Old {ish} – Jennifer's {ish} Adventure

My Quarter Life Crisis Bucket List

“Ladies & Gentlemen, we are now approaching your “Quarter Life Crisis” where local time is NOW. Please remain in your seat with your seatbelt firmly fastened. Any anxiety, stress and emotional baggage must be securely stowed away either in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of you. On behalf of “Last Resort Airlines” and the entire crew, we’d like to thank you for joining us on this trip and look forward to seeing you on board again, have a nice panic attack trip!”

The quarter life crisis is described as the period of time ranging from a person’s twenties up to their mid-thirties. Now I’m not going to crystal ball my health or anything, but I am hoping I have a few more years before I get to the “jump out of a plane, climb Mt. Everest” phase of life. But then again, I do tend to party hard with Twinkies and Mt. Dew so I’m not holding my breath. Anyway, today is my 31st birthday, so I thought what better time than now to sit down and make a year-long to do list. Think of it as clearing the que before the heavy stuff hits.

Tasks to complete before my quarter life crisis evolves into a full blow “Mid Life Crisis”

Finish all of my started and abandoned crafts before undertaking any new projects.

MLB coasters (14 of 30 left)
- Mets
- Tigers
- Diamondbacks
- Padres
- Athletics
- Twins
- Red Sox
- Phillies
- Rangers
- Mariners
- Rockies
- Indians
- Blue Jays
- ~~Orioles~~

Yellow Submarine cross stitch

MLB hexi quilt

Metal file box project

Learn to play at least 1 song that isn’t a nursery rhyme on one of the many lonely un-played musical instruments in our house.

Become a member of the Mario Andretti pit crew and change a tire…in the comfort of my driveway..on purpose…and with help…

Become a bit more fluent in Spanish. Two years in high school was not enough. Si estás leyendo esto, ya hablas español con fluidez y deberías enseñarme o usar el traductor de Google como yo. De cualquier manera, hola!

Finish all my books I have already purchased before buying another one to read. (if you haven’t already guessed, I have a problem with finishing things I have started)

~~74 Seaside Avenue- Debbie Macomber~~

~~8 Sandpiper Way- Debbie Macomber~~

~~92 Pacific Boulevard- Debbie Macomber~~

~~1022 Evergreen Place- Debbie Macomber~~

~~1105 Yakima Street- Debbie Macomber~~

~~1225 Christmas Tree Lane-Debbie Macomber~~

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes – Caitlin Doughty

Fool Me Once- Harlan Coben
~~Man up!: Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence-Ross Matthews~~

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer

- Also, news flash, if you have not read the book Land of The Jonah Fish Fry by Oliva Kessinger you are missing out! It is seriously one of the best books I have read in a while! Get it here on Amazon!

Become less of an anxious hermit and join a small group at church. I practically lived at my church growing up, and sometime in my late 20’s I developed some time of squirrely anxiety about being around people. MUST OVER COME THIS.

Learn to bake a few items from scratch.

Bread

~~Cherry Pie~~

~~Noodles~~

Step outside of my comfort zone and get a massage. Now I know this sounds like the easiest and most fun bucket list item to complete, but in all honesty this may be the hardest one to attempt.

Complete all 300 writing prompts in a journal I recently purchased but almost half expected never to fill out. Who knows, maybe I will learn proper grammar by the time its completed. Probably not, but its a fun idea. I want to give back to the community in the form of NON-court ordered volunteer work. Nothing against those who have volunteered on the recommendation of a judge ;), but I’d like to continue my 30’s with a clean record ha. If you have any suggestions of organizations to volunteer with, please let me know below in the comments!

So there you have it, 10 clear bucket list tasks and 365 days in which to complete them. My hope is over the next year I will update you all on my progress and this time next year I will have a whole new set of fun goals to attack.

Getting Old {ish} With Jennifer

A few weeks ago we explored the possibilities of whether I, Jennifer, of 30 year old sound{ish} body and mind, am in fact an adult, or instead an adult in training (read that post here). I decided that half of the issue may be that I’ve never really “applied and interviewed” for the position of adulthood. Being married and having a mortgage just isnt enough.

So to whom it may concern, might I present to you my Resume to Be an Adult for your review and acceptance.

Getting Old {ish} With Jennifer

You’ve heard of having a mid-life crisis, right? Well, I like to have a midnight crisis. My thought process at night when I should be sleeping but can’t is reminiscent of a hyper active squirrel struggling to bury all his nuts just days before hibernation. (googles to see if squirrels actually hibernate…they don’t). I am anxious, disorganized, and frantic.

