Well, hello there.
I haven't touched this blog in a number of years, partly because I got busy and partly because I've shied away from adding another voice to the cacophony of the internet. But here I am again. I've found myself with a few thoughts that wanted to be expressed lately. Instagram has become one way to share tidbits, but it's difficult to get much substance into the tiny character box that seems intended more for selling products than introspection.
Nearly a year ago, I started putting together my list of 40 Things Before 40. Do you remember the list of 30 Things Before 30? I completed many of those items, turned 30, and then I fell off the writing train. In the early days of my 30's, I could not face the idea of turning 40 and was hesitant to start a new list for a new decade. So here I am, 36 years old with a new list and only four years to go. There's a life lesson in that.
So...here we go with the new list.
40 Things Before 40
1. Ride on Austin Steam Train.
2. Visit Inner Space Cavern.
3. Visit Big Bend. (completed January 19, 2020)
4. Stargazing at McDonald Observatory. (completed January 18, 2020...can you tell I started my list in January 2020?)
5. Visit Marfa. (completed January 18, 2020) I was underwhelmed by Marfa, but my negative feelings about hipsters and men in skinny jeans might have biased my opinion.
6. Find the perfect crème brûlée recipe. I think I might have found this, thanks to Ina Garten, but I am not opposed to trying more recipes. I LOVE crème brûlée. I spent two nights in Paris a few years ago and had it at dinner both nights.
7. Eat dinner at a revolving restaurant.
8. Go rafting at Moab.
9. Take a cooking class.
10. Learn how to do a lay-up. This might be the hardest to accomplish. Any coordination skills that I might possess disappear when you put a basketball in my hands.
11. Find a go-to bread recipe. I've experimented with sourdough bread, but I'm not satisfied yet. Between this and the crème brûlée I might only have one goal for my 40's...lose weight.
12. Take a Spanish class.
13. Make homemade vanilla.
14. Take a solo trip. (completed in January 2020)
15. Finish some of the classic novels I've started but never finished (Anna Karenina, Far from the Madding Crowd, Oliver Twist).
16. Cook an entire meal from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."
17. Travel to Big Sur.
18. Go sailing.
19. Take a photography class.
20. Read "My Utmost for His Highest."
21. Run a 5K.
22. Memorize a Psalm.
23. Visit Caddo Lake.
24. Buy a kayak.
25. Take a landscape design class.
26. Study the theme of rest in Scripture.
27. See the northern lights.
28. Make some sun art.
29. Try a raw oyster.
30. See the Grand Canyon.
The list is not complete yet. It's not easy to come up with this many things, but I think I have a few years of adventures to tackle, both large and small.
