I've Moved

I've moved...cyberly speaking. At least for the next 400 days. The story about my move can be found at http://400goalsin400days.blogspot.com/ which is where I will be recording my efforts to reach 400 goals in the next 400 days. See you there!

#31 Get Sherpani Bag

Today I got... a Timbuk2 bag. Actually I love Sherpani bags...they are really cute, the inside has cute fabric, there are lots of pockets...I just love this brand of bag which is why it was one of my goals. I ordered a Sherpani bag online a week and a half ago and it was delivered yesterday. Unfortunately, the bag was too big. It was a messenger-style bag that looked great online but alas it was too big to comfortably carry around all day. Lesson learned--I always need to buy bags in person because it is really hard to tell if I will like them by just looking at them online. I need to hold them, look inside, check out all of the pockets, etc. So today I took the Sherpani back to REI where I purchased it and since they had very few Sherpani bags at this store, I ended up buying an extra small Timbuk2 bag which I really like. It is small enough to carry around all day but big enough to fit all of my stuff, including my netbook. So this will suffice for my "get a bag" goal.

Goal count (2 completed/98 to go)

#69 Eat a Persimmon and a Star Fruit

Today I crossed the first goal off my list of 100 goals for 2010. Yes, I am starting a month and a half early but if you saw how many goals I DIDN'T accomplish on my last list, you will see that I need all of the help (and head start) I can get!

So today I had to first go to three stores to even find these two types of exotic fruits. The first had a really expensive persimmon ($1.99 each for a scrawny one) and no star fruit. The second had neither persimmon or star fruit, and the third store had both. So I made my purchase, went home with high expectations, and prepared my fruit (after using eHow to figure out how to eat both of these fruit). They were both, unfortunately, unremarkable. I'm not sure if they were correctly ripe (the star fruit seemed over ripe and the persimmon seemed under ripe), but both didn't taste all that great. Which is unfortunate because I tend to love all fruit.

Goal count (1 completed/99 to go)

100 Goals for 2010

I have some huge plans for the upcoming year. Here's my list of goals to achieve between now and the end of 2010:

1. Do Alaska cruise.
2. Do Caribbean cruise.
3. Go to CT/NY/Boston.
4. Visit family in Colorado.
5. Visit Japan.
6. Visit Philippines.
7. Visit Victoria BC.
8. Visit Vancouver BC.
9. Visit Portland.
10. Visit Atlanta.
11. Go to Europe.
12. Take cruise from Europe to the US.
13. Visit Las Vegas.
14. Visit Hawaii.
15. Get pardon for Sarah.
16. Pay off Target.
17. Pay off 2009 taxes.
18. Walk a marathon.
19. Go to a Dave Ramsey event.
20. Visit Stehekin.
21. Visit San Juans.
22. Have all yard landscaped.
23. Ride my bike from Canada to Mexico.
24. Pay off 2008 taxes.
25. Go to the Edgar Cayce ARE center.
26. Renew vows with hubby.
27. Buy a car for hubby with cash.
28. Fully fund IAC.
29. Go to Tillicum Village.
30. Go to a day spa.
31. Get a Sherpani bag.
32. Have five monetized websites.
33. Earn black belt in karate.
34. Be a certified yoga instructor.
35. Ride Seattle to Portland (STP) ride.
36. Earn a bachelors degree.
37. Take an EMT course.
38. Learn basic Chinese.
39. Give hubby $1000 emergency fund.
40. Give hubby $100 wallet fund.
41. Pay off one of hubby's credit cards $10,000.
42. Go skiing.
43. Fix mainline drain.
44. Get new siding for house.
45. Sing on Wowowee.
46. All tech (flip video, new cell, i touch, new laptop).
47. Go to hot springs.
48. Have a book published.
49. Be conversational in Japanese.
50. Know all forms of Spanish verbs.
51. Go to I Can Do It conference.
52. Go to Sturgis motorcycle rally.
53. Be on the Oprah show.
54. Do something big for my family.
55. Be in a parade.
56. Ride the Chilly Hilly.
57. Earn a Volksmarch patch.
58. Have a memorable Christmas.
59. Start an exercise club.
60. Buy a building.
61. Settle my car debt.
62. Go to High Tea.
63. Go to mosque with Meliha.
64. Apply for 10 IAC grants.
65. Apply for 10 scholarships.
66. Attend the Seattle gay pride parade.
67. Go to San Francisco Chinatown.
68. Increase emergency fund to $2000.
69. Eat a persimmon and a star fruit.
70. Get pictures of mom.
71. Do a detox.
72. Do a no spend week.
73. Go rafting.
74. Skydive with Ricardo.
75. Go to the Highland Games.
76. Take hubby on date to make ceramics.
77. Go geocaching.
78. Go brush picking for the day with Sonia.
79. Meet someone famous (preferably Vehnee Saturno).
80. Do the climbing wall.
81. Give a killer presentation (preferably on immigration).
82. Become totally connected via cell.
83. Do a big bonding thing with each niece and nephew.
84. Shoot IPSC.
85. Do an adventure race.
86. Send a message in a bottle.
87. Have dermabrasion done.
88. Give hubby a tricked out i Touch.
89. Give $100 to five random people.
90. Do daily photo project each day for a year.
91. Lay down in the middle of the road, just because I've never done it before.
92. Use my healing hands on five people.
93. Do the homeless for 24 hours sleep out.
94. Devise a stellar Go Bag.
95. Be a tourist in Seattle.
96. Strip at a strip club (a once in a lifetime, totally off the wall activity).
97. Visit 14 different kinds of churches (one each month).
98. Take a trip via Amtrak.
99. Participate in a flashmob.
100. Do not bounce a single check for the duration of this project.

