My Brithday List

One of the reasons I love birthdays is that we as a culture choose to celebrate them...often times in grand fashions.  They are happy occasions.  (Oh yeah, and there's usually cake)  My family would always let the birthday person choose dinner that night, make them their favorite dessert, and of course give presents.  We usually got to bring treats to school too to celebrate with our friends and have a birthday party.

My birthday is next week (the 15th), and I'm super excited for it!  I usually celebrate a birthday month, but I'm a bit behind already so I'll settle for a week or a half month.  But I have to admit, as I've gotten older, it's been harder and harder for me to answer the question "what do you want for your birthday?"  I have always liked the surprise of gifts-not knowing what it could be and finding out what people think I would like and/or use.  Well this year, I have complied a list of things I want for my birthday.

I want people to do something good for another person or the world.  I want my friends and family to perform some service to help make the world a better place.  I would LOVE it if among all my friends and family (and whomever they share this list with), all of the 29 things (in honor of me turning 29) on this list are done sometime next week.  Most of them are pretty small.  Some are a bit bigger.  A lot don't require much (if any) money.  But I can promise even the smallest of gifts on this list can mean the world to some people.  So will you please help me get everything on my birthday list sometime between now and the 19th?

I am going to do all of these sometime between my 29th and 30th birthday.  I want to make sure I've done my part to help make the world better.  If anyone wants to check off all 29 with me, that would be the best birthday present ever! 

Now in the spirit of full disclosure, I can't say I came up with this idea all on my own.  It's been a compilation of quite a few different people and things in my life, but I would really love if my friends and family would help me give some of these gifts next week.  It's really all I want for my birthday.


Thank you, and happy giving!

1. Pay for the order of the car behind you in the drive through
2. Offer to babysit so new parents can have a night out
3. Send a real card or letter in the mail-not for an occasion, but just because
4. Donate blood
5. Call a friend or family member you haven't spoken to for a while
6. Volunteer to help out a neighbor (yard work, cleaning, cooking, running errands, etc)
7. Become a mentor to a youth
8. Donate clothes/house hold items
9. Recycle!
10. Plant a tree/flowers/garden
11. Bring dinner to someone who may need a night just to relax
12. Tip generously and/or leave a note of thanks
13. Thank uniformed personnel for their service
14. Say sorry to someone you've hurt, even if they don't deserve it or you didn't do anything wrong but because they were hurt
15. Donate toiletries to a homeless shelter, diapers to a women's shelter, food to a food bank, pet food to a humane society, and/or money to a charity you support
16. Do a chore someone in your household HATES to do
17. Go out to lunch/coffee with a friend to hear their story
18. Take public transit
19. Donate books to a school or daycare
20. Plan a date for your significant other around their favorites
21. Make something (yarn crafts, fabric crafts, art, etc) for someone
22. Visit a nursing home
23. Give someone flowers or a plant
24. Take your dog to the dog park (aka Doggie Disney Land)
25. Give someone who needs it a hug
26. Let someone jump in line ahead of you at the grocery store
27. Buy local
28. Frame some art done by your child to proudly display on the wall
29. Turn off devices for a night to really 'be with' your family