I'll have a post soon about some of the incredible things that I saw and did on my trip. I pushed my personal limits and was rewarded for doing it. Who knows, maybe my next step is skydiving??
I'll be doing a complete update on my journey soon... probably with a few details left out to protect the guilty. ;)
At the beginning of the year, this was my list. Some of these things were to be done around our trip down under, so I have a quick update on where things stand:
1.
Be more positive
Being on vacation for so long has both helped and hurt this goal. I desperately
needed a vacation after not having time off for over a year, but now that I’ve
been to Australia, all I can think about is how I can move there permanently.
2.
Lose ~13% of body weight (or eat healthier and exercise at least
3x a week)
I was at 8% before vacation, but I put 5 pounds back on during vacation… mostly
due to drinking excessively and eating sweets! Now I’m back to a reasonable
diet and exercise plan… although it’s taking me a while to get back to the
working out portion. I’m still having some problems with jetlag.
3.
Start a few plants from seed for the garden
Some of my plants reseeded themselves! I shouldn’t have even attempted any
garden plans this year, since I was gone when I should have been planting.
4.
Come up with a new budget and stick to it
I’ve done a pretty good job of this. We also stuck to our Australia budget,
apart from upgrading our flights at the end of the trip, which put us over
budget.
5.
Get rid of the red couch and chair that I freaking HATE
Still not yet. Then again, if there is any chance that we are moving to Australia,
I’ll live with the stupid couch.
6.
Purchase new furniture and decorate downstairs
See number 5. If I can make my dream a reality, decorating isn’t very high on
my priorities list.
7.
Put together a time capsule for our house
I have it, but it's sitting downstairs on my kitchen counter. Still.
8.
Blog at least twice a week
I may catch up eventually. This shouldn’t count for any time that I’m on
vacation, so I get a pass.
9.
Get organized - important documents, books, seasonal items, etc.
I’ll get there.
10.
Be in good enough shape to hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (aka
Mount Doom) in New Zealand
I definitely could have done it, but unfortunately the weather wasn’t good for
that hike while we were there. When (yes, WHEN, not if) we go back, hopefully
it will be during summer or early spring so that we don’t have to contend with
snow. It IS the “ALPINE” crossing after all.
11.
Raise a small flock of chickens for meat (at least six)
Hmm. We’ll see about this. I think that Mouse might be a candidate for the soup
pot soon. He’s terrorizing some of our new chickens and he’s attacked me a few
too many times. Last time he even left a mark on my leg.
12.
Sell some eggs, otherwise we'll be overrun when the new chickens
start laying
I will definitely need to do this. Guess I should order a big supply of egg
cartons.
13.
Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, even though I'm scared of being
eaten by a shark
Completed! Not to mention my fear of deep water, which apparently I am getting
over. Actually, I went scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef AND saw a 4~5
foot white tipped reef shark! We also saw carpet sharks (which Jay tried to
pet) during our first dive at Cook Island when we were in Coolangatta. Scuba
diving was such an unexpected joy for me, and I am planning to get my open
water certification in time for #25.
14.
Snuggle a koala
Possibly one of the most amazing things in my entire life. Her name was Tiger
Lily and she was the sweetest thing ever.
15.
Install the heat pump downstairs
It is delightfully cool in our entire house, I am happy to report.
16.
Make room in the budget for a cleaning service
Still working on this one. I’m pretty sure we’re going to do it though. When we
got back from vacation, we saw what a mess our house ends up being without us
there for 3 weeks. Apparently two cats is enough to destroy a house in no time
at all.
17.
Get the crawl space insulated
We’ll see how we make out with having the second heat pump.
18.
Have photos done and send Christmas cards out this year
I need to meet up with Laura Dye to get these pictures done. Although we have
so many great ones from our trip, I might have to photoshop Santa Hats on our
heads.
19.
Fence in yard
We have the rear privacy fence up. Love the look of it and would like to do the
entire yard like this… we’ll see though.
20.
Hatch out some silkie and black/red star mixes
We did and they have turned out to be pretty funky looking! Unfortunately I’m
pretty sure that two of them are going to be roosters. So we might be eating a
few more chicken dinners.
21.
Say no and not feel guilty afterwards
Doing this more often and I would say that I've been quite successful. The more often I do it, the less guilty I feel. Being on
this trip made me remember that I have an awesome husband that I want to spend
time with, so I’m trying very hard to not book up all of our weekends months in
advance so that we can do more on our own as a couple.
22.
Have an awesome time at the Mardi Gras Ball
I did have an awesome time, although I must say that I was quite happy and
relieved when it was all over. I was even happy to clean up the next day!
23.
Can tomatoes from our garden
I will can some tomatoes if we actually get some this year! I might cheat and
buy an already potted porch type plant.
24.
Print "before" collages to frame and hang in the house
I’ll do it one of these days. Now my big job is to download all of the photos
from vacation… there are HEAPS of photos.
25.
Use at least one week of our time share
We’re booking using our friend Leslie’s Shareholder status, which gets us a
discounted daily rate and a sweet villa. I’m still waiting to hear back from
some of the people that I’ve invited. Now that I’ve had quite the adventurous
trip down under, I’m worried that our lounge-around-in-the-sun-eat-and-drink vacation
might be a little boring, so I’m planning to do horseback riding, a diving trip
and some whitewater rafting while we’re there.
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