Have you seen Glamour’s list of “30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She’s 30?”

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It’s a list that’s been passed around for over 10 years, but Glamour just revived it by creating a book. There are essays from all sorts — Maya Angelou, Rachel Zoe, Taylor Swift and Katie Couric. I haven’t read the book, but as a gal who’s officially entered her late 20s, the list resonates. I’m learning these things. And they are some of the more important life lessons of womanhood. Or peoplehood.

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See the full list — but these are my favorites:

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By 30 you should have:

• A purse, a suitcase, and an umbrella you’re not ashamed to be seen carrying.
• The realization that you are actually going to have an old age — and some money set aside to help fund it.
• An email address, a voice mailbox, and a bank account — all of which nobody has access to but you. (No couple emails. Or couple facebook accounts.)

By 30 you should know:

• How to quit a job, break up with a man and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.
• When to try harder and when to walk away. (Dude, when you’ve been there, you so get this.)
• The names of the secretary of state, your great-grandmothers, and the best tailor in town.
• How to live alone, even if you don’t like to.
• Where to go — be it your best friend’s kitchen table or a yoga mat — when your soul needs soothing.

Honestly? It’s hard not to just paste them all.

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I think of what I would tell my 20 year-old self. I was a college grad at 20. I knew nothing. I would encourage that girl to dream. To stay single longer (I love the hubs, but we didn’t need to get married at 22). To be more adventurous. To travel like crazy. To keep running, because once you stop, you will never go back.

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I’ve done a lot of those things — and I’m on the path to check off everything on the list. Which is awesome. Couldn’t do it without my amazing support system of family though.

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By the way — if you are a blogger in Utah, or if you know a blogger in Utah, I think you should join this blogger group I created for work. It’s to look for people who have voices in the community. Request to join. And we’ll have fun.

Spending an entire day with my family is definitely a great day. We planted a vegetable garden with our own version of container gardening — thank you Pinterest. We buried pots into the yard — the idea being that they will block the weed growth and such like a container garden would.

By the way, there so needs to be more gardening experts on Twitter. So when I’m wondering if there is enough sunlight for my plants, they can tell me. Or if I’m wondering why the basil leaves are looking sad. I totally need twitter support for my gardening.

There are herbs, tomatoes, watermelon and a lot of strawberries. I hope we can keep it all alive. We are gradually filling things in. One more trip to the garden center and I think we will be good to go. Which is a good thing because its all not cheap. But we knew the yard was going to be the worst expense when we moved. So, here we are and we are having fun with it. We even bought a lawn mover. The husband has never mowed a lawn. So this is going to be awesome.

Speaking of awesome, every time the sun sets, I’m reminded of why all this work is worth it.

I’m not a mom and weighing in on mom issues often makes me feel like a man making decisions on women’s health.

But, hey, seems some male legislators do that all the time lately. So here are my thoughts on the Time cover you surely saw yesterday.

Breast feeding is awesome. Not breast feeding is awesome. I’ve seen two-year-olds nurse. I’ve seen newborns nurse. I don’t fall into the camp where I think women should always cover up in public either.

But I have never seen a woman nurse like that. The hand on the hip and the leg jutting out is more catalog than couture. I think nursing is often done sitting down. The kid looks uncomfortable with the photographer in the room. Either way, the stool looks a bit unsturdy and she runs the risk of losing her latch.

All day on Facebook, I saw mom versus mom talking about it. As someone who truly isn’t mom enough, I have to say that I’m terrified to enter the parent arena because I will likely have to interact with other parents if I want my kid to have a chance at a social life. And the judging is so intense that I don’t think I’m thick enough to take it.

When I sent this text yesterday, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Life is busy. I get home from work and think “yay, I don’t have to go to class!”

But then I cook dinner and by the time I finish it is 8:30 and time to water the lawn. And then we watch the news and an episode of Ally McBeal and go to bed.

