I'm still loving my yoga practice, even though it has evolved a bit during my first pregnancy. While I aim for #yogaeverydamnday, I honestly practice yoga five times a week, not every day. Sometimes, I take the weekends off. Sometimes, I "skip" a day but still find myself in a downdog or forward fold or tabletop just to release the stress on my spine. Yoga works for me.
In my first trimester, I stuck with my beloved Yoga With Adriene subscription videos and made small adjustments. She has a lovely little series of prenatal yoga with her paid subscription which I started and absolutely loved. Around week thirteen or fourteen of this pregnancy by lower back started to be all like, "EFF YOU! You're having a baby! I'm going to hurt you so much!"
I started searching for more free yoga videos outside of YWA, specifically videos focused on strengthening the low back for childbirth and to alleviate pain. I also wanted the people guiding me in the videos to be pregnant. I can't pinpoint why I felt irritated when I did I prenatal video where the instructor wasn't pregnant, it just made me feel like she wasn't in it and didn't get it. I did try the free trial of Yoga Girl Rachel Brathen's oneOeight, but honestly, the prenatal videos on the site were just as good as the free ones I've been doing on YouTube.
I've done as many free yoga videos as I can over the last month and these are my top free five go-tos as I've gotten bigger and had to move away from my more intense practice and to take a break from the three YWA prenatal videos on my subscription.
1. Paula Lay's Prenatal Yoga for the Low Back
Time: 30 minutes
This is the video I do whenever my back hurts. My one issue with it is that you spend a lot of time on your wrists. A modification for this is putting a bolster or folded blanket under your palms for little cushioning. Still a lot of the wrists, but worth it for my back.
2. Paula Lay's Prenatal Energizing Flow
Time: 25 minutes
This practice is a good one for getting your booty moving. It is still gentle, but it feels good to move.
3. Prenatal Yoga with Lara Dutta (My personal fav)
Time: 28 minutes
I LOVE this practice. It's very fluid and the movements are fun. Plus, Tonia Clark talks a lot about the baby "dancing in the amniotic fluid," which makes me laugh when I picture it. This video makes me feel fit.
4. Be the Change Yoga
Time: 20 minutes
This is a short, sweet and gentle practice. It's the one I do when I don't have a lot of time. The only thing I don't like is that at the end of the video, I think the doula guiding the practice says, "Mamaste" instead of "Namaste." I don't know why it bugs me that she does that. She makes up for it by describing tabletop position as a baby hammock, where your arms and legs are trees and your belly is the hammock.
5. Tammy Mittell's Yoga for Strength and Stability
Time: 34 minutes
Yo, this video is HARD AF. So many squats. So much burning in my glutes. I'm making myself do it one to two times a week because I know it will help keep me strong. Plus, Tammy keeps saying stuff like, "Please don't tell me I'm doing this by myself." It makes me keep going because she's pregnant in the video and I don't want to leave her hanging!
As I get bigger and bigger and it gets even harder to move, I will keep trying as many videos as I can to give you the best free options I can!
Well... I am addicted to yoga. I blame it on days 11-20 of this 30 Days of Yoga Challenge. Here are five things about days 11-20:
1. I am sleeping through the night-- deep and restful sleeps. I think it's the yoga.
2. I still haven't had any alcohol. I'm not giving it up for good because, why? It has been nice to detox, but I didn't really have a lot to detox from. I think I just liked the challenge. I can't wait to have a Two Hearted next week.
3. My pants are looser and my clothes are fitting the way I like them to fit. It could be from the no alcohol, or it could be from the constant yoga. We'll see when February hits!
4. My lower back still hurts every day, but the pain isn't as severe as usual. I decided on the day that I took the picture of the hyacinth bulb in the vase that I'm going to do yoga every day until the bulb blooms. Maybe my back pain won't be there anymore either. A fresh flower and a fresh back-- sounds like a good deal to me!
