26 Reasons

A new year of my life is starting today - a year of change, excitement, friendship, food, adventure, love, and a whole lot else that I haven't quite figured out yet.

In honor of all this, I thought I would come up with 26 reasons as to why I am excited to be a year older. In no particular order:

1. No more long distance with this guy:

The 2,178 miles between us make it a bit hard to take obnoxious selfies.

2. I can [maybe] try my hand at pour-over (also known as drip) coffee. I currently live in the state that prides itself on its organic, free range, gluten-free, fair trade, fat-free, low-sodium coffee.

Wait. Coffee has gluten and salt? 

It's free-range? Like chickens?

MY COFFEE IS FAT-FREE? I was hoping for some buttercream beans. Dang it.

Sigh.

I live in the state that prides itself on organic and fair trade coffee. I never knew what either of those really meant before I moved here. Can't say I completely understand them even after almost 10 months of living here, but either way, I'm gonna guess that consuming coffee that is either fair trade or organic or both is a start in the right direction. California knows coffee. Whew-ie. Never again will I drink Folgers. Gross.

If you don't know what pour-over is, here's a great visual tutorial: Blue Bottle [Drip] Tutorial 

The "what you'll need" list overwhelms me as does the fact that I need a scale, but ain't that little coffee maker/dripper/white thing with a blue bottle on it... so dang cute? 

3. I will have a master's degree! Do you all remember that that's the reason why I'm even living in the state of California? Grad school? International Education Management? 16 classes in 8 months? Bueller? Bueller?

Quinn Bolander, MA [Is that how it's written? I should probably know this.]

soon.

Not really. Still have to wait & do homework for at least 8 more months.

Either way. MASTA.

4. I can finally go on runs with my dog. Excuse me. Jerrod and I's dog. It is definitely not MY dog. I wouldn't know what to do with a dog on my own. Thank goodness Jerrod got the dog training gene. 

 OH MY DAWG isn't this picture so precious because he was so TEENSY. Also, we were running!

5. I can plant my own mini succulent gardens. Central CA is literally covered in succulents. I LOVE THIS. My mom and I are going to do some mini gardening (note that I said mini) together this summer. Hooray. Here are some inspiration mini gardens:

Rooted in Succulents

This is a bit too intense for me, but pretty nonetheless. 

I WANT. 

& I can't source this because I got it on tumblr where people steal pictures & don't source them. Hmph.

West Elm succulents

Apparently you can order succulents from West Elm. BABIEEEES. 

6. I can listen to this song OVER and OVER and OVER. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, you have my heart. Sorry, Jerrod (maybe you should learn to sing this song...)

Press play. Do it. NOW. 

And when it's finished, watch the video that goes with the song. 

7. I can take more pictures. Simple as that.

film, digital, iphone. gonna shoot 'em all.

8. I can eat food out of these uber beautiful bowls that my friend Abby threw for me. Threw? Gail, is that even the right word? SHE MADE THEM. And carved Samoan designs into them. So dang thankful for her and our  friendship.

Bring on the ice cream and cereal all summa long. Heck, all life long.

Thank you Abby. I love them so much.

9. I can & will wear the heck out of the Birkenstock sandals that I found at a thrift shop this past weekend. Never worn. Brand spankin' new. HOLY BAGEEZ. I've wanted a pair for YEARS but have never felt like paying $100 for them. Wanna know how much I got these puppies for? $27! TWENTY SEVEN FLIPPIN DOLLARS. 

10. I will get over my disgust of certain things this year. I WILL! BBQ sauce & hot sauce have been conquered. Pickles might take a while. Possibly mustard. Probably not garlic but maybe. