Day 1

-So I have completed the first day of my 30 Day Challenge.   I have in fact successfully signed up for gchat, which means I now gave a gmail account allowing me to publish this web log. But there is no need to make a mad dash to update my email address I will still use my msn account as my primary email.  I have been hesitant till now to succumb to the switch that many made years ago to gmail.  I actually was a little shocked to learn my mom is on gmail.  But what can I say, I am a creature of habit and I don’t like change.  At times I have a hard time keeping with my work and personal email now so did I really need a new account?  I truly wanted to simply say no, I can’t and I won’t. I could say that I finally succumbed to pressure by the generous contribution by the Google folks made to my employer recently.  In reality it was a challenge and I stepped up and took it.  Thank you so very much Ashley for the challenge. 

Here might be a good place to explain what this 30 Day Challenge is all about. My name is Amanda and in exactly 30 days I will turn 30.  Where in the world did the past decade and even year go?  I can hardly believe it but want to embrace every single moment of the last few days of my 20s in celebration of that I have asked my friends and family to help me with this 30 Day Challenge.  It is kind of like a 30 before 30 Challenge.  I will repost the letter I sent to my family and friends, just so everyone is up to speed.

For the past several months, I have been asked by some of you what I am planning for my big day September.  Growing up birthdays were mainly wonderful family affairs, while I did have a few special ones with close friends, every birthday was great.  My sixteenth birthday was non-eventful but still special as a family we were preparing to move to Oklahoma.  My eighteenth birthday was possibly at a bowling alley.  My big twenty-first was spent at Howard Payne University in Brownwood with a failed yet gallant attempt to break into Sid-Rich.  (For those of you who don't know what Sid-Rich is the old condemned boy’s dormitory in downtown Brownwood.) The past few years my sister and I have celebrated our days on weekend visits, which I absolutely love. While it would be great to travel with her again this year I am under work constraints, I have to be in Hondo, Texas for a Dove Hunt the latter half of that weekend. 

I know that I want to do something memorable this year.  I have pondered this many times and nothing huge has come to mind.  I started this year (last September) off with some pretty big goals-things that I really truly wanted to accomplish in my twenties. While I have accomplished some of them not nearly all of them and not sure if I will. 

Recently a dear friend of my directed me to an interesting blog about this boy who asked friends and family to challenge him with "must do's" before he reached a major milestone in his life.  The blog was entertaining, humorous, insightful, and downright inspiring, so inspiring that my wheels started to turn. This might possibly be the "something big" I have been looking for. 

This is where you come in.  This might seem a bit crazy, but I am asking for your help. 

Starting on August 18th and the 29 following days, I want to be challenged with something different each day.  Something that is fun, crazy, meaningfully, spontaneous, interesting, whatever...I will leave the details up to you. Hopefully they will be creative or something you thing I just have to do. Of course, I will share details (and photos) with you via a separate site TBD and anyone who can make it for dinner on my big day.

I would love for you to volunteer to take a day. Send me the challenge either by email day of the challenge or real mail with the day on the outer envelope, so that I can open the challenge the day of and get it done.  If you have a day say, August 23rd-Challenge day 6  or September 6-Challenge day 16, that is a must have let me know and based on the response I will put a list together with who has what day

For those of you who have already sent in a challenge I want to thank you for being a part of this fun time.   I do promise to send a schedule out soon. I hope you all stay tuned in and look for when I complete your challenge.

The other portion of today’s challenge was to figure out the whole internet thing.  Are you thinking, “You don’t have internet at your house, how do you survive?” Well, I have not had internet since college when HPU provided a nice little outlet for me to plug into and I have managed.  To be honest sometimes it is hard, but it is also nice to come home and not feel pressured to get on.  I have access at work and thanks to my job have access on my BB; both have been fine for me.  Today I attempted to figure out what I needed to do, I searched “modem” and “router” (two things I know I need), had a lengthy conversation with my tech support sister about the whole process, and looked endless at different plans and options.  And well it was too overwhelming. I truly know it shouldn’t be.  I am not the most technical person, just ask any of the tech boys who have helped me with computer problems at work (those boys are saints).  I was determined to just go into a store and ask what I needed and have them help me navigate through it all.  I arrived at the store at exactly 9:04, four minutes after they closed. Sigh…..but there is always tomorrow. 

XOXO-Amanda  May