Suggestions needed.

Ok readers out there, I need suggestions for the " do 30 new activities in the space of the year" bit of the list.  Firstly let me point out I am a wuss, so a suggestion like "Go on the UK's largest rollercoaster" would also count as my scary moment for that month. I am game for most things though.

Give me some good suggestions please.

The first 15 on the List.

1.  Lose 30lb in weight (and keep it off) stage 2 – if that’s too easy, lose 30kg
2. Take 30 minutes each day to reflect on the positive and record it somewhere.
3. Do 30 new activities in the space of a year.  
4.  Keep a photo record and blog of the whole year.  
5.     Do at least one thing a month that scares you.  
6.    Practice a musical instrument and do a 30 min set by the end of the year at an open mic night.  
7.    Give blood at least once. (no excuses, no more tattoos until it’s done) 
8.   Learn 30 words /phrases in another language (not French, German or Spanish) and practice them on a native speaker. 
9.  Travel as far as you can on £30.30 (and include the return journey). photograph the journey, destination and modes of transport used. (must use more than one type of public transport)  
10. Whilst doing #9. Explore the area you’ve arrived at. Spend no more than £30.30 on food, presents for people and buy a memorable item to blog about. 
11.  Cook a 3 course themed dinner for the whole family at the halfway point  
12.  Raise at least £300.30 in the space of the year for Charity. Find new and inventive ways of raising the money. 
13.  Spend more time with keeping in touch with friends and family, write actual letters and send them snail mail.  
14.   Learn to accept that the person you were made you the woman you are today. Life experiences are valuable and not necessarily all positive. Ensure that you have learnt equally from the positive experiences and the negative ones. 
15. Attempt NaNoWriMo in November.

Setting up the Just Giving Accounts.

With less than a month to go it's starting to feel real. I set up the Just Giving Accounts for the Charities I want to support and I'm still working on the List. Please feel free to donate to the charities. For some reason I can't put both Charities on the same page so here are the links below.

 For Ovarian Cancer Action go to,

https://www.justgiving.com/Emma-Pett82

For the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation go to,

https://www.justgiving.com/Emma-Pett1982

Please give generously because I will too and don't forget to gift aid donations.

The Origins of the List

I turn 30 in just under a month on the 8th September. This past year has been a rollercoaster of grief, health issues, work issues and burn out and I felt just over a month ago that it was time for a change, time for a challenge and to do something worthwhile which is where the 30 things list came into being. I took some inspiration from this article,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2182280/A-modern-rite-passage-How-mother-set-13-year-old-son-13-ticklish-tasks-grown-was.html  which detailed a Mum's challenges to her 13 year old son as a means of teaching him valuable skills, pick up new hobbies and gain some independence and thought maybe I could learn some lessons from it and use them in my own way.

I started by thinking about what I wanted to achieve out of this, did I want wholly personal goals? Something altruistic? Did I want to share it with the world at large? I knew there were some goals that I needed to do, the first being raising money for Ovarian Cancer Research  (Ovarian Cancer Action) http://lovewomen.tributefunds.com/  and for a Lung Cancer charity http://www.roycastle.org. in memory of my Grandmother Elsie Bailey and my Mother in Law Elizabeth Pett who both passed away in September 2011. The second set of goals were to work upon my own health and well being as I have been troubled with anxiety and depression for some time and wanted to embrace a healthier and happier me. Other goals on the list are to promote communication, travel and creativity as well as learning new skills and a language. It is still a fluid work in progress. I have 17 of the 30 goals/tasks written up and am currently thinking of the remainder.

Ultimately by blogging about it I am looking for encouragement and support over the year. I can promise some entertaining posts, quirky observations, bad photography (still not great with a digital camera) and above all the chance to share my experiences with the world and come out of this unscathed.