Adventure #1: Quit smoking
Really I tried doing this so many times. I tried cutting down, nicotine gum, e-cigarette, self-hypnosis…nothing worked. I wasn’t ready, so each time resulted in failure. Maybe it was turning 30, a new-found yoga regimen, or the sky high cigarette prices in Chicago, but January 2, 2012 was different than any other days I tried to quit smoking. I just knew it was time, and I was ready for this life-altering change. I had my last cigarette on 1/2/12 at 2 PM. I have a tracking app on my phone, and it has been 1 week, 1 day, and 36 minutes since I quit, and I have saved $54.89 (as well as my life). I am using the Blu e-cigarette for when I have cravings. Each day gets a lot easier, and though this may seem like a minor accomplishment to some, it has given me the confidence to tackle future adventures.

With that being said, I’ve noticed I am in need of a little spice in my life….to experience something unfamiliar, something new, something exciting.  To challenge myself mentally, physically, and/or emotionally….and I just want a  year full of fun!!  What a better way to fulfill this need by participating in adventures based on my terms?!  Intriguing?! Keep reading…

I invite anyone who is fueled by adventure or those who are looking to break out of their comfort zone to join me.  Yes, a weekly adventure can seem overwhelming, but why not do something different?  Adventures can run the gamut on the adventure scale. Whether it be grandiose such as skydiving or bungee jumping, overcoming a personal obstacle such as speaking in front of a group of people or climbing a ladder to combat a fear of heights, or something you have never done before such as running that 5k you have been talking about or taking a cooking class….its something you have never done before.  What’s better than the present to do things you have always talked about or do things you have never dreamed of.  Life is filled with a plethora of opportunities for exciting and challenging things to do. Make 2012 a year full of personal accomplishments and memories that will last a life time.

My first two adventures are small ones.  I have a year’s time to grow into bigger ones:)

#1 Blogging-  My roommate just asked me if I was writing a five-page post because I have been sitting here typing, deleting, copying/pasting, etc. for the past 2 hours.  I am no where near being confident in expressing myself through writing, but alas, this campaign calls for it.  So, I’ve taken the pressure off of myself and realized that every post will not be perfectly witty or well written as some of my talented counterparts;)  However, I will post often and promise to share, if not, inspire those who read them to find adventures in their life….

#2- Will im Austausch für deutsche Abenteuerlehren

….translation= Will teach in exchange for German Adventures!  I began a certification course this week to teach English in Germany this summer!  I  have until March to complete the course to which I then can apply and interview for positions.  I have a wonderful friend who was just transferred to Wiesbaden for work; about 30 minutes outside of Frankfurt.  If all goes well and as planned, I will be rooming with her and my summer will be filled with adventure… especially since I have never, ever-ever been off this continent.  Good Times!

I also plan to involve many of those in my life to participate in an adventure with me.  This adventurer needs a partner in crime…. a Chong to my Cheech. I worked on my list the other day, and this is what I have come up with so far:

-skydiving                                                                  -Blind Date

-horseback riding                                                    -Visit a Psychic

-GPS Scavenger Hunt                                             – Experience different religions

-Food Challenge (same one.  I am determined do it!!)

-Get something published                                     -Pay it forward

-Speed Dating                                                           -Ice Skating

-Flashmob                                                                 -Ride a motorcycle

-Polar Plunge in March                                         -Brew your own beer

-Caveman’s Workout                                              -Segway tour

-5k                                                                               -quit smoking *sigh* so hard…..

-Write a letter to my hero(es)                                -Snowshoeing

-Make it to front and center in a dance class  -Skiing

-Live Band Karaoke                                                -guest bartend

-Cooking Class                                                        -Read 3 Classics

…and I’m sure adventures will find me!

Here’s to 2012, my friends!  What will YOU do this week?!

Roberto

I started my adventure by arriving here at 6:05 a.m.  For those that don’t know, Al’s Breakfast, which was featured on the Diners Drive-Ins and Dives TV show on the Food Network, is notorious for long lines.  The reason why is that they only are open for breakfast..and there are only fourteen stools in the entire restaurant.  It is one counter top.

I arrived five minutes after they opened, but the fourteen seats were already taken and there were seven people in line ahead of me.  Oh, and by line, I mean standing against the wall which is about a foot and a half behind the stools.  Personal space isn’t allowed in here.

