My list was written the end of August. It was then started the beginning of September (although I will admit that because I was starting a few months into my 29th year I wrote a couple of things that I had already done so that I could cross them off). By the middle of September it was stuffed into a drawer and forgotten. The idea was then revamped so that I wouldn't feel like it was a to-do list. The original list was then resurrected as I really like a few of the things I had put on there.
The current list is unwritten. Instead, it is a list of 30 things I have never done before that I WILL accomplish this year. I will be adding to the list as the things happen. Some of the things are beyond my control and will just happen. That counts. Others are things that I have planned. They count. Pretty much the rule is--if I want to put it on my list, it counts!
1. Pick blackberries in the mountains
This was actually done the day I wrote the original 30 x 30 list at the end of August. I had never gone on an adventure that was pretty unplanned (we were just heading West into the mountains until we found some blackberry brambles). You can read about this adventure in a former blog post.
2. Can by myself
My mom was born in the wrong century. That's all there is to it. She sews, knits, grinds her own flour, bakes her own bread (without a bread maker), and cooks with ingredients. You can imagine what it was like for me growing up. I was the only one of my seven-year-old friends who knew how to knit. I have been helping can fruits, veggies, and jam for as long as I can remember. But I had never made anything by myself. At one point this summer we had more beets than our CSA members could eat in a week, so I pickled them--all by myself from start to finish (with maybe a little supervision as my mom was walking through the kitchen). Sarah and I also made blackberry jam from our harvest--entirely on our own.This actually wouldn't have been on the original list, because really, who wants to get pulled over? But I never had been, and I was, so it makes it on here. My crime? I was "speeding"--going 35 in a 25 zone--one I drive every morning mind you, and one in which up to that point I had never once driven 25 mph (except maybe in the snow). The worst part was that it happened right in front of the high school. Luckily I was running late so the buses full of students had all passed by already. I got off with a warning. The funniest part was that the officer asked for my phone number along with all my other important paper items. According to my friends (who I won't mention since it could incriminate them as being experts on being pulled over) they don't usually do that. I haven't gotten any calls from it though. If I do, you can bet it'll make the list!
4. See the Nutcracker
Nope, I had never seen the entire Nutcracker--not even on TV. Some friends were going to Portland to see it professionally, but that didn't work with my schedule. Instead, Lauren and I went and saw the Central Oregon Ballet perform it in Bend High's auditorium. It was fun, and happened to be on the same day as a girls only winter wonderland day. What a great ending. I'm not taking it entirely off of my list though; I still want to see it done professionally.
5. Share Christmas Morning
Growing up we had lots of Christmases (more like Hanukkah really, which was great for me!). We had Christmas with my dad's family on Christmas Eve morning. Then Josh and I would drive home for Christmas with Kim's family on Christmas Eve with the full Italian Christmas dinner with homemade noodles, fried smelts, squid sauce, garlic bread, Pap's salad and pizzelles. Christmas day would bring dinner at two with anyone and everyone invited and then Christmas evening was spent with my mom's side of the family. Christmas morning was reserved just for our family though--no one else was ever invited. This year we changed that. I had two friends who didn't have plans for Christmas morning, so we invited then to spend Christmas Eve with us and be there for presents in the morning. It was so wonderful! I am blessed to have such amazing friends.
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| Danny reading the Christmas story. |
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| Sarah's new scarf. |
6. Go Ice Skating
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| Danny and I as I was just starting out. |
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| Josh and Lauren |
I don't even know how many times my siblings have been ice skating. I can remember going for Lauren's birthday when she was little, but I sat on the bench and watched. It takes a certain level of courage for me to do something I am pretty sure I won't be good at. I was (and probably still am)one of those roller skaters who stays on the rail while the five-year-olds out skate her in the middle of the rink. I wish I could say ice skating was different, but it's not. I stayed with all the little kids on the edges, but it was a lot of fun. The rink had just been prepped as we were walking up. There were only about 20 other people on the ice. We got our skates, laced them up and headed out into the snow--yes, it was even snowing. Everyone tried explaining and showing me what to do. Josh asked if I had read about it before coming (he knows me really well as I had been planning on doing exactly that, but didn't get a chance). He even suggested I should have written a paper about it before coming! I never went really fast or got too far from the rail, we were all soaked and there was about 4 inches of snow piling up on top of the ice which I kept getting stuck in, but it was SO much fun. I would definitely go again!
