Well, hello, and happy June!
Wait, June? I seem to have lost two whole months. It's OK though because I've been plugging away on my list behind-the-scenes. And I've checked off a coupla biggies since my 43rd birthday.
Read on for the scoop.
• 43 BEFORE 44 •
- Take a hand-lettering course — Couldn't find a local class so I researched popular hand-letterers, purchased this book by The Pigeon Letters, a few pens she recommended, a Rhodia pad, and am considering taking one of her online classes. I've started working on my alphabet, so we'll see where this goes!
- Eat outside on average two times a week — This came as a result of a story on outdoor living I wrote for Springs magazine. And so far, so good.
- Do a Georgia O’Keeffe tour around New Mexico (Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, etc.) — Done (connected to No. 19). Blog about the trip yet to come.
- Install and use an outdoor clothesline
- Watch every episode of MASH — OMG, this is three years running and still going. Maybe this year will be the final year? I swear there are just a FEW DVDs remaining.
- Read at least 100 books — I've read 21 books so far (five others in progress) — my favorites being this, this and this.
- Continue to refine Project 333 to my own version of a minimalist closet project, to include purchasing a few pieces of sustainable and ethical clothing — What's been most fun about this has been helping friends with their process. Just in the past two months, I've been sharing lots of advice with two different friends.
- Attend the Santa Fe Opera
- Visit Meow Wolf in Santa Fe
- Hike Hanging Lake
- Stay at the Beaumont Hotel in Ouray ... and hike Blue Lakes while there
- Attend Judith Lasater’s Advanced Restorative Yoga teacher training
- Choreograph a country line dance
- Take a birding and/or bird banding class
- Take a surfing lesson
- Plan for and install "Garden 1.0" at new home — In progress.
- Begin planning "Garden 2.0" for 2018
- Get will and living will in order
- Go off-the-grid, no-tech for an extended period of time — Also done. Also will blog about this in the near future. I feel like I'm still processing the experience and am letting it steep for awhile.
- Learn to make pizza, Roman Villa-style
- Keep up my #newrecipeaweek commitment — Favorite new recipe so far? This. Yum.
- Learn to play an entire song on my ukelele
- Plan my next international trip
- See the sandhill crane migration in March/April 2018
- Go storm chasing
- Go on a train trip
- Visit Best Friends Animal Society in Utah
- Plan and host at least four game nights with friends
- Revive Soup Night
- Learn to fix clothing (beyond sewing on buttons)
- Plan for a fun photo shoot
- Place freelance writing with at least five new publications (a mix of print and online)
- Blog one to two times a week
- Take a glass-blowing class
- Visit a new-to-me monastery
- Learn some fancy cake frosting skills
- Stay overnight on a houseboat
- Hike with Ollie and Stephen
- Take a basic embroidery class
- Train Finnegan to do a just-for-fun trick
- Memorize a favorite poem — This and No. 42 are also both the result of No. 19.
- Begin a 'favorite poetry' journal
- Wear a watch regularly to reduce my cell phone dependency — Pulled out my casual running watch and purchased a new dressy watch. I'm super into this right now.