Though there were only twenty or so people in this tiny restaurant, there was a great mix of the young and old.  It made for an interesting vibe to see them were bumping elbows with each other, quite literally at times.  The cramped nature also allowed for great eavesdropping.  I was able to find out that one of the employees was having their house inspected, but a different employee’s uncle was the inspector.  Being able to hear the conversations made this place seem very homey, very much like a small town diner, not a place you’d find in a major metropolitan city.  The casual way in which people were talking with one another was also a nice change of pace.  You weren’t allowed to have your own bubble; your own place to turn the rest of the world off and focus only on yourself.  You are forced to interact with people next to you.  If you aren’t okay with that, you aren’t going to come back here.

As time went on, a line began to form behind me.  There was a couple waiting in line together ahead of me, and as a stools opened up, people that were already sitting were told to move over to allow the waiting couple to sit next to one another.  The people already eating were not asked to move stools; no no.  They were told.  But given the limited space, it just seems like the right thing to do.  Why can’t someone move down a stool or two so that these people can sit next to one another?  The waitress was just basically being the voice of reason.

After about a half hour of waiting, I was told to sit down on a stool that opened up.  I look through the menu, which I’m sure hasn’t changed in years, and ordered a bacon and cheese omelet with toast and hash browns, plus OJ and coffee.

After ordering, I had time to look at the opposite wall.  They had plenty of cartoons, pictures, and other random crap hanging up on it.  Most noticeable, though, was two rows full of yellow booklets with names on them.  Apparently, when the restaurant first opened over 60 years ago or so, the owner would let people buy meals in advance on these kinds of booklets.  They still allow people to do that to this day (oh yeah, no credit cards here; just cash or check).  This is also something that makes Al’s feel very homey, very welcoming and trusting, the kind of place you would want to buy meals in advance at because you know you want to come back.  Often.  You want to be a regular at a place like this.

My food arrived about twenty minutes after ordering.  And it was delicious.  The omelet was huge, the hashbrowns crispy and hot, the coffee cup always full.  It was a great kind of meal; the kind you’d expect at an aunt’s house, or a diner from the 50′s that you see on the side of an old highway.

Overall, Al’s Breakfast rightly deserves it’s reputation as a Minneapolis and University of Minnesota staple.  It brings a sense of no-nonsense food service to a culture that needs more of it.  It is perfect for someone looking for a romanticized notion of nostalgia; a place that is divey and kind of grungy.  But those aren’t faults; they are the charm.  A place where grease on your food adds to the taste.

When I was finished with my meal around 7:20 a.m., I paid and tipped the waitress, put my coat on, and squeezed by the new line of people waiting right behind me.  New people sitting down, new people waiting in line, and more coming in as I was leaving.  I for sure will be coming back to wait against the wall for a coveted space at Al’s Breakfast.

Adventure #1- The Garden

This is my on-going adventure, and lately adventure is an understatement. The weather up here has gotten freakishly chilly, and most of the viney-plants that I planted earlier last month have all died. I have about two sugar pumpkins, a squash, and a cantaloupe left of six jack-o-lanterns, three sugar-pumpkins, three squash, three watermelon, and three cantaloupe. I have enough seeds, and enough time to re-plant, but right now its a mess. And because of the weather, all the seedlings I have inside perished from lack of sunlight. All there is left to do is persevere and try again! (And I have to tell my mom to stop buying new seeds, because I have no place to put them yet o.o)

Adventure #2- Cooking Dinner for 8

Holy crap! Eight people, and my mom tells me to cook?! I can hardly make Mac&Cheese from the box without help from my younger sisters!

I wake up in the morning as my mom is getting ready to go to work and getting dinner started. She looks at me as she’s putting a couple of frozen lamb-shanks into a large black casserole tin. I look at the daunting mess of dirty dishes in the sink as I remember that I forgot to take care of them last night. But before I could open the dishwasher to clean up the disaster looming over my kitchen counter, my mom says,

“We’re having shepherd’s pie tonight, and I need you to make it,”

In my head I’m screaming my head off. Outside, my sleepy and groggy body manages to let out a “what?”

“Can you cook tonight?” she asks. I look back at the dishes, and back to her and shrug.

“Yeah, I guess,”

As soon as I said those words however, an idea began to surge from my brain into my thought process. I hardly ever cook. The last time I cooked for the family was at least two years ago (as a punishment!). This could be my Adventure.

Apparently, cooking has to do with allot of waiting at first. I had to wait for the lamb to let out all its juices, and for it to get all tender and cooked and all. I left it for too long however, and had to add more water and wait about an hour more. Then I had to pull all the meat off the bone. I’ve done this before when I helped my sister make some chicken soup, and I am so glad that it wasn’t chicken again. Lamb bones are allot bigger, and lot easier to spot, and a whole lot less disturbing to pull apart.