7. Hike Smith Rock
I had never even been to the Smith Rock State Park before Saturday, January 8th. I had heard about Monkey Face and the trail along the river, but the main thing that kept me away was the fact that they called the hike "Misery Ridge." To me that just wasn't very good advertising. I mean really, if you want people to come you need to name it something positive. People like positive. My plan was to come up for a better name for the thing during the hike. Halfway up the trail though, I decided it was aptly named and the park should probably keep it as it was. People needed to be warned. Three quarters of the way up the trail I didn't think my legs could take another step (I don't recommend a workout the day before because I was sore starting out--you want to be well rested). Luckily I am blessed with a wonderful friend who could keep me going by letting me know that I was almost there. He would break the remainder of the way up into goals at which point we would stop and I would breathe. It worked, I made it (Danny did too), and the view was spectacular. We stopped on the top until I realized that it was going to be a long way back to the closest bathroom so we should probably head down. We took the long way by the river which was very beautiful. I plan on at least going back there and doing that part again.
8. Start a blog
I know, obviously I already have, but I did start it after I turned 29, and it was in response to birthday wishes (See 2010's "The Beginning of a Blog.") so it counts as something I had never done before. I don't know if I could write a whole book about this year yet, but I can say that it has been full of some tough challenges, amazing people, incredible blessings, important opportunities--and I still have five months left! Who knows, maybe I will be able to write a book!
9. Eat Indian Fry Bread
You know that show on the Food Network, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate?" I think Indian Fry Bread had that reputation in my mind of the best thing my friend Michelle has ever eaten. Every time it was mentioned she was stunned that Erin and I had never tried it. I tried explaining that Indians in the San Diego area eat different foods than the tribes of the Northwest. The blessing that she is though she spent a Friday observing in my preschool room and we then went to a local (everything in a town of 1300 is local) restaurant famous (within at least 20 miles) for their Indian Fry Bread. The rumor was that you could make a meal from their fry bread and a shake. We didn't though and got fry bread served with homemade jam which was served as an appetizer and a meal which really did prove to be too much food for lunch.
Fry bread is fantastic, but like Michelle says, "who doesn't like bread that's deep fried?" The only thing better would be to put cinnamon and sugar on it, right Michelle?
7. Hike Smith Rock
I had never even been to the Smith Rock State Park before Saturday, January 8th. I had heard about Monkey Face and the trail along the river, but the main thing that kept me away was the fact that they called the hike "Misery Ridge." To me that just wasn't very good advertising. I mean really, if you want people to come you need to name it something positive. People like positive. My plan was to come up for a better name for the thing during the hike. Halfway up the trail though, I decided it was aptly named and the park should probably keep it as it was. People needed to be warned. Three quarters of the way up the trail I didn't think my legs could take another step (I don't recommend a workout the day before because I was sore starting out--you want to be well rested). Luckily I am blessed with a wonderful friend who could keep me going by letting me know that I was almost there. He would break the remainder of the way up into goals at which point we would stop and I would breathe. It worked, I made it (Danny did too), and the view was spectacular. We stopped on the top until I realized that it was going to be a long way back to the closest bathroom so we should probably head down. We took the long way by the river which was very beautiful. I plan on at least going back there and doing that part again.
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| The view from somewhere at the top. |
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| Danny right before we went down. I promise I was there too, but I didn't like my picture so I refuse to post it. |
8. Start a blog
I know, obviously I already have, but I did start it after I turned 29, and it was in response to birthday wishes (See 2010's "The Beginning of a Blog.") so it counts as something I had never done before. I don't know if I could write a whole book about this year yet, but I can say that it has been full of some tough challenges, amazing people, incredible blessings, important opportunities--and I still have five months left! Who knows, maybe I will be able to write a book!
