I’ve always been of the belief that you shouldn’t set people up to fail…I want my husband and friends to know when my birthday is, no subtly, no game playing.  It’s MY BIRTHDAY, let me shout it from the rooftop.  Today, I am 50, half a century, five decades, 18,263 days….I have a girlfriend who told me once that our lives are too important to celebrate on just a single day.  But today is the day, the one I have been working toward all year, the culmination of my year of blogging.

365 days ago, I started www.fiftyin365.com, with a list of goals I wanted to complete, did I make them all?  No, but I put a serious dent in them.  I love setting goals, they help me to always keep striving for new things.  Years ago, when I was part of the Jaycees, we had a saying that “If you’re not growing, you’re dying.”  The same is true for all of us.  Each of us needs to challenge ourselves daily, set goals, live life….be the person YOU want to be, Create the Life that YOU Imagine.  It’s time to set up your year, your life, don’t wait, don’t just go through the motions, find your passion, set your date to begin and start.  I mean really start living.

My 50^th year was awesome, I watched 8 classic movies I had never seen before; I read 53 books; I went to 36 new places; I tried 33 new things.  I love my life, I’m excited to start this new decade with all the great people that are in it.  Tomorrow I get to start all over again, I get to set new goals, I get to try new things, I get to set the standards for the next 365 days, I can’t wait for my life to start…or, rather continue, it’s awesome!

• • Goal:  Watch 50 classic movies – completed 8
    • Shane
    • Sunset Boulevard
• • Forrest Gump
  • Amadeus
  • The Manchurian Candidate
  • The Philadelphia Story
  • Yankee Doodle Dandy
  • A Place in the Sun
• Goal:  Read 50 books – completed 53
  • Heroes of Olympus – Son of Neptune – Rick Riordan
  • Raising Jake – Charlie Carillo
  • The Rosetti Letter – Christi Phillips
  • A Fistful of Collars – Spencer Quinn
  • Plum Wine – Angela Davis-Gardner
  • The Shoe Queen – Anna Davis
  • Little Bee – Chris Cleave
  • Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet – Jamie Ford
  • The Big Nap – Ayelet Waldman
  • Wicked Business – Janet Evanovich
  • The Last Dragonslayer – Jasper Fforde
  • The Woman who Died A lot – Jasper Fforde
  • Death Gets a Timeout – Ayelet Waldman
  • Track of the Cat – Nevada Barr
  • Blind Descent – Nevada Barr
  • The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag – Alan Bradley
  • Zero Day – David Baldacci
  • A Red Herring Without Mustard – Alan Bradley
  • The Last Runaway – Tracy Chevalier
  • Men and Dogs – Katie Crouch
  • Dreamfever – Karen Marie Moning
  • Viola in the Spotlight – Adriana Trigiani
  • Dreams of Joy – Lisa See
  • I am Half-Sick of Shadows – Alan Bradley
  • Speaking from Among the Bones – Alan Bradley
  • The Noticer – Andy Andrews
  • Artifacts of Death – Rich Curtin
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Steven Chbosky
  • The Widow of the South – Robert Hicks
  • The Scent of Rain and Lightening – Nancy Pickard
  • Big Fish – Daniel Wallace
  • February’s Files – Rich Curtin
  • The Brightest Star in the Sky – Marian Keyes
  • The Kitchen House – Kathleen Grissom
  • Italian for Beginners – Kristen Harmel
  • Backseat saints – Joshilyn Jackson
  • The Art Forger – BA Shapiro
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – JK Rowling
  • Garden Spells – Sarah Addison Allen
  • Affairs of Steak – Julie Hyzy
  • The Map of True places – Brunonia Barry
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – JK Rowling
  • Life Studies – Susan Vreeland
  • The Confession – John Grisham
  • Wrapped in Rain – Charles Martin
  • The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival – Ken Wheaton
  • Montana 1948 – Larry Watson
  • The Little Giant of AberdeenCounty – Tiffany Baker
  • $1000 and a Good Idea – Sam Wyly
  • Full of Grace – Dorothea Benton Frank
  • Cash Out – Greg Bardsley
  • If You Lived Here I’d Know Your Name – Heather Lende
  • March – Geraldine Brooks
• Goal:  Write 50*7 blogs – completed 165
• Goal:  Visit 50 new places – completed 34
  • The Big Texan
  • The Sandia Tramway
  • Bryce Canyon
  • Zions National Park
  • Scorpion Bay
  • Lethbridge, Canada
  • Carnival Splendor Mexican Riviera Cruise
  • Cabo San Lucas
  • Puerto Vallarta
  • Tucson Jewelry Show
  • Guadalupe Mountain National Park
  • Big Room at Carlsbad Caverns
  • Birmingham
  • Sloss Furnaces
  • Civil Rights Museum
  • Civil War battleground
  • National Cemetery
  • Capitol Reef National Park
  • The Missions of San Antonio
  • Great Sand Dunes National Park
  • George Rogers Clark Memorial
  • Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
  • Notre Dame University
  • Indianapolis Motor Speedway
  • Rubicon Springs
  • Dayton Courthouse – Scopes Trial
  • The First National Military Park – Chickamauga and Chattanooga
  • Fort Donelson
  • Mammoth Caves
  • International Motorsports Hall of Fame
  • Sea Life Center
  • Homer, AK
  • Kenai Fjords National Park
  • Whittier, AK
  • US Olympic Training Center
  • Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame
• Goal:  Try 50 new things – completed 33
  • Dremel
  • Wheeling from behind the wheel
  • Junior Ranger
  • Melting Crayon Art
  • Civil War Re-enactment
  • Stung by Stingray
  • Spent a whole day in bed
  • Curling Match
  • Get Married again
  • Played on a Game Show (on the cruise)
  • Acupuncture
  • Take a bus in Mexico
  • Thriller Dance
  • Letter punching
  • Lit Chinese Lantern
  • TIG welding
  • Senior Ranger
  • Walk the Race Course
  • Monster Party
  • Wheeling in Moab
  • Broke on the trail
  • Tour a micro-brew
  • Fly in an experimental plane
  • Opened new food truck
  • Junior Civil War Historian
  • Halibut fishing
  • Skipping Rocks
  • Darts
  • Sisterhood badge
  • Zumba
  • Color Run
  • Disc Golf
  • Eyebrow Threading

I can’t wait to see what happens next, what’s on your list???