Half way check in on my “45 things” list

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Today is the half-way point for this year’s list so I thought I would check in and see where I am right now.

1. volunteer at local animal shelter

2. stay in a Fernwood adventure tent one night

3. learn to surf

4. take a 2nd annual sister trip with Kristy 

-we did this! Went to Seattle just a few weeks ago. I even got to meet an online friend that I’ve known for over 10 years but hadn’t met in real life. It was a fun trip! Posts about the trip will be coming:)

5. try standup paddleboarding 

Nate and I did this one Saturday morning. I was not successful with the actual standup part. I mostly stayed on my knees and my few attempts at standing were not pretty. I did hurt my knees a few weeks before this and that may have played into the unsuccessful standing up part of the SUP. I haven’t given up though and plan to keep at it after I finish physical therapy.

6. make my first quilt

7. attend a roller derby game

8. take a 10 year anniversary trip to Mexico (Isla Mujeres to be exact)- This trip is already booked!! 

We totally took this trip!!! It was amazing and someday I will post photos and tell the story of our week. It was amazing and fantastic and it was the best vacation I’ve ever been on. 

9. make homemade carnitas

10. learn letterpress (San Francisco Center for the Book has classes)

11. bake a rainbow cake – Planned for December for my daughter’s birthday

12. get my hair colored

I did this for our trip to Mexico. I had my gray colored out and it was great. I’d like to go a bit darker so that’s on my schedule for this Winter.

13. join a book club (or start one possibly…)

I joined one and it has been one of the best things I’ve done this year. It’s not one of those fun wine/book clubs but it’s still one of my favorite nights each month. Great conversation with some really nice women. I love hearing other’s opinions on each book. 

14. send out one handwritten letter/note each month

– so far I’ve done this every month. I’ve been including a handwritten note in birthday cards each month. I’ve had some great responses to it:) Still have 6 more months to go. 

15. eat at Burma Superstar in San Francisco

16. read “The Life-Changing Art of Tidying up” and purge the house (already have the book,just need to read it and put it to work)

-read it but still working on completing the house. I’ve done most of my stuff in the bedroom. I’ll check back in after another 6 months

17. go to the shooting range/learn to shoot a gun

18. eat a burrito from the Mission District SF

Nate and I did this when we were in the city for the 4th of July. I couldn’t decide on which burrito I wanted to try from the many burrito list I read so we did two separate places. I’ll be posting about this day also.

19. Take a class at MPC

I am taking an American History 1880-present right now. I have 6 more weeks left so hopefully this will be a finished item by December:)

20. swim with whale sharks

TOTALLY DID THIS! Amazing bucket list moment and I will be doing a post about it.

21. visit the turtle farm on Isla Mujeres

did this on our anniversary trip and it was even better than I expected. This will also be posted about soon!

22. see the ruins and do the cliff walk at Punta Sur on Isla Mujeres

Also did this on the anniversary trip. Such an amazing trip.

23. hike Wilder Ranch

24. see the monarchs at Natural Bridges Park

25. go on a backpacking (overnight) trip with Nate

26. get together with Nate’s parents at least once a month

so far I failed at least one month. I have 5 out of 6 months done and we’ll see what happens  over the next 6 months

27. go body boarding in Southern California

28. spend a weekend exploring Golden Gate Park, SF (deYoung, tulips, buffalo, ride bikes)

29. have breakfast at Deetjen’s in Big Sur

30. organize my necklaces finally

31. host a Cinco de Mayo party

did this for my birthday but it was pretty low key and I won’t be posting photos from it. But I did it finally and I didn’t even have a hangover the next day!

32. participate in “Dance for the Rescue” again (FAIL)

-this was cancelled by the organization so it is a fail but not on my part.

33. learn conversational Spanish

I spent a few months learning conversational Spanish for the trip but I didn’t use that much of it. Mostly because a lot of the people we spoke with spoke English. I’m hoping to also learn some conversational Italian since i have a trip to italy on the agenda for 2016.

34. prepare a 5 course dinner for friends

35. visit the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles

36. see Tulum Ruins in Cancun

we did this on the trip also and Tulum was amazing. Wish we had planned a few more days there. Maybe next time. 

37. Hike Griffith Park in Los Angeles

38. camp at Limekiln State Park

39. take dance lessons with Nate

40. make Jay’s buffalo wings

41. plan a bonfire on Carmel Beach

42. visit the The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)

43. zipline into the ocean (FAIL)

this one was suppose to happen in Cancun if we had time but it didn’t happen. I don’t know of any places in California that you can do this so I probably missed my chance.

44. have a breakfast pizza at the Big Sur Bakery

did this one weekend with Nate and our friend Craig. I’ll be doing a post about that day. Coming soon to the blog.

45. visit Mercer caverns in Murphy, CA.

-also got this one done. It was really neat and educational. This was discovered during the same time period that I was learning about in my history class so this made it even more fascinating.

A few of the items are coming up or are on the schedule for the beginning of 2016 so I am working on the list. I will definitely do a blog post on my birthday next May to see how much I accomplished. 45 items doesn’t seem like a large number of things to get done but it really is. And the number just keeps going up…haha. Even if I don’t get everything done the point of these lists are to get me out there & doing stuff. I was so tired of feeling like my life was just work and housework and cooking. I was stuck in a rut and this list has pulled me out of it and it really has been a life saver. Even if I don’t get near the final goal it has still kept me thinking and planning and looking forward to our next adventure. Even Nate seems to enjoy doing the items on my list. Wait until he sees list 46;)

Jennifer

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