9. Eat Indian Fry Bread
You know that show on the Food Network, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate?" I think Indian Fry Bread had that reputation in my mind of the best thing my friend Michelle has ever eaten. Every time it was mentioned she was stunned that Erin and I had never tried it. I tried explaining that Indians in the San Diego area eat different foods than the tribes of the Northwest. The blessing that she is though she spent a Friday observing in my preschool room and we then went to a local (everything in a town of 1300 is local) restaurant famous (within at least 20 miles) for their Indian Fry Bread. The rumor was that you could make a meal from their fry bread and a shake. We didn't though and got fry bread served with homemade jam which was served as an appetizer and a meal which really did prove to be too much food for lunch.
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| Obviously I had to try it before I could take a picture of it! |
Fry bread is fantastic, but like Michelle says, "who doesn't like bread that's deep fried?" The only thing better would be to put cinnamon and sugar on it, right Michelle?
10. 11. 12. Drive a Stick, Drive a Truck, Pull a Trailer
I guess technically I have driven a truck while sitting on my dad's lap and steering through the trailer park where we lived.
And techincally I have driven a stick in the parking lot of Parkway Plaza (and Westside Church), although technically I never really learned how to stop.
And never, technically or not, have I ever pulled anything behind any sort of vehicle.
So you can imagine my surprise while sitting in the passenger seat of Danny's truck after getting a load of hay and he springs this plan on me: I am to drive his truck down the road while pulling a load of hay. Did I mention that his truck is a stick? And did I mention that the road is a canal road meaning it has water on one side and a fence and bushes on the other? And did I mention that I was supposed to pull a load of hay? And did I mention that Danny's plan was to be riding on top of that load of hay?
That was his plan. I thought he meant someday in the future it would be great if I would do that so he could throw out hay for the sheep. He meant that night. So he parked the truck, turned it off and told me to get out. I tentatively walked around the front of the truck and climbed in the driver's side. I pushed all the buttons on the seat, going up, down, forwards, backwards, forwards again--until I felt like it was just right. He told me to push in the clutch. It went in about a foot and a half. I adjusted the seat again. He had me start the truck and shift it into low gear. Then he told me to let out the clutch. I let it out s-l-o-w-l-y. We started rolling. He walked alongside the truck for a bit and then told me to stop. I jerked to a stop, but at least I could stop. I was already further ahead of the stick driving game than I had been.
He left to climb atop the hay and yelled down that he was ready. Did I mention that I couldn't see the trailer behind me, or my much loved boyfriend on top of that trailer? Because I couldn't. I just knew that something was going to happen (like me jerking to a stop), he was going to fall off and I was going to run him over. And I wouldn't even know until I made it to the gate where I was supposed to stop. That was what I was sure would happen.
I let out the clutch. About two minutes later we started rolling. I let out the clutch some more--the rest of the way actually, which caused us to stall. Danny hopped off the trailer and came back to the window. He asked if I was sure I was in low gear. I didn't know. I was in the same gear I had been in when he left. He checked. It turns out low and second are not the same thing, but are in almost the same place on the shifty thing. He put the truck into low gear for real and headed back to the hay. He yelled down that he was ready. We went through the scenario again, only we didn't stall this time, and after about five minutes the clutch was entirely let out and we were moving along.
Danny yelled out encouraging things while he threw down hay, and I'm sure it was sweet, but I just appreciated it because then I knew he wasn't lying somewhere along the canal road behind me moaning in pain. Eventually he told me I could stop. I pushed in the clutch and the brake. Danny came and put the truck in neutral. I stepped on the emergency brake and left the truck running.
The speedometer on the truck wasn't working, but even if it had been, I'm sure we didn't actually go fast enough to register. I don't think the odometer even registered our little trip. But it was a truck, it was a stick, there was a trailer, and it was even on a road...so it counts!