5. I went to hot yoga with my sista and sista-from-another-mista on day 17. Hot yoga is really disgusting and it doesn't really feel like yoga to me. I don't think yoga should make you feel so dizzy and gross. However, the minute it was over, I felt cleansed. It's all very confusing. I still don't think it's really yoga.
Bonus #6: God, my dogs are cute. Best yoga buddies ever.
In other news, the goal is to have my book proposal submitted to the publisher by the 31st. My brotha-from-another-motha is checking over the last sample chapter and then I'm sending it off. I care but don't care if it gets accepted. I just want to send it in so that it's done! That was the good thing about today's hot yoga session. I visualized myself finishing the proposal and emailing it to my bro instead of passing out from the heat. Then I actually sat down at my computer and did it-- after a long shower to rinse the rivers of sweat off of me, of course.
When I was eighteen, I was really into yoga and practicing three to four times a week. I could get into some complicated poses like crow and plow. I felt pretty good about yoga. During this time, I was also mediating a few times a week and I was so good at focusing and quieting my mind! Granted, I didn't have a smart phone that I felt too attached to-- just my mind and the space I was in.
I wanted to get back into yoga, so fast forward to me to thirty-one. As of Sunday, I've done yoga for ten days in a row. This is the most yoga I've ever done in my life, but I am no where near as flexible as I once was. That's okay. I'll keep working on it. I tried to meditate on Friday and I fell apart. There was too much happening in my mind-- how were the roads after all of the snow? Would I have to go into work? What about the evening? What was the plan? Ugh. It was exhausting, but that's okay. I'll keep working on it.
Despite the meditation failure, this has been quite an interesting ten days. I only have eight pictures because I didn't start recording this challenge until a few days in. I've already gotten quite a lot out of this practice:
1. I tried something new and painted my nails. This might sound like a shallow feat, but it was FUNN (Functional Understanding Not Necessary). :)
2. I spend every morning with Hannah the dog. Nipsy is not a yoga buddy-- I think the poses scare her away, but Hannah? She wakes with me every morning, follows me downstairs, and finds a way to be a part of my practice. I love having this little ritual with her. I was feeling bummed around the December because December tenth was our eleventh anniversary of adopting her. If it was estimated that she was three or four when we got her then, well, she's so old. I'm trying to enjoy all of my time with her and this is the perfect way to do it.
3. I improvised. I didn't have a yoga block, so I used an empty box of Kleenex. This made me laugh.
4. I drank more water and tea over the last ten days. That's just plain good for your health.
5. I decided since I'm devoting so much time to yoga over the next thirty days that I should just do a full body detox and not drink. I don't know if I'm going to last, especially because it's Kalamazoo Beer Week, but I just want to see if I can do it.
Here's to the next ten days! These are my favorite videos from the first ten days:
I have terrible back issues and I can tell Adrienne has had them too by the careful way she protects the back. I did the video on days 5-9 too.
This video left me sweating and I really felt the detox happening! I can't wait to get better at these poses.
Anyone else tackling this challenge? How is it going?
In my last whiny post, I wrote about how I've been sick for too long. That means I haven't worked out the way I like to work out in nearly three weeks.
Me on the inside (and eventually outside) without workouts.
Something I have been able to stick with is Yoga with Adrienne. She has a very helpful and comforting Yoga for When You Are Sick video that accompanied my pile of kleenex and cups of tea over the last few weeks:
I've written about this fantastic YouTube channel before and was pumped to see that she was starting a 30 Days of Yoga Challenge for the New Year. She'll be releasing a video each day for the whole month. Part of me is like, "Yoga every day?! Nope." The other part of me is up to the challenge of trying to do yoga every day for a month-- I'm curious if I can stick to it and how flexible I'll be after thirty days of focusing on yoga.
I just finished Day 4 and I love the way I feel already! In college I was really into yoga and meditation, but as I started getting into life I became more of a casual yogi. Sometimes I forget how much healthier I feel mentally, emotionally, and physically when I make time for yoga. Check out Day 4 if you're curious-- it's only 20 minutes.
