I'm 24. Here's the list!

So... I did it, almost, for the most part, a couple of spots I stretched it a bit... But I basically consider the list inspired by the lovely Joy the Baker a success! A lot of the things I've updated you as I've gone along, but I thought I'd recap. (This is going to be a long one, but I tried to add as many pictures as possible to keep it interesting, so I hope you enjoy reading about this as much as I enjoyed working on it!)

24 Things Before 24 Years:

1. Mail 5 people hand-written letters.

-I sent them to: Brad, Valeria, Liam and Eli, Julie, and Corrie.

2. Surprise someone with a batch of cupcakes.

-I surprised Jessie with a batch of Dulce de Leche cupcakes. I blogged about it here.

3. Spend at least 10 minutes a day for a whole week trying to learn how to play the guitar.

-I procrastinated until the very end, but I actually did it! And there was improvement! I think I'm even going to stick with it...

4. Make a pretty cake.

-I made a variation of this one for my Momma and blogged about it here.

5. Send someone flowers.

-I sent some to my Momma. Here they are.

6. Spend an evening in a coffee shop having a solid quiet time. (I tweeted this picture and mentioned how you can't go to a coffee shop with an ESV Study Bible and it not scream for you, "I'm a Christian!" I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing...)

7. Compliment two strangers.

-A few times that I remember complimenting strangers over the last month and a half were when I complimented the woman who gave me a pedicure on her own nails, when I complimented the guy manning the Starbucks at the airport all by himself because he was working so hard, and when I complimented this girl who worked at Target for her pretty, curly hair. After doing this, I've decided this is something I want to make a habit of. Complimenting strangers is great.

8. Enjoy three beach sunsets.

-This was kind of difficult because it was overcast a lot of the week. But here was my attempt at three sunset pictures. I know they're kind of lame...

9. Learn how to use my gosh darn camera.

-This is still a work in progress but I'm getting a little bit closer as I blogged about here.

10. Take someone out to lunch.

-This is actually a picture of my aunt and uncle when they took me out for breakfast. But I took them out to dinner (lunch, dinner, same difference) later that day. I don't really feel like this counts because they did me the huge favor of driving me home from Florida when I accidentally booked my flight for the wrong day. Buying them dinner was the least I could do.

11. Write a song.

-Writing a song is so hard. I started a song... I don't know if it's finished but I do know that I will be the only one who ever sees the finished product if it does come about. Fact: writing songs is scary.

12. Play marco polo and sharks and minnows in a pool.

-I didn't ever play sharks and minnows, but I did get my whole family to play marco polo with me when we were in Florida. It was a good time...

13. Clean out my closet.

-This may be one of the things I was looking forward to doing the least but I'm glad it's done! I blogged about it here.

14. Lose 5 pounds.

-Ok, so... this is one I kind of failed on. I gained some weight on vacation, then lost some, then gained a little bit of weight when we went to the lake, then lost some, then gained some when I ate abundant amounts of birthday cake. Now I'm going to focus on the losing again. Thanks for giving me grace on this one...

15. Give someone in need $20.

-I gave some money to Kiva as I blogged about here.

16. Read 4 books.

-I barely finished this one. I finished my 4th book last night around 11:00. So maybe it wasn't actually finished before I turned 24, but it was finished on the day I turned 24. I read: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Winter Garden, She Walks In Beauty, and The Help.

17. Ride a bike at least 5 miles.

-I did this! I probably biked 10 or 15 miles over the week of vacation. When we were in Florida, the quickest and easiest route to the beach was a bike ride and it was a beautiful one. I think riding bikes to and from the beach was probably one of the highlights of my vacation actually...

18. Blog at least 10 times.

-I did this. I blogged 16 times!

19. Make some sugar cookies with royal icing.

-I made some with Jessie and blogged about it here. I've been itching to make some more lately. Especially since my brother's girlfriend and one of the coolest girls I know, Erica, gave me a mermaid shaped cookie cutter for my birthday. I think I will be making some Ariel sugar cookies real soon...

20. Introduce myself to 5 people I don't already know at work.

-I introduced myself to Heather, Jim, Paul, Scott, Jason, Rhonda, Lacey, Yuri, Ernest... I've met a lot of people lately. The joys of working at a big company.

21. Tell 15 people why I'm grateful for them.

-I didn't actually count this one out but I make it a goal in my life to constantly be encouraging people, so hopefully I told at least 15 people over the last month and a half how much they mean to me. And I plan on continuing to do it.

22. Make 3 Facebook videos for people.

-I made one for my friend Corrie and one for my friend Megan. On Sunday night I went on Facebook to make my final Facebook video for Jessie, but the video function wasn't working. So I typed her out a play by play of what I was going to say anyway. I know it doesn't count, but I tried. I guess that's why they encourage you not to procrastinate... you never know when Facebook video wall posting won't work.

23. Paint something for a friend.

-I painted three things: something for Valeria, Jessie, and Alan. Valeria's was my favorite though. I blogged about it here.

24. Write down the beauty of the day every day until my birthday.

-So, I kind of slacked at this, but I made up for the days that I missed on other days. This list will be coming tomorrow...

Thanks for sticking with my over the last month as I tried to complete this! I'm actually kind of sad that this list is over... I'm thinking about starting a new one. Anybody have any suggestions?