A little bit of explanation

Attend an Opera
I’ve always considered myself a music lover, and I like to think of myself as cultured. Some people have the mistake idea that I’m glamorous. To me, the ultimate in music loving is appreciating opera. The ultimate in glamour in my mind is attending an opera live, all dressed up and fancy.

Be a Mentor
There are so many people who have mentored me in my life, and I’m sure there will be more; teachers, relatives, professors, friends, roommates, work associates. I feel a great debt to these people and can pay them back only by passing on the mentoring. I have learned so much from so many, and the greatest thing anyone can do with their wisdom and knowledge is to pass it on, to teach others from my mistakes and the mistakes others have made so that they don’t have to make them. I want to contribute in a positive way to the people around me, the people who make up the world I live in. Mentoring is the best contribution I can think of.

Be a tourist in my own town
I’ve always thought that I live in boring places…Ridgecrest, Inyokern, Winnemucca, Rexburg…these are not the places you think of when you think of a destination. And yet, people come to these places, and they enjoy them. There are museums, there are touristy things, and there are amazing works of art and funky shops everywhere, not just in the big cities. My goal is to come to appreciate these things I tend to look to large cities (or at least “cooler” small towns than my town) for in my own community. I think it’s important to shop local, but I rarely do. I think it’s important to support the local arts, but I never do. I drive around town and notice things that would make great photos, but I never have my camera, so I never stop. I want to learn to carry my camera, even when I’m at home. To go into the small stores when I’m looking for a gift instead of pulling up Amazon.com. To attend the local museums and cultural events. To appreciate the awesomeness of my community and stop wishing to be somewhere else.

Blow bubbles off a bridge or tall building
This just sounds like fun. Serious fun. Even better, get a whole bunch of people to do it with me. Can you imagine? A thousand people blowing bubbles off a bridge or a skyscraper? Holy awesome.

Buy a Hammock
There is something about hammocks that has always appealed to me. Maybe it’s the image of a lazy summer afternoon, lounging in the hammock with a good book and a never ending supply of lemonade. Maybe it’s the picture of a family piled in, laughing together. Maybe it’s the thought of curling up in it for some alone time with my husband. Whatever it is, I’ve always wanted one. One of those free standing ones would be nice, but even better would be one we can string up between two trees in our backyard, take on camping trips and relax.

100 things begins

I have a file on the desktop of my computer. 100 Things. It's a list of 100 things I want to do in my life, and I thought I would start writing little blurbs about each one to explain why this generally random thing is something I want to do. And then I thought I should post it on the blog because I've been too lazy to write anything specifically for the blog lately. So I'll begin by posting my list, then in the coming weeks or months, post my paragraphs on each one. I've mentioned this list before, but I've changed a few things since then. It's also only 99 things, because I can't seem to come up with just one more thing I want to do. Well, I can, there's another list of things I'd like to do that I don't really have control over, kind of a goal list for my friends, if you will. It's in alphabetical order, not order of importance.

1. Attend an opera
2. Be a mentor
3. Be a tourist in my own town
4. Blow bubbles off a bridge or tall building
5. Buy a hammock
6. Buy a home
7. Buy nothing for a month
8. Eat no sugar/chocolate/sweets for a month
9. Get a graduate degree
10. Get a passport
11. Get a professional manicure and pedicure
12. Get my BMI to the normal range (18.5-24.9) http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
13. Give $1000 to a charity in one lump sum
14. Give birth
15. Go a month without the internet
16. Go backpacking
17. Go fishing
18. Go horseback riding
19. Go on a senior couple mission
20. Go to a drive-in movie
21. Go to Australia
22. Go to India
23. Have a romantic candle-lit meal
24. Head a Relay-for-Life team
25. Hike Mt Whitney
26. Hike to Hanging Lake again
27. Host a party for more than 100 guests
28. Keep fresh flowers in the house for a year
29. Kiss under fireworks
30. Learn a foreign language
31. Learn an instrument
32. Learn ballroom dancing
33. Learn how to give a massage
34. Learn to cut guys’ hair
35. Learn to dive
36. Learn to juggle
37. Learn to play chess
38. Learn to ride a motorcycle
39. Learn yoga
40. Live alone
41. Make a quilt (begun 7.3.2009)
42. Make a will
43. Make beef jerky
44. Make pasta from scratch
45. Marry in the temple
46. Own 1000 books
47. Participate actively in a political cause
48. Participate in the Avon Breast Cancer Walk
49. Pay off all current consumer debt (July 09) and avoid future debt
50. Pay off all student loans
51. Photograph a wedding
52. Plant a tree
53. Primitive camp for a week straight
54. Publish something
55. Read 5000 individual books
56. Read and visit Walden Pond
57. Reupholster something on my own
58. Ride a camel or an elephant
59. Ride in a limousine
60. Road trip across the United States
61. Road trip up the West Coast (San Diego to Canada) (Taking CA Highway 1 as far as possible)
62. Run a 10k
63. See Wicked live
64. Sew a blessing outfit for each of our children
65. Shoot a bulls-eye
66. Sing a solo in public again
67. Ski or snowboard
68. Sleep in a tree
69. Sleep on a beach (no tent)
70. Snorkel in a coral reef
71. Spend a day at home without using electricity or fossil fuels (incl. batteries)
72. Spend a year outside the USA
73. Spend at least 24 hours in each of the 50 states
74. Start and maintain a savings account
75. Surf
76. Swim in the Great Salt Lake
77. Take a cruise
78. Take a fencing class
79. Take a floral arranging course
80. Take a hot air balloon ride
81. Take a long train ride
82. Throw a dart onto a map and travel to where it lands
83. Throw a theme party
84. Visit a rainforest
85. Visit Manzanar
86. Visit the British Isles (England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland)
87. Visit the Grand Canyon
88. Visit the Holy Land
89. Visit the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park
90. Visit Washington DC and tour the White House, Congress, the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian
91. Vote every election (including local ones)
92. Watch the sun rise
93. Wear grownup perfume
94. Winter camp
95. Witness a solar eclipse
96. Work on a Habitat for Humanity house
97. Write a book
98. Write Brian every week of his mission (begun 5.13.09)
99. Write something every day for a year