Holy moley there are a lot of things going on these days, all while not much is going on. (For a perfect example, right now I've settled into the lifestyle of my 63 and almost 77 year old parents - waking up early, running errands, going to the gym, making dinner, in bed by 9:30. It's not a bad life, but it's also good when I can break out and have some social time with people who don't qualify for senior citizen discounts…)
That said, there a life change that is coming (details have to be ironed out before I tell them all, but it's going to be pretty cool, I promise), and because I have some time before that opportunity starts, I've made a few goals to be completed in the interim.
I've got about 100 days to be here, in Lacey, spending time with my parents, and being able to focus on some things that sometimes fall by the wayside when I'm living elsewhere. These goals are pretty damn optimistic, but that's at least partly why I'm putting them out there on the interwebs. Group accountability, or peer pressure to not fuck up, as it's also called.
So today is September 10, and 100 days from now is December 18. By then, I would like to say that I have achieved all these goals, and I do truly believe that if I do, I'll be in a great (and way better) place, mentally, emotionally, and physically to begin the next adventure. Ready? Here we go…
By December 18, 2015, I will:
1. Finish the School Nutrition class I am currently enrolled in
2. Begin and finish the Childhood Wellness class that is the second in that certificate program
3. Plan, write, and layout my coffee table book - get everything done except getting it published
4. Post all the pictures that I took from my trip over the summer on facebook
5. Send out the letters and cards that are on my "send these things to people" list
6. Spend 50 hours improving my Irish and old-timey fiddling
7. Spend 50 hours practicing the guitar
8. Complete a 100 day burpee challenge
9. Complete the 100 Happy Days challenge on Instagram
10. Do one thing every day that I have never done before
11. Complete my LinkedIn profile (and make it absolutely kick ass)
12. Write and publish 35 blog posts
13. Write 7 food-based articles/papers
14. Read 5 books of at least 200 pages
15. Sell 100 pieces of Silver Hilltops Designs jewelry
16. Write and send 5 letters to inspirational women in the world
17. Go to the gym 35 times
18. Complete 30 swimming workouts
19. Run 150 miles
20. Master 5 Julia Child recipes
Now these are certainly not going to be easy - definitely some of them, I'm already wondering if I can get them all the way completed in that space of time. But 100 days isn't nothing - and I'd like to think that if I can stay motivated, I can do all of these things. (I mean, look at this - already today, I've done 1 burpee, I've gone to the gym, I've written a blog post, I've instagrammed my happy moment, and I've learned something new.)
WHEW!
Let's see how this next 99 days goes….keep me accountable, internet!
-Bethy
Showing posts with label decisions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label decisions. Show all posts
Friday, September 11, 2015
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Epic Diamond Road Trip - Day 3, Part 1: All Poutine, All Day
We woke up in Montreal set for a long day of driving...but first, breakfast in the lobby! The hotel was in Chinatown, and so was decorated appropriately. The whole middle part of the lobby was a huge pond with bridges running side to side, and there were goldfish in the water. (I made J take a picture...)
The breakfast was pretty good - I mean, it was hotel breakfast buffet food, so how good could it be, right? Fun times though, there were quite a few Chinese dishes along with the eggs, waffles, and sausages.
We then drove a route out of town that took us past the stadium built for the 1976 Olympics. The stadium has the tallest inclined tower in the world (more than three times as tall as the Leaning Tower of Pisa!) We didn't get out and look because we had a TON of mileage to go, but
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| It really didn't look that tall, but when you imagine how tall the tower is, just think about how large that stadium is! |
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| On the road again... |
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| Tunnels out of the city |
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| Back into the Canadian countryside |
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| The weather started clearing up as soon as we left the city |
As we got nearer to Quebec City, we saw more and more signs...and billboards...and EVERYTHING in French. Really. No English at all. (In Montreal, at least there was a chance of some English on the signs. Here? Nothing.)
This sign cracked me up, as I had read about the lawsuit that had been in the news in 2012 about Nutella being sued for advertising as being a item good for breakfast. Translated, this sign means "breakfast loves Nutella" (In Canadian French, 'dejeuner' is the word for 'breakfast', as opposed to France, where 'breakfast' is 'petit dejeuner' and 'dejeuner' means 'lunch'). Just personally, I think suing the company that makes a product because they're trying to market it to you is bunk. It REALLY gets me going when people try to sue food companies for stupid things because let me tell you, there is some seriously scary shit that ISN'T getting prosecuted that should be. I can get all sorts of worked up about this - believe me.
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| so idyllic |
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| weird angle from the panoramic photo, but this is the St. Lawrence River |
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| I couldn't resist. There was grass. My shoes immediately came off... |
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| Quebec from the banks of the St. Lawrence |
Quebec City is one of the first European settlements in North America, and as it is on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, there was a citadelle built to protect the city. J and I walked all over on top of it, taking in the views of downtown from the grassy top, and we walked a little bit down into it, but we didn't want to pay to get in, so we took in the guards at the entrance, and turned around to walk around a little bit more.