Once I was done with the meat, all I had to do was open a couple cans of peas, cut up some carrots, sauté some onions and mushrooms, and boil some potatoes, and mash some potatoes, and make some gravy, and put it all together, and put it in pie dishes, and have it all done in about two hours. Easy peasy lemon squeezy…right?

Wrong. Oh so terribly wrong. Remember all those delicious juices I waited for? All it took was for my twin to knock into the pan, and for me to watch it all spill over the floor. My dog was happy about that. I had to retrieve all the bones that I threw away (turns out I wasn’t supposed to do that) and boil the living daylight out of them. This was the first time I’ve ever made gravy, so my older sister helped with that. There was no injury cutting carrots, onions, or mushrooms (thank the Cooking Gods). I burned myself somewheres between sauteeing and mixing things together though. I almost over-boiled the potatoes, but remembered in time. Mashing them had to be the easiest part of the ordeal.

Finally I put it all together, and put it in the oven. I was an hour over-due, but that was okay. Dinner was relatively on time-ish, it was edible, and nothing was burnt! Except for my thumb, but we weren’t eating my thumb. Everyone enjoyed it, and the leftovers lasted through another dinner, and a couple lunches. I was really proud of myself for trying something new and challenging, and yes it was rewarding. Would I do it again? Maybe…but you, know, I think something different. Like steamed broccoli- in the microwave. That’ll take what? Five minutes? I like that idea =)

Now about those dishes…I think I would have rather have made dinner all over again then to tackle the mess that grew into a monster while I was busy. I ended up taking care of the disaster the next morning after being scolded. Hey! I made you dinner! xP

Adventure #3 -The Home-front Volunteer Project

Saturday morning, May 1st, was absolutely dreadful. I was tired, my twin sister was cranky, her boyfriend had bailed on volunteering with us, and my parents were mostly grouchy. My own boyfriend, Johnny, had just came back from Texas last week, therefore unable to sign up. So it was just me and Sally that afternoon, which is never terrible because she also happens to be my best friend. We aren’t really twins, but we should have been. She was two years late, but acts two years older. We’ve always had each other, and often came up with our own stories and games (which are now “working novels” which might end up being another adventure!). So when she signed up for the Home-Front project, natrually I went with her.

Finally arriving at around 12, we ate a quick lunch and went straight to work. I started painting inside, and she started raking and tearing up unwanted roots outside. The house we were working on, was for an elderly woman named Grace. She had given so much of her free time to the church and the community, we decided to give back in her old age. And by we, I mean over 100 able bodied young and older adults with hammers and shovels.

It was amazing to see so many people working together for a good cause. I ended up working mostly outside (quite disappointed about this, because I’ve grown up around construction sites my entire life and really would of liked to fix some stairs, or lay down some new tile- but they had way too many people who apparently knew how to do that as well). Me and my sister raked up almost an entire field of dead leaves, weeds, random junk-yard objects, and tons of poison Ivy which I’m still itching from. After most of the yard work was done, we were up again asking what else we could do to help. We got job after job, finishing way too fast for anyone else to think. We moved furniture, cleaned random household items, picked up all the scrap wood on the ground, folded tarps, and moved some two by fours into trucks. While we were doing all of that, there were people painting the outside, painting the inside, cleaning windows, laying tile inside, sweeping, vacuuming, hanging paintings, putting in new cabinets, a new toilet, a couple new windows, replacing a wall by the stairs, and putting the house back together again.

We met a bunch of new people without even meeting them. We all had name-tags, so we called each other by what we read. The adults sought us out to help us find work to do- everyone wanted to help, everyone was tired, and everyone was willing. Whoever wasn’t working on the house that day, had supplied bottled water, soft-drinks, coffee and doughnuts, breakfast and lunch. They made sure everything was cleaned up, and everyone was refreshed and fed.

After a long hard day, we all went to church. Father Sebastian said mass, and gave us volunteers a special blessing (woot woot and what not ^^). Afterwards, we all met up in the church hall to get some dinner. So many people baked casseroles, breads, deserts, and salads. They supplied drinks and coffee, and fruit. Everyone had a hand in something.

Forgive me for repeating, but it was just amazing seeing everyone come together for a great cause, and an awesome way to spend a Saturday. I’m definitely joining next year for another adventure.

Adventure #4- Freezing Shower!

