I only see my goals... I don't believe in failure.

Tomorrow...it happens:

I've never really been one of those people afraid of growing old, so I'm just excited what the next wee while has to bring really. My 20s have been fun - getting married, buying houses, having babies...and now I'm looking forward to a decade of getting to know myself more and continuing to grow.

And of course, this means I bid farewell to my 30 before 30 goals, in exchange for my 40 before 40 goals (the big reveal is tomorrow). But first I want to reflect on how I've gone with these 30 goals.

I'm a huge advocate of continual self improvement and my goal challenges help me to do that. 30 before 30 is the third that I've embarked on. Typically with these type of lists you give yourself a good amount of time, but I only came across the concept a couple of years ago, giving me about 14 months to complete the list once I had compiled one I thought was worthy. With all three of the challenges I've done, I've never completed all of the goals, and I don't think that's super important, but something I like to point out. For me, it's the journey and the reason behind why I made the goal and what I've done towards it rather than being able to cross it off - although that's always super satisfying.

With that in mind, let's look at how I went with this challenge.

I did get a pass rate with 18/30 I am happy to say I completed. Some I've put on my 40 before 40 list and others I was very close to finishing but I wasn't happy to say complete.

Mostly I blogged about the ones I had completed as and when, but a few I just went through now and tidied up. You can see the ones I've blogged about by going through the 30 before 30 tag on the right.

I just today crossed off #4: be more proactive about giving Jake a great life. I think I worked toward this one well. My dog gets a good deal to be honest - he sleeps on our bed, he gets a birthday cake and presents as well as spoiled at Christmas time, he's well looked after. I made this goal mostly to be more mindful about the fact and to do some things for him - take him out when we could, not lock him away when people are over - and I feel like I've nailed that.

Another thing I didn't blog about but finished about a week ago was the 52 Lists Project which I see now has been made into a sweet book - future goals? This was a really cool exercise that got me thinking about what makes me, me. I made my templates of the lists, as you can see, but the book you can purchase now looks too good to pass up! Here are my finished lists with a close up of one of my faves - so pretty.

Today in going through I also crossed off numbers 9, 13, 18, 19, 20 and 28. All that I have either done or come so close to it's not worth mentioning where I (think I) have fallen down.

On the list I've marked some of the goals green, which means I've pretty much completed it or am waiting for it to happen. For example, #3 is learning how to apply a good face of make up and one of my friends has purchased me some lessons with a Smashbox make up artist, but the date won't be locked in until it's  not wedding season. Or #5 to get my half sleeve, which is underway, see..

Lastly, there's others in red which just haven't happened and will make an appearance in one way, shape or form in the 40 before 40. Swimming with dolphins being one of them.

And lastly, I've left two of them completely which don't push my buttons anymore. #10: Write a children's book is still something I might like to do one day, but it just 'too hard basket'. I got a few ideas down, but until I have that one idea, nothing can really take fruition. And #11: to make more money with my blog. I've looked into this a little bit. I make around $60 a month from my blog through advertising at the moment and really, without putting more effort into it, I can't. I fall off the blogging wagon from time to time and with 2 kids, a full time job, friends, family, study and all the other crap I seem to do, I can't devote more time to it. Perhaps in the future.

I'm so excited to share my 40 before 40 list tomorrow... I love a new list. So much potential self improvement! I can smell it! Haha.

"Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body"

I'm so excited to cross this goal off my list.

I must confess that the books I have read did not in fact all come from the list I posted, although some did. I had a tonne of books on my kindle library that I wanted to read, as well as recommendations from book club. Don't you worry, the 'books to read' list is still high on my priority list...it just keeps getting added to, almost on a daily basis!