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| At first I just thought these were pretty red pots, but there were actual tomato plants in them! Edible walkway! |
We were almost done randomly exploring - I had two things on my to-do list...
1. Find, and buy something from the oldest grocery store in North America - J.A. Moisan
2. Find, and eat the hell out of some POUTINE!
Well, first things first - I located a map, and found the street that J.A. Moisan was on. This was all me and my sense of direction, since I had approximately 2 more years of high school French than J did. We ended up down some tiny alley ways with tiny apartments lined up. It immediately felt very European, just like when we went out into Old City Montreal.
Right at the corner where I took this picture -
- I took one sniff and the air was filled with the delicious smell of chocolate chip cookies. I could smell the sweetness in the air, and whirled around to James - COOKIES! He kept me from breaking into the nearest tiny apartment to eat fresh from the oven baked goods, and very soon after, I found the grocery store.
I was super excited. I also had no idea what to expect from this store. J and I went in, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a fully functioning store, a bit touristy, but fun. I really wanted to buy something, but mostly just needed change for a $5 Canadian bill so we could feed the meter for the car. I picked out a nectarine - my favorite food ever in the entire world, and had an entire interaction with the cashier IN FRENCH! Madam Steele of River Ridge High School's French language classes would have been so proud! Haha, ok, I'll be honest - I just handed her the bill, and said a gracious "merci beaucoup" when she gave me my change back - but still, it was French and I was proud!
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| with my victoire nectarine |
Task number two - find and eat poutine. Poutine is a food of the gods - french fries with cheese curds covered in brown gravy. That's three things that I love to eat, all in one container. Yum. We found some (though honestly, it wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be...although, with no confident French speakers between the two of us, it's no surprise that we couldn't find a divey restaurant with Quebec City's finest poutine.) We settled for the first place that had a poster in the window advertising it.
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| OH MY GOD YES GET IN MY BELLY |
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| J was amused by my enthusiasm for poutine |
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| It took all my willpower to not start eating this before J took the picture. |
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| And that is how I do. |
Chez AshTon was where we ate. Now, I'll give you this. The poutine was good. But it was a bit of a gut bomb. And this was definitely NOT a fancy place. Not even a kind of fancy place.
Once I got back, I yelped this place. This review from 2009: "Chez Ashton is like the McDonalds or maybe Arbys of QC. The poutine is the french fries drenched in gravy and cheese curds - famous in Quebec. It was amazing! I mean I have had better. But this is open like all hours of the night and its legit and its like $3. I mean its like when tourists come to the US and are like i need a Big Mac from an American McDonalds - well go into Chez Ashton and eat some poutine comme les Quebecois."
Love it.
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| Our trusty steed - Canada looks good with our PA plates in it! |
Until then!
-Bethy
Friday, January 3, 2014
Epic Diamond Road Trip - Day 2 Part 3: A Very Polish Dinner in Montreal
J and I went back to our hotel room after the basilica, changed, and redeemed our complimentary drink coupons (another perk of J being a baller!) in the hotel bar - I got red wine (how refined! I know, I know, and uncharacteristic...don't worry, I made it up by ordering lots of beers later...) and we set out into Old City Montreal for dinner.
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| Gorgeous sky. Don't worry, I wasn't standing in the middle of the street with oncoming cars, it just looks like it. |
We ended up at a Polish restaurant called Stash Cafe (um, could this get any better?!?) that was the right price for the right amount of class - after all, I WAS wearing a pretty dress, and I didn't want to be overdressed for the occasion.
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| I saw this dress, and had to have it. Target clearance, you are so good to me sometimes... |
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| Fun placemats |
James got the kielbasa dinner, which looked fabulous (and honestly, if I had seen it before ordering, might have swayed me...J let me taste a little bit of everything on his plate and it was FANTASTIC!)
I, of course, looked at the menu and got immediately overwhelmed by all of my choices - remember, this trip was in August - it had been since Easter that I had eaten any Polish food, and everything on the menu was making my mouth water. As usual, when I get overwhelmed, I opt for the first thing that I see, and the thing that I know that I'll enjoy. I went for the bigos, which is hunter's stew. Basically, it's one of those "everything but the kitchen sink" meals - SO GOOD.
The best bigos that I've ever had in my life I had when I went to Poland with my mother when I was 17. We stayed with hosts through the Servas program all over the country for two weeks. One of the families that we stayed with made bigos for lunch one day, and I could not believe how amazing it was. I was still a quite picky 17 year old eater, and here I was, hungrily noshing on a stew made with God-knows-what by people who had no idea what my taste preferences were and didn't care. The first bite was purely polite - the second (and every bite after) was because my mouth was in heaven.
This bigos was quite good. Not quite as good as the first bowl of bigos ever, but damn good.
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| It doesn't look like much, but WHOO BOY!! |
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| J got one beer, I got one beer, we each had half of each |
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| The restaurant had a piano player who played for most of our meal. Super classy. |
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| Street art |
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| This scene just reminded me of traipsing around Europe in my late teens |
-Bethy
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