That's it. On my mark, get set, GO! Duration of the project will be starting today (November 7, 2009) and ending on the last day of 2010 (December 31, 2010).

2009 Goal List Update

Way back in February, I created a 100 goals in 100 days list. I am a bit disappointed that I only reached 28 of 100 goals as the list shows below, however I didn't put a whole lot of effort into it. I am now in the planning stages for my 2010 goals (read next post). Here's what I did with my 2009 goals:


The Magic 100 List

100 goals to complete in 100 days (Begin Feb 8, 2009. End May 18, 2009)

1. Do a different sport every day
2. Go to Vegas
3. Alaska cruise
4. Go to Connecticut
5. Get dental work done
6. 20,000 visits a month on CNI
7. Go to Vancouver or Victoria BC
8. Go to Hawaii
9. Set family reunion cruise
10. Be a small size six
11. Pay off 2007 tax
12. Pay off Macys
13. Pay off US Air MC
14. Pay off 2008 tax
15. Get IAC in national media
16. Get CPR certification
17. Get HAM radio license
18. DH do WPT or WSOP poker tourney
19. Host huge IAC event
20. Get $50,000 in funding for IAC
21. Buy tickets for PI and S Caribbean cruise
22. Go to Hot Springs
23. Have $1,000 in emergency fund
24. Find perfect travel backpack
25. Do EMS ride along
26. Watch scary movie with DH
27. Redo laundry room (including new washer and dryer)
28. All yard landscaped
29. Write compelling letter to Obama
30. Get Richard LeMieux on Oprah or Ellen
31. Get a pardon for Sarah
32. Buy a BMW with cash
33. Complete one PMP Spanish book
34. Walk a marathon
35. Get a new digital camera
36. Get a netbook
37. Me and DH get matching tattoos
38. Visit Bastyr
39. Build a website for a new client
40. Grow vegetables
41. Go camping
42. Have the mother of all garage sales
43. Get life insurance
44. Get a Glock
45. Get a rifle
46. Get a shotgun
47. Be able to do a front walkover and back walkover with ease
48. Play in a poker tournament
49. Toss all of my underwear and get all new undies and bras
50. Attend event at Unity Church
51. Walk through a graveyard at night with DH
52. Make my own ice cream
53. Go to Mosque with Meliha
54. Understand basic chemistry
55. Catch seafood for dinner (clam, crab, fish, etc)
56. Visit Edgar Cayce’s ARE
57. Do Indian sweat lodge
58. Do an oil painting
59. Visit San Francisco’s Chinatown
60. Nominate someone for Woman of Achievement award
61. Stop all KRRC work
62. Get pictures of mom
63. Upload a video to YouTube
64. Send postcard to Post Secret
65. Ride bike Canada to Mexico
66. Read Anna Keranina
67. Try acupuncture
68. Start learning Chinese
69. Video me singing Kung Para Sa Yo and send it to Willy
70. Learn the tango
71. Find and watch Korean Love Truly series
72. Detail DH’s van inside and out
73. Have awesome skin
74. Take an anthropology class
75. Start a SADD club in Forks
76. Have 100 people a day reading my SYTA blog
77. Buy a killer bathing suit for travel this summer
78. Have black and white photos taken of me
79. Get a college scholarship
80. Work on a Habitat for Humanity home
81. Go skinny dipping or streaking
82. Comment on 50 blogs
83. Make jewelry
84. Take bus from my home to Ocean Shores and back
85. Visit the Salvation Army and help out
86. Go to Tillicum Village
87. Cheer someone on in a physical challenge
88. Be a tourist in Seattle and take lots of pictures
89. Eat a brussel sprout
90. Sing on Wowowee
91. Interview someone I admire from TED for an article that gets published
92. Talk about immigration issue on the Oprah show
93. Secure the land permanently for KRRC
94. Meet Vehnee Saturno
95. Write a song that is bought by a famous singer and becomes a number one hit
96. Go skydiving with Ricardo
97. Read The Alchemist
98. Design and make my own bag/purse
99. Brand and build a totally portable business
100. Ride along with the police

