45 Before 45: Challenges 31 to 35

It is day seven of planning the goals for my next birthday challenge, 45 Before 45. I will be posting five challenges a day, from June 11-19, until all 45 goals have been introduced.

The Birthday Challenges 31-35

31) Board Games

Since being introduced to Settlers of Catan in 2007, board games have been one of my constant interests (or hyper-fixations depending on who you ask). I love that there is so much variety and styles of games, which has lead me to amass a healthy collection. I like knowing what we play and how often, so in 2020 I downloaded a stats tracker.  We played 136 games in 2022, 63 that were new to me. In comparison, in 2023 we only played 89 with 21 new games. We have noticed that since the move games have been limited to once of month game days. Some of that is our current apartment has not been as conducive to streaming, settling into a new role and church, and classes. I am not sure we'll ever have the time to average 12 games a month. I would like to see more games hit our table over the next two years. 

To achieve Bronze: complete any one task, Silver: complete two more tasks. Gold: complete three more tasks and of the total six must be played every game in the collection.

• Play 45 games new to us from our collection. Yes, it is sad but we have more than 45 games on our shelves that we have yet to play. If our stat tracker is to be trusted we have 120 games to play and I know we have a few games we have not added to BGG
• Play 10 new to us games not from our collection
• Increase our all time (since tracking began in 2020) H-index from 13 to 14
• Six themed board game days
• Play two games a week for eight weeks
• Host four games days at our home
• Complete the Alphabet Challenge
• Play every game in our collection once before 11:59pm on April 25, 2026. 

32) Legacy Board Games

Board games are a large part of our interest that when Alex and I sat down to discuss possible tasks we had enough legacy and campaign/story games that we wanted to finish that it became it's own badge. Legacy board games are subcategory of board games. They are specifically designed to permanently change based on the choices and effects that happened and those changes will continue into the next play of the game. The first legacy game Alex and I played was Pandemic season 1, which we loved. We have a few different legacy games started. Campaign and storytelling games may have a legacy element or may not it depends on the game. I decided to keep the two together. 

To achieve Bronze: complete any three tasks, Silver: complete three more tasks. Gold: complete four more tasks.

• Finish Pandemic Season 0
• Start and Finish Pandemic Season 2
• Finish Jurassic Park: Isla Nublar
• Finish Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
• Start the Gloomhaven
• Complete the final chapters of Robin Hood
• Finish the Prince Bride Story game
• Start and finish the Wizard of Oz Story game
• When finished the Wizard of Oz game acquire the Lord of the Rings Story game
• Start and complete Andor: Journey to the North
• Start and complete Andor: Last Hope
• Play through more than half Near and Far
• Learn and start Sleeping Gods
• Learn and start Tidal Blades

33) Twitch Streaming

From January 2022 till August 2023 Alex and I streamed our board game playing live on Twitch most Sunday afternoons. We liked it. There are a number of reasons we stopped for the last year the biggest not being able to keep our set up permanently set up. That could change with the upcoming move. We've been talking about what a return to streaming could be. 

To achieve Bronze: two tasks, Silver: complete two more tasks. Gold: complete two more tasks.

• Return to streaming.
• Update theme, bio, and information
• Create four new screen cards and countdowns
• Create realistic streaming schedule
• Have an connected Instagram account
• Post things on Instagram at least twice a week for three months
• Stream at least three of the theme days
• Play/Finish Pandemic Season 0 on stream
• Stream the Pandemic Season 2 on stream
• Stream everyday for seven days
• Reach 250 followers
• Reach 500 followers

34) Ukulele

Alex gave me ukulele lessons for Christmas. With no stringed instrument experience I began my musical journey on January 7, 2024. I am very much still a novice looking forward to being an advanced beginner. 

Bronze: Complete one of these tasks, Silver: Complete two more tasks, Gold: Complete three more tasks.

• Complete 200 days of consistent ukulele practice/playing
• Complete a year of consistent ukulele practice/playing
• Complete 500 days consistent ukulele practice/playing
• Complete two years of consistent ukulele practice/playing
• Learn the island strum and play it with confidence consistently without counting out loud
• Learn to play and strum at the same time
• Learn to chuck
• Play at a coffee shop or an open mic
• Accompany someone singing
• Duet with someone outside a lesson situation or join a jam session
• Play and sing the Lava song at the same time
• Learn 15 songs from the Simple Songs for Ukulele: The Easiest Tunes to Strum & Sing on Ukulele
• Learn 25 (total) songs from the Simple Songs for Ukulele: The Easiest Tunes to Strum & Sing on Ukulele
• Learn 4 Christmas carols or songs

35) Dance

For someone with limited rhythm and two left feet, I love to dance. It makes me happy when I dance without thinking but I am often thinking. When I add dance to my life it is a drop of active sunshine, especially with the right music. So, before my 45th birthday I want more dancing in my life. 

Bronze: Complete one of these tasks, Silver: Complete two more tasks, Gold: Complete three more tasks. 

• Learn three fun dance routines to songs I love
• Dance every day for 30 days
• Finish the dance lessons I "took" on zoom in 2021. I kept missing every class but have the lessons as recordings.
• Learn the Charleston
• Practice the Charleston till mastered
• Film a silly dance in 20 different locations
• Try and learn to shuffle
• Create a ballroom floorshow with Alex
• Ballroom dance at an event or party with Alex
• Make up my own dance
• Learn a "viral" dance