The 2015 List Wrap Up

Ok… so with the end of 2015 it’s time to check out what actually came of the list… the full run down. Once again there have been heaps of times this year when the list has been on the back burner while life went on. Which is good, because it means that life is actually full of heaps of fun stuff.  So much fun stuff that it’s February and it’s only now that this blog is being published… instead of it’s usual December appearance… I guess all that matters is that it is here now.  2015 was another full on year and you can get a better recap of all that happened here.  But what happened with the list?  Good question… and you are in luck because it is all here for you to read about below…  Just like all the other years those that have a blog of their own have a hyperlink so you can just click it and read all about it… and the ones that don’t are all listed below with either an explanation of what did or didn’t happen…

  1. Visit Hobbiton – completed: 01/01/15
  2. Make my own dumplings
    No excuses really… I just ran out of time.
  3. Do another Pinterest craft – completed: 13/02/15
  4. Make my own hot cross buns – completed: 05/04/15
  5. Follow through with the 2015 date box again – completed: 22/12/15
    All done and dusted for another year… once again we had to sneak a few into November and December, but they were all done and quality time was enjoyed.
  6. Paint Something – completed: 15/08/15
  7. Eat something I have planted – completed: 27/01/15
  8. Buy lunch at work no more than twice a week – completed: 23/12/16
    This year I got much better at taking my lunch… there were still a lot of lunches out, but there were less… and no more than two in any one week.
  9. Go to two weddings – completed: 21/02/15 (wedding 1, wedding 2)
  10. Order fish at a restaurant – completed: 06/01/15
  11. Try again to embrace home cooking
    This one I struggle with and I don’t know why… I like cooking… I am just not good at actually doing… maybe next year?
  12. Have a weekend away – completed: 26/04/15
  13. Go to some carols by candlelight – completed: 14/12/15
    We actually did a few carols by candlelight… starting with the ones on the 14th and finishing with the ones on Christmas eve at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
  14. Work as a classroom teacher – completed 13/03/15
  15. Make the most of my gym membership
    I could have done more… let’s be honest.
  16. Run 5km without walking
    Not yet… there is still hope… 5km is a fairly comfortable distance now which is good, but I am not running the whole thing.
  17. Do some trivia – completed: 17/01/15
  18. Learn another song on guitar – completed: 20/12/15
    Hello “American Honey” by Lady Antebellum
  19. Have a picnic in the backyard – completed: 22/12/15
    We should do this more often… it is nice
  20. Start collecting and sorting photos of Dave and I’s family history – completed: 20/12/15
    The collection has started… it probably needs a little more structure, but it has been started… and that’s all the list required.
  21. See some black sand – completed: 02/01/15
  22. Put some new photos up around the house – completed: 11/04/15
  23. Blow some giant bubbles – completed: 05/12/15
    An excellent Family Christmas BBQ activity for the whole family
  24. Ride a rollercoaster – completed: 09/04/15
  25. Play mini golf – completed: 08/12/15
    It was only one hole… in works put put comp… but that still counts right?
  26. See a movie at the drive-in – completed: 14/02/15
  27. Build a sandcastle – completed: 01/12/15
    Thank you December Date Day
  28. Buy an ice cream from an ice cream truck – completed: 12/12/15
    Is there a better way to celebrate seeing Taylor Swift live?  I don’t think so
  29. Take a selfie with the selfie stick fully extended – completed: 10/01/15
  30. Go to the beach at least 5 times – completed: 26/01/15
  31. Stargaze while lying on the grass – completed: 13/11/15
    I should do this more often too… the night sky is pretty incredible
  32. Watch the sunset from a beach – completed 01/12/15
    Again I say… Thank you December Date Day
  33. Rent a bike and go on an adventure – completed: 03/01/15
  34. Stay at the Langham – completed: 07/01/15
  35. Go Hiking – completed: 03/01/15
  36. Take a last minute road trip – completed: 01/10/15
  37. Make a playlist for each season (Summer and Autumn; Winter) – completed: 03/12/15
    And finally I give you Spring: :
    – Open Heaven (River Wild) – Hillsong United
    – Tommy and Krista – Thirsty Merc
    – Unashamed Desire – Missy Higgins
    – Different Worlds – Brittany Cairns
    – Head to Heart – United Pursuit
    – Midnight Clear (Love Song) – Chris Tomlin
    – He Shall Reign Forevermore – Chris Tomlin
    – Adore – Chris Tomlin
  38. Bake a cake for someone
    No excuses really… it just didn’t happen.
  39. Buy a stranger dinner (e.g. pay for someone else meal at a restaurant)
    Also no excuse for this one…
  40. Learn a greeting in a language I haven’t spoken before – completed: 07/11/15
  41. Give a heartfelt surprise to someone – completed: 10/08/15
  42. Dance in the rain – completed: 20/12/15
    This is pretty self explanatory… it rained and I danced… it was summer which made the whole thing a lot more comfortable.  
  43. Plant a tree – completed: 22/09/15
  44. Knit a scarf – completed: 30/05/15
  45. Read a book on a subject you wouldn’t normally choose – completed: 08/06/15
