Well, the happy birthdays have ended...the gifts have been opened...the nice dinner has happened...and just like that, I'm 39 years old.
I wish I could tell you all the highlights of my 39th year, but just like many of the years before, it came and went like a flash of dizzying light. Many great things happened, memories were made, life changes happened, but honestly...I can't recant the details of any of it. Is it due to having "mommy brain"....or because of the brain atrophy that comes with age? I have no clue!
I hope I lived well. I hope that I represented my self with honesty and authenticity. I hope that I said "yes" more often than "no". I hope that I seized opportunities to stretch, grow, and move. Most importantly, I hope that God looks down on my 39th year...and smiles with approval. However, I pray that he shakes his head indicating...."I'm not done with you! There is more, Tammy Vaught....there is so much more! You have much to learn, much more growth to experience. Your race is long my daughter, so get running."
So, I've decided to pounce on this next year...my FORTIETH YEAR!!!!!! I've decided to live deliberately. To quote Henry David Thoreau "I want to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life." I complied a list of 40 things I would like to do during my 40th year. Each of these things will provide an opportunity to grow and stretch. Some may increase physical strength...while others may promote growth in faith...while others may help promote deepening of relationships....and still others will encourage expansion of the mind.
My hope is to blog regularly....maybe monthly, about my progression through the list. I want to attempt to document the experiences along the way...much like I did with our adoption story, as to capture the fun, growth, and excitement!
So.....drum roll please....here is THE LIST!
1. Read a classic novel
2. Start at gratitude/ prayer journal for nightly reflection
3. Go to the jazz festival in New Orleans
4. Relearn to crochet and make each of my children a blanket
5. Volunteer one night a month at Breaking Bread
6. Write a letter to the 5 most influential people in my life
7. Take a dance class
8. Start golf lessons
9. Get a new tattoo
10. Climb Enchanted Rock
11. Get a will
12. Go camping in Fort Davis/ Davis Mountains
13. Go skinny dipping in the ocean
14. Bake a pumpkin pie from scratch
15. Eat oysters on the half shell
16. Plan/ organize a wine and canvass night for friends
17. Run/ walk a 5K race
18. Learn to fly fish
19. Go to an opera at the MET
20. Go to Rockefeller Center at Christmas time
21. Take a class at the community college (MCC) for fun
22. Give an unsuspecting waiter/ waitress a $100 tip
23. Become proficient at shooting a pistol/ get my CHL
24. Fly a plane
25. Commit one new scripture to memory monthly
26. Girls trip with my mom, aunt, cousins, and sister-in-law
27. 40 random acts of kindness during the year
28. Go parasailing
29. Camp in the backyard with the kids
30. Buy a new cookbook and cook a new meal every night for a week.
31. Start writing my book
32. Take a make-up class and master the "smokey-eye".
33. Host a wine tasting event in our home
34. Take my nieces on a weekend get-a-way
35. Travel to Christ in the Desert for a solitude weekend with the monks
36. Go skydiving
37. Get certified to scuba dive
38. Open my kids each an email address and start writing them letters/ emails/ notes
39. Read about/ and learn to understand another religion other than Christianity.
40. Completely unplug while on vacations....and be connected to the current moment.
I'm excited to get started on this amazing journey and look forward to all that is to come! Here's to year #40.