Let me know if you're doing this challenge or if you're attempting a different challenge! I love having accountability partners when I'm focusing on my health and wellness.
1. Sticking to my budget. I NEED to save money. So... no going out to eat this month even though it's my favorite thing in the world to do. Actually, I did budget $100 for going out to eat.
Reflection: OHMYGOD this was so hard to do. I did it and it was terrible-- for my self-control. I'm still reeling. However, I learned a lot about myself. For example, I don't have to go out to eat three times a week.
2. Getting a hold of my refined sugar cravings and consumption. I'm starting with candy first. I haven't had a piece of candy in five days. Reflection: I did it. In all honesty though, I ate a Hershey's bar. One. When I had PMS. So, I still think I won this one. 3. Getting one to two days of weightlifting and core work in each week. I've got to get rid of this knee and back pain. Reflection: I only did one day a week, mostly because I was so effing sore that I wanted to cry and I thought adding another day would hurt even more.
4. Making sure I'm on a regular cardio routine. Now that my favorite time change has happened, it will be easier to get out of bed. I'm going to make sure I'm in the pool at least twice a week. Reflection: I'm on it! I was sick for a week last month, so I missed a week, but I'm working on it!
December Goals
1. Still sticking to my budget. I'm using a budget tracker and it was hard work last month, but I've got it.
2. Still trying to get a hold of my refined sugar cravings and consumption. This month, I am conquering baked goods. It's a good month for conquering baked goods. 3. Still getting one to two days of weightlifting and core work in each week. I just don't want to be sore anymore. I want to be STRONG! RARH! 4. I'm starting a #100HealthyDays challenge. I would love to not put on any weight this month. I want to win the pounds pool at my gym. I'd also like to not feel like crap. This is mostly about me feeling lethargic, not trying to get my ten bucks back. One of my friends challenged me to a #100HealthyDays challenge-- doing something healthy every day for myself. I can do that.
5. FINISH MY BOOK PROPOSAL. I have Friday off. It is happening on Friday. Wish me luck this month, my friends!
Before I get into November, I have to share a few pics from my last day of October:
Party on.
The sexiest costumes on the block.
That is all. I hope everyone had an EXCELLENT Halloween.
This is what my November is all about:
1. Sticking to my budget. I NEED to save money. So... no going out to eat this month even though it's my favorite thing in the world to do. Actually, I did budget $100 for going out to eat. I'm going to try and not go at all and then treat the Hubs to a really nice dinner. We'll see how it goes. I'd estimate that I've been going out for dinner three to four times a week, so the going is probably going to be really rough.
2. Getting a hold of my refined sugar cravings and consumption. I'm starting with candy first. I haven't had a piece of candy in five days. It's terrible. The headaches-- ohhhhh the headaches. Frozen blueberries have been my savior. They kind of taste like candy.
3. Getting one to two days of weightlifting and core work in each week. I've got to get rid of this knee and back pain.Today I went to a Tabata class and the instructor yelled really body positive things-- "THIS IS YOUR FIRST CLASS?! YOU'RE A POWERFUL WOMANNNNN!"-- at me while I was trying to do her insane push-up routine. I like her. I shall take her class every Monday and Wednesday.
4. Making sure I'm on a regular cardio routine. Now that my favorite time change has happened, it will be easier to get out of bed. I'm going to make sure I'm in the pool at least twice a week.
I just realized that my November goals make me sound very old. That's okay with me-- I've been feeling so unhealthy lately and I need to get it together before the holidays get into full swing.
This morning I decided to get back into my morning workout mode. When I had the HORRIBLE shigella infection this summer, I stopped working out in the morning. I started working out again for my health and triathlons, but I switched to the evening. My work schedule is getting filled up again and it's getting darker earlier, so I'm back to the morning.
This is a minute-by-minute snapshot of my morning of getting back to working out in the morning:
4:00am, 5:40am: Wake several times and feel anxious because my alarm is going off early but then feel relieved because I have a few more hours/minutes to sleep.
