Rainbow of fruit and veggies

We started another round of the Biggest Loser here in Bethel. My challenge

this week is to eat a fruit or vegetable of every color. Not only did I complete

my challenge, but I completed it in less than 24 hours. Yay me! Now I have

further been challenged by a friend to see how many times I can do it in the

two week time frame. It just so happens that I've eaten yellow, green,

and red already today. Hmm...how many times can I do it in two weeks?

The Weather

We Alaskans spend alot of time talking about the weather. And for good reason...

from weather underground...

Two daily records, one broken and one matched, within first two
days of February...

The bitter cold that began in late December 2011 and dominated
January 2011 has continued into February with one cold temperature
record broken and another matched. The high temperature of 26 below
on February 1st tied the record coldest high temperature for the
date set both in 1910 and 1999. The low temperature of 38 below on
February 2d beat the old record of 37 below from both 1910 and 1914.

In fact, the record low for today February 3d has already been
matched with the temperature around 1:30 this morning falling to 37
below. The record coldest high temperature for today is 23 below.
A final record event report for today's record will be issued
Saturday morning.

Temperatures will begin warming this evening as a front approaches
Norton Sound from the south. Beyond today temperatures will likely
not pose a threat to records for awhile.

The weather here has been obnoxiously cold for about 6 weeks now. This January has crushed the previous average daily temp of -13.2 with an average daily temp this January of -17.1. I've asked a few people who have lived here their whole lives and they all tell me that the cold has never lasted this long before. Listen to this little recording to hear the specifics...brrrr.

Now here we are a few days later on Feb 9th and it has been not only above zero, but ABOVE FREEZING for 6 days in a row now. The river is a mess. The snow is melting then refreezing at night. It feels like spring!!!

32 things to do before I turn 33

The first 9 are roll overs from last years list, but the rest are new. Some easy, some fun, some time consuming, and some really challenging. Looking forward to another great year!

1. Lose 30 pounds

2. Finish reading On The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

3. Volunteer at the local senior center

4. Attend a city council meeting

5. Finish at least 1 rubicon map

6. Visit the southern hemisphere or go on a cruise

7. Finish reading the Bible or listen to an audio version

8. Publish my book

9. Take a steam or go hunting

10. Write on the blog once per week (not including bday list posts)

11. Explore the air...sky dive, bungee jump, or hot air balloon

12. Explore the water...snorkel, scuba dive, canoe, kayak, or ski

13. Make my 2011 photo album online

14. Attend a sporting event or a concert

15. Experiment with bean cooking

16. Read Atlas Shrugged or a Stephen King novel

17. Complete a half marathon

18. Go 1 week computer free

19. Hunt and identify mushrooms

20. Ride the snowmachine out to three step or to a coastal village

21. Volunteer for librivox
22. Send 10 notes on homemade paper

23. Pay my credit card down by half

24. Learn a new board or card game

25. Try a new fruit and a new vegetable

26. Get a professional facial

27. Sing in the rain

28. Go camping

29. Host a themed party

30. Read at least 5 more books off this list

31. Lay on a beach or sleep in a hammock

32. Renew my passport

I can't believe I'm 32 already!!! How'd THAT happen?

My 31st year

I completed 22 out of 31 goals on this years birthday list. That means that there were 9 things that I did not accomplish. This is not as good as some of the previous years. There were some things this year that I could have accomplished, but just didnt. I am going to roll those goals onto the next list along with some other new ideas. Next list will be out soon!!!

Number 17: Read at least 5 more books from this list

One more thing to cross off the birthday list before moving on to the next year...

1984 by George Orwell

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Les Miserable by Victor Hugo

Some I read in print and listened to some on my ipod. I'm loving listening to some of them on the ipod because i can put it on and listen to it while I'm cooking in the kitchen. And sometimes I spend all day in the kitchen on the weekends which means i listen alot. And it frees up some of my "reading time" for reading other print materials. Win/win.