I can’t ever figure out why I’m so tired. A year ago I was running a zillion miles per hour. Now I putt putt at freeway speeds.

CNN listed its top 10 women in tech. They come from diverse backgrounds, ethnicity and education. Yahoo Shine pointed out that eight are mothers. Sandberg is among them. She recently made headlines for saying that she leaves work everyday at 5:30 to have dinner at 6 with her family.

“I was showing everyone I worked for that I worked just as hard. I was getting up earlier to make sure they saw my emails at 5:30, staying up later to make sure they saw my emails late. But now I’m much more confident in where I am and so I’m able to say, ‘Hey! I am leaving work at 5:30.’ And I say it very publicly, both internally and externally.”

I love the way she has unapologetically told working women to find help to be able to do it all. That it is more important to sit at the table than stress over being the one always makes the treats for the classroom, prepares dinner, etc. Likely, she isn’t preparing the meal that is on the table at 6 p.m. after she leaves work at 5:30, but she is there for the most important part — eating with her family.

There are other applications to that theory. It is very un-Ann Romney you-must-do-it-all. It is very “surrender” and focus on what truly matters. In a world full of bright screens, icons and IPOs, her words are very zen.

With the house, the husband, the puppy and the career, it really is an element of priorities. What happens when I start making friends in Utah? Where do they fit in? No cracks at the fact that I’ve been here five months and don’t really have a niche of people to hang with.

I wonder if she doesn’t stress the small stuff when it comes to drama with people? If she’s mastered the art of gracious assertiveness? I’d love to hear these 10 women talk about their leadership style, in addition to their accomplishments.

Still, dinner together as a family at 6 is a pretty amazing feat, regardless of priorities.

Above a casino and within earshot of a rock concert last week, I finished Joanna Brooks’ The Book of Mormon Girl.

The juxtaposition couldn’t be sweeter. There I was, in the City of Sin for a work trip, and instead of partying, I was quietly enjoying having a fluffy comforter and king size bed all to myself. I can likely thank my Mormon upbringing for that. Joanna writes about a very similar upbringing and the conflict it brings when you just can’t reconcile yourself with it.

From her book:

We inherit the ways in which our ancestors and parents and teachers were wrong, as well as the ways they were right: their sparkling differences and their human failings. There is no unmixing the two.

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Mormonism is my world. It’s my language, my people, my music, my history, even my leaders…my God is a Mormon God. I’m not rejecting Mormonism. I’m not trying to reform Mormonism. I am trying to remind Mormons of the truth and power and glory of its paradoxical assertion of absolution freedom and absolute love, a paradox that is reconciled in Jesus Christ.

Our lives have different paths — though I feel lucky that they’ve intersected a few times — but I am the benefactor of her experiences. Her words spoke to my heart. I think they would speak to anyone who has walked a different path — or perhaps help those who can’t understand why some choose an alternate route. If ever there was something to be described as a “poignant tale,” this would be it. Spoiler alert: it ends with hope.

From her book:

No one should be left to believe that she is the only one. No one should be left to believe that she is the only Mormon girl who walked alone in the dark. No one should be lef to feel like she is the only one broken and seeking.

The thing with Joanna is she isn’t trying to incite change or create a tribe of followers. But she does just the same, because after I read her book, I walked away wanting to stand a little taller, be a little happier and smile a little more about the life I was creating. I think that’s exactly what a Joanna-ite would do, even though they don’t exist. But anything that makes me feel that way is close to my heart.

From her book:

I am not an enemy, and I will not be disappeared from the faith of my ancestors. I am the descendant of Mormon pioneers. Sometimes even in my own tradition, I feel a long way from home.

There are more excerpts — my Kindle got a workout highlighting — but so many of them are best in the context of the book. I laughed and felt a pain in my chest when she recounts her experience being in California during the election of 2008. I closed the book a little mad that I reached the end — I wanted it to continue.