We’ve all had those times, those gaps between oil deliveries, right? No hot water, no heating, and of course, the drastic and sudden drop in temperature! Do not delay your shower. Ever. Even if its midnight and you’re thinking you could take one in the morning- you might not be able to. You might end up freezing your toes off as you suffer from bad hygiene. I repeat, do not delay your shower.

So what does the eternal optimist do with a bad situation? Force yourself to go through with it, and call it an adventure!

It might not have been jumping into the arctic, but I swear it sure was close. I delayed the inevitable, stood up against the tiled wall of my shower and curled my toes away from the icy splashes for at least five minutes. I stared at the rain of terror, right behind it was the lufa. I just needed to rinse, soap up, rinse. I kept repeating in my head,

“Its an adventure, it’s an adventure,”

But even those encouraging words couldn’t move me to get it over with. I held my breath. ‘Just GO!’ I thought. With a jolt I moved my arm…and with another jolt, I took it back. I couldn’t do it. I could wait until tomorrow for my shower, after the oil delivery. This was rediculous, nonsensical, completely and utterly useless and a waste of my time. Now those were motivating words.

My heart jumped as I found my way under an icicle downpour! I held my mouth shut to keep myself from screaming. I grabbed the lufa, and jumped out of the hellish rain. Phase 1 of the war was over.

Do you have any clue how hard it is to get a lather with freezing cold water and a bar of soap? Well its impossible. I didn’t even need the lufa, but I managed to scrub myself clean (itching some of those blasted poison ivy blisters while I was at it). Now…to rinse.

Again, I held my breath to keep myself from screaming, and alerting the entire house of the obvious issue. Finally, the longest 30 seconds of my life past, and I was soap-sud clean. I shut off the water, and laughed.