6:15am: Alarm goes off
6:16am: Press snooze.
6:26am: Alarm goes off again.
6:26am: Press snooze and stare into the the darkness.
6:27am: The Hubs mumbles, "Seriously dude, if that goes off again... [unintelligible babble]"
6:28am: Turn off alarm. Grab phone and procrastinate by checking Facebook instead of getting out of bed.
6:29am: Read some blogs. Tell myself I'm only going to do this until 6:36am
6:36am: Google search "reasons to work out in the morning." Read a few of the search results.
6:39am: Feel inspired by the results and slowly move out of bed.
6:42am: Get swimsuit on. Think that I should have slept in swimsuit for motivation/inspiration. Shuffle around the house.
7:00am: Go to gym.
Yeah. I'm dropping an eff bomb. It was like that.
I got up at 5:14am for the last eight years of my life. This shouldn't have been so hard.
The good news is that when I left the gym I felt like a boss.
I went home, made breakfast, folded laundry, went to the bank, AND went to the store all before work at 9:30am.
An old man flicked me off hard on the way into work because I was accidentally tailgating him (he, going 20 in a 45. Me, so happy from working out that I was singing and moving around all cool-like to West Coast by Lana Del Rey and accidentally tailgating him because he was going SO SLOW) and I didn't even get sad about it. I waved and smiled when I passed him.
So yeah... gonna start those morning workouts again fer reals.
One Thanksgiving, Grandma was at our house and she peeked into what I call my "office."
"Oh my," she breathed, "you have quite the junk room!"
"Grandma, that's my office!" I exclaimed.
She looked at me over her glasses. "Riiiight."
Since that embarrassing truth-telling encounter, the "office" door stays shut. The rest of the house is fairly neat and uncluttered. Sure, we have the usual pile of mail, sometimes the recycling sits for a day before one of us takes it out to the bin, and at times the kitchen table serves as a desk.
But the kitchen table serves as a desk because my ACTUAL desk is ACTUALLY COVERED WITH PILES OF RANDOM STUFF.
I should say the desk WAS covered with piles of random stuff. Something happened to me this back-to-school month. I didn't have to face the anxiety of going back to school because I'm not a teacher anymore. My August used to be full of revamping and reorganizing EVERYTHANG even though I didn't need to. It was hours of Pinning new first week of school activities (or before Pinterest, Google, or-- you know, reading books).
My August was waking in the the night to anxiety dreams of getting to school to an empty room filled with 100 hyper students and no lesson plans. It was getting into my classroom a week before I had to and working from 7:30am-6:30pm organizing desks, files, documents, bookshelves, bulletin boards... etc. I was a little crazy, but my classroom was meticulous.
Everything.
Had.
A.
Place.
The pictures above are from my favorite classroom of all my classrooms. My other classrooms were tiny and meticulously kept after my first few years of teaching because if they weren't, I felt like I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I was, am, and always will be a super fan of bins (of ALL sizes-- I don't discriminate), baskets, and label makers. And colors. And comfy spaces.
When I got home, I'd open my "office" door to quickly throw my bag onto a pile and see the room in varying stages of this...
Ugh. Not okay.
...and shut the door so I could grade papers and lesson plan at the kitchen table. I did it for years.
This month I didn't devote the whole month to worrying about starting school. Yet, I still woke with the looming feeling in the pit of my gut that I needed to organize something, prep something, clean SOMETHING to prepare for a new school year even though I have no classroom and my office at work is clean.
It was time for a purge.
I put that unused energy into going through my stuff-- so much stuff. Too much stuff. As an English teacher, I would scold my students when they used the words "stuff" and "things" in their writing, but that's the only way I can explain the piles in the "office."
Over the last month, I've been organizing the "office" junk room and purging that stuff. The goal is to make it an actual office, as opposed to an "office."
I've confronted many uncomfortable questions about myself throughout this process, such as:
Why do I have so much stuff?
Why am I holding on to clothes from my 20s that aren't in style anymore?
