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Every year I start making one of these lists, never come up with enough items for the list, and then quietly abandon and forget about it altogether. But a quarter-century birthday suggests greater significance somehow, and the début of my late twenties demands that I make good use of this time before I hit my thirties. In the space of (a little less than) a year, the hope is that I will accomplish new goals and gain new experiences – that are realistically within reach. I just want to encourage and motivate myself to continue to grow and learn, to develop as a person. More specifically, to develop into the kind of person I want to become. I am not yet certain exactly what kind of person I’ll want to be, but at least I know what kinds of (random, but hopefully useful) things I want that potentially awesome (and eventually less awkward) person to be capable of doing:
1. WWOOFing in France/Québec.
Learn about basic farming skills or sustainability. Practice French. Learn to be okay with touching nutritious poop for plants. Live a simpler life, even for a brief period of time. Then I can go back to my normal lifestyle of rampant over-consumerism. Haha, hopefully not.
Read about my first week of WWOOFing in France!
2. Make a good tiramisu. Make such a good tiramisu that I will want to eat it all the time, and can bring it to potluck dinners or celebrations (and then maybe share it with others).
An Italian student of mine gave me her mother’s traditional recipe, so I have the first step! (That is, if I can find the recipe…)
Made such a good tiramisu that I want to eat it all the time. =P
3. Read everything by Jane Austen (and then read them all over again).
I love JA, and she wrote only 6 novels, of which there is only one left that I haven’t read. I’ve even read some of her juvenilia writing! I just want to keep my memories of her writing fresh, because I am taking such a long break away from my studies. Also, all better love stories than Twilight.
4. Become a regularly practicing yogi.
Yoga has been a part of my life since I was 16, when I learned that I have scoliosis severe enough to quality for surgery. Luckily, I stopped growing at this point, and so the scoliosis did not continue to worsen. Yoga helps strengthen my core and back, and helps to relieve nerve pain in my spine caused by sitting or standing too long. Every time I stop practicing, I always regret it. I become less tolerant of stress (i.e. easily very bitchy/grumpy) and have greater back pain. Two years ago, I belonged to a Moksha Yoga studio, and this has been the longest break I’ve ever taken from doing any yoga at all. In March, I committed myself to practicing the Moksha sequence almost everyday, and I hope to extend this into a regular practice for the rest of my life. At least twice a week would be nice.
5. Become an au pair! [June 24, 2015 – present]
An experience that I’ve always wanted to have (perhaps from reading mediocre, sappy teen chick lit romances that glamourise au pairs?), and am very lucky to be having later this year. I look forward to playing the “big sister” role to some sweet little girls.
6. Visit New York City.
Well, now that I’ve been to Paris…where else could I go? ;)
7. Visit the Maritimes provinces.
Ever since reading Anne of Green Gables and almost all of L. M. Montgomery’s other stories and novels, I’ve wanted to see the sandy red roads, the “Lake of Shining Waters” and the famous green gabled house for myself (while dressed in big puffy-sleeved brown poplin with my hair in plaits, of course).
8. Learn to ski.
Everyone seems shocked to learn that I don’t know how to ski, considering how I’m from Vancouver. Not everyone’s parents can afford to go on ski trips in Vancouver! But I’d like to learn, if I can afford it myself. :P If all else fails – learn to swim. I hear the doggy paddle isn’t in style anymore. I am crossing this one out, because I don’t think I can really afford to go skiing – however, I purchased a pair of ice skates off of Kijiji in Montréal, and have been going to indoor/outdoor rinks, even outside in windy, freezing -20 deg. Cels. weather on a regular basis for the last two months, so I think that’s a fair equivalent! (Feb. 22, 2016).
9. Work in Montréal.
Practice French? Just to have a chance to work somewhere in a totally different city and culture!
I’m currently working in a French boulangerie/café in Montréal’s Monkland Village neighbourhood! [September 2015 – present].
10. Become more fluent in French.
It’s getting harder the older I get, but I’ll keep trying. After all, if some people believe I look 19, maybe I can fool myself into thinking I still am.
11. Start running again!
Oh, how I’ve missed it! I even dream about it from time to time – even last night. Why did I stop? Oh, right, because someone convinced me to go for a midnight run last May and I ended up falling off a sidewalk in the dark and spraining both my ankles. It’s taken a while for them to get better, since I wasn’t able to take any time off from work, and limped around on my feet all day for 3 months straight. Even now, they ache from simply hiking or walking a lot. It’s been almost a year!! Damn you, L***.
