30 Before 30 - Months 6, 7, and 8

I haven't been as good at updating this as hoped, although admittedly it's been a light few months for my 30 Before 30 project. Winter has been particularly cold, dark, and generally yucky which leaves me a bit unmotivated. I have crossed a few fun things off of my list. It's a bit shocking that I only have a few months left until the big 3-0!!

Since it's been cold and dark, the biggest thing I've worked on is the movie list. I've crossed a TON off - I finished the Star Wars trilogy, watched the entire Back to the Future trilogy, The Goonies, The Princess Bride, Pretty in Pink, Can't Buy Me Love, Ghost, Zoolander, Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

It's been an interesting experience - some movies have FAR exceeded expectations. For example, I always had the impression that The Princess Bride was a stupid movie. I had tried to watch it a couple times in college, and always managed to fall asleep. It isn't as funny coming in and out of sleep. However, this tops the list of favorites of the movies I've watched so far! It's hilarious!

I always thought Ghost was a sweet, romantic comedy. Not so! It's scary (well, it's scary for whimpy me). Even though it was scary, I thought it was a really good story.

Since my last update, I also got not one, but two LASIK consultations. The first was mid-December at Associated Eye Care in Stillwater. My friend Beth worked there for many years and referred me there. The experience was good - everyone was really nice, the process was smooth and painless. Since the price I was quoted at was higher than desired, I decided to go for another one. This time I went to Whiting Clinic in St. Louis Park. The experience was very similar - lots of tests and funny machines. Nice people. I had found out at Associated that I have thin corneas (weird, huh?). Associated has more or less a flat rate for their LASIK procedures. Though Whiting has different levels of pricing, I was bumped up to the higher level because of my thin corneas. Boo. Basically $1,000 more because of it. The quotes ended up being very comparable...and simply too much to justify right now. I'm disappointed, but it's good to know. I'm glad I got the consultations.

At the end of January I asked my friend Jonathan Rundman to teach me how to string my guitar. Jonathan is a professional musician, the husband of a former co-worker of mine, and an all around awesome guy. Jonathan gave me a short tutorial, and then we took turns doing each string of the guitar. Although it takes a little bit of practice, it is much easier than I expected to string my guitar. I'm really glad I learned - it's been something I've wanted to do for a long time!

Also at the end of January I started taking a belly dance class through Minneapolis Community Ed. I taking the class with my good friend Susan (it's fun to have a buddy!). We're both a bit disappointed because the "90's Hip Hop" class that we wanted to take filled up, so this was our plan B. We've done the first two classes. I like it, but definitely don't love it. It's much, much harder than I thought. Even though I consider myself a decent dancer with pretty good coordination, belly dancing makes me feel like a klutzy baboon. 

My meals have been going well too. I've really noticed a difference in my confidence level. I am feeling much more comfortable in the kitchen. I've even found myself making other meals, and being a lot better at it than I have been. In fact, we've discovered that I make the BEST scrambled eggs. Who knew?! It may not sound like a big deal...but it's a big improvement for me! In the last few months I've made Honey Lime Tilapia, Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas, and Coconut Chicken with Garlic Fries. The Coconut Chicken is probably one of my favorite meals I've made so far.

Although there haven't been a ton of things crossed off the list in the last few months, the ones that have been have been a lot of fun. I'm coming to the home stretch of this project...time to get in gear to wrap this up!