Why do I own so many cardigans?
Why are there so many piles of papers sitting in this room? What's even in these piles?
Why can't I ever find anything when it's all right here in this pile?
Why do I have so much stuff that I don't even like?
And most importantly:
Why was I so meticulous about my classroom when I was teaching, but not my own home?
This post begins a series of posts about trying to de-clutter my junk room and create a comfortable space for myself. It's going to take awhile to get the room the way I really want it, but I will make the time. I've always been busy, but not so busy that I can't make time for me.
As I've settled into life outside of the classroom (which is TOTALLY different and lovely and still technically teaching but not as stressful), I've come to realize that since I'm not ignoring everyone I love and putting blood, sweat, and tears into making awesome daily lesson plans spending all of my time outside of school writing lesson plans and keeping my head above water, I should share a few pieces of the fruit of my research and labor: I'll be posting a resource connected to my multicultural/anti-biased/social justice-- whatever you call it-- way of teaching English once a week/two weeks/month/whenever I feel like it.
You can have it. And use it. And make it your own. And ask me questions about it if you want. I'm not being sarcastic when I say that I am in love with researching and writing curriculum:
It's like, how many frameworks, lesson plans, and unit plans do you want me to write? Fer reals.
It's in my future plans for school curriculum domination to work on a book proposal for likeminded English teachers, but I can't keep hoarding this stuff because people want it and I want to give it to them in a neat format.
So yeah, I've written about school before, but I always tried to avoid it since I was teaching in a school and this blog was a sweet me-haven away from school unless I needed to vent. I'm still going to write about everything I like, but writing lesson plans is one thing I like and I need to share the wealth.
Well, well, well... looks like I've reached my 200th blog post right on my 30th birthday!
Cheers and beers.
Here is the list as complete as it can be. I owe you a few blog posts and you'll see them soon. I didn't finish everything, but damn, I've learned a lot. My life is completely different today than it was when I first wrote my list a year and half ago. It's been a blast recording my journey to thirty and sharing it with all of you. Just because I'm turning thirty today, it doesn't mean that I'm done. I will finish all of these things, sooner or later. I'm a pretty determined lady. :)
6. Visit my family in the Philippines (or at least have tickets booked by my 30th birthday).
7. Have a conversation with a dear Senegalese friend in French or Wolof (preferably Wolof).
8. Visit my grandparents in California.
9. Pop a champagne cork with no fear.
10. Make leche flan (it's Filipino, it's amazing, and I'm makin' it).
11. Jar or can veggies, pickles, sauce... something.
12. Revised 5/1/12 because I remembered that I'm supposed to graduate in December and my Master's degree is really important to me!!! Get my Master's degree and submit some of my academic writing and then, maybe, you know... get it published.
13. Travel out of the country with Nate.
14. Pay off at least 50% of my remaining undergraduate credit card debt.
15. Sing karaoke by myself in Kalamazoo in front of all of my friends.
Source If you think I'm always this chipper, read on for TMI.
After this month, I will have one year before I turn 30. I've got to admit, this 30 before 30 list stuff has really saved my sanity and my optimism this school year. This has probably been my roughest year since I started teaching six years ago. I don't know if I've ever felt so down. I mean down like, "thisclose to rock bottom" down. Down like, "Today I'm going convince myself to go to work by buying myself a super sized Starbucks Latte and maybe even a cakepop, yes, definitely a cakepop" down. Down like "If I make it through another day of work I will buy myself a new sweater but now I'm just buying it anyway because I'm depressed and why do I have five sweaters?" down. You know what I mean.
This card from my friend A.J.'s creepy deck is symbolic of how freaking down I was this school year. I hate clowns. I was like the kid in the party hat from November to March.
HOWEVER... I am not one to stew in my own funk. That's why I'm so glad that writing a simple list and trying to reach my goals was enough to pull me out of the funkiness. I'm not very hard to appease. Is that a good or a bad thing?
