Progress Update: My 40 by 40 List
In our early 30s as we were becoming parents, my husband and I made a list of 40 things we wanted to do before we turn 40. The list has a section for him, for me, and for our family together. Scroll down to see the full list.
As 2019 begins, and my 36th birthday nears in just a few days, I pulled up our list to see how much progress we have made and consider what we might prioritize next. With professional and personal life being a bit intense in these past few years (two kids joining our family, tragic losses in our family, me becoming a maternal near-miss survivor after the birth of our son, and job changes), I had assumed that little progress had been made since we haven’t checked in on the list in a while. I was pleasantly surprised to have completed more of the list than I had guessed.
Completed:
Lose a collective 15% of our combined body weights keep it off for one year. Jon and I have both focused on this in different ways over the last few years, and I feel comfortable marking this as complete. I’m entering 2019 nearly 70 pounds lighter than when I started 2018, and Jon has been even more successful than that.
Be financially able to purchase a home (or have purchased one). We purchased our home in 2015 and it’s one of our proudest accomplishments and best decisions.
Create one source of passive income. We have tried a few different strategies here, but by far the most successful has been in leasing a low-cost electric vehicle but not getting rid of the car that it replaced. Instead, we rent that car out to others. The system functions on its own with minimal input from us (i.e. renters don’t need to connect with us to rent the car), and it brings in an average of $500 per month. We also sometimes use the service (Getaround) to rent cars when we’re traveling. Here’s our referral code if you’re interested in checking it out.
Visit Disneyland. I took Brooklyn in June to celebrate her 4th birthday. This is my favorite photo from that trip.
Pay for a child’s cleft lip surgery. This was a lot less expensive than I realized, so we knocked this one out early. You can do this, too, at this link.
Own a king-sized bed. I cannot exactly remember when this happened for us, but I love it.
Private Goal 1. We wanted to have a 2nd child join our family, and we welcomed Cameron in April 2016!
JON: Join a nonprofit board of directors. Jon now serves on the board of the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation.
JESS: Participate in a flash mob. Cameron (in utero) and I did this in 2015 for Thriller. Here’s a video someone posted on Facebook.
JESS: Attend a Garth Brooks concert. This happened in early 2015, and it was as much fun as I expected.
JESS: Be a mentor to someone. This has happened in a variety of formal and informal ways, and I hope to continue to be supportive to others in their careers.
Progress:
We’ve also made a lot of progress on others.
Take one trip with a destination we decide after having already arrived at the airport to leave. Jon did a surprise trip on his own in 2018. We don’t have plans to do this (or sans kids) trips this year, but we might make it happen (maybe for our 10th anniversary this May?). Without any family nearby, the childcare costs of a multi-day babysitter are pretty shocking when we need to spend most of our travel budget and vacation time to go visit our families. This is making this unfortunately very tough to make happen, as much as we’d like to get away together.
5+ family camping trips. We’ve done this 3 times, and it’s probable we’ll get past 5 this year.
Private Goals 2 & 3: These are related to finances and charitable giving, and I am proud to say that we’ve made significant progress. I think we might accomplish these both in 2019.
JON: Have a conversation in Spanish with our daughter. Jon took a Spanish for parents class language at our kids’ Spanish immersion preschool. We’ll both make more progress with our Spanish language when we live in Mexico later this year.
JESS: Try out blogging on professional topics (at least 10 posts). I’m nearing 10 posts on professional topics on this blog. I anticipate this goal will happen in 2019.
2019:
I anticipate we will make progress or complete these in the coming year.
Live and/or vacation internationally for at least one 3 month period. We will be living in Mexico (Oaxaca) for a month in March/April 2019. This won’t be the full 3 months we had planned for 2019 given some things out of our control, but will feel like a significant step.
Foster at least one animal. Our cat passed away a few weeks ago, and I anticipate we might have the opportunity this year to help out in this way.
Donate blood 6 times in one calendar year. This is an ambitious goal - it requires donating without missing more than a few days between eligibility dates. I might make it happen in 2019.
Be known professionally as a model for work and life balance. I certainly want to make progress in this area this year and anticipate that I will; 2018 was my least balanced year yet. I don’t anticipate accomplishing this goal but should make progress.
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STEWART FAMILY 40 BY 40 LIST
Bold for completed items
For our family:
1. Have a dog join the family.
2. Live and/or vacation internationally for at least one 3 month period.
3. Take a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park.
4. Jessica & Jonathan take at least 3 trips with no children, including one for our 10th anniversary. O O O
5. Take one trip with a destination we decide after having already arrived at the airport to leave.
6. Lose a collective 15% of our combined body weights keep it off for one year.
7. Be financially able to purchase a home (or have purchased one).
8. Make a trip to an Auburn football game in an RV.
9. Renew our marriage vows.
10. Create one source of passive income.
11. Participate in a TV show audience.
12. 5+ family camping trips. ⊗ ⊗ ⊗ O O
13. Take a trip to Europe as a family.
14. Visit Disneyland.
15. At least one of us donates our hair to a good cause.
16. Take a vacation in which at least part of the time is spent on a humanitarian/volunteer cause.
17. Two weeks of no screens (phones, TV, etc.) after 5pm.
18. One month of exercising every single day.
19. Pay for a child’s cleft lip surgery.
20. Foster at least one animal.
21. Spend one month eating vegan as a family.
22. Own a king-sized bed.
23. Plant a tree.
24. Private Goal 1
25. Private Goal 2
26. Private Goal 3
For Jonathon:
27. Have a conversation in Spanish with our daughter.
28. At work, be managing a team of people.
29. Attend the Homebrewer’s Conference at least once.
30. Take a beer judging class to learn to be a better taster.
31. Participate in a long-distance biking event.
32. Join a nonprofit board of directors.
33. Take a cooking class series.
For Jessica:
34. Participate in a flash mob.
35. Try karaoke.
36. Attend a Garth Brooks concert.
37. Officiate a wedding.
38. Be a mentor to someone.
39. Donate blood 6 times in one calendar year.
40. Be known professionally as a model for work and life balance.
41. Try out blogging on professional topics (at least 10 posts).
42. Participate in at least one endurance exercise event.
