And we're livin' on a prayer? I dunno. But I'm a little under halfway done with my 1001 days! I contemplated changing things up here at the halfway mark, but at the moment there's not a lot I would change. Maybe a few small tweaks. The biggest thing is COVID-19 and how it will affect. There are a few that it makes impossible or rather difficult, at least, but most of my goals are fairly home/individual-centered. I think I'll take stock again when I have a year left and we'll see if things need to be adjusted.
The best news is I finished some goals this month!
Completed:
16. visit 3 new National Parks
- We visited Crater Lake this time last year, then in July we did Mt. Rainier, and finally over Labor Day weekend, we visited North Cascades (though we technically just drove through the highway and you can't get into the park by car, but we're not serious hikers or anything, so I'm totally counting this one - we saw the park as close as we could!). So we are done! We have really really loved getting to visit the parks here in the Northwest. I would totally do any of these trips again.
- We ate the best cake in India of Epcot when we visited a few years ago for the Food and Wine Festival. It was a pistachio cardamom bundt cake with chocolate coconut cream. I knew we had to at least find a similar recipe to get that goodness in our life, but I happened to find the official recipe! I made it as part of this month's 30-day and we enjoyed it so so much (we're still enjoying it, haha). I highly recommend it!
Updates:
2. digitally transcribe my journals
- I'm working steadily on this now, at least! I do at least a few pages every morning. I got two journals typed this month, though one was super short. I also found a few more random shorter journals to add to the transcription pile, haha. I've got to keep whittling away at this one or I'll never finish.
4. read 100 books in a year
- I hit 92 books this month! I'll definitely hit 100 at this pace. A big shoutout to They Called Us Enemy by George Takei. Why did it take me so long to read this? It's so good.
5. digitize my lifebox
- I have begun in earnest. I have a ton of papers, old report cards, school awards, photos, etc., that won't stand the test of time anyway, and are just taking up a lot of space in the meantime, so I'm scanning everything in! Then I can get rid of things without feeling guilty about it. It's actually pretty hard work, and it's going to take me a while, still. But I'm confident it'll be worth the effort to pare down a few boxes. I'm such a dang packrat, but a lot of these old things really do bring me joy. They can bring me joy digitally instead. :)
18. try 20 new ice creams (local companies) (15/20)
- Our Labor Day trip brought many ice cream opportunities - Cascadian Farms raspberry chocolate chip, Clever Cow Perfectly Peach, Whidbey Island Ice Cream Co. Lavender and Skagit Triple Berry, and finally the Snoqualmie Scoop Shop's Licorice. It was so great to visit so many cute little shops and they were all amazingly delicious.
23. see 30 new animated films (25/30)
- This month I watched Trolls: World Tour, which amazingly had a relevant message? and Children of the Sea, which was all kinds of trippy, but beautifully animated!
31. a year of (silly) holiday celebration
- September's holidays included Make Your Bed Day (because it takes a special holiday to make me do it, hahaha), National Video Game Day, Fortune Cookie Day, and Pepperoni Pizza Day.
35. watch 10 anime series (5/10)
- We finished all of Aggretsuko! It's so cute. And cathartic for my hard-working hub when he gets home from a busy day, hahaha.
58. see 30 new documentaries (22/30)
- Every documentary was amazing this month: Most Likely to Succeed, Boys State, and 63 Up. I could write a blogpost about each of them, but I don't have time for that, so please consider them having my very highest recommendation and watch them if you can! And if you do, tell me so we can geek out together!!
60. r/52weeksofcooking - year-long cooking challenge
Chilean: Churrasco
Caramelization: Miso Caramel Apple Frangipane Tart
Bacon: Bacon Pancakes
Yemeni: Honeycomb Bread (THIS WAS AMAZING)
Dipping: Carrot Fries with Avocado Chimichurri Sauce
72. complete 12 30-day projects
- I know, the suspense was killing you. This month's 30-day project was 30 days of birthday celebration for my cute hub! He turned 30, so it was the perfect time to do it. We did some big things like our Labor Day trip to the coastal islands, and lots of small things like his favorite recipes for dinner and lots of treats. I also organized a secret card submission and had about 20 cards for him to open from friends and family! Many thanks if you sent one - he loved them SO MUCH.
88. support 20 local restaurants/business (13/20)
- I'm not sure if I've updated on this one yet, but we're trying to shop small and support local businesses over chains when we can. We ate a few new restaurants this month! It's fun to explore what's in town, especially when we're still in phase 2 with limited dining capacities. Gotta keep these delicious places in business!
- 5 books this month! I'm so close I can taste the finish, haha. I read a book with the main character in their 20s (Emma), a book set in the 1920s (Mrs. Dalloway), a book I picked because the title caught my attention (100 Days of Sunlight), a banned book during Banned Book Week (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian), and a book about a world leader (Alexander Hamilton!!). That chonker of a book is behind me now! I'm so proud I've finally read it. The others were pretty good, too (except for 100 Days of Sunlight - an interesting title does not a good book make). Just 4 more and I'll be all done!