This leads to a revision of a goal on my list. Directly after attending an unexpectedly inspiring lecture a few weeks ago by Dr. Chris Higgins (author of The Good Life of Teaching: An Ethics of Professional Practice, which is now on my pile of books to read), I made a decision to revise goal #24 on my list: Goal #24 Revision (5/1/12): Make some decisions about my career and/or PhD prospects. Apply to PhD programs.
I decided to do this after Dr. Higgins talked about teacher burn-out becoming teacher burn-in. If you are a teacher you've seen teacher burn-in. It's what happens after you hit rock bottom and completely burn the eff out:
It's deciding not to give a shit anymore and "burning back in" to your job as someone who does not care. Not care like, "Here is this worksheet I got offline without really reading it and we are doing a variation of this every day until I retire in 20 years so don't talk to me because I'm watching a Netflix movie on my computer" not care. It's this glassy-eyed blank look that teachers who absolutely loathe their jobs wear on their faces. I vowed never to let this happen to me. So here we are.
In some ways I guess you could say that goal #24 is complete. I've decided to apply for PhD programs and if I am accepted with funding we are headed out of Michigan for a few years. If not, I'm going to aggressively apply for a job doing something in education where I get to work with smaller groups of adolescents... who knows what. If that doesn't pan out, I will stick around and keep working with university students. I like plans, so the goal is getting revised instead of completed.
It took far too long to get out of my funk this school year, but since I've been out of it for two months, I'm gonna make it funky James Brown style:
1. Complete an indoor triathlon. 2/12/12
2. Complete an outdoor triathlon.
3. Swim across West Twin Lake and Rose Lake.
4. Bike the Kal-Haven Trail.
5. Play the piano in front of people.
6. Visit my family in the Philippines (or at least have tickets booked by my 30th birthday).
7. Have a conversation with a dear Senegalese friend in French or Wolof (preferably Wolof).
8. Visit my grandparents in California.
9. Pop a champagne cork with no fear.
10. Make leche flan (it's Filipino, it's amazing, and I'm makin' it).
11. Jar or can veggies, pickles, sauce... something.
12. Revised 5/1/12 because I remembered that I'm supposed to graduate in December and my Master's degree is really important to me!!! Get my Master's degree and submit some of my academic writing and then, maybe, you know... get it published.
13. Travel out of the country with Nate.
14. Pay off at least 50% of my remaining undergraduate credit card debt.
15. Sing karaoke by myself in Kalamazoo in front of all of my friends.
16. Eat clean for one month.
17. Pick berries and bake something with them.
18. Write at least one chapter of the novel that I write in my mind while I'm walking the dogs.
19. Thank my mom for everything she's done for me.
20. Go further into the UP than the Mystery Spot tourist trap and jump into Lake Superior.
21. Get chosen for one more summer fellowship in another country where I am able to work with youth.
22. Go on a police ride along.
23. Get to 200 blog posts.
24. Revised 5/1/12 Make some decisions about my career and/or PhD prospects. Apply for PhD programs.
25. Attend roller derby training so I can learn the moves.
26. Learn how to flip turn when I'm swimming laps. 4/19/12
27. Take a real personal day.
28. Learn how to drive a stick.
29. Go horseback riding.
30. Poach an egg perfectly.
8. Visit my grandparents in California. 9. Pop a champagne cork with no fear. 10. Make leche flan (it's Filipino, it's amazing, and I'm makin' it). 11. Jar or can veggies, pickles, sauce... something. 12. Revised
5/1/12 because I remembered that I'm supposed to graduate in December
and my Master's degree is really important to me!!! Get my Master's degree and submit some of my academic writing and then, maybe, you know... get it published. 13. Travel out of the country with Nate. 14. Pay off at least 50% of my remaining undergraduate credit card debt. 15. Sing karaoke by myself in Kalamazoo in front of all of my friends. 16. Eat clean for one month. 17. Pick berries and bake something with them. 8/24/12 18. Write at least one chapter of the novel that I write in my mind while I'm walking the dogs. 19. Thank my mom for everything she's done for me. 20. Go further into the UP than the Mystery Spot tourist trap and jump into Lake Superior. 21. Get chosen for one more summer fellowship in another country where I am able to work with youth. 22. Go on a police ride along. 23. Get to 200 blog posts. 24. Revised 5/1/12 Make some decisions about my career and/or PhD prospects.Apply for PhD programs. 25. Attend roller derby training so I can learn the moves. 26. Learn how to flip turn when I'm swimming laps. 4/19/12 27. Take a real personal day. 6/8/12 28. Learn how to drive a stick. 29. Go horseback riding.8/8/12 30. Poach an egg perfectly.
