The Decade List

Now that I am 30, there are a few things I want to do in my next decade. This is by no means a comprehensive list. Also, in no particular order.

• Skydive
• Spend a month in Europe
• Take a knife techniques class (for in the kitchen, though the other class could be cool, too)
• Write a book and shop it around
• Write a screenplay
• Travel to at least 2 different continents
• Find a bunch of Daddy's German records (you didn't think I would leave out the Family Historying did you?)
• Possibly go back to school for a Masters, or to Culinary school
• Save up for the perfect kitchen, which will include this (or a form of this--I dream about this oven)
• Return to some of my acting/musical roots--community theatre-wise, maybe.
• Find a regular gig where I can sing Jazz at a piano for hours
• Meet a regular make-out partner--er, potential boyfriend (er, Richard Armitage?)
• Go visit all the friends I haven't seen in ages (you know who you are! and I miss you!)
• Beg Daddy to make me another bookshelf, and buy a house with room for it. . . and a library
• Save up a nest egg
• Get my food storage set and rotated at regular intervals (I totally need to schedule it better)
• Take a few dancing classes (possibly Tango--I think those little flick-kicks are the sexiest things ever)
• Go to Comic-Con (Yes, I am a geek, but if you know what this is, you are too)
• Attend a session at all the Temples on the Eastern seaboard (I have done 4 of them: Palmyra, DC, Raleigh, and Orlando so far)
• Go to more cultural events (I miss when I used to be a season ticket holder at the ballet--don't you love how snobby that sounds?)
• Write to Sean once a week while he is on his mission (I am a terrible corresponder, so this will be a feat!)
• Read more spiritually-inspired books (I struggle with anything non-fiction lately)
• Get a food processor that works
• Invest in some really top quality kitchen knives
• Learn to can more and do it.
• Make a list of the books I've read, and start keeping track of what I thought about them--maybe booklist them for fun (Ah, Jen, I obviously miss your book lists)
• Go to the library more, rather than buying every thing I am craving
• Learn to relax more.
• Create more Doctor Who, Veronica Mars, Pushing Daisies fans
• Tell my friends more that I adore them.

Okay, so I am sure there are more, but there are 30 to start off with.

Canning

http://www.feministmormonhousewives.org/?p=2048

She's inspired me. Maybe we should have a funky canning party. . . I'm not sure what we should can, but what is better than a fun food storage party, while also eating locally, and having fun with friends? Making freezer jam earlier this summer, I thought of those hours spent with my mother and grandmother canning anything and everything.

Days of picking then coring apples. Strapping on the special raspberry-jar aprons that would hold two large mason jars if you squeezed them in just right. Running your hands over the raised "Mason" while sweating in the hot, July sun. The color of fresh berries sparkling in the jar; the stain of reds and purples soaking into your skin--not quite washing out at the end of the day.

Shucking corn in the garage while singing random songs with your siblings, continually trying to brush off the white-blond hairs that match your siblings' in color if not in texture. Taking a jar of the best hot sauce ever to a neighbor. Sneaking almost-ripe grapes from the vine, wishing for the fruity burst to be sweeter, eyes scrunching as the too-tart, yet sticky-sweet juices mingle in your mouth. Hoping mom won't notice as you sneak a slice of pear off the cutting board, snapping beans becoming more muscle memory than work, or "accidentally" losing the fresh peas in your mouth.

I think making freezer jam is fun, but who has room in their freezer? I love how she describes the color-filled jars. It reminds me of my grandmother, and my mother, and countless women who have come before me. Yep. I don't have room for a garden, but it may be time for a canning party. I even have special shelves for it. Anybody interested?

Latest bloggernacle addictions. . . (In no particular order)

Yes, ever since Abby introduced me to Google Reader, I have been addicted. Crazily so, but I feel so much more informed these days. And I can gloss over anything I am not in the mood for (and thus live in my happy, little bubble).

Every so often, I get on a Mormon blog kick. Happy Monday and welcome to the bloggernacle.

Reveling in sisterhood:
http://www.feministmormonhousewives.org/?p=2043 - Sometimes it is awash in the shifting waters of feminism, other times it is advice asked for, given, and shared from a loving sister or mom, and sometimes it is just a beautiful celebration of sisterhood. Recently they have had an addicted-to-feministmormonhousewives.org non-Mormon guest-writer post about why she loves reading it despite not being one of that faith and an in-depth discussion of Sister Dalton's talk at conference and the connotations of the word virtue, but nothing is as poignant as this moment where a sister shares her heartache, and hundreds of sisters across the globe mourn with one who mourns.

Catching up with the Mormon World:
http://deseretnews.com/ldsnews/ - Some interesting articles that keep me up to date with the church in Utah, which leads me to. . .

Catching up with the Mormon blog World:
http://mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/today_bloggernacle/ - I enjoy randomly reading Mormon blogs around the world. Seeing someone else's faithful perspective is always interesting. They comment on everything from the most recent Sunday School Lessons, Family History updates, church press releases, to a general listing of a bunch of blogs encompassing a faithful perspective of the world we live in. It is nice to know you are not always alone in how you perceive things, and that not everyone acts like they belong in a seminary video. . .

Sometimes a little too close to home:
http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/ - The writer has an interesting way of lampooning people I have actually met. But sometimes the way those people act actually rubs me a little wrong, and I end up seething after I read the blog. Though, where else can you automatically hear David Archeleta and vote on whether President Uchtdorf is a "wrinkle-free babe?!?" Sometimes I want to stop. I really should, but I am not sure I can.

Cooking with the Mos:
http://mormonfoodie.blogspot.com/ - It isn't all funeral potatoes (though he does touch on them) and jello salad. Though I wept through his peanut butter phase (Sadly, I am recently--okay 6 years now--allergic), I can't wait to try the Eggs Benedict recipe.

Mormon in the City:
http://ladyholiday.blogspot.com/ - Though I didn't know her well when she left NC, I feel like I have gotten to know New York better (as well as the author) by reading her blog. I love her recent catalog of churches in her neighborhood.

A completely different perspective:
http://mormonhusbands.blogspot.com/ - Being neither male nor married makes me completely the opposite of this fellow, but he has some amusing insights. From Western NC (so, he does have some perspective I get) this fellow comments on missions, Twilight, and baby namings, and yet, I am amused. His Twilight Rap is just weird, but the baby namings game was fun (and somewhat truthful), and one of his sponsors "HusbandHero" just makes me laugh. Ingenious--I wish I had thought of it first!

Mormons at the movies:
http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/ - Eric is a movie critic who just happens to be Mormon. I enjoy his little comments at the end of each review as to why a specific movie got which rating. I really enjoy his really bad movie reviews (Yeah, Fridays!), but I adore Snide Remarks due to the college nostalgia (though this Monday's was not as good as it usually is).

Quick tidbits to make you snicker, when you don't have time for a full blog:
http://overheardintheward.com/ - Kind of a twitter of Mormon blogs, you can revel in a small tidbit of things you may have almost encountered in your own ward. I spent a lunch hour one day going back through and laughing until I cried. Fun stuff.