2013 Bucket List

 

That’s Bethie and me on New Year’s Eve Eve. We celebrated early this year.

2013 started off inauspiciously. Kyle and I barely beat the snowstorm home yesterday afternoon on our drive back from Kentucky. We had been invited to spend New Year’s Eve with some good friends, and even though the roads weren’t great, I was hoping we might go and then the headache and sore throat appeared. So instead of champagne and cute sparkly clothes, I fell asleep shortly after midnight, cradling my laptop and muttering about The West Wing (which I am currently insta-watching on Netflix). Me and my cold feel like we’ve gotten the New Year off to a less than promising start but I choose to believe we can turn it around. Last year, I made a bucket list, 31 Things to Do Before ‘13, and I crossed a surprising amount of them off my list. Not all of them and there were a few that should been easier to make happen but new year, new beginning. I’ve been working on my new bucket list for a couple weeks and am finally ready to share it with you. I’m upping the game this year and trying to do 41 things before ‘14. I know. You’re totally jealous of that super original thing I just did where I reversed the numbers and made it a title. I’m just that cool. Anyway, here’s my list for the year!

1. Commit to regular monthly giving.

2. Read 10 books that have nothing to do with school.

3. Learn to crochet.

4. Blue Jackets game.

5. Write my dissertation prospectus.

6. The Pencil Sharpener Museum in Logan, Ohio.

7. Take a road trip somewhere awesome.

8. Write a grant proposal (and get the grant!)

9. Perform a solo work.

10. Move to cheaper apartment.

11. Take a hike.

12. Write 300 blog posts.

13. The Hot Dog Bun Museum in Toledo, Ohio.

14. Write a book with Emily.

15. Teach a class I’ve never taught before.

16. Thrill-seek.

17. Play on a new beach.

18. Go to a wine tasting.

19. Haunted house.

20. Really utilize the public library.

21. Try out 12 new recipes.

22. Direct something.

23. Volunteer for a new non-profit. 

24. Learn how to make a cocktail.

25. Learn to play a song on the ukulele.

26. Try a brand new kind of exercise.

27. Photograph strangers. (For obvious reasons, this will involve their knowledge and consent.)

28. Get a tattoo.

29. Floss every single day for a month.

30. Buy a new couch.

31. Treat seasonal depression homeopathically.

32. Take a research trip.

33. See Buckeye Chuck make his Groundhog’s Day predictions in Marion, Ohio.

34. Try Somali food.

35. Learn how to parallel park really, really well.

36. Learn more about blog/web design and html.

37. Write a fan letter.

38. Renew my Red Cross CPR and First Aid certification.

39. Bird-watching.

40. Memorize the states and capitols.

41. Never text and drive again.

 

What kinds of things are on your list this year?

love, elizabeth

That Place Where They Keep the Books

You guys, I am beside myself with glee. I am downright giddy. Why? Why can’t I stop smiling? Why does my heart seem fuller and the daylight seem brighter? Why is my heart full of Jimmy Fallon-type joy?

Because I have rediscovered the public library. ….

You guys, there’s this place where you can go and pick out books and then take them home with you and read them. And then when you’re done, you bring them back so that other people who might enjoy that book can also take it home. And, you guys, this amazing bookly transaction…totally free. Okay, not exactly free. Technically, if you’re a U.S. citizen and you pay state and federal taxes, you have contributed monetarily to this venture. But seriously, you guys. The library.*

*Don’t get me wrong. I’ve seen the inside of a library a lot in the last four years. It’s just been on the university campus and it’s been all about research and candidacy exams and grad school. I forgot about when the library was fun.  

As you can see, my expedition today was quite fruitful. Behold…BOOKS. Two on de-cluttering, one on re-falling in love with your wardrobe, a how-to on vintage hairstyles, and an old movie to help me cross something else off my 2012 bucket list. And spending more time at the public library has made it onto my bucket list for 2013.

I know that some of you are thinking, Gee, Elizabeth. I could have told you about the library a long time ago. And you’re right. You could have. What’s wrong with you?

love, elizabeth

“Build magical gingerbread forest.” Check.

I gotta say that I am super proud that Kyle and I are actually doing stuff on our Christmas bucket list. I was really afraid I would totally fail at making a list of goals and then, you know, DOING THOSE THINGS (I mean, have you checked out my bucket list for this year? It’s not going so great.)