Original Post
It's time for a new blog project. The following is my "30 before 30" list. I've spent the last month or so simmering this list in the stockpot that is my mind and I've decided that these are the 30 things I'd like to complete over the next year and half. Some of my goals are small, but things I've wanted to do for a long time (example: #9, Pop a champagne cork with no fear). Some are a little bigger and might take some planning, saving, and thrifty spending (example: any of my travel goals).
That's 30 potential blog posts plus a year and half of celebrating my birthday, which is usually one of my favorite days every year (and will be until I am old and gray).
My fake 28th birthday karaoke screen somewhere near Detroit (see goal #15) at a place called the Kitty Kat Klub. I'll celebrate my birthday even when it's not my birthday.
With no further ado, here is a long glimpse into my life: 30 mini blog posts :)
1. Complete an indoor triathlon.
I completed a trial tri with a good friend the other day and ran jogged for the first time since my knee surgery in 2008. Oddly enough, finding that I could run 1.5 miles at 5 mph felt better than when I ran a 10k. Now I just have to complete an actual, formal, and timed triathlon indoors and I will cross this one off of my list!
2. Complete an outdoor triathlon.
Once I complete the indoor tri, I'm sure I'll start itching to complete an outdoor tri.
3. Swim across West Twin Lake and Rose Lake.
The goal is to swim from my in-law's cabin on West Twin Lake to another family member's cabin across the lake while someone follows on a kayak. I'll test out my lake swimming skills on Rose Lake, which is much smaller.
West Twin isn't so intimidating... when you're sitting in the middle of it on a rowboat.
4. Bike the Kal-Haven Trail and do something fun in South Haven afterwards.
I've been saying I'm going to do this for the last 4 years. Less talk, more action.
5. Play the piano in front of people.
I'm very afraid of playing the piano in front of people. It's part of the reason why I didn't formally change my major to music therapy and switched back to education after one semester. I may never become a music therapist, but if I can just play Moonlight Sonata (my seventh grade self's favorite song to play) in front of people I'll be satisfied.
Image from piano-play-it.com
6. Visit my family in the Philippines (or at least have tickets booked by my 30th birthday).
I've been talking about this for almost 10 years. Money has always been an issue, but I'm going to get this done.
7. Have a conversation with a dear Senegalese friend in French or Wolof (preferably Wolof) that consists of more than, "Hi, how are you?" or "Where is...?"
Why does he always have to be the one speaking English? Wolof is more difficult to learn when I'm not in country because there aren't a lot of English to Wolof resources online to help me figure it out, but with my prior knowledge, dictionaries, local Senegalese friends, and this website I should be set.
8. Visit my grandparents in California.
I would like to spend some uninterrupted time with them. I spent time with Nate's grandparents in Las Vegas and it is one of my fondest memories.
9. Pop a champagne cork with no fear.
When people pop champagne corks around me I duck and cover my eyes. It is because of articles like this that I have this irrational fear. This needs to stop. I need to learn how to pop a damn cork myself.
10. Make leche flan (it's Filipino, it's amazing, and I'm makin' it).
11. Jar or can veggies, pickles, sauce... something.
I think I want to make and jar tomato sauce. I need to learn this skill in order to survive during the zombie apocalypse.