Screen Shot 2018-07-24 at 7.39.12 PM — it appears squirrels and I have more in common than I thought

Lately we have been binge watching Comedians in Cars Drinking Coffee with Jerry Seinfeld as well as NBC’s Seinfeld. 3am rolled around rather quickly and I decided that I needed to go to sleep, so I turned the tv off in an effort to fall asleep. That didn’t work, so instead I took a stroll through IMDB for interesting facts on Jerry himself and the show (I live for IMDB trivia, it is my most used app after Facebook).

That was when I saw it. At the time of the pilot of NBC’s Seinfeld, the character of Elaine is written to be the age of 27. 27 years old. This led me down the Wikipedia rabbit hole. Next thing I know I was the head of my own make believe census and was researching the ages of all my favorite characters during their debut on their respective shows. For instance, the cast of Friends are written to be in their mid 20’s when the show begins. Will & Grace, 30 years old. I’m 30, that can’t be right.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “Who cares how old a fictional character is on a show that’s been off the air for 20 years?” Well, I do. You see, I grew up watching these shows and in my mind, those characters will always be “older” than me. They are real adults and I’m still a young adult, an imposter if you will, waiting to have my training wheels taken off. They are a moving goal. No matter how old I get, I will never catch up to them. In reality, I kinda have. At season 1 episode 1 of any of these shows, I am supposed to be in the same stage of life as them. Yikes.

Screen Shot 2018-07-25 at 12.51.12 AM — Teach your adult to be an adultier adult in 5 days!

It seems so surreal to me. I don’t seem nearly as responsible as these people. (George Costanza, Joey Tribbiani are not included in this equation for obvious reason) I mean, if I was in a room with a bunch of people and something were to happen that an adult is needed, I don’t think I would raise my hand to volunteer right away. Not that I wouldn’t want to help, but because my first instinct would be to find a more adultier adult. It’s like when you fly and the flight attendants show you how to find the exits and remind you that sometimes the closest exit is behind you. Well, I would look around for an adultier adult forgetting that in some instances, the adultiest adult could be me. Lord help us all!

Getting Old {ish} With Jennifer

5 Things 20 something Jennifer could do, that 30 something Jennifer can’t (shouldn’t) do.

Pizza after 5 pm. College freshman Jennifer would have A 5$ large pizza from Papa John’s delivered to Blumberg hall at 1 am to aid an all night study session (oh hey there freshman 15 50, how you doin’). 30 year old Jennifer needs to clear her schedule the next day as well as stock up on Tums and Prilosec if she plans to eat pizza after sundown.

Screen Shot 2018-07-24 at 2.35.10 PM — I looked through old Freshman photos not expecting to find any proof…20 Something Jennifer didn’t disappoint.

Paint my own toenails. I used to change my toe nail polish with the change of the wind. Not anymore. And while my flexibility comes into question with each passing year, this is listed because toe nail polish LASTS FOREVER and requires a level of commitment I’m no longer able to give. Even though a few of my Santa themed ‘piggies’ went to market by spring time, most of the pack was holding on by the 4th of July and if not for an intervention by concerned friends and family members, they would have made it Halloween.

Screen Shot 2018-07-24 at 2.44.11 PM — who doesnt want to rock Christmas Nails on memorial day?!

Midnight Movie Premiers. 20 something Jennifer would drive 30 mins to work, put in 8 hours, drive 30 mins home, change, grab my friends, drive 30 mins back into town, go to a movie that wouldn’t end until 2ish, drive the 30 mins back home, sleep briefly then get up and do it all over again. 30 something Jennifer wouldn’t even go to a 7 o’clock movie unless I have the next two days off afterwards for recovery time.

Screen Shot 2018-07-24 at 3.03.09 PM — even with the lack of sleep, this was a pretty awesome summer!

Souvenir anything. 20 something Jennifer would have a keychain, magnet or shot class (even though she doesn’t drink) from every truck stop on any trip that was outside of the usual distance. 30 something Jennifer now realizes the signs of hoarding and it doesn’t matter how big my kitchen is, cabinet real estate is always tight. Disclaimer: this only applies to the 10 million Hard Rock Cafe, Medival Times, Carnival Cruise and Margaritaville glasses in my cabinet. Not my baseball stadium glasses. Thats not hoarding, that’s just good taste 😉

Just a sample of the collection. 30 more are still in the cabinet. No, its not out of hand at all.

Road trips. 20 something Jennifer had a “let’s just go and get there” mentality. In high school I once rode from Indianapolis to Houston without getting out of the car once and was still able to function once I got there. 30 something Jennifer still prefers to drive straight through but an IV drip of Red Bull and 5 hour energy is now needed and terms like deep vein thrombosis are thrown around. Also, you can forget me being productive for at least 2 days after my arrival.