2012 Year in Review: Life List Items Accomplished

I keep a list of ideas and goals, new things to try that are both farfetched daydreams and practical "I should really try this" items. Here are the things on my life list that I checked off in 2012.

Family and Home

1. Grow a garden. This was done on a small scale, with our little planters in the apartment. When we got back from Mauritius, there were tulips in bloom, and throughout the year we had fresh herbs planted. The petunia is STILL GOING STRONG!

Travel

1. Hike in Dibba. We did the Aqabat Village Trek in March, an amazing experience.
   
2. Have another trip reunion with the NYC crew. North America Reunion Tour in May, so much fun!
3. Visit India. Incredible trip to Delhi for Diwali, and now I hope to go back someday.
   

Creativity, Work & Hobbies

1. Take another cooking class. Not once but twice this year, James and I had a really fun time at a cooking class. We made chicken roulade at Jones the Grocer in October and duck, parsnip puree and sticky toffee pudding at L'Atelier before Christmas.
   
2. Grow tulip bulbs. In January, we got back from holidays to find that three tulips that we had planted had bloomed, and nine of the 10 bulbs eventually flowered. Hurray for green thumbs!
3. Get more canvases of our travel pictures from favourite places we see. I like our little art gallery in the hallway, and in January we added some new canvases to the walls. Then again at Christmas, I got James some of his Delhi photos as canvases.
   
4. Publish an article for my profession. An article I wrote that compares my job to the important role of the Sherpa was published in an industry journal called Admap in October.
5. Learn how to do proper wine-tasting. This is a fun task! In August, we created all of the fragrance standards and worked to train our nose to detect the subtle fragrances when tasting wines.
6. Read all of the books on James's Ideal Bookshelf. Because he has great taste in books and had chosen 10 for his Ideal Bookshelf Painting, I thought it would be a fun goal to read all of those. Still have a few left to go, but this year I read Fever Pitch, To Kill A Mockingbird, City of Djinns, and The Soccer War
7. Host a dinner party where I cook Middle Eastern food for friends. This was a highlight of the NA Reunion Tour, seeing all of my good friends in Vancouver and enjoying some shish tawouk
8. Make a pinhole camera. Done! We built this in the summer and I got the first roll of film back around October. Currently shooting a colour film roll, hope it turns out.
9. Take solarprints. Also done! We found these at a store in NYC in May and started using them immediately. By the end of the summer, I had enough beautiful prints to get them framed in a really lovely way. I like the blue backgrounds and white clean shapes.
10. Make a cross-stitch sampler to commemorate our wedding. This was one of my summer fun projects, using a pattern from one of my favourite blogs (Posie Gets Cozy). It reminds me of winters in Vancouver and London, bundling up with a hot cup of coffee, putting on a toque for a good rosy-cheeked walk. I added our initials to the heart.

Personal & Community Health

1. Go vegetarian for a month. I didn't really do this on purpose, it just kind of happened with all of the veggie and legume-rich dishes that I was cooking. And then suddenly at the end of July, I had a craving for red meat and made chili.
2. Run another RAK Half. Done in February, always a favourite course and event. And I'll be doing it again in 2013 too!

Moments & Experiences

1. Ski at SkiDubai. Awesome! Thanks Santa, this was a great gift last Christmas and I used my pass in April.
   
2. Walk the High Line again. You can't go back to NYC and not walk this excellent park. We were back up there in May, on the first day of our NA Reunion Tour, and also made quick stops to two favourites, Amy's Bread and the Standard Biergarten.
3. Make a pinata for James. This was my December project, and something that I added to the list sometime in the last few months because it was so much fun. He cracked it open yesterday with one swift whack of the golf club.

Dubai Wish List

1. Tea at Burj al Arab. Made our way over there in October and had a nice lunch with little sandwiches and a pot of vanilla rooibos.
2. Explore Satwa back alleys. We had to wait for the milder winter temperatures to arrive in December so that we could walk for hours without overheating. We chose a Friday afternoon and enjoyed a really nice walk through all of the corridors and residential streets.
3. Ras al Khor. Just checked this off on the weekend, flamingos!
4. Abra tour. Getting lots of things on our wish list done this last month, hurray for Dubai staycations. This hour long cruise up the creek was a lot of fun!
5. Fish market in Deira. We did this the same day as the abra tour, and I'm already mapping out a recipe for cioppino for which I can go back and get all of the fresh seafood ingredients at this bustling place.

My list is still jampacked with fun things to try, so I'm looking forward to checking more off the list in 2013.

Comments

[Anita]

I forgot about your garden and also was impressed that you had an article published

[Jennifer]

Yes, that article was a satisfying professional moment. I will send you a copy!