Adventures in Odd Behavior

I was at a conference this week and of course hubby came along. We happened to go to a pizza restaurant (pizza was OK but not spectacular) where I noticed that they had a chalk outline of a body on the floor. I'm not sure if it is part of their usual decor or was there specifically because Halloween was coming up. Anyway, I had a flashback to the commercial for the TV show 'Psych' where the detective walks by a chalk outline then walks over and lays down within the lines--funny. So I suggested hubby lay down on the floor so I could get a picture. After a bunch of comments like "no" and "are you crazy" we were walking out of the restaurant and he walked over then laid down on the floor. I snapped a quick picture, he got up, and we left the restaurant. I wonder if anyone else has done this there? The people didn't seem particularly shocked. Hubby is totally a good sport!

Adventures in Restaurant Finding

We were out of town at a conference and were in need of sustenance for dinner. Here's our basic guidelines when looking for somewhere to eat in a location we are unfamiliar with:

• No chain restaurants if at all possible.


• Hole-in-the-wall restaurants get bonus points.


• The parking lot needs to have cars in it, the more the better.


• The cars need to belong to LOCALS not other tourists!


• Price is a definite consideration--charging an exorbitant amount for something I can cook at home will be a definite deal killer.

So we were driving around an unfamiliar town with no specific destination in mind other than finding something to eat before every restaurant in town shut down for the night (a definite problem in many small towns as compared to places like New York where you can find awesome food at any time of the day or night but I digress...) and we found a place that met the above criteria. It was a barbecue restaurant (yum), a small, house-like place, definitely not a chain, and with lots of cars in front of it. We parked and went in and saw no one there (hubby gets the credit for pointing out all of the cars in the parking lot...we later found out the front part of the place was a USED CAR LOT...duh).

We checked out the menu and it turned out to be a Korean barbecue restaurant. The lady who worked there was so nice that we decided to give it a try. Luckily we didn't leave because the food was reasonably priced, came in copious amounts (it was enough for dinner, lunch the next day, and a midnight snack the next night!), was really tasty, and was served with miso soup, cold sliced meat, cold noodles, and egg/potato pancakes that came as an appetizer at no charge! What a bargain! The best part was that Yung, our waitress/owner/cook, was so friendly and nice. We had an ongoing conversation as we ate our delicious dinner and I learned a little about her and Korea.

Conversing with the locals is the absolute best way to find out about them individually as well as about the place you are at. Everyone has a story, usually it is totally fascinating, and making connections as you go along in life feels like an important thing to do, whether or not you ever see the person again.

Restaurant info: Ace BBQ; 6828 Martin Way East; Olympia, WA