Number 26: Go completely vegan for a week

Over the course of the last few years, I have incorporated alot more vegetables in my diet. I have continued to eat meatless at lest one or two days a week after I made "Meatless Monday" one of my birthday list goals a few years ago. The difference between vegetarian and vegas is subtle, but huge at the same time. Essentially, vegetarians dont eat meat (with some varying opinions on eggs and fish), but vegans dont eat any animal products at all. At first thought, that doesnt seem like a big difference, but in practice it is much different. No animal products means no animal lard/fat, no cheese, no eggs, no diary at all. Some vegans even go as far as to not use animal animal products like silk or leather for clothes either!

This ended up being much more difficult that I had envisioned only because so many processed foods include milk, cheese, or eggs even in small amounts. I did three days, then skipped a day because holiday food and that last day of school celebration tempted me, then I did three more days and made up the skipped day later on. In the end, I really dont have any desire to become vegan (or even vegetarian for that matter), but I wanted to give it a try. And now my vegas days are over :)

Number 25: Make all my yogurt, jam, and bread from scratch

I havent bought a jar of jam from the store for nearly 2 years. Or loaf of bread for well over a year now. Yogurt...I may have bought a few here and there especially in the summer when I wasnt home or while travelling, but when I'm at home I'm making in all myself from scratch. My jam has been a big hit for myself and also for my friends, especially the flavors that use tundra berries that I've gathered myself in the fall every year. I've been experimenting with yogurt flavors and have found that I really like adding honey and peach. Or just making it plain and mixing in some tundra berry jam when I'm eating it. The bread making has been a much longer, more complex process. I've been making sourdough bread about once a week for over a year. My bread making skills have improved with practice, a new oven, and better bakeware. I've expanded out to try bagels, cornbread, cakes, pastries...all with sourdough. I think I'll be a sourdough baker forever now. It's become a part of my life and I like it!

Number 22: Complete a 30 day challenge on EA active

Back in 2008 after I had first bought my Wii, I used this game along with some other methods to lose about 30 pounds. I never did finish the 30 day challenge though. Over the last couple of years, I've wanted to buy new workout games for the Wii, but I've always talked myself out of it based on the fact that I had never really "fully" played the ones that I already had. So this September, I buckled down to lose some more weight and complete the 30 day challenge. I got to day 18 before I decided that this game is just not for me. I could have finished the challenge, but I didnt because I dont like this game anymore now that my physical fitness has increased and I've been working out more during the last couple of years. The game is just too slow. I get frustrated with it because I dont want to wait in between exercises...I just want to DO IT. I'm crossing it off as complete anyway because I decided that I dont want to do the 30 day challenge. Not because I cant.

Number 30: Play frisbee golf at a course I've never played at

This summer I looked all over for frisbee golf courses close to the places where I was visiting/travelling. I did find several, but never got a chance to play any of them because I was always so busy with friends or sometimes because it was sooooo dang hot! Finally on the second to last day of summer vacation, I made it a priority to go play a course that was down the street in Highland, Indiana. Avery, Adam, and I went to go check it out. We loaded up and got over there to find that the course did not have any baskets. The tees were marked and you where supposed to just "land" the frisbee at a certain spot sometimes near a post or a tree or some other random marker. We played a few holes, but we never really knew if we were following the course correctly or aiming at the right thing. After about 3-4 "holes", we called it quits and went to get a slurpee :)

Number 8: Fix my IRA and other retirement accounts

After the "powers that be" decided to start screwing over teachers in Ohio, I decided to get my retirement money from my first few years of teaching outta there. I opened an IRA, set up a monthly contribution, and rolled all my Ohio money into it. I also adjusted some of the beneficiaries on some of my retirement and life insurance policies in addition to updating my will. It's a difficult thing to figure out what to do with your money when you dont like your closest relatives...when your extended family doesnt need it...and when your friends really are your family. Well, it's all set up one way or another. What difference does it make to me? I'll be dead. Do I really care about what happens to my money after I die? Yes and no.