Today my sister and brother-in-law celebrate their 10-year wedding anniversary. They got married eight days after I graduated high school and while I was sad to see the spotlight so swiftly shifted away from me, in hindsight I see I gained the best brother-in-law ever. He has brought so much to my family and, although I didn’t think it was possible, he has increased my sister’s ‘cool’ factor. Way to go cunhado!
Reflecting on the 10 years that have passed since high school has made me a little wary of the upcoming 10. I have often pestered myself for not having a five- or even three-year plan. Tonight, in honor of my sister’s anniversary, I’m setting out to do the impossible: write a 10-year plan. Let’s go!
YEAR ONE (June 2011-June 2012) Age 28
This is the year I am going to FIGURE OUT MY CAREER. Seriously. I’ve already been saying this for six months. Enough with the talk and on with the walk. If anyone has suggestions I’m game.
This is also the year I’ll finish Suzuki Book 2 and move onto Suzuki Book 3. Along the way I will learn how to play vibrato which will be SO exciting. It might take me an entire year to learn how to do it but I know I have the best violin teacher and she’ll be with me every step of the way.
I’ve dubbed 2011 as my “photography year” and although I’m very much a beginner I know that practice is key. Plus, reading the manual would probably help so that’s going on the list, too.
Travel destination: Southern Caribbean cruise. I’d love to go to St. Lucia, Curacao, Grand Turk, Aruba and more.
Fitness goal: Buy a road bicycle and start training. Run a 10k and finish in 55 minutes or fewer.
YEAR TWO (June 2012-June 2013) Age 29
Travel destination: Brazil. I would like to be able to go back every three years and I am due in fall 2012. Can’t wait!
Next priority: Survive December 21st. Yeah!
In February 2013 I will hit my five-year mark with my current employer and I’ll earn a four-week sabbatical (that’s right – four weeks in a row of paid time-off)! Right now the plan is to go to Europe and see EVERYTHING. Think I can do it?
Fitness goal: Run a 10k and finish in 50 minutes or fewer. Join some kind of cycling group.
If the stars align: Get married in 2013. (That would be two years from now and I don’t think that’s asking for too much. Seriously!)
YEAR THREE (June 2013-June 2014) Age 30
Educational goal: For real, I have to decide if I’m going to pursue business school. 30 is my “drop-dead” deadline. If not, I’ll have to face the music and learn how to cook instead. I honestly don’t know which one would be harder.
Fun goal: Have the BEST 30th birthday party ever. Everyone and their dog is going to know that I’m turning 30. (I always hear great things from people in their 30s. I think it will be an awesome time.)
Outlandish goal: Run a ½ marathon. Even crazier: Learn how to swim. (Currently I only know how to doggie paddle, tread water and back float. Lame!)
Travel destinations = Australia, New Zealand and/or Tahiti.
YEAR FOUR (June 2014-June 2015) Age 31
MOVE BACK TO CALIFORNIA. Hopefully the economy will have recovered by then. (Is that even possible?)
Have my first baby. Yeah!
YEAR FIVE (June 2015-June 2016) Age 32
Fitness: Participate in a triathlon of some sort. It could be a relay or just a short distance individual event.
For the remainder of the year: Recover from the triathlon and ponder my insanity for choosing to do something so punishing.
YEAR SIX (June 2016-June 2017) Age 33
BUY A HOUSE. Immediately adopt two cats. (Outdoor cats, of course.) I really miss having cats but I don’t want to go through the hassle of finding an apartment that allows for pets. I’d also like to try my hand at raising a dog but I’m pretty sure I’ll be terrible at training one. Hubby will have to do that.
Bust out Baby #2. Be sure not to give it a crazy “Utah” name.
YEAR SEVEN (June 2017-June 2018) Age 34
PUBLISH A NOVEL. That gives me at least six years to come up with a really good idea for a book. No vampires allowed!
YEAR EIGHT (June 2018-June 2019) Age 35
Baby #3 it is! Even though I always hoped to have four kids I hear they’re kind of overwhelming. At this point (age 35) three kids will have to do. Maybe I’ll get lucky and have twins. On second thought, would anyone in their right mind call that LUCK?
YEAR NINE (June 2019-June 2020) Age 36
Okay, funny thing about the year 2020… Ever since I was a kid I thought that the television show “20/20” was named that because everyone anticipated that 2020 would be the raddest year ever. I pretty much assumed that 2020 would be the year we’d have flying cars, teleportation and undersea residential compounds. I only realized a few months ago that “20/20” refers to perfect vision. In honor of my overdue revelation my goal for 2020 will be simply to maintain my 20/20 vision. It fits, right? I guess I’ll have to stop staring at the sun and buying cheap sunglasses! I'll need my perfect vision in order to...
YEAR TEN (June 2020-June 2021) Age 37
SEE MY NOVEL ADAPTED FOR THE SCREEN AND TURNED INTO AN OSCAR-NOMINATED FILM.
Okay, my 10-year plan may have just turned into a pipe dream but I’ll let you in on a little secret: THIS IS MY DREAM. Wouldn’t it be wicked awesome if it came true?
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My goodness gracious – this was hard to do! I thought I’d be able to fill in the blanks quickly but it is quite the challenge. I definitely encourage you to try it.
It was a lot easier to come up with timelines, goals and plans when I was a student. Now that real life is such an open book I hardly know where to start. It’s not like I’m new at this game (I graduated from college four years ago) but if I don’t make a move soon time is just going to keep passing me by. Here’s to the next 10 years!
I loved this blog!!
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