27 in 27

1. Find ways to celebrate the little things

2. Find an avenue to use the ASL I am learning (signing during worship, teaching others, etc) * look up worship songs in ASL

3. Pay off one of my student loans

4. Read through the bible chronologically

5. Read some things just for fun, without blogging about the books.

6. Paint things for my apt

7. Learn to play the piano

8. Pay off 4 bills

9. Have a fondue party

10. Do a photo challenge

11. Make 24 meals from pinterest (2 per month)

12. Make some crafts from pinterest

13. Help someone plans wedding

14. Put together my collection of favorite recipes

15. Keep a notebook of questions I have when reading the bible

16. prayer walk

17. Go on a road trip

18. learn a new game

19. Continue with Prepare - Enrich

20. do something fun with Jaime a few times

21. Cook with friends

22. Surprise someone with food

23. Plan a girls night out (at least every other month)

24. Paint ceramics somewhere ( maybe as a girls night out) 

25. Finish MPC ppt slides ( both versions)

26. Buy a car

27. Move out of my parents home

26 in 26

Happy Birthday to me. It's not even 8 am and I've had birthday wishes from around the world! The Philippines, Germany, Hungary, Nigeria, Poland, and of course the USA.


I started thinking about this list at the beginning of the year and finished it this morning. Here's is my 26 in 26, or my list of goals to try to accomplish while I'm 26.

26 in 26

1. Grow closer to God
2. Work on learning sign language and find opportunities to practice it.
3. Find a full time job
4. Get on track with a working budget
5. Pay extra on my loans (ideally at least equivalent to 13 payments a year, hopefully more)
6. Move out on my own, hopefully with a roommate.
7. Buy a car
8. Get health insurance
9. Read a ministry minded book a month
10. Read a fun book a month (fiction, classics, etc)
11. Publish some of my writings
12. Go on a mission trip
13. Begin learning to play the piano
14. Sell some of my photographs
15. Write a book of curriculum (Marty the Miner)
16. Buy and learn Adobe Photoshop
17. Pick out at least one new recipe a week (or month if have limited access to a kitchen) to try
18. Go to a local play (community or local school)
19. Listen to podcasts regularly
20. Learn to decorate cakes
21. Visit a castle
22. Paint something
23. Go on a road trip
24. Scrapbook (or make digital books)
25. Do something spontaneous once a month
26. Put together a list of resources for the various age groups/ministries as well as activities and ideas for various occasions.

Number 14 actually has been sort of accomplished already. I'd like to continue with it, but i was just notified two days ago that a photo I submitted to CAMP-of-the-WOODS' marketing department was chosen to be made into a postcard and sold in the bookstore this summer. They were wanting to update their postcards and asked for submissions from the staff and campers. 

Bucket List

This is not complete, but it's a start.

Bucket List

1. Learn Sign Language
2. Learn to play the piano
3. Work in a coffee shop
4. Sell some of my photographs
5. Learn something for fun/take a class (baking, photography, interior design)
6. Live in a decent sized city
7. Live overseas
8. Get married
9. Become a foster parent
10. Adopt a child
11. Write and teach my own curriculum
12. Lead a small group
13. Memorize a book of the Bible
14. See more of Europe
15. Take a river cruise in Europe
16. Visit each of the Hawaiian Islands
17. Travel to and/or take a mission trip to:
1. Africa
2. Australia
3. Mainland Asia
4. Middle East/Mediterranean
5. Europe (again)
18. Get out of debt (and stay out!)
19. Learn calligraphy
20. Host a foreign exchange student
21. Get published

25 in 25 Update

Well, tomorrow is Oct 1st. So here's my update on my 25 in 25. I have 5 months till my birthday to accomplish what I can on my list.

1. Grow Closer to God
2. Learn sign language (Bought The Joy of Signing)
3. Find a full time job
4. Read a non-fiction book a month

1. August: Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman (Done)
2. September: 48 Days to the Work You Love (Done)
3. October: Ordering Your Private World
4. November: Boundaries
5. December:
6. January:
7. February:

1. Write some devotionals
2. Lead a small group
3. Visit a castle
4. Go on a mission trip
5. Go on a date
6. Pay off one of my loans
7. Get on track with a budget
8. Get my first apartment
9. Buy a car
10. Get health insurance
11. Finish my “Legacy Drawer” (Want to do in Oct)
12. Finish Philippines Journal (want to Finish in Oct)
13. Get recipes in order (want to do by the end of December)
14. Write devotionals
15. Work on OT Curriculum
16. Work on NT Curriculum
17. Put Scripture together with my photos (Have started, but need to find more verses for specific photos)
18. Make at least three collage frames with the Scripture/verses
19. Finish reading all of Tracie Peterson’s books (have read almost a dozen so far. Many more to go...)
20. Put together a dream book of things I want to do (aka Bucket List) (See a post coming soon!)
21. Make a list of habits I want to start and make a plan to start them (working on this now)

1. Monday Meaderings, 25 in 25, spiritual growth, etc

25 in 25

1. Grow Closer to God
2. Learn sign language
3. Find a full time job
4. Read a non-fiction book a month
1. August: Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman
2. September: 48 Days to the Work You Love
5. Write some devotionals
6. Lead a small group
7. Visit a castle
8. Go on a mission trip
9. Go on a date
10. Pay off one of my loans
11. Get on track with a budget
12. Get my first apartment
13. Buy a car
14. Get health insurance
15. Finish my “Legacy Drawer”
16. Finish Philippines Journal
17. Get recipes in order
18. Write devotionals
19. Work on OT Curriculum
20. Work on NT Curriculum
21. Put Scripture together with my photos
22. Make at least three collage frames with the Scripture/verses
23. Finish reading all of Tracie Peterson’s books
24. Put together a dream book of things I want to do (aka Bucket List)
25. Make a list of habits I want to start and make a plan to start them
1. Monday Meaderings, 25 in 25, spiritual growth, etc

Now as a disclaimer, I started this a few weeks ago, nearly halfway through my 25th year of life. So, since I don't have the full 12 months, I don't expect to get everything done. However, I would consider this to be a success if I accomplished at least 10 things on this list before my birthday. :-) Here's to making dreams become a reality.

Life has changed!

Well, as you can see, I haven’t blogged in nearly two years. My life has changed a lot since then. My last blog two years ago was my support letter for Ireland. Well, I didn’t and I’m not currently planning on going to Ireland as a missionary. I’m not sure where I will be going in terms of missions. Maybe this week will hold some answers as I talk with Lisa from GEM. But I would like to revive this blog and try to keep up with it more. My first goal is to put up my Monday Meanderings (thanks Holly!). Since the death of several friends about a month ago, I have tried to be a bit more proactive about my life. I don’t want to wake up several years from now wondering where my life went and how I got to where I am. I want to be able to look back and see definite things that I have done and learned. I want to be able to follow the thread of my life and know exactly where all those years went. So to do that, I have been inspired by a few friends to write out goals for my life. Some things will go on a “bucket list”, other things will be things that I want to do that year (like my 25 in 25 list - 25 things I want to try to accomplish while I’m 25, then 26 things next year, etc.) Other things will be part of my weekly goals; hence, the Monday Meanderings. So here’s to the start of reaching some of my goals.

-cll