13. Shoot a Gun
Danny and I left a little early for Jaina's birthday dinner, I thought so we could walk around Smith Rock. He had me change out of my cute skirt and sandals. I was a little upset as I put on jeans, a t-shirt and tennis shoes. And then we went somewhere on BLM land. He had me repeat the rules about shooting: 1) Don't put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to shoot. 2) Don't point the gun at anything you aren't willing to destroy. 3) Know what's behind your backdrop. 4) A gun is always loaded. Luckily he had told me it didn't matter what order I memorized them in because I'm pretty sure that isn't the order he told them to me.
He had grabbed some aluminum cans and a board from my house, which he set up when we stopped the car. He handed me a handgun with a silencer on it. I had never even held a gun. He walked me through the parts of loading the magazine, where the magazine goes, where the safety is, what happens to that back part when you pull the trigger and it discharges the brass, how to hold it, what it sounds like when you shoot it off (he demonstrated). Then he made a mark on the board (however we only had a ballpoint pen so it was a little hard to see) and had me squeeze the trigger. A shot was fired. It was so much fun! I didn't actually expect shooting to be fun, but something I did to say that I had done it.
I asked him what I had shot. He said it was a Browning something something something. I only remember Browning because it's like the poet Elizabeth Barret Browning and her husband Robert Browning who I had done a research report on in High School. I had only thought that guns were called by numbers. I asked if that was the brand name. He laughed as he said yes. Then I found out it was a .22.
We went to dinner and he made sure I washed my hands really well before I ate. I didn't know what that was all about, but I think it had something to do with the lead. A little bit later one of his friends asked what I had shot. I told him I shot a board and a couple of aluminum cans, but not this one because no matter how many times I shot at it, the bullets would NOT hit it. He just looked at me and asked, "What kind of a gun was it?" So, while I have shot a gun, I'm still a pretty girlie shooter, and even though I enjoyed shooting, I never want to actually shoot something alive.
14. Get Run Over by a Flock of Sheep
Okay, there is no way on earth I would have put this on my original list. No, this is one of those things that just sort of happens and you think, "Wow, that's never happened before," which means it can go on the list.
Picture a drizzly kind of evening, my mom, Josh, Lauren and I traipsing through the pasture and encircling our small flock, pushing them towards the barn so we can corner a couple of lambs that need to be caught to take to market. They freak and run WAAAAAAAAAY out into the field, stepping on Lauren's toe and running over Sydney in the process. Josh is the only one wearing boots so he walks out there to bring them back in. (Side note: At this time I decide the duck that is out should be caught and thrown back over the fence. Success!). Mom goes to get grain to dump on the ground which the sheep are very excited about. They are busy eating so Lauren goes to shut the barn door (making it completely dark) so she has to turn on the light and then goes to pull the truck over to load the lambs into. It is then that she misses the completely amusing part of this process.
Josh, Mom and I get a few of the sheep (and two of the lambs we want) into the barn. I ask if we are going to sort some of them out as Clover is capable of jumping over the fence into the front of the barn. The plan is no, just grab the lambs we want. Apparently at this time it becomes my job to block the doorway by being as big as possible. Now, mind you, Josh has already told me that I look ridiculous trying to be big. Doesn't matter to sheep though what I look like--they're scared anyway--or so I thought. Knowing that no sheep are to pass me, when one runs at me, I try to grab her--just by the wool, and keep her in. She runs in what I believe was through my legs and sends me flying over her (picture how you would fly off a bike) but also carries me back with her a little so I am no longer in the doorway. I am now on the ground, giving the other sheep the perfect opportunity to run out the barn and right over me.
It all happened very fast and would have been hilarious had I not been in pain. I did roll out of the way and stand up, and Mom and Josh had caught the two lambs they needed. It turns out my part of the plan wasn't necessary at all. It figures!
The best part? We have two more lambs to catch tomorrow!
