30 by 30 - Sarah Under the Sea

I have wanted to do a 30 by 30 since I saw it on Valerie and Valise. It sounds like a fun way to motivate myself into checking things off of my bucket list and building a better me as I approach a new decade in my life. At first, I fell short of 30 goals and began overthinking what had been intended to be a fun way to cross the finish line of my twenties.

If I am doing this 30 by 30, I am starting 6 months late. The original idea was to give myself 30 months to complete 30 goals before I turn 30. So I should have started in June 2016 but it is already January 2017…

What will happen if I don’t finish my 30 by 30 list? It is an arbitrary list. I don’t think I would be a worse person for NOT completing everything. Some of them I would do regardless of turning 30 or not. I cannot count the number of times I have tried to develop an organization habit and fell short; this list most likely won’t be the determining factor in whether I succeed this time. I jump on every dive opportunity I can reasonably do (yay money and time conflicts) so a silly list isn’t likely to make me dive more (rather it is more likely to drive me to dive at sites I do not enjoy or that stress me out – talking to you Hudson Grotto). So should I do it? Why not?

Adventure

Travel to Cuba. I have wanted to do this since I flew over it on my first international trip when I was 14. I admired the lush green island below and mused that that was where I should be and the business man sitting next to me told me to keep dreaming because that was Cuba. Good thing I am a dreamer and dreams do come true!
Section hike 100 miles on the Appalachian Trail. I had a stowaway, that I didn’t know about, the time I hiked twenty-whatever miles on the AT north of Harper’s Ferry. No one will let me forget how crabby I was for those four days. I feel like I need to do this to redeem and challenge myself.
Visit the deserts of the American West. I want to see more of America and I have neglected the west, plus I think it would a great place to work on my photography skills and get some great pictures along with physical activity. I also think this should be something that we can do as family.
Experience New York City. Skate at Rockefeller Center, see a show on Broadway, ride a bike through Central Park, I can come up with a big list of things I want to do while I am there.
Go to Diagon Alley, Universal Studios. Being in Florida it may be a little lame to have “go to this theme park” on my list, but I LOVE Harry Potter and it was a plan that was foiled due to the joys of pregnancy.
Ride in a Hot Air Balloon. I am terrified of heights but the whimsy, magic, and romance of a hot air balloon ride is too tempting. And I want to do it somewhere where it will be magical with stunning views and sweeping vistas and champagne, maybe?
Go Zip Lining. Another strange one for someone afraid of heights but from what I have seen the views can be amazing, plus I can appreciate a (less intense) adrenaline rush. I like to at least pretend to be high adventure.
Visit Monterey Bay Aquarium because I missed it last time I was in San Francisco.
Camp in the Dry Tortugas. See the picture above if you have any questions about why I would want to do such a thing.

Diving
Dive Mexico.
Do a “Heavy Metal” tour. Wreck diving! Need I say more? Plus, it will make me sound a LOT cooler than I really am.
Get Stress & Rescue Certified. I have passed all the tests and completed all the dives but due to a mix up and my stubborn pride I have to start all over from the beginning to get my Stress & Rescue certification. I want to be ready and able to help if it is ever needed.
Get Dive Master Certified, because why not? I have hemmed and hawed and decided against this so many times. While it would be fun to live on some tropical island and build up my dive log while receiving some sort of compensation for it; that plan becomes a lot more impractical when I factor in the low pay and a family. But the more I know the better diver, and dive buddy, I am.
Log 30 dives. The possibilities are endless; that could be 2 week long dive trips (5 days at 3 dives a day) or mini-trips, 2 dives in a weekend. Should I count the 2 Boynton Beach dives from August? They are within the 30 months leading up to the big three-o but two extra dives never hurt anyone (as long as surface intervals were observed).
Dive with the whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium. This will not end my pursuit of diving with these gentle giants in the big blue but since diving in Epcot’s aquarium, I have wanted to splash into another aquarium opportunity. It was so fun interacting with guests through the glass. Plus, Georgia Aquarium was amazing when I spent hours watching through the glass in high school; now I want to experience it on the other side of the glass.
Get my Scientific Diving certificate.
Dive in the Pacific Ocean.
Get Dry Suit certified. This one scares me a LOT but it will open up endless cool diving opportunities if I can find the nerve to do it.

Personal
Develop a financial portfolio (stocks, bonds, etc), not exciting but I need to consider the future, right? Saving for Ella’s college, retirement, emergency and fun money all of which I would love to have, so time to amp up my current money plan.
Make organization a habit. My home is a mess, sometimes I think scary messy but then I see an episode of “Hoarders” and think “Eh, it could be worse”. I like to think of it as organized chaos but I know a lot of people in my life don’t see it that way. I am tired of being the butt of jokes and it doesn’t seem grown up to be considered a slob. Who knows, maybe at the end of this, I won’t be too embarrassed to post a picture of any room in our house.
Be enrolled in and actively taking classes for Grad School. I have been putting this one off since I graduated from college in 2011. I have the GRE scores, I am just too scared and indecisive to make it happen. It will be harder now, with a baby, but I think that also makes it even more important than ever.
Learn Spanish. Spanish has never been my first choice of foreign language but it seems like the most practical.
Less screen time. I want more meaningful time with my family and by myself. I don’t know why I need to check Facebook 20 times a day or start a new series on Netflix that only interests me because it has a baby in it or whatever, it needs to stop because it takes away from the time I have to give to what really matters; my daughter, my husband, my friends, and myself.
Sell a print of one of my pictures. I feel like I have some great quality pictures and I want to know it is not just “proud mama” syndrome. Plus as I said, college fund for Ella, grad school fund for me, retirement, I have list of where the money would go.
Land an axel. I see this as the (most attainable) epitome of figure skating ability. I am not getting any younger so I would like to be able to jump into the air rotate 1 ½ times and land gracefully back on the ice before I destroy my knees and it becomes out of reach.
Attend a major Figure Skating Competition. My mom and I had planned to go to the 2018 Olympics but between baby and baby’s February birthday that is VERY unlikely to happen. Mom is concerned about Ella’s safety due to her hairdresser’s warnings against bringing a practically two year old.
Build a productive blog earning enough money to support itself. Build is the operative word, this year I focus on building but I would like for my blog to be making enough money to cover domain and hosting fees by December 2018. If it is making enough to cover training and maybe even travel, that would be extra awesome….but baby steps. Don’t worry, I will let you know when I am being paid for something.
Create a yoga/mediation habit. My Type A self could benefit from this, with the added benefit of a chance of slowing my air usage while diving. Yay relaxation and longer dives!
Learn how to do the splits.
Complete some kind of photography training.