One more year!

Well, hello there.  Remember me?  I'm that girl who started a blog a few years ago and then went 15 months without posting.  And I started that great list of 30 Things Before 30 and left you hanging at year 28.  

Oops.  I think I'm a much better blog reader than writer.  

So, without further ado, and to mark one year remaining in the timeline (happy 29th to me!), I give you an update on the list.

11. Travel to Africa.  

I wasn't sure if this was an attainable goal since I worked in Middle East programs, but it turns out that I got to travel to Africa three times last year!

My parents did a six-month stint at a research farm in South Africa last year, and I made a trip down to see them on my way home from Iraq last summer.  Just a little detour on the way home.

I loved South Africa!  We spent most of the time on the farm, which is huge and about two hours from Pretoria.  I did get to see the cheetahs that live on a cheetah reserve on part of the farm.  That was really neat! Mom and dad also took me to visit a nearby reserve where we got to see rhinos, zebras, and giraffes, oh my! The rhinos and giraffes were probably my favorite.  Such cool animals!

I would love to visit South Africa again and see more of the country.  It's such a beautiful and diverse place.

My second and third trips to Africa were to Rwanda for work.  I got to help the staff there develop a monitoring and evaluation plan for a project to build capacity in pyrethrum cooperatives.  Pyrethrum is probably one of the coolest crops that I've seen so far.  It's in the chrysanthemum family, and looks kinda like a daisy.  I had a lot of fun taking pictures of the fields of daisies and mountains.  

Rwanda is one of the most beautiful countries I've been to.  The weather is cool, there are beautiful mountains, and they have avocado trees everywhere.  Really, what more do you need?  

On my second trip there, I got to visit with the pyrethrum farmers to do a needs assessment about gender issues.  I really enjoyed the interaction with the farmers; they are beautiful and hospitable people.

16. Go rock climbing.

So I haven't actually gone to climb real rocks yet, but I did take a rock climbing class at the Rec at Texas A&M with my friend Yanet.  The class was really fun, except for that 20 year old instructor who insinuated that I'm old!  

So, I'm not checking this one off quite yet.  More details to come when I find some real rocks to climb. 

17.  Host a fancy dinner party with real china dishes.

Completed! I didn't use my china, but I have some really pretty white dishes.  And I had cloth napkins, more than one fork, spoon and glass at each place setting.  I even had an appetizer, main course and dessert. 

I think the most fun was planning the menu and then cooking and decorating the table.  I should have been a caterer.

18.  Make cheese from scratch.

I tried this one.  And failed the first time.  One of my 4-H families raises dairy cows, so I got some raw milk from them and a recipe for mozzarella. 

Unfortunately, the cheese came out rubbery and tasteless.  I'll try again, now I'm more determined to do it right. 

23.  Successfully grow a tomato plant. 

I had success last summer!  I planted one in a five-gallon bucket from Home Depot with holes drilled in the bottom.  The bucket worked so much better than other pots I've used.  I got a ton of cherry tomatoes!

Now that I have my own yard, I'm planning a fall garden with several tomato plants.  I can't wait!

That's all the updates for now.  I only have a year left, so the pressure is on to finish the list.  Anybody want to do a Grand Canyon/California road trip in the next year?

More to come on my new job and home ownership (did I mention that I'm not good at blog posting?).