  46. Fly a kite – completed: 17/01/15
    This actually happened way back in Jan… rather unsuccessfully… the kite strings snapped in the wind…  but for a brief moment it flew.
  47. Write and email/call a company from which I received excellent service
    This one just didn’t happen either… I am not sure why… probably because when it comes to things like this… I am all talk
  48. Go on a romantic getaway – completed: 13/11/15
    Dave planned a camping trip, just for a night and just to help me cross things off the list… that’s pretty darn romantic.
  49. Help someone in need – completed: 20/12/15
    I probably could have done more… but we did feed a community with the help of Just Salvos
  50. Learn something in sign language – completed: 08/06/15
  51. Wear fancy dress to something – completed: 29/08/15
  52. See two oceans meet – completed: 05/01/15
  53. Go in a sea vessel… kayak, canoe, paddle boat, regular boat… whatever – completed: 06/01/15
  54. Play a board game with friends – completed: 11/07/15
  55. Write at least 3 letters to my prayer pal
  56. Go fruit picking – completed: 08/11/15
  57. Swim 20km across the year
  58. Do another boot camp – completed: 04/12/15
    It wasn’t an official bootcamp, but I did work hard thanks to my trainer for the day Rachel
  59. Do another fun run – completed: 02/12/15
    You should all go out and sign up to next years Santa Run… it is fun… and ridiculous… but mostly fun
  60. Walk/run 400km across the year
  61. Go camping – completed: 13/11/15
  62. Walk 10,000 steps more often than I don’t – completed: 31/12/15
    I don’t think I got there every day, but I certainly walked 10,000 steps more often than I didn’t.  
  63. See some fireworks – completed: 13/12/15
    Carols by Candlelight are also excellent places to see fireworks.
  64. Eat a Feijoa – completed: 16/04/15
  65. Go on a luge – completed: 03/01/14
  66. Swim in a thermal pool – completed: 02/01/15
  67. Cook all meals at home for a fortnight (no going out or lazy take away)
  68. Take a photo everyday
  69. Play Super Mario Bros
  70. See a Musical – completed: 07/02/15
  71. Read 15 books – completed: 27/10/15
  72. Try four more local cafes in search of our new breakfast spot – completed: 21/11/15
    I still haven’t found a new favourite… but the search is continuing… 4 down, plenty more to try.
  73. Try Inverloch’s ‘Red Cup’ equivalent – completed: 25/04/15
    It didn’t end up being the cafe I thought it would be as this one opened first and ruined the others plans… but this one was good.
  74. Have a mocktail – completed: 17/02/15
  75. Finish unpacking the last boxes
  76. Visit a country town I haven’t been to before – completed: 01/10/15
  77. Put up some outside lights for Christmas – completed: 25/12/15
    We got some new outdoor Christmas lights for Christmas… so Christmas night we tested them out… that still counts right?
  78. Keep getting closer – completed: 31/12/15
    There is still a long way to go, but I can honestly say that I am way better off than I was at the beginning of the year and it’s been a long time since I could say that, so it feels good.
  79. See Big Hero6 – completed: 30/05/15
  80. Use a remote control toy
  81. See a live music concert… or 4 – completed: 26/09/15
  82. Do some colouring – completed: 08/05/15
  83. Go to a live sporting event – completed: 08/01/15
  84. Have a hot jam donut – completed: 14/12/15
    The may have just been from Coles… and they may have been mini… but they were good. 
  85. Have High Tea – completed: 07/02/15
  86. Cook something from each of my Donna Hay Mags
    If I had embraced no.11 better, this might have stood a chance… but unfortunately neither have been done.
  87. Learn a new skill – completed: 10/05/15
  88. Make a photo book of our New Zealand Adventure – completed: 27/12/15
    It isn’t finished, but it has been started… I think this one will also be on next years list.
  89. Have at least 5 different groups of people over for dinner – completed 07/09/15
  90. Ride a push bike without tears – completed: 03/01/15
  91. Complete my sentence a day book for 2015 – completed: 31/12/15
    Again… this one is pretty self explanatory, but I have really enjoyed doing it… I am really looking forward to what will change in next years sentences.
  92. Make a teepee or blanket fort and watch a movie in it
  93. Go to a farmers market – completed: 26/04/15
  94. Go through the alphabet of foods/restaurants/cuisines – completed: 19/12/15
    This one ended up being a little different from what I imagined too, but here is the list:
    A = Apple Pie, B = Broccoli, C = Carrot, D = Donuts, E = Eggnog, F = Fries, G = Gingerbread house, H = Homus, I = Ice Cream Slice, J= Jam, K = Koren BBQ, L = Lamb, M = Massaman Beef Curry, N = Nectarine, O = Octopus, P = Peachy Keenie Custard, Q = Quince Paste, R = Raspberries, S = String Beans, T = Tea, U = Unsalted Nuts, V = Vermicelli, W = Watermelon, X = Xanthan Gum, Y = Yogurt, Z = Zucchini.
  95. Do something handy at home – completed: 14/02/15
  96. Walk the dog once a week
    Sorry Dex 😦
  97. Set up our outdoor furniture and eat at it – completed: 19/10/15
  98. Actually read through the New Testament – completed: 19/12/15
    The whole thing… a little each day, but the whole thing. 
  99. See a wild swimming animal – completed: 06/01/15
  100. Touch a volcano – completed: 02/01/15