This article must be shared. Because if you haven’t read it, you’ll want to, regardless of your political affiliations. It’s a great article about overcoming gender divide, working for what you want and life as Secretary of State.

“…People—especially young women—need to rid their minds of this baggage that has been inherited. Because you can unfortunately caricature anybody: ‘Oh, she’s the woman who never wanted to get married and have children.’ Well, you don’t know what her life is like. Or, ‘She’s the woman who gave up her career and stayed home.’ Well, maybe that’s what she found most fulfilling. We have got to get beyond all of that pigeonholing.”

I think we’re just rehashing the Working Mommy/Stay-at-Home Mommy debate and ragging on my friends when suddenly Clinton ties it to the Arab Spring. “One of the big difficulties we’re facing around the world is how we create better understanding among people of different religions, tribes, ethnicities…. It’s just human nature to categorize: ‘I don’t like that, I like that.’ But when it has the consequence of holding people back”—or worse, she adds, of creating “open season” on people who are judged as “less human” because of their religion or some other difference—it’s obviously disastrous. “A lot of the work I do here in the State Department on women’s or human-rights issues is not just because I care passionately—which I do—but because I see it as [a way] to increase security to fulfill American interests. These are foreign-policy and national-security priorities for me.”

Which is pretty much how I feel about the whole Ann Romney — Hillary Rosen debate. Sure, Rosen shouldn’t have said what she said. But she didn’t mean it as an attack that the Romney campaign needed to turn into a bumper sticker either. It wasn’t an attack on moms that stay at home. When we attack each other, no one wins. Or as the article aptly puts it, Hear that, ladies? When you bitch about your fellow woman, the terrorists win.

I’m sad that Elle put Jessica Simpson on the cover and not Hillary. I love Jessica, I just wish that Clinton’s words were the type of message that sold magazines.

I won’t ever forget voting for Hillary in 2008 primary — not because she is a woman, but because I just connected with her message. But it did make an impression on me casting a vote for someone that was my 50 percent of the population. Someday, I hope my daughter gets to do the same. As Hillary says:

“Some day we hope to liberate every man on earth from the tendency as old as human history to identify our strength and manhood with the ability to control the lives, limit the chances, and doom the dreams of women and girls.”

P.S. This week I’m going to share some thoughts from some great people on the blog. Tomorrow I have some excepts from my friend, Joanna Brooks’ new book.

Then we went to the Bountiful dump and purchased 1,500 pounds of dirt. I’m not even kidding. And we need more. Luckily, it was only $23.

We couldn’t get over our dirt purchase.

Of course, so much gardening warranted a late-night Wendy’s run. This is why we can’t have kids yet. We do mature things only for so long. It has to be followed up by “natural cut” french fries at 10 p.m.

I still can’t get over how Wendy’s claims their fries are natural. I don’t need marketing, they are delicious. So while I buy organic fruits and vegetables and pay extra for peanut butter made with only peanuts, I will always be up for the .99 fries.

Shouldn’t it cost less for the natural peanut butter? There are fewer ingredients.

Today we made it to church. And then I hosted my parents for Sunday dinner in my house. Our house. I used our oven that has only been used by me and the husband. Insane. I can’t believe this is happening. By the way, I totally recommend this avocado chicken parmigiana. It will blow your mind.

Now, every muscle in my body hurts. I’m not going to get a gym membership, because I’m pretty sure weeding comes after planting. Hooray.

It just feels so grown up. Adult, if you will. A year ago, we were happily renting a one-bedroom apartment and we didn’t plan to think about moving until May 2012. And today is Earth Day. At my previous job, I spent every Earth Day for three years working a booth, talking to people. People were usually mean and yelled at me, and because the customer is always right, I had to be pleasant and take it. By the end of the day, I always came home in the worst mood. So, while I seriously miss San Diego, today was great because I wasn’t there. Everything else is just icing.