Here are the 30 books I did read. Great ones (that I think you should read stat) are highlighted in green :)

1. My sister's keeper, Jodi Picoult
2. Nineteen minutes, Jodi Picoult
3. The Pact, Jodi Picoult
4. The Curious Incident of the dog in the night time, Mark Haddon
5. Silver Shadows, Richelle Mead
6. The Ruby Circle, Richelle Mead
7. The Jigsaw man, Paul Britton
8. The Passage, Justin Cronin
9. The girl on the train, Paula Hawkins
10. Four, Veronica Roth
11. Daughter of smoke and bone, Laini Taylor
12. The tea rose, Jenifer Donnelly
13. The selection, Kiera Cass
14. One plus one, Jojo Moyes
15. The Elite, Kiera Cass
16. The One, Kiera Cass
17. The prince, Kiera Cass
18. Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon
19. We were liars, E lockhart
20. Play dead, Anne Fraiser
21. Big little lies, Liane Moriary
22. Throne of glass, Sarah J Mass
23. Stolen Lives, Paul Litte
24. The Elephant tree, R.D Ronald
25. The silent wife, A.S.A Harrison
26. A series of unfortunate events, Lemony Snicket
27. Unreal & Uncanny Paul Jennings
28. The cabbage patch fib, The cabbage patch war,The gizmo, The gizmo again, Paul Jennings
29. The witches and Matilda, Roald Dahl
30.  Crown of midnight, Sarah J Mass

I'm halfway through the 3rd Sarah J Mass novel in the Calaena Sardothian series, but I don't think I'll finish before next Tuesday. I had to throw in some of the novels I had read my class this year to make 30, but that's still reading right? I bunched them up so really it's far over 30 :P

Yay! Another goal crossed off.

OH HAI!

I'm back. Bet you missed me. It's been good having some time away - I feel refreshed and have been wanting to write again for a few weeks now. Glad I took the time off though, I've done a lot of self 'blogging' read: reflecting in my head recently and it's been nice not to feel like I have to write it down anywhere. The problem with that is at my age, with my brain been ravaged by baby brain (TWICE!), I've forgotten a lot of my golden reflections. I'm sure they'll come back to me at some stage...right? Eeeeek!

I'm excited to be wrapping up the 30 before 30. Many of the goals have not been achieved, or are in the pipe line for the next wee while, or have been added to my next challenge - the 40 before 40 (more to come next week). And you know what? That's OK. Goals are for moving you in the right direction. I've been the victim of negative self talk for waaay too long when it comes to setting myself goals and not meeting them. I do know that I've consciously been working towards each of the 30 goals in one way or another and will update on all of them between now and this time next week when I turn the big THREE OH! I'm excited to unveil and embark on the 40 before 40 challenge. This time allowing myself an actual 10 years to get some big lofty things completed - trips, large purchases, habit changes - lofty lofty!

But enough of all that boring crap - how's your holiday been? The family and I have had an amazing time. Starting with an inaugural visit from a new December resident Elf of the Shelf - Heart. With being her first year here it had to be a biggie, and her little helper elves tried to make it as special as possible. Little Miss 4 thought she was super cool and was extremely well behaved through December. Willow didn't understand all of it but loved coming out in the morning and finding where Heart would be hiding for the day. The little smiles and shrieks of laughter from them at her antics were worth all the work....from Heart of course.

The girls were thoroughly spoilt all through December and of course by the big guy in red. We had a lovely Christmas, ate too much and were knackered by the end of it. Once Christmas and all of its festivities died down we got a lot of work done in the garden and have had day trips here and there. It's been really lovely having everyone home. Then for the last week it's been lovely just having some time with the other half without children. Busy, but nice. Stress free and I feel like lots is getting done - all of those things you leave 'until the holidays'.

What else did I want to share with you all? I've come across a new app that was recommended on a facebook group I belong to which I'm enjoying using. It's a bit nerdy and very 'Type A' but it works for me. It's called 'Forest' and it's basically about putting your phone down and focussing or being present which is something I love from 'The Fish Philosophy'. All you do it set a timer and the app deters you from picking up your phone during that period of time. It does so by planting a seed that grows during this time and if you are phubbing in that set time (exiting the app in the process) the tree dies. It's gimicky, it's a bit geeky, but I love it...and it's getting the job done, for me.

I won't even talk about the other app that I'm hooked on at the moment which is undoing all the great focus and being more present that 'Forest' is helping with *cough* Fishing Ninja *cough*.

