30by30: #6 Run a 5K - COMPLETE

Well, I did it! I ran my first 5K for the Portland 35th annual Shamrock Run on St. Patrick's Day. It was great fun :) My friend A and I ran it in 47:26 with a pace of 15:16. We were so excited to accomplish this. This was her first race ever and it was my first time running anything really long since my lung collapse at age 19.

After my lung collapsed, I honestly believed that I wouldn't be able to run without seriously hurting myself. This event really showed me that I can do this and NOT have my lung give out and die. I know that I've done other very rewarding things since The Project began (like Le Grand Continental dancing) but this was something I thought would actually hurt me to do again. I'm relieved that I had a fantastically supportive running buddy. What a relief that both of us made it and we did great! I will definitely participate in more running events in the future because people are very supportive and it was fun.

Plus, at the end they give you a free beer. Cheers! x

Update on the project

The project is going along well. Now that I'm staring down the barrel of 30, I'm glad that I gave myself so much time to complete the items on this list. Though I will not get to each one I listed, I am glad that life brought around other things that had been on my life to do list that were suitable alternatives. I'm a little more then half way there at last count (I think it's about 18 of 30 done). There are ones on the list that I may get done in a whirlwind at the end, such as the 30 new dinners, 30 flower arrangements, etc.

30by30: 7.) Host a decathlon game night - COMPLETED 12/31/12

For New Year's, my husband and our close friends A & D celebrated by playing the ten games for the decathlon game night that I was inspired from an episode of My Boys from an episode entitled Decathlon: Part Deux (aired April 21, 2009). To play, you average out the number of games that you win over 10 games to have a winner. Generally there is a buy-in, but since for us it was a one night deal we said no money, just booze. Here were the final standings:

                       

Game	A	D	Me	Hubby
Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit (Aisha)	3	W-4	2	L-1
Poker – “Texas Hold’em Drunkie” (David)	L-1	W-4	3	2
Po-Ke-No (Karla	2	3	L-1	W-4
Quirkle (Kevin)	2	3	L-1	W-4
9 x 9 cards (Aisha)	W-4	L-1	2	3
Cranium (David)	3	W-4	L-1	2
Apples to Apples (Karla)	W-4	2	L-1	3
Sorry (Kevin)	3	L-1	W-4	2
Scattergories (Karla)	W-4	2	L-1	3
Last Word (Aisha)	3	L-1	W-4	2
Total	29 – 1st place	25-3rd place	20-4th place	26-2nd place

How to Feel Young Again

I was feeling old today and was nostalgic for my youth. And I'm not even 30 yet. It's interesting, I question how to feel young again and wonder if I can incorporate the things that used to make me happy back in to life. Here's an interesting article about it: Every Day Health

I think I'm feeling this way because Kevin is away working in Sweden on a job. Mom is gone and I just miss her so much. I want to be a child again and run up and see her. It makes me horribly sad that she's dead and I'll never see her again. She was such a wonderful mother and she died and suffered before her time. I'll be watching What Dreams May Come tonight and thinking of the world outside of this one. What is heaven, or hell? Can they be found or is it a world we create? Is Hell just a life that we never lived properly? Those who feel young and act young don't worry about this. In many ways I still do these things. I don't have children and my husband and I don't plan on taking that path. And that doesn't make me sad that I won't have my own kids. It's just when I think of my mom and realize she brought me on to this Earth... I am just overwhelming grateful that she decided to have a child. Only one. Me. And here I am. I create beauty everyday. I create good feelings in others and perhaps bad ones too.

The night before my first day working at SHS, I had a dream. My mother visited me in this dream and I KNEW with every fiber in my being that it was her. If I was a holy person, I would say that night I found God, but in this case I found mom again. I woke up from the dream and I couldn't stop crying. For a long time, I just cried and cried I was so happy but so sad that she was gone again. That I couldn't be with her. When I was younger she was with me and as a child you always take those moments for granted. When she got sicker as I was older I realized that I was lucky to have her in my life.

The world I have created for myself is wonderful and blessed. I have created a beautiful home. I have found my way to a rewarding and blissful and a career that has the capacity to make me feel young again. I think I need to call a friend and have them share a special moment with me.

Le Grand Continental Video of my Performance

Le Grand Continental Sept 20, 2012 Pioneer Courthouse Square from Magaurn Video on Vimeo.

30by30: 30.) Commit time on Rosetta Stone - UPDATE

I haven't been great commiting time on Rosetta Stone and I figured I needed practice conversing with others in Japanese. So, long story short is that I signed up for a Japanese Level One class at Bhodi Tree Learning Center in SE Portland. It may not be great considering how much cheaper it is then college credit classes, but I am hoping that I will at least get some grammar and honorific basics since Rosetta Stone doesn't focus on those things at all.

30by30: 11.) Take 30 dance classes - COMPLETE + EXTRA CREDIT

Wow! This goal went even better then I had originally expected it to! In my willingness to take 30 dance classes, I actually became involved in White Bird's 15th Anniversary celebration which was comprised of a performance of a French Canadian choreographer's work called Le Grand Continental.

I signed up for discounted classes at Northwest Dance Project via a Living Social special. I took 10 classes through them: Lyrical Jazz, Contemporary Fusion, Ballet Barre and Hip Hop.

Then I auditioned and made the Le Grand Continental with a good friend, Erin that I have known since high school. She and I have been working with the other 150+ Le Grand dancers to perform on September 30th in Pioneer Courthouse Square. We meet every Tuesday and Thursday at the Oregon Expo Center from 6 to 9 pm. It's been a wild and amazing journey. At the end of the performance, each dancer will receive a complimentary DVD of our performance. Here is a video you can watch of the Montreal performance, which was the original: http://vimeo.com/35144677