12. Run a 10k or half marathon race in Québec.
If all goes well with my ankles, I’d like to start running long distance races again.
13. Go on a road trip!
If I can persuade someone to take me, since I can’t drive. :P I can however, provide conversation, salmonella-free food, carsick nausea, and music!
14. See Niagara Falls!
What kind of Canadian am I, anyway?
15. Go to Osheaga/a music festival!
Music festival in Montréal…since I will be there this summer, I have no excuses. Also, have never really been to a music festival! Can I finally dress like a hippie in public without persecution?
Went to several music festival concerts in Montréal and a hot air balloon music festival in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu!
16. Learn to knit tuques/different stitches/maybe sweaters.
All of this past winter I knit many, many scarves for friends, family, and for my stuffed animals. That’s enough scarves.
17. Complete more parts of my Jane Austen WordPress project.
Especially because my former English prof wrote an essay for publication in a literary/scholarly journal (?) and plans to mention my project!
18. Make good cheesecake.
If the tiramisu fails….at least I’ll have cheesecake? Or, I can combine them to make a tiramisu cheesecake! I have made delicious tiramisu twice following the recipe I learned last year in France from my landlady, and if Costco hadn’t decided to stop selling mascarpone cheese at half the price that Provigo tries to rob of me, I would be making more!
19. Pay off at least 1/2 of my bank debts…
Self-explanatory. No money, no flight home to Vancouver. Ever.
20. Eventually do the splits!
Come on, yoga, help me out here!
21. Eat less sugar/candy!
Can’t afford those dentist bills if I want to go on road trips, ski trips, and eat tiramisu all the time. Oh, wait, there’s sugar in that, too. Is salted tiramisu a thing? Ooh! Salted caramel tiramisu!? I really need to eat some tiramisu soon, or I won’t be able to stop talking about it. I mean, I had 3 prepackaged chocolate mousses today, but that’s not the same thing. Also, I’m on my period, so that is actually a less than acceptable level of chocolate consumption. This article really motivated me to reduce my sugar consumption. It’s crazy how the noticeable the addictive effects of sugar are when you stop having so much of it. You truly begin to stop craving it, even the sight of chocolate and candy ceases to tempt you. And yet, if you begin again, as I sometimes do, by eating the delicious, fresh pastries surrounding me at work, then it seems as though your body can never get enough! I find that drinking a lot of tea really helps to subside these cravings.
22. Reduce current possessions.
For reasons of practicality, as one small person cannot realistically lug more than 70-80lbs of luggage around airports and train stations by herself. Also, learning to live with less has shown me that it’s still possible for me to live with even less! I am a bit scared when I think about how I have a lot more stuff at home waiting for me in my bedroom.
Participated in a Garage Sale/Flea Market and sold half a large suitcase’s worth of clothes, shoes, and trinkets!
23. Skydiving or paragliding?
If money falls from the sky first… I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and have always wanted to try these two activities.
24. Learn to do a yoga headstand!
Whoops, almost typed “handstand” there. As if that would be realistic.
25. Learn how to braid fancy braids.
My ex-worker always had a different, intricately braided hairstyle every week, and I’m pretty sure she learned them herself from Pinterest or Youtube tutorials. So, FREE skills! Almost as good as free food. Must have. While I have not learned to braid fancy braids into hair, I have learned to make rainbow loom bracelets (THAT GLOW IN THE DARK), and to braid colourful friendship bracelets out of string, for myself and for others by request, so that’s good enough for me!
26. Learn to make yummy non-virgin drinks.
Once upon a time, another coworker back home and I daydreamed about how we’d quit our part time jobs making lattes for entitled Splenda addicts and enrol in a bar-tending course together. This plan is still on the table! I just want to learn to mix drinks for myself, especially all those fancy ones named after Marvel Comic Universe superheroes, so that I can drink them while watching all the relevant superhero movies. Priorities. Apparently, my priorities are no longer the same. While I did not learn to make fancy ass alcoholic drinks, (apologies to my Starbucks coworker back home), I am crossing this one out, because I learned to brew and secondary ferment kombucha. This is a lengthy process that requires a lot of patience and experimentation, but I’m happy to say that I’ve been brewing kombucha for the last half a year. I’ve even given away bottles of it to people who have enjoyed it without becoming ill! That’s a success, right? :P
So, here goes! 26 things to do before 26!
auds & ends 