19 in 2019: George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary

I couldn’t let January 2019 pass without knocking at least one thing off my 19 in 2019 list, so on January 13, my friend R and I headed up to Canada to check out The George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. For just $5 admission, we checked #18 off the list!

After coworkers told me about the sanctuary years ago, I knew to expect a large number of birds when we arrived. What I didn’t realize is just how many species we would see. We saw:

February Intention Review

In order to stay accountable to my 2009 intentions, I must write about them every month. I thought I’d do a short review of the items that applied to February.

Complete two crafty projects a month.
This one was easy of course. I finished two mini-albums. (One on my trip to the San Diego Zoo in October 2008 and the other a Valentine’s day gift for Tim featuring pictures of us in college.) I did buy some materials for new projects though and this is one thing I’d like to stop doing. I need to be more economical and use supplies I already have to finish projects I’ve already started.

Read two books a month.
Last month I wrote that this goal should always be a gimme. Of course, this month, I didn’t accomplish the goal. I finished Oscar Wao, but started and did not finish two other books.

Go to at least one concert a month of a band that does not count one of my friends as a member.
I went to see Super Diamond for Z’s birthday. This again should be easy to accomplish every month. The first two months though, I saw bands that I’ve seen previously. In March, I want to take this one step further and see a band that is new to me.

Double the amount of money I give to charities over 2008’s total.
No action was taken on this goal in February. I need to work more on this goal this month. I think it will be a challenge to accomplish this goal this year. Last year, I had this same goal and it was easy, because I just doubled the amount of money taken out of my paycheck and given directly to United Way. I decided not to double that amount again this year, because although Bellingham’s needs are many, I’d like to focus on other areas. My two main areas of focus will be Donor’s Choose projects in Detroit area classrooms and supporting the Whatcom Hospice Foundation.

When selecting Donor’s Choose projects in the past, I would focus on high poverty areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. The need is still great there, but I’ve been interested in and saddened by the degradation and decaying of Detroit for some time. It’s a shame that what was once one of America’s greatest cities is now reduced to ruin. In the last few months both Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone have featured articles on the city as it failing relates to their sports teams and music scenes. Although sending some money to classrooms in Detroit won’t save the city, it is something little that I can do from across the country.

Supporting the Whatcom Hospice is much more personal, as they provided outstanding care and support to my friend in his last days. The work they do eases some of the burden placed on the dying’s family and I’m thankful that they were there to help my friends.

Re-commit to exercise plan by working out at least seven hours a week.

This intention continues to be only half-way fulfilled. I did better than January, but still feel that I can work out more and harder. I’d like to try doing a longer workout in the morning, but that means getting up right away instead of hitting the snooze button.

Finally, just because I don’t want to post a boring blog without a picture, the above is a shot of me and my new favorite hat on the shores of Langley, WA at Mystery Weekend 2009. (Photo by Z.)

2009

I start every new year (and every new month) with a set of intentions. It’s the only way I can keep myself accountable and actually accomplish my goals. Without boring you with exact wording, this year my focus is on conservation. This encompasses everything from reading books and using craft supplies I have already purchased to building up my savings and supporting the Washington economy by buying from local businesses and purchasing food from local sources.

More specific action items for 2009 include:
1. Complete two crafty related projects a month.
2. Read two books a month.
3. Go to at least one concert a month of a band that does not count one of my friends as a member.
4. Join the Co-op
5. Double the amount of money I give to charities over 2008’s total.
6. Visit Sara and Isaiah.
7. Re-commit to exercise plan by working out at least seven hours a week.
8. Put money in my savings accounts every month.

January is almost over and I’ve definitely made positive strides. I’ve been crafting up a storm too, completing 3 mini-books, the entire syllabus of an online scrapbook class I took this fall, five embroidered onsies for a friend that had a baby, a banner for the best band on Earth, and a few other smaller projects. I’ve also read two books Dead Until Dark and Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris and started the Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao and Happier. I’m also going to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and the Ivan Milev Band on Saturday. These three action items are almost gimmes though. They should be actions that I accomplish easily each month.

Also, I joined the Co-op. That was a no-brainer, especially now that they have a branch by my apartment. Buying local milk and eggs are the first changes I'm making, but I need to begin shopping there every week. Until they can grow bananas in the Pacific Northwest, I will never be able to buy everything from local sources. I’ve begun organizing and purging of my craft supplies and closet. The projects is not complete, but there is definitely a lot less crafty mess around the apartment. I’ve also restarted my vacation savings account and set some Christmas money aside in my house savings account.

The month hasn’t been completely successful though. I haven’t been strict about not purchasing new crafty supplies or books though. I bought three new books, but only completed two. I borrowed the two I completed, so my collection of unread books has only grown. I did visit all of the craft stores in town (yes, all five of them) and purchase something at every stop. (Ack!) Luckily, I’ve been moderately successful with recommitting to working out, but feel that I could improve in this area. I need to start regularly working out in the morning again.

Good thing I didn’t make a New Year’s intention to blog more. That would have failed absolutely miserably.

Blog Manifesto

While I don't consider myself a writer, I do feel that what written communication skills I do have are getting rusty. I've started ending far too many sentences with a preposition. I use the words "like" and "really" much too often. Blame it on technology or laziness but, my writing skills aren't as honed now that I'm not using them regularly. Also, I miss blogging. While, I've been a member of group blogs before, this is my first foray into a blog of my own.

I plan to use this blog as a storing house for things I find interesting and want not only to share with you, dear readers, but to serve as a reference for me. Let's face it. I forget stuff all the time. Stuff, I want to remember, like bringing my roommate's bag home when she asks me. There is no way I'll remember many cool things like new songs I like and craft tutorials I want to try, unless I link to them here. I've struggled with deciding on a theme for the blog, because the blogs that I enjoy the most and read regularly focus on one subject. They are either craft blogs or cooking blogs or video game blogs. The more I thought about it though, I realized that I enjoy far too many activities and have too many hobbies to stick to a theme. Here I will focus on what I love. Topics will be as diverse as crafts and video games and football and really bad TV to really good movies and books. If you don't see anything that you like in the "About Me" section in the right hand column, then I invite you to move along now. That list is a pretty honest assessment of topics I will write about at some point. Welcome and enjoy!