Over the next few days I'm hoping to update and complete my 30 before 30 challenge (as much as possible). So stay tuned xx

"...Your princess is in another castle"

I've decided to cross this off my list...

I didn't plan on this happening really, it just kinda did. Actually, I lie, I have my husband to thank. One rainy day a few weeks back he decided to fire up the old Super Nintendo to play Street Fighter and Leah became interested. He then changed the cartridge to a more suitable game for a 4 year old, 'Yoshi's Island' and began to show her what to do. She loved it!

Over the next few weeks Leah asked if she could play some more and I've been showing her a few different games, but she's actually decided that she really likes to watch for now and prides herself on knowing everything there is to know about 'Rainbow islands', one of mummy's favourites that is currently played on a nightly basis. It's a freakin' nightmare nice to have a little sidekick watching you and giving you advice as you play. "Mummy, you need to get the crystals so the other islands will come up", "The boss is a robot now mummy, make sure you have three rainbows". We also got out Buzz Jungle Party the other night and she thought that was the bees knees.

I'd still really like to get the Wii U up more and clock 'Pikmin 3' and also get cracking on 'Kingdom Hearts' on the DS but for now I'm content with trying to clock a game that I've been working on since I was 5. I also love that I can share this love with Leah, as I know many happy hours of my life as a child was spent watching my big brother play Amiga. They're fond memories. The catalyst behind this goal was to reignite my love of gaming, and not find it a chore (how silly was tackling gaming like it was something I had to do!). So even though I know 'Pikmin 3' is lurking there (I bought a $500 odd console to play the bloody thing!), at the moment I want to play what I want to play... and that's OK by me.

Another goal bites the dust!

30 before 30...Crossing some stuff off! Episode 2 - All the foods

Ok, I'm aware that 2015 isn't over and I couldn't have tried a new restaurant every month...but... I've tried more than 12, so that's every month. I've just been super efficient at eating all the foods. 

I have blogged about the following 11:

Longroom in Ponsonby
Red Earth in Papakura
Paasha Turkish Cafe in Pukekohe
China Yum Cha in Auckland CBD
Karaka General
The Langham
Nishiki
Mikano
Miss Clawdy
Mecca Stonehouse
Calendula Cottage

And there are a few others I know I haven't written about, plus the two I'm going to share today.

Portifinos has a few spots around Auckland. We visited the one in Howick. Delicious seafood plate I had, and everyone enjoyed their meal. My only gripe is I think it was sliiiiightly over priced.
I thought the desserts were adorable and had to take a photo of everyones before they ate!

I also recently had High Tea at TriBeCa in Parnell. This place seemed very fancy and the food was delicious, BUT.. in comparison to the Langham High Team - this is a bit disappointing. The white chocolate lollipop was super dooper cute though right?

This has been a great goal because I got to eat a whole lot of food, which I'm fond of. No seriously, it was great to be conscious of finding and eating at new places and not just going to the same old same old. I'd love to continue this, and in fact my book club now meets at restaurants - which has been very helpful. I've got a group of workmates who love this as well and we've began a little list of places we'd like to head out to every couple of weeks or so. Gotta love fellow foodies.

There are some fancy schmancy places that I'd still like to eat at - like Euro, but all in good time. I have a 40 before 40 list encroaching...maybe I can add that to my new list.

30 Before 30... crossing some stuff off! Episode One

Over the next little while I want to begin to cross some of my 30 before 30 goals off. There are a tonne I've been chipping away at and I've even completed some up to my standards. Will be exciting to begin getting them crossed off and not just a 'work in progress'.

So to begin, the reason I've had such a super fun week.

Since January, I have been working on this savings plan.

I think I got up to Week 40? It was always my plan to stop in these school holidays so I could go on a shopping spree. I also had some birthday money stashed from January, so I had a nice little whack of money that I went out on Monday and spent all on MYSELF! For me, that's insane. I'm very good at spending money, but I usually do so on the girls, not me.

It was really nice, and I'm loving having some brand new shiny things to wear and use. I've been wanting that Karen Walker necklace for aaaaaages so to have the money to just go and buy it was superb. The shopping itself was even fun. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it.

So without trying to brag too much. Here's all my goodies...

30 before 30 progress report

I have wanted to do a progress report for some time, and now I've gotten around to doing it, a lot of the photos I wanted to use are potentially lost with a broken phone... hrmph.

In the meantime I will update what I can.

My sleeve got underway about a month ago and I'm SO happy with the start. I love it. Will be booking in time during the October holidays for installment #2 - a dream catcher.

 Of all my goals, the restaurant one has been the most pleasant I think. Lol. Albeit in competition with my goal to lose weight! I've lost many a photo of a few meals but have found these of my trip to Longroom in Ponsonby. What a yummy lunch!

We ordered a few plates to share - pork belly in miso sauce, hot wings, sliders and we also go salt and pepper squid (which I didn't get a photo of). The pork belly was to die for and even though I live about an hour out of Ponsonby, I would travel there happily for that dish alone. A very cool little place with very yummy food. Would highly recommend it to any and everyone.

I've also visited Red Earth. I do like the tapa style of eating, but felt like this place was over priced, especially considering where it is. In comparison to restaurants in town where I've had tapas in particular. The food was OK, I would have felt a lot better about it if it wasn't so over priced. I did like how the waitress looked after my little wriggler by offering a complimentary fluffy. She loved the chocolate fish! A very average meal though.

A weekend away

And what a weekend! We had such a great time. I'm so happy to be able to do this...

...but the weekend was about so much more than just the caves, as cool and amazing as they were.

When looking into booking the caves I came across what is called the 'Middle Earth Trilogy Tour'. Considering the price for the caves we wanted to see alone was going to cost half of the whole trilogy tour, we decided to go for all three. We were SO glad we did. Before I go into my photos and how much I loved each place, let me just say, NZ does tourism RIGHT. It was so slick, so well done and all of the people we dealt with were amazing. I can't recommend it enough.

First stop...Waitomo Caves. The reason for the trip! In the eyes of the 30 before 30 anyway. We saw two caves - the Ruakuri and the Glow worm cave. Both limestone caves with stunning scenes in all directions.

The Ruakuri cave starts off with this sweet spiral entrance and then you're hit with some serious stalactite and stalagmite action. I found the caves really magical. It's like you've stepped into a completely different world. I'm a big fan of 'The clan of the cavebear' series and I often found myself thinking of it during the tour.

I'm in the middle of compiling my 40 before 40 list and will definitely be putting the Black Water Rafting experiences that are offered at the caves on that list. I was so enchanted by the place that I have to take everything they have to offer!

We also went into the glow worm caves, but you're not able to take photos in there. FYI you also see a few glow worms in the Rua Kuri cave with their icky little strands of fishing line spit. Amazing little creatures they are with their glowing poo.

Our second stop was Te Puia. Which has both a gigantic geothermal park as well as some cranking night life in the way of Maori performers. We attended 'Te Po' which is their 4 and a half hour night experience. Amaze balls. We spent an hour and a half looking at the geothermal doo dads and went into see their pepe kiwis in the kiwi house.

The cool part of Te Puia is that it's also a working Maori arts school so at the end of the tour we were able to go and have a look at their carving and weaving. For people like us who come from New Zealand it's really nothing new, but I'm sure for people over from other parts of the world, this sort of thing is really exciting to see. As is the Maori performance. Our group of 60 or so was 'welcomed' onto the marae by a group of performers and they were awesome. I wish I was more forward when taking photos because these aren't great, but to tell the truth. I was captivated by it and didn't want to watch the whole thing through my lens - which I have a tendency to do!

My husband will tell you that the best part of the trip was the dinner that Te Puia put on for us as part of the tour... and he's basically right. It's incredible. I was just expecting to get some hangi in a tin foil package, but oh no. Hangi cooked root veges and meat (lamb, chicken and pork), seafood, soups, yummy steamed pudding and pavlova desert. It was great! Just what we needed on a cold night. Nom!

Our last stop was Hobbiton.

 Was a cute wee place this was. I'm sure it would be even more spectacular if you were a huge fan (turns out neither of us are). Nevertheless is was a great tour.