I need to come up with a better name for 'bucket list'. For some reason, probably thanks to that movie that came out a few years ago, the word bucket list is riddled with the underlying reminder that you are eventually going to die- which for some reason, really depresses me and doesn't motivate me to do anything on said bucket list. Am I weird? So let's come up with a new name for it, shall we?
In the mean time, let's talk about other stuff. When I was 12 and again at 15, our YW's leaders gave us a challenge to write down our goals in life we wanted to achieve by a certain age. In February I will be turning 25, and I am none too pleased about it. I have already had a couple panic attacks knowing that the years aren't going backwards and I can't slow them down. I don't like it. I don't want to get old. I had 5 things I wanted to have done by the time I hit 25:
1. Graduate college with a degree in economics. I go back and forth on this one. There was a time in high school when this objective was a little 'iffy', but overall it's definitely something I want done. Since I failed university within two years, and I have less than 6 months to complete this, I'm going to take a guess and say it's not happening. But I am going to justify giving it a half point for even getting into to university and lasting as long as I did. Especially since, as mentioned before, it was a little touch and go there for a while. I do have plans to finish this, but just maybe not by age 25.
2. Get married. Check.
3. Buy a house. Check.
4. Have a career. Hmmm... half point. I have an awesome full time job that I love and has encouraged me to maybe start a more long term career in real estate, which goes hand in hand with economics, sooo yeeahhh...
5. Do something awesome. Now when I wrote this, almost 9 years ago- I honestly cannot remember what type of awesome thing I wanted to do. I'm guessing it was something like meet the Dali Llama or become a runway model. I've done a lot of little things that are pretty awesome like discovering a bunch of hidden talents like: singing, cooking, baking, painting, drawing, reading music. I can also drop kick a soccer ball like a boss.
Over all I give myself a 4/5. Which is pretty good. But there are some things in life that I want to do. I think it would be cool to take a hot air balloon ride, meet a fashion designer, wear an expensive ball gown, go to the Arctic Circle, check out Wall Street, go to all 50 states... There are more, but those are just some of them. There's a big one though. Like a really big one. One that I started training for last night.
With all the hype of the event still surfacing, I thought I'd announce that I'm going to become a cyclist. And thus, my goal is to one day compete in the LOTOJA race. There, I said it. I hate running at all costs, so running a marathon is clearly out of the question- but riding a bike? Psshh, cake walk. The race begins in Logan, Utah and ends in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It's 206 miles (so double century race) and the only catch to this is you have to finish before dark, and the trail has sigificant hills and climbs over 7,000 miles in altitude. Yikes. Double yikes. Back when I was a kid, if we wanted to go someplace or do something we had to ride our bikes. None of this chauffeuring around by parents garbage. I spent many a summers day riding my bike all over town with my friends, probably up until I got a car. Warren and I ride lots during the summers through Fish Creek, and just a couple weeks ago, I climbed a massively steep hill and made it all the way up! Normally I have to get off and walk up, so this is definitely a milestone. I first heard about LOTOJA in 2006 when I moved to Logan and our Inn was chalk full of cyclists in town for the race. I was intrigued. Ever since then, I've always secretly wanted to be like those cyclists. And I mean, c'mon... who doesn't want a cute little skimpy yet chic cycling outfit?! [Mine is going to be Tiffany blue.]
So last night, I had my first spin class. I get a free membership to the gym next door to my office, which is coincidentally across the street from my house... and have I ever gone? Nope. So now I'm taking a spin class to help me get more in shape and help train me to become a distance cyclist. I've done a ton of research on what kind of training I'm going to need, read several testimonials from LOTOJA champs, and have a schedule and small goals to achieve to eventually get there. After just one class, ugh... my butt hurts. And my legs hurt so much last night, I couldn't fall asleep. It was murder. But I am pumped for my next class- and pumped to get out that doo-hinky we have that attaches to our bikes to make them stationary. Hello climbing a hill while watching Gilmore Girls in the comfort of my own living room! Anyways... moral of the story is that I have a couple years ahead of me until I am anywhere near ready. I also need to find a few century races around town to get a feel for the racing aspect. But by golly- I'm going to do it! And it's going to be epic! And that's my story for the day!
