast here.)
3. INCOMPLETE! *whomp whomp* But 2 outta 3 ain't bad! 

6. Finish editing my YA novel and submit it for publication
Uuuugggghhhhh I don't want to. I want to work on my NEXT story. But I'm almost done editing the YA novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo, and then I want to send it out into the world. Ideally, I want to have a final draft before this November, so I can do NaNoWriMo again without having TWO stories running around my head.
DONE. Submitted to one Salt Lake City-based literary agent as of 10:46 pm on July 1st. If they choose not to take me and my little story on, I'll keep submitting to other agencies, local and remote. Now the waiting game. 
Mansion Street Literary Management - submitted July 1, 2015 (rejected July 11, 2015)
Gateway Literary - submitted July 20, 2015 (still haven't heard back as of September 8th, 2015)

7. Poem a day for a month
I'm a big believer that regular practice will improve your skills in something more than anything else. I haven't been writing a whole lot of poetry for the last couple of years, so I want to give this a shot. I know that some of the poems will not be great. But that's not the point. The point is to just do it!
REVISED AND DONE. I'm counting NaNoWriMo for this one. Because that's a helluva lot of writing. And besides, I wrote a lot of poetry on my own anyway. I just wanted to have a writing goal. 

8. Take a community class in something (fencing, aerial silks, painting, etc)
I live in a place with community classes available! So I want to take advantage of them!
DONE! I took an awesome Intro to Aerial Arts class, which included aerial silks and trapeze. I loved the aerial silks, but trapeze was tough. Actually, all of it was tough...I was so sore sometimes after classes. But it was such a blast. I feel like I could barely do most things, but I really enjoyed myself. 

9. Pose nude for an art class
This is something that's been on my bucket list for a long time. And I debated for a really long time about it. As a member of the LDS Church, I wasn't sure how "okay" this was. But after doing a lot of thinking and researching and reasoning, here's why I want to do it. I want to experience the vulnerability of it. I want to use it as an exercise in courage. But I also want to do it because art students need bodies, and I've got one. And here's why it's okay. Figure drawing classes are not about sexuality. And as much as the media begs to differ, the naked body is not purely sexual. I'm not posing for pornography. I trust the men and women in any figure drawing class to be focused on their art. And I believe it's important for artists to learn figure drawing from the nude body...it's an important skill in creating good art. (For a great perspective on the LDS Gospel and nudity in art, check out this blog entry from an LDS artist.)
INCOMPLETE! *whomp whomp*
But I am still interested in doing this, so I'm going to add this to my things to do during my 30th year. 


And as for my 30th year of life, here's what I've got on my to-do list:

1. Create and distribute a zine!
Remember zines? I've been digging the idea of mixed media lately, and as a child of the 80s/90s, this seems like something I should do.

2. Non-paper Poetry Project (at least ten poems)
A month ago or so, I was sitting in a restaurant with a few friends, and a poem came to mind, so I scribbled it onto a napkin. The imperfection of it appealed to me...the unfinished nature of it, and how it captured both the poem and the setting in which I wrote it. So here's my idea: write at least 10 poems on anything but regular paper--napkins, cardboard, trash, cloth, etc. Then take a picture of it and at the end, put all the pictures together in a collection.

3. Reduce BMI (body mass index) from 23.2 to 19.7 (goal weight = 115…down 20 pounds from current weight of 135)
My current BMI is totally in the healthy range. So is my goal BMI. So why bother with this goal? My reasoning is this: I spend a lot more time on camera nowadays, and it really does add ten pounds. Also, most of the work out goals I've had are things like "complete this many things." And after I complete them, I stop working out. I think it will help me to have an end goal...to make my goal "results-based." PLUS, this goal combines both exercise and diet.

4. Run a 10-minute mile, 3 separate times
I know I just talked about these kinds of goals, but look, this is sort of PART of the above goal. And I want to do it. I know a 10-minute mile seems absurdly slow. But I'm absurdly slow.

5. Go without soda for 1 month

Bleeeeggghhh. I hear this is really good for you. I just really like the carbonation. I don't even drink soda very often...maybe once or twice a week? Still. Maybe worth giving up.  

6. Go on 5 new hikes
Every time I go hiking, I think to myself, "I've got to do this more often." And now that I live in a place where I'm surrounded by HUNDREDS of hiking opportunities, I'm going to hike more often.

7. Nude modeling
I never got to this goal for my 29th year, but I'm still interested in it. I want to be a model for a figure-drawing class.

8. Get paid to write at least one thing (published online, in a magazine, etc)
I have no idea how this is done. But I want to figure it out and do it.

9. Complete temple work for 3 family names (baptisms, confirmations, initiatories, endowments, sealings)
Hooray for the spirit of Elijah!

10. Go stargazing
I do this all the time, just in the sense that I look up every time I'm outside at night. But I want to actually go out to someplace with little light pollution with the express purpose of looking at the stars.