Ok… So there you go… that’s the list wrap for last year… 82 out of 100… I think that’s my best year yet!  Bring on 2016!

Getting Some Perspective on the Bus

Today has been a challenging day, before we started on our European adventure getting to London was my main goal. I was excited about seeing Europe and ticking off some lifelong bucket list items, but I was really excited about getting to London… why? Because in June last year my best friend moved there so it had been a long six months since I had seen her face to face. It was the reason we chose to go now, rather than waiting another 12 months and something that I had been counting down to since the moment she left. Yet the journey to get here has been an incredible to say the least we had a jammed pack end to 2015 and the last 3 weeks has completely over shadowed my initial excitement. But today is the day we have finally arrived in London, and even though I am super excited to tell you all about being here and being reunited, today’s travel’s have been quite overwhelming and emotional and I think I need to stop and let it out… Today has not just been our last bus day, but it has included so much more. One last day stop, some confronting scenery, a ferry across the channel and a long drive through peak hour traffic and saying goodbye to our remaining tour friends one last time before we part ways for the first time in just under a month and get on the tube to our home for a week in Notting Hill.

Bruge1

We stopped in Bruges, Belgium, the home of fries, chocolate and waffles and indulged, longed for more time once again to take it all in and then jumped back on the bus and headed across the country and down through France towards Calais where we would catch our ferry across the English Channel. On our drive to Calais we were confronted by just a glimpse of the thousands of refugees who are currently living in what can only be described as squalor, outside Calais port. Many hoping to make the same journey we did, across the English Channel into the UK. This moment of reality thrown into our dream trip was jarring. I had never seen anything like this before, I had completely underestimated what a refugee camp would look like and how I would be affected just by seeing it. I was also completely embarrassed by the constant political squabble of Australia and Australians in response to refugees. I had previously been disappointed in our response to people seeking asylum, but now I just feel angry, frustrated and completely powerless. I just don’t understand, why we, the lucky country, have so much difficulty processing peoples requests for refuge, why it takes so long and why the conditions for people who wait need to be so poor.

I know there are a number of issues that impact this, but I am convinced there has to be a better way. When I think about the relatively small number of people who seek asylum in Australia, and then see the camp that I saw today, we must be joking when we talk about a ‘refugee problem’. When I see how these people have ‘chosen’ to live rather than stay where they were, my heart breaks and wonders what more I can do… I don’t really know what the answer to that is yet, but it is something that I need to think more about. Something that I can not… and like so many of the other lessons I have learnt on this trip… I should not forget… Australia does not have a refugee problem… it just needs to re-read the question and try some different answers because we have to be able to do better than what we are doing right now.

