I Should Have Learned Some Russian

Well I have reached a new low as it has now been 9 months since my last blog update. While I was going to wait a little longer this time, I was thinking more like July or August. Oh well...lots of grace for myself and just continuing to move forward. Not my most thorough update ever, but I did get some big things crossed off at least.

#140 go to 10 Pacers games (7 done)

The Pacers were a whole lot of fun to watch this year. After they were roundly criticized for who they got in the Paul George trade, it was so cool to watch this team come together and play with such a selfless attitude. Plus it was pretty awesome to see what a great season Victor Oladipo had and how he embraced the city. Looking forward to this next season starting up soon!

#131 let someone plan a trip for me
Ashleyne and I headed back down to Orlando to go visit Kristen and it was great not having to think about any of the details for this trip.

#173 go canoeing or kayaking

Kristen's apartment is right on a lake and it was so relaxing to paddle out and sit there in the stillness with just the breeze blowing across the water.

#252 go barefoot for a whole day
I had a nice chill day that only required walking down to the lake and out to the parking lot to pick up pizza. Now that is a pretty good combination in my book!

#124 go to Disney World

I hadn't been to Disney World since high school. It started out as a crappy rainy day, but it was a nice day of walking around Epcot (which Kristen's friend got us in for free!) and eating lots of delicious food.

#287 don't watch TV 1 day a week for 50 weeks
This was just a good thing for me to be intentional in at least once a week unplugging from needless background noise.

#13 read Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

I love the story of Les Miserables, but the unabridged version is LONG (a theme with a lot of these classics, which is why I still have so many of them to plow through) so it took me awhile to get through it. I also got to go see the show in March with my friend Hannah. It was so well done- every song was amazing, the set was great, and the company was fun. I never get tired of seeing it and it has such beautiful themes running through it of grace, mercy, redemption, and selfless love. "To love another person is to see the face of God."

#126 go overseas
It is hard to sum up 10 days and how much impact it can have on your life. Although they only scratch the surface, here's a link to my letter that I wrote after I got back and some pictures from the trip.

 Our team at the airport

 Right after we arrived in Kyiv (Kiev)

 My buddy Sophie- we sent daily recaps via Marco Polo back to the US

 Ali & Svetlana who are both in the US but from Ukraine

Hanging out waiting for the metro

YWAM base where we stayed

 A fun outing to the water park for the kids on their last day

 Tearful goodbyes

 One of my favorite pictures from the trip with Dima & the girls

Here's a great video that Kohen made of our trip. It makes me cry every time!

#288 find the right hat (in process)

 

We hung out a mall one afternoon and my friend Jordan tried to help me find the right hat. I would say that the search continues.

#203 attend an opera
The Kyiv opera house was beautiful and I enjoyed Eugene Onegin, although we only stayed for part of it since it was 3+ hours and it had been a very long week. They had a little bit of ballet in it too, which I loved watching.

 

 

As a little extra enjoyment for my dedicated readers, here's a picture of me working on my Ukranian model pose. Definitely a future career possibility. Actually this is just what happens when I'm asked to stand and pose for more than a few seconds. I get uncomfortable and can't hold still when someone's looking at me. Truly lovely neck positioning. : )

#272 participate in a competition

Yay for climbing buddies!! Climb Time had a climbing competition that was a little intimidating, but a lot of fun. It was a great night hanging out with all of the other members. Aaron & Carolyn are two of my favorites and I actually just got to see them get married a week ago. Just because we look so much prettier than we normally do when we're climbing, here's a wedding picture with our other climbing buddies Sheena & Ryan.

#142 go to 10 Indians games (8 done)
A beautiful night for a church outing and hanging out with some of the youth!

 

#202 do something artistic
We all know that I am not artistic in the least. So I went into this outing at Painting with a Twist with my friend Julie with very low expectations. I was looking forward to hanging out with her and not caring how my painting would actually turn out.

Oh, the best laid plans. I had a nervous pit in my stomach the entire time and was totally stressed out. And that was with not caring how it turned out! There is something seriously wrong with me.

 

I think if I had been facing forward throughout the process I would have gotten my dimensions more accurate to how they were supposed to be and not having to try and fix things as I went. Also, turns out that I managed to select one of the hardest paintings that they have. Of course.

Our finished products

(Side note: my roommate says mine looks like a mushroom cloud, which is now all I can see.)

#33 read John Adams by David McCullough

For some reason, this one took me a long time to get through. It was really interesting though since I didn't know much about John Adams' life. I think a lot of people tend to romanticize the Founding Fathers and everything that took place back then, but government & politics were definitely really messy from the very beginning.

#132 visit Brown County

This is my friend Gail. We sort of have a random friendship- she and her husband Chris used to go to church with me and she worked at the Curves where I worked out. And I went to a party at her house once celebrating her ridiculous hiking abilities. (FYI she has currently hiked about 1,200 miles of the 2,189ish miles of the Appalachian Trail. Yikes.) We've maybe seen each other once in the last five years, but it was so much fun spending the afternoon with her down in Brown County. It was a beautiful day to ride around in her purple Jeep (have I mentioned how cool she is??) and see some of the places she goes hiking down there. Such a great way to spend a day off.

So the countdown is now at 30 months until I turn 40!! Time to get serious about working on this list and getting things knocked off of it. Thanks to everyone who's been helping me get things completed or offered to help in the future!