Pondering a Decade

In just four short days, I will officially be leaving my Roaring 20s and heading into the 30s (Depression Era?!?! - just kidding). The last 10 years have been full of new experiences and adventures.

Some of the tops?

1) Visited over 15 countries.
2) Slept at the foot of Mount Everest and at a 4 a.m. pee break, looked up to see the moonlight on the finally revealed peak.
3) Experienced a violent storm across the road from the Great Wall.
4) Zipped on the back of a complete stranger's motorbike in Vietnam.
5) Got caught in a downpour after riding bikes to Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand.
7) Ate numerous helpings of zenzai while lounging on Okinawa's beaches.
8) Overcame my fear of karaoke.
6) Got Simon the Peacock added to my foot in honor of my love of Pier 1 and Indian motifs.
7) Worked a range of jobs from being a teacher to working at a video store to manning a copier to living in Japan to working in luxury travel to working with study abroad students.
8) Lived in two dorm rooms, 6 apartments, & various extended stays at my parents' house.
9) The beginnings of a love for indie films, indie music, and a slightly indie lifestyle.
10) Went from never having set foot in a gym to becoming a gym rat.
11) Walked the streets of Cambridge and introducing the now famous, "eat a bit, drink a bit, have dessert, drink a bit more, eat a bit more" method of trying to stay warm during winter months.
12) Learned to be comfortable enough to go to a movie at any time all by myself. (also can now eat at a restaurant by myself and not feel weirded out by it)
13) Got my belly button pierced and then 5 years later, lost ring in a toilet at the Dalai Lama's home.
14) Began an addiction to NY Times crossword puzzles and hopefully, in the next decade, proceed past Wednesdays!
15) Became the queen of flashing peace signs in photos.

Ah, good times, good times.

And as I enter this next stage and as my last 101 list from Japan has expired, I'm working on a new list which will be posted here shortly. I'm only on #30 but hope to have it complete by the weekend and then I can start crossing items off.

It's odd because these lists truly reflect what is most important at the time that they were composed. In 2.75 years, perspective changes and items that were once relevant cease to even be a goal any more.

Currently, my list has a very "health-focused" feel to it. This is in part to the fact that I am itching to overcome my back injury and mostly due to my recent readings of books like "Ominivore's Dilemma" & "In Defense of Food," as well as viewings of documentaries like "Food, Inc." However, as I start to approach the time in my life when it's important to make good health decisions for later, there are definitely worse things that I could be focusing on!

I've also been trying to show my hand in the kitchen more often and this evening's shrimp 'n grits and last week's caramel from scratch lead me to believe I might actually find success in more instances than not! I'm going to continue to try new recipes and hopefully stretch myself even more.

Enough for now. The list will be posted shortly and then hopefully Rachel will be back in the blogging world once again!