Thanks Amsterdam

Oh Amsterdam where do I start?   What a place… Thank you for teaching me the difference between Holland and the Netherlands and why you are called Dutch… Thank you for cheese of all flavours… mature, garlic, smoked, truffle, stinging nettle, whiskey and chili… and thank you for vacuum sealing my purchases so I could take them home and enjoy them later.  Thank you for clogs, tiny skinny houses, beautiful art and artists and thank you for actual Dutch pancakes… which are actually more like crapes and not like poffertjes like my local farmers market would have me believe.

Thank you for housing the free spirit that was Anne Frank and for making me understand her story even though I am ashamed I couldn’t get through her book. Thank you for tolerating both the catholic and protestant churches in the same place with your ‘out of site, out of mind’ approach. Thank you for facing some of the bigger issues of our world like drugs and prostitution and for re-facing it when your previous methods aren’t working as well as you had hoped.

Thank you for challenging my understanding of freedom… and Thank you for a beautiful weekend… but most of all thanks for getting me back on my bike without hurting my butt (that’s for another blog) and for letting me ride safely, even without my helmet…

Thanks Amsterdam!

Kirchdorf

If you had told me a year ago that I would learn to ski properly in Austria, I would have scoffed and walked away… but that’s exactly what happened… and now I can ski… I am probably not going to be a champion skier but I kept my number of falls to one hand.

Austria has been a winter wonderland… proper tobogganing, walking home in the snow, skiing, ribs, schnitzel and oompa music and even with all this, pretty relaxing. Austria has been our longest stop on the trip and 3 days has been perfect to unwind and enjoy. We built a snowman, had burgers from an Australian that makes a living selling Aussie style burgers and toasties and played the spoons like we had been born to do it.

Three things I know for sure: 1. I will ski again, 2. A career in Spoons has never looked so good and 3. We will go back to Austria

Austria

2015 – Through the eyes of my iPhone

Wow, here we are at the very end of 2015 and I am pretty sure I still think it’s 2014. But it’s not, I have lived another year and so in blog tradition it’s time to stop just for a moment and reflect… This year’s reflection comes to you from the back row of our tour bus somewhere between Rome and Venice… Oh and like always it’s through the eyes of my iPhone… 2015 has been another super fast and jam packed year, we started in New Zealand and we are ending it in Italy.  There has been another couple of weddings, more changes at work and some changes to the house, but let me show the best way I know how… Through photos…

January…
AVSP4290

Highlight: Everything NZ! Hobbits, volcanos, boats, oceans, families, bikes, adventure and pineapple lumps.

February…

Highlight: Feb 2015 was another wedding month, first Ben and Annie, then Mum and Andy… Both beautiful! Oh and when I looked at the photos for this month, I realised it was Star Trek themed, book ended by seeing the MSO play the Star Trek soundtrack and the death of Leonard Nimoy.

March…

Highlight: I finally started doing some teaching work, just some CRT, but it’s a start!  March was also filled with Dexter… The TV show… as we finished a 7 year process of watching it from beginning to end. Dexter our dog was there too.

April…

Highlight: April was mixed with backyard building, birthday goodness, Inverloch holidays and the footy… It was all good.

May…

Highlight: In May we celebrated one year in our house, but it was also filled with lots of catch ups with the girls as we stared our long goodbye before K moved to London.  The catch ups were definitely a highlight, but the reason behind… Not so much.

June…

Highlight: June’s highlight is a little lame, but that’s ok beacuse that’s how I roll…. One of my tweets was favourited by my favourite podcasters… I loved it!

July…

Highlight: Dave turned 30 and Oz helped us celebrate… It was green and full of ice cream cake.

August…

Highlight: This month Dave and I joined the park run community and the Lewis family killed it at family feud.

September…

Highlight: September brought us an almost finished backyard, a new work site to call home and the beautiful wedding of Naomi and Jacob.

October…

Highlight: Hooray for October! Dave graduated from his masters and that meant a NSW road trip which also included watching Hawthorn win their 3rd premiership and seeing Matilda!  Winner weekend… Winner Month!

November…

Highlight: List madness as the year started drawing to a close, berry picking and the Christmas Gift to welcome the start of all the Christmas goodness that was to come.  made November a winner.

December…

Highlight: I feel like Christmas is always the highlight of December because so much Christmas fun happens… although it may have been pipped this year.  While the Christmas dinners, advent calendars, carols and the abundance of food, family and gifts was wonderful, in December Dave and I started our European adventure and so far, although we have only done 1 stop, Rome, it has been incredible… and there is still a lot more adventure to come!.

So there you go, 365 photos which mean no. 68 is off the list and my year 2015 has been summed up… Bring on 2016!