I was really taken by the December issue of Better Homes & Gardens (which I talk about on this blog so much, they should seriously start paying me). They had instructions for a gingerbread forest that were so inspiring that, despite my appalling baking skills, I actually went out and bought things like “meringue powder” and “molasses” and “eggs.” Okay, maybe I already had eggs. I took an absurd amount of pictures of this entire process from the mixing of ingredients to the rolling of dough and the baking and the cooling and the frosting. If you find this as fascinating as I did, you can check out my Instagram for a riveting play-by-play. You’re welcome, internet.

One of the best things about being married to Kyle (and there are a lot of best things) is his wonderful ability to play with me. He has zero qualms about becoming a kid again and that’s good news because he’s married to a super uptight crazy person who needs someone to balance her out.

This is obviously a very well-maintained magical gingerbread forest because they have licorice park benches where the Sour Patch Kids like to hang out and smoke gummy bears.

Or do magical licorice and snowcap mushrooms.

This is Francis. He is the love-child of Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He has a LOT of medical problems.

Behold, the forest. I have to point out that the cobblestone pathway is constructed entirely out of gum and gingerbread bricks with frosting grout. It was the most fun thing to make.

My magazine inspiration. I have no idea how they made their tree seams so un-seam-like. But I seriously love, love, love B&G. Love.

Are you a gingerbread-making type person? Have you made any this year?

love, elizabeth

making with the adventure

This blog was always supposed to be about adventure. And lately, I’ve been feeling even less adventurous than usual.

But then I spotted this on my brother’s Instagram and smiled so big. Apparently, he and his friend noticed this place through a Google search and decided to go ghost hunting. I love when I see little glimpses of myself in my brother because most of the time, we seem so different. But this is totally something I would do.

So thanks, Ben, for renewing a sense of adventure in your sister. I’m going to make it a point to see something haunted this fall (it IS on my bucket list, after all).

AND I’m doing a little blog re-vamping…what do you think?

love, elizabeth

31 Before ‘13

I know I’m not the first person to think of this but when I just couldn’t bring myself to draw up a list of New Year’s resolutions, I decided to try something else. So here’s my 2012 Bucket List. 31 things to before 2013. Some things made my list because I have to do them, anyway. Some things are on there because they seem easy or fun. Some things made the list because they scare the poop out of me. A few things overlap from my list of winter. I am resolved to attempt ALL of them.

31 Before ‘13

1. Get my solo-performance on its feet.

2. Successfully prepare for my comprehensive graduate exams.

3. Perform at a poetry open-mic night.

4. Read the chronological Bible straight-through.

5. Finish my PhD coursework.

6. Cook a new vegetable.

7. Commit to my one-hour system (see post).

8. Visit a weird museum.

9. Find five new uses for five old/recycled things.

10. Complete (at least) ten weeks of Weight Watchers.

11. Go to an Ohio State football game.

12. Learn to make a pie crust.

13. Take a vacation with Kyle to somewhere new.

14. Read ten books UN-related to school.

15. Visit five breakfast spots featured in Breakfast with Nick: Columbus.

16. Hike in Hocking Hills.

17. Watch all of Alfred Hitchcock’s films.

18. Attend the young women’s small group regularly.

19. Save money every month.

20. Write 300 blog posts.

21. Throw a party.

22. Take a haunted tour of something, using this map.

23. Celebrate Valentine’s Day in an out-of-the-ordinary way.

24. Present a paper at a conference.

25. Go to a Blue Jackets game.

26. Spend a day at the beach.

27. See a new band live.

28. Go on a blate.

29. Learn how to play a new board game.

30. Volunteer for a new charity.

31. Find and use a homeopathic treatment.

 

 

Source: istockphoto.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

So what do you think? What made it onto YOUR list?

love, elizabeth

That One Time I Judged a Beauty Pageant

So I mentioned this last week but a couple weekends ago, I had the privilege of judging a beauty pageant for a local charity event.

I was kind of hoping it would be something like this…

 

Or maybe something like this?

 

But it was, unfortunately for my own amusement, a pageant full of very intelligent, sweet women with LOADS of talent. I got to see some incredible cultural dances and singing (and even some free-style rapping). It was the most random, surprisingly enjoyable evening I have spent in a really long time. And if it was a little cheesy, it was all part of the charm.

The three finalists

The contestants, emcees, and judges. I was so surprised they wanted me in a picture!

So I’ll just go ahead and check that off the bucket list.

What about you? Have you had a chance to do anything out of the ordinary lately?

love, elizabeth