85 Things to do in 5 years

My friend challenged me to make a list of 100 things I want to do in the next 5 years. I made this list several weeks ago, but could not get past 85, so here they are in no particular order. Some have been accomplished, some I am working on now. wish me luck, some of these are big.

1. Become a licensed architect.
2. Finish the trim on the inside of the house.
3. Finish siding the outside of the house.
4. Trim the outside windows.
5. Build a deck out the front door.
6. Build a deck out the back door.
7. Have a Vegetable garden.
8. replace the sad mailbox.
9. make a screen door for the front of the house.
10. rebuild the shop in the back of the property.
11. Have a garage sale
12. Get rid of shed in back.
13. make our outdoor firepit space
14. make a 'dog yard' for the girls
15. make rhubarb wine
16. cut down the remaining choke cherry trees.
17. build the retaining wall and steps in the back yard
18. build a new storage shed.
19. Visit California
20. visit Montana
21. visit minnesota
22. write 'real' letters to family and friends
23. go to BurningMan again
24. Go to Pheasant Invitational Horseshoe Tournament
25. Go on a Cruise
26. Take Chris to Europe
27. Get married
28. Have a baby
29. pay off credit cards
30. get house plans for grandparents house framed
31. hang up our art in the house.
32. buy a new couch
33. buy a new bed
34. finish the laundry room.
35. start a business
36. change jobs
37. lose 100 pounds
38. make a new friend
39. become a CPDT- certified pet dog trainer
40. design a new dog training facility for Anchorage
41. buy a MAC
42. Teach Zuppa to 'shake paw'
43. frame my masters degree from MSU
44. become a 'runner'
45. Run a 5K
46. Run a 10K
47. donate my hair to charity
48. go to Hawaii
49. Knit a sweater for an adult
50. knit something for myself
51. grow a real lawn
52. consistently donate to 501K
53. get LEED certified
54. finish IDP
55. Sell the Pathfinder
56. Learn how to carve ice
57. learn how to make a slip-cast mold
58. learn how to make booze filled chocolates
59. go to Fairbanks for Ice Classic
60. Get a CGC on Basil (Canine good citizen)
61. Get a CGC on Zuppa
62. Take Basil and Zuppa to the Herding ranch to chase the sheep
63. grow tomatoes successfully
64. build a greenhouse from our old house windows
65. get a towing hitch for the Element
66. Take Basil and Zuppa Dock Diving
67. Get roof bars for Element
68. Go Camping with trailer
69. go Camping in a tent
70. Go camping in a cabin on Nancy Lake
71. Build a snowman
72. get orchids to re-bloom
73. pay off Element
74. Go to Bocce tournament in Montana
75. Take Chris to Glacier national park.
76. go to a family reunion
78. make a quilt for myself
79. pay off student loans
80. reconnect with a family member
81. reconnect with an old friend.
82. do 20 pushups without difficulty
83. finish electricl work in the house.
84. get a new washer and dryer
85. buy an original shag
86.

Past BurningMan events

So for those of you who do not know, BurningMan is an art festival in the northern Nevada desert where "anything goes" and most things burn (espically me without sunscreen). It is the worlds largest leave-no-trace event and has it's own post office, radio station and newspaper. As a gift economy you bring things to share with your neighbors and everything you need to survive for a week in a harsh desert climate and blinky lites lots of blinky lights and things that glow so you can be seen at night. Black Rock City is a Fantasy land where unimaginable structures are built and then burned. See below for the main title art piece (behind Chris) that burns on saturday night and one of the many amazing structures like Uchronia (fondly called the Belgian Waffle) that went up in flames on Sunday night. These will never exist again in life, only in our memories and in pictures.






Chris with the 'Man' Behind him.










Uchronia by the Belgians
or Der Waffle Haus










So I travel to Burning Man in a meer 10 days. I go tonight to get fruit and meat to dehydrate this week which will be our main source of sustenace along with lara bars and some nuts. We have to inspect our tent and pack our costumes and make our gifts still. We need to organize and sort our gear and make sure we have all the things that make life possible in the desert like water canteens and camelbacks and handkerchiefs and bag balm for our feet. A list of people with addresses for postcards to be sent and sunscreen. So many things to do, you would think it is all streamlined now that we have done this for a number of years but NO! we scramble and panic and get no sleep before we head out for our yearly adventure in the dust. The most exhausting and exilirating and inspiring vacation you will ever be on. Try it once. I dare you.

So here we go. Blog blog blog.... hmmm.

Life is hectic. I finally sent out the link so people will look at this now and so I have to be witty and clever... yeah...

wanna see a picture?

These are my girls. Basil and Zuppa. They are FIERCE! and love to play. No, really they are good dogs... most of the time.

Because we can

I suppose we started this because 'everyone else was doing it', but really, it is a good way for Chris and I to document what we are doing in our lives so our friends and family can see why we don't call, don't write, and never have any time. A quick rundown of our weekly to do list: Dog school, work, college, BurningMan, Home Remodel, etc. etc. etc.

I have Dog school at least 2 days a week. I teach puppy beginning obediance with a wonderful friend named Jenny, and both of us are on the Board of directors for the dog school (Alyeska Canine Trainers) If there is an exciting class we take one of our girls to school, this month it is Zuppa taking Really Reliable Recalls with Chris. Chris is continuing to go to school 2 nights a week, all day on Saturday in the Library for Homework and then 2 nights on Homework at home. We are both still working full time. I am at Spinell Homes Inc and really like the people and the work, Chris is hating his job more and more everyday (since he started nearly 3 years ago) and is currently interviewing for another job, this time in his chosen field of drafting. I also am the Regional Representative for BurningMan. This position means I am the moderator for all the folks who want to be part of of community of like minded artists and pyromaniacs for all of Alaska. We are trying to get a summer event for July going, but have hit a few snags that need working out. Oh, yeah, and a year ago we bought this house and have been living in it as we remodel. No small feat, but after 4 months without a Kitchen my mom came up and worked a miracle, and in January it was nearly 6 months to the day since we had showered in our home. We have fantastic neighbors, we could not have done it without them.

So stay tuned, I will post different days to catch you up on the remodel, Dog School, Work for me and Chris, BurningMan and General Life in the 49th state.