The best part about holding in screams, is when you get to laugh them out. It was amazing, and absolutely exhilarating. I wasn’t so thrilled about it right then, but right now I wouldn’t mind taking another icy shower. It was a hell of a lot of fun.

~~~Well, I believe appolagies are in order for not getting this done as they happened. But hey, I’m a teenager, I’m lazy. And I’m busy doing things like getting grounded, and not cleaning my room, and making it look like I’m doing homework =P

Naw, I’m kidding. I’ll update my adventures as they come each week. I already have one in mind: “Painting a Masterpiece” again, something for my church. Its due in June for an auction. Imagine having a piece of your art in an auction?! Well, in order to make that dream a reality, I’ve been painting allot. I actually dabbled into water color. I’ve discovered I don’t like water color. I’m sticking to my acrylics for awhile, and hopefully you can see more of Adventure #5 as it progresses.

Hope you had fun reading!

TTFN, Tah Tah For Now <3

The first – and possibly most challenging – step was to find the Martha Stewart Holiday magazine that I bought (okay, I admit it) 3 1/2 years ago.  While looking for the instructions, I came across a recipe for limoncello.  Umm…but I digress.

The needed supplies were already in a basement cabinet, purchased…well, you can probably figure that out; I’ve wanted to try this for a long time.  The process was really quite simple:  cut the amount of glycerin desired off the block, and then chop it up into tiny pieces.  At first, I was going to melt it in a double boiler, but I had visions of future chocolate truffles tasting faintly of lavender bubbles, so I opted for the microwave.  Not difficult.

Once the glycerin was liquefied, I added lavender essential oil, color, and oatmeal flakes that I had run through the food processor. (The last ingredient was my own idea.  No dried lavender around, but I thought things needed a little texture.)  I used plastic yogurt cups as my molds and let the soaps harden for a couple of hours.  The result is shown below:

When it comes to “authentic” soap making, I cheated.  There was no lye, no lard/vegetable shortening, no constant stirring involved.  I have a book with “real” soap recipes on my shelf, and one day I’ll experiment with one of them.  But for now, I have my pretty little pink (pink?!) rounds of lavender soap, and they smell delicious.  I feel calmer already!

So in no particular order (other than that which I thought of these), here is my list so far…

2. Take a cooking class

3. Go to a wine tasting

4. Go skydiving5. Motorcycle road trip (minimum 2-3 days and 2-3 states)

6. Take a wine tasting class

7. Wander an art museum

8. Take a trip to NYC

9. Trip to the Boston Harbor Islands

10. Go on a 1st date

11. Try a new food that I normally wouldn’t even think about trying

12 – 16. Try various projects from Absinthe and Flamethrowers

17. Talk someone into joining me on one or more of my adventures

18. take the advanced motorcycle rider course

19. go to an amusement park

20. spend a day playing “where does this road go?”, get a room where ever I end up, don’t worry about finding my way home until the next day

21. actually obey all traffic laws, including speed limits, for an entire day

22. go for a walk in the woods

23. check out a live band I have not seen before

24. Find roses. Sit down and smell them

25. Try a new wine every week

26. go on a picnic

27. take dancing lessons

28. help someone else with one of their adventures

29. Go to a play

Happy adventuring everyone, and thanks for letting me join in!

Adventure 1: Worked for a week at the elementary school where my mother teaches art.  Keeping track of six classrooms each of Kindergartners and third graders is a crazy fun time, but it reminded my why I decided not to be a teacher.

Adventure 2:  Had my very first phone interview–with a woman in Austria!  It’s now official and I’ll be starting my three month internship at the library of the Salzburg Global Seminar in September.

Adventure 3:  I had the unintended adventure of finding a local doctor who would believe me that I do indeed know when I have a sinus infection and would give me a prescription.  That part was a success, unfortunately, I did not recover fast enough for my scheduled oral surgery and had to put that off for a few weeks.

Adventure 4:  Getting back into swimming.  Awkward hours at the campus gym is a terrible excuse, so this week I set a schedule and stuck to it.  Few things are as energizing as being in the water, although it would be nice if it were the Caribbean instead of a pool in Boston in the winter…

Adventure 5:  Last week’s adventure was a visit to the MFA to see the famous mummy head.  It was fascinatingly disturbing.

This week’s adventure will probably be to think of something that actually sounds adventurous when I write it down.  Wish me luck!

-Kim

I’ve been a bit delinquent posting my adventures.  Let’s go back in time, shall we?.  It was the first week of January and I decided I needed to get myself back to the gym after all of my slacking around the holiday season.  Why not start off my year of adventures with a new class?

I was originally going for Spin class, but apparently there is a sign-up process that I wasn’t aware of, so I wasn’t able to get into the class.  Who knew there was so much bureaucracy at the gym?!

Luckily for me there was another class going on at the same time – Group Kick.  I thought it was fate, and figured I would give it a shot.  It was an hour of high energy cardio kicking, punching, jumping, and yelling (yup – yelling!).  It was the best way to let out all of my post-holiday frustrations (A POST-IT?!  I’ll give YOU a Post-It!).

By the way, in case you’re wondering that girl in the picture isn’t me; it’s Buffy the Gym Girl (seriously!).  She’s my inspiration!

1. Shinnenkai with my Motorcycle Riding Club

Shinnenkai is another excuse for people to drink in Japan. It roughly translates to let’s drink for the first time in the new year party. Hopped on the bike and headed down to the Izu peninsula. This is the one place near Tokyo where palm trees line the road and the beach, ocean, and sky aren’t all shades of grey. You can read more here.

2. Visit to an Abandoned Dinosaur Exhibition

Haikyo is the word for modern ruins in Japan. Mostly just hotels built during the bubble economy, these are the decaying reminders of overspending in a capitalist society. And they are totally rad! I have a fleeting interest in them, and make it out once in a blue moon. This time, I went to a dinosaur exhibition at a snake center. Read more about the dinosaurs here. And the freaky second part at the snake center here.  Be warned, photos of hella dead snakes.

3. Escort Pooey to Mt. Fuji

Pooey is the globetrotting mascot for the website advrider.org. The idea is simple. Take this litte guy on your bike somewhere cool, shoot a bunch of photos, post em on the site, and pass him on. He’s been to all 50 states, Australia, India, China, and now Japan. I took him up to Mt. Fuji. You can read more here. After the trip I took him to my High School and used him in an English lesson.  Hmmmm, maybe someday I could use 52 adventures in a lesson.

4. Help with an Article in the NY Times.

Yes, I have a website devoted to ramen. http://www.ramenadventures.com/ has been a big part of my life for a couple years now. It’s a passion that I haven’t taken much farther than eating bowl after bowl and writing my little blog though. So when NY Times write Matt Gross (the frugal traveler) mailed me to ask for help in an article he was writing, I was happy to do all I could. After a week with Matt, and another week with the photographer, the article is finally up. Check it out!

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/travel/31ramen.html?pagewanted=1

That’s is for the first 4.  I’m predicting some interesting ones in February.  I have a ramen adventure just about every day, but I’ll try and keep it varied.  Run 20k in the mountains, learn basic motorcycle maintenance from a real mechanic, and buy a uniform for my fencing class are all on my calendar.  Does watching a bunch of episodes of 24 and Lost count as adventures?  Maybe not in America, but out here in the land of the big red sun, it’s some kind of challenging.