Twenty-nine years of age has come (happy belated birthday to me…), and some major life changes along with it! Most of you know that I’ve finished up my dissertation this semester at UT Knoxville and applied for, been offered, and accepted a job as an assistant professor in the Historic Preservation program in Eastern Michigan University’s Geography and Geology Department. That checks a few major boxes off of 30 by 30 list, and since I’ve had a spare couple of minutes to update my website, I thought I could spit out a quick update on the 30 by 30 list! (Speaking of, what do you think of the updates? New landing page for the front of the website, moved the blog posts to a separate page, updated research interests, CV, etc.)

So here’s the list as we stand now:

Travel
√ Chicago
√ Quebec
√ Charleston/Edisto Island
France and Belgium (Coming soon! In June!)
√ San Francisco

I never got around to blogging much about vacation on Edisto Island last summer or about fieldwork in the Charleston area twice this semester for the NSF-funded fieldwork on plantations, but suffice to say all of those trips were extremely rewarding and useful trips. San Fransisco for the 2016 AAG Conference was also a lot of fun and beneficial to my career—it’s the first one where I’ve gotten and accepted job offer! Plus my talk went well, I organized a photo exhibit, attended some great sessions, did some speciality group service stuff… Oh, and got to explore an incredibly city with Karen! Photos at some point…I promise!

Professional
√ Earn my PhD (graduation this coming Thursday!)
Seven publications (Five down, four in the works at various stages right now, plus one waiting in the wings to be written next!)
√ Land a job
Month-long photo challenge (maybe this summer?)
√ Purchase a professional, tailored suit (okay, it was not exactly tailored, but two matching suit separates that look great together is close enough in my book!)

Spiritual
√ Talk theology with a minister
√ Volunteer for a good cause
Read the entire Bible (got started on this last year, started to really slow down somewhere around Psalms or Proverbs…)
Study the Methodist Hymnal (This has been ongoing, but hopefully I’ll find time to finish this before they make a new one…)
Fast for 24 hours (And not just because of a colonoscopy, cholesterol, or other medical test!)

Musical
√ See another Broadway show — Godspell
√ Sing in another opera
Sing karaoke…but maybe just once
Go to a (non-classical) concert
Learn a new instrument or pickup an old one

(Honestly, of all the categories on my list… those last three music items might be the hardest to find the time/gumption to complete!)

Just for Fun
52 in 52 book challenge (Probably going to be difficult to make time for, too)
Hike Mt. LeConte (This summer! It’s got to happen before we move!)
Watch a dozen classic films
Watch a meteor shower
√ Baseball at Turner Field

A couple of substitutes if things don’t work out
Throw a huge 30th birthday party? (Not sure if this will really be worth it…)
Baseball at ___________________? (Seems like copycatting from above, but we will be moving to an entirely new area of the country soon…)