In the mean time, let's talk about other stuff. When I was 12 and again at 15, our YW's leaders gave us a challenge to write down our goals in life we wanted to achieve by a certain age. In February I will be turning 25, and I am none too pleased about it. I have already had a couple panic attacks knowing that the years aren't going backwards and I can't slow them down. I don't like it. I don't want to get old. I had 5 things I wanted to have done by the time I hit 25:
1. Graduate college with a degree in economics. I go back and forth on this one. There was a time in high school when this objective was a little 'iffy', but overall it's definitely something I want done. Since I failed university within two years, and I have less than 6 months to complete this, I'm going to take a guess and say it's not happening. But I am going to justify giving it a half point for even getting into to university and lasting as long as I did. Especially since, as mentioned before, it was a little touch and go there for a while. I do have plans to finish this, but just maybe not by age 25.
2. Get married. Check.
3. Buy a house. Check.
4. Have a career. Hmmm... half point. I have an awesome full time job that I love and has encouraged me to maybe start a more long term career in real estate, which goes hand in hand with economics, sooo yeeahhh...
5. Do something awesome. Now when I wrote this, almost 9 years ago- I honestly cannot remember what type of awesome thing I wanted to do. I'm guessing it was something like meet the Dali Llama or become a runway model. I've done a lot of little things that are pretty awesome like discovering a bunch of hidden talents like: singing, cooking, baking, painting, drawing, reading music. I can also drop kick a soccer ball like a boss.
Over all I give myself a 4/5. Which is pretty good. But there are some things in life that I want to do. I think it would be cool to take a hot air balloon ride, meet a fashion designer, wear an expensive ball gown, go to the Arctic Circle, check out Wall Street, go to all 50 states... There are more, but those are just some of them. There's a big one though. Like a really big one. One that I started training for last night.
With all the hype of the event still surfacing, I thought I'd announce that I'm going to become a cyclist. And thus, my goal is to one day compete in the LOTOJA race. There, I said it. I hate running at all costs, so running a marathon is clearly out of the question- but riding a bike? Psshh, cake walk. The race begins in Logan, Utah and ends in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It's 206 miles (so double century race) and the only catch to this is you have to finish before dark, and the trail has sigificant hills and climbs over 7,000 miles in altitude. Yikes. Double yikes. Back when I was a kid, if we wanted to go someplace or do something we had to ride our bikes. None of this chauffeuring around by parents garbage. I spent many a summers day riding my bike all over town with my friends, probably up until I got a car. Warren and I ride lots during the summers through Fish Creek, and just a couple weeks ago, I climbed a massively steep hill and made it all the way up! Normally I have to get off and walk up, so this is definitely a milestone. I first heard about LOTOJA in 2006 when I moved to Logan and our Inn was chalk full of cyclists in town for the race. I was intrigued. Ever since then, I've always secretly wanted to be like those cyclists. And I mean, c'mon... who doesn't want a cute little skimpy yet chic cycling outfit?! [Mine is going to be Tiffany blue.]
So last night, I had my first spin class. I get a free membership to the gym next door to my office, which is coincidentally across the street from my house... and have I ever gone? Nope. So now I'm taking a spin class to help me get more in shape and help train me to become a distance cyclist. I've done a ton of research on what kind of training I'm going to need, read several testimonials from LOTOJA champs, and have a schedule and small goals to achieve to eventually get there. After just one class, ugh... my butt hurts. And my legs hurt so much last night, I couldn't fall asleep. It was murder. But I am pumped for my next class- and pumped to get out that doo-hinky we have that attaches to our bikes to make them stationary. Hello climbing a hill while watching Gilmore Girls in the comfort of my own living room! Anyways... moral of the story is that I have a couple years ahead of me until I am anywhere near ready. I also need to find a few century races around town to get a feel for the racing aspect. But by golly- I'm going to do it! And it's going to be epic! And that's my story for the day!