Part of the icing was this gorgeous sunset from our deck. I think we’re going to be happy here. I hope so anyway.

Oh, I’ve received a some questions about the location of the house. For some reason, moving back to Utah and telling people my location makes me nervous. It’s such a small world. But it is by my parents, which is nice since we don’t have a washing machine or lawn mower. Thanks parents! We still aren’t grown up quite yet.

Then we closed on our house. Got some keys. Unloaded the POD we packed in San Diego in December.

Spent the weekend moving in. We only lost a vase and a pitcher. Success.

Bought fabulous couches. Because if they were still at HomeGoods a week after we first saw them, that was a sign that they belonged in our house, right?

Got completely hooked on Ally McBeal — thank you Amazon Prime free streaming. If anyone posts a spoiler here, I will not be your fan.

Hired a landscaping company to clean up our backyard. And realized that we have a backyard to take care of now.

Attempted to curl my hair with a Pinterest tutorial and showed up 10 minutes late to work with flat hair.

So I’m feeling more adult, more tired and more ready for the weekend than ever.

By the way, I got two pinks yesterday. That’s lucky!

As long as said article includes funny pictures of people smiling.

When you tell people you need a gum graft, you’ll get two responses “OMG, that sounds horrible,” or “yeah! my dentist keeps telling me to do that!”

Because everyone gets braces when they are in their teens and brushes the heck out of their teeth, it is becoming more common. Well, that and a lot of other factors, I’m no doctor. And truth be told, it isn’t that bad. But at first, it’s bad.

My main motivator in this was that my gums had receded so much, I’d lost enamel protecting my teeth in some places. This resulted in mega sensitivity. I was convinced I had a cavity or root canal. Nope, just hyper sensitive teeth.

So, the surgery…

First of all, it’s painful. Several people — the dentist, the hygenist, and the periodontist — told me I could go back to work the next day. No one who had the surgery thought I’d be able to.  Word to the wise: listen to the people who have been there. Not the doctors. They put me on laughing gas for an hour, and then handed me an ice pack and told me to drive safe. Oh, and to hurry and get to a pharmacist to fill my prescription for Lortab.

Because it was a Tuesday afternoon, I had to go to work on Wednesday. I’d committed to go to Breakfast at Tiffany’s after all. But I”d advise taking a day or two off. I came home every night and got high on Lortab. My original plan was to get surgery on a Friday and have a chill weekend. But the periodontist was very convincing, promising me he’d have me out in 45 minutes and I wouldn’t have to come back. And yes, I was out in 45 minutes. But I wish I’d taken a weekend. It felt like someone had punched me in the mouth several times.

Second, it’s awkward. You’re swollen. You can’t brush your teeth for two weeks. You feel like your mouth is bleeding. You can’t eat solid foods which does weird things to digestion. Do I need to go on here? I don’t think I do.

Third, the pain is bad for about five solid days. And then its annoying. And finally, you’re on this blissful home stretch, where you feel like you did make the right decision. About that time, the hunger starts eating you alive. You will pretty much say “forget this” and just start eating pints of ice cream for lunch, justifying it by pairing it with a V8 Splash. Because the V8 Splash commercial says there is a serving of vegetables in the bottle. But really? It’s only 10 percent juice. Yeah, that was a major let down.

I’d say that is about it. It was successful, too. I have little-to-no recession in the places they operated. And my teeth are sensitive — I drank ice water the other day with no pain. Sounds like no big deal — well finally I can join the rest of the population in saying it wasn’t a big deal. It used to stress me out of the server brought me ice water when I specified no ice. Now, there are no worries.

Oh, if you’re interested, I went to Dr. Mangleson in Salt Lake City.  I thought they did a great job in working with my insurance and explaining the costs. And, since the surgery turned out great, I’m happy to recommend him. Dr. Mangleson even called me from home after the surgery to see if I was OK. A  few days late, when I was feeling some pain, I called him at home and he chatted with me and put me at ease.