12. Submit some of my academic writing and then, maybe, you know... get it published.
My father-in-law once told me that every English teacher wants to be a writer. I see a lot of truth in what he's saying. I've been dragging my feet on submitting anything because I hate rejection, but now is the time to bite the bullet.
13. Travel out of the country with Nate. I want to have an out of country adventure with him. For the purpose of budget constraints, Canada definitely counts. The last time we went there was during a SARS outbreak in 2004 because it was dirt cheap.
14. Pay off at least 50% of my remaining undergraduate credit card debt.
This is a gigantic thorn in my side that needs to be 50% smaller.
15. Sing karaoke by myself in Kalamazoo in front of all of my friends.
I can sing karaoke out of town, in groups, or with my sister-in-law. I never want to do it in town because I might not want to show my face afterwards.
TMI alert! Sometimes I just look up karaoke videos and sing them when I'm by myself because I'm searching for "my" karaoke song.
If you must know, this is the current song I've been having fun with when I'm home alone.
16. Eat clean for one month.
This goal includes putting aside my beloved dirty martinis and not going out for Sunday brunch for a month... can it be done? I'll use the guidelines from my favorite magazine: Clean Eating.
17. Pick berries and bake something with them.
Maybe I'll make my first homemade pie crust while I'm at it.
18. Write at least one chapter of the novel that I write in my mind while I'm walking the dogs.
The dogs and I have discussed it and they think I'm ready. They're also sick of me talking to myself in the woods while I hash out characters and dialogue.
19. Thank my mom for everything she's done for me.
Idealistically, I'd like to take her to Vegas. Realistically, this might have to wait until I'm actually in my 30s and I can afford it. I'll have to take her out to dinner instead.
There's no better way to celebrate going into my 30s than saying thanks to the rockstar who birthed me.
20. Go further into the UP than the Mystery Spot tourist trap and jump into Lake Superior.
I just have to find out the best time for freezing Lake Superior swimming.
21. Get chosen for one more summer fellowship in another country where I am able to work with youth.
Nothing is more exciting to me than seeing the world. I wish I would have started earlier.
Chillin' with kids outside of Mame Yelli Badiane in Pikine, Senegal.
22. Go on a police ride along.
I want to see what my students are up to, ya dig?
23. Get to 200 blog posts.
24. Make some decisions about my career and/or PhD prospects.
Maybe then I'll stop writing blog posts where I post Jeff Buckley songs because I feel lost about finding a new job.
25. Attend roller derby training so I can learn the moves.
One of my friends just started this and she's rocking it! I don't even care if I join the team or not. I just want to see if I can do it! Nate seems to think I'm going to skate over my own hand, but I'm going to give training a shot with the ladies from Killamazoo Derby Darlins.
26. Learn how to flip turn when I'm swimming laps.
Oh the jealousy that flares up inside of me when I see a swimmer execute the perfect flip turn. I want to do that without getting water all up in my nostrils and (very unsexily) writhing around like a walrus!
I'm going to try step one of five in the next few weeks... somersaulting through a noodle.
27. Take a real personal day.
This might be the hardest thing on the list for me to accomplish.
28. Learn how to drive a stick.
Again, another skill that will be helpful during the zombie apocalypse. Seriously though, I've wanted to do this since high school. I'm so glad there are youtube instructional videos with engaging instructors, like the one below... muah. I'd rather complete this goal with a friend. Any takers?
29. Go horseback riding.
I've never done this, but I really want to even though I'm scared of horses. I've never even been able to pet one. There is a precious photo of me at age 5 sobbing on pony... this was only the beginning of my horse fear. I recently saw this beautiful, yet creepy video that inspired me to write this goal as #29.
30. Poach an egg perfectly.
I ate a variation of this recipe every day when I was in Paris for a few days. By god, I'm going to make it so I can eat it any time I want. I've tried to do this about 5 times, all with crappy results. I never even got to the lentil step. I'm going poach eggs it until I get it... or, I'll buy a ninety-nine cent dozen and if I don't get it after 12 tries I'm going to write another #30 (my alternate #30 involves cooking a live lobster).
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