Wanderlust Like You Mean It

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Resolutions

I know it's not quite New Year's Eve, but I don't think it's ever a bad time to think about resolutions, things you'd like to evaluate, things you'd like to change. I don't think it has to be some big grand gesture, but a small effort to change can mean big things. I'm not going to sit here and make some grand resolution to keep up with my blog because based on my previous track record, I'm not convinced that is going to happen. But I would like to focus for a minute on the idea behind this blog. Wanderlust like you mean it. I started this blog to document moving to Alaska, this big grand adventure and arguably one of the craziest things I've ever done. I also had good intentions of keeping up with this blog during Semester at Sea, but that never happened. I'd like to think I was too busy out there living life to take the time to write about it. And then AmeriCorps NCCC last year, which was a completely different kind of adventure. This year I am still with NCCC, but in a significantly less exciting capacity. I do enjoy my job, but I have definitely found myself in a rather lame routine. Get up, go to work, come home. Do it again the next day. I did this in Alaska too, but it was exciting because I was in Alaska. I could have just sat there and watched paint dry and it would have been cool because I was in Alaska. Doing the same thing in say suburban Sacramento is not nearly as exciting. In an effort to keep up with my post-Semester at Sea goal to travel to a new country each year (I still have a few weeks left in 2011, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen), I purchased a plane ticket to Paris for my birthday. I feel like I have a better than average sense of adventure...when it comes to the big stuff. Move to New York for grad school, go to Dublin on a whim, move to Alaska, travel the world by boat, lead 10 folks in a service-related adventure throughout the Pacific Northwest, buy a plane ticket to France for the big 3-0. But it's the smaller, less costly sense of adventure that I feel like I lost somewhere along the way. Somehow I've gotten complacent in the routine of the 9-5. Adventures aren't just to be had 6 months down the road. They can happen each and every day. So my December 10 resolution is to make a bucket list of suburban Sacramento things to do and to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to me while I'm here, to live in the moment, and not be so focused on the big adventures, but to take time to enjoy the small ones as well. And to not be so lame.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Straight flowing on a boat on the deep blue sea...

Some of my absolute favorite memories from the summer are from various shenanigans on the ship. Below is just a small sampling of the various escapades that made me laugh til I cried with some of my favorites people aboard the MV Explorer...

The Aegean Sea!
All of the fabulous students I got to work with this summer!

Me and my fabulous grad assistant, Greg. :)

This was pretty indicative of all of the fun times we had in the Living Learning Team office, our home away from home on the ship.

After our sea photo, Greg and I had our very own private photo shoot on the back deck. This photo pretty much sums up our relationship.

The Aegean Sea: Small but mighty!
Silver Medal Winners for the Sea Olympics!!
SO proud of all of my Aegean Seaers! Go Blackout!

Me and my wonderful roommate, Laura.
2044 for Life. Don't Stop Believing.

Sea Spirit Day!
Each sea was represented by a different color. (Fink and I chose black because it implies a certain level of world domination.) I love this picture because all of the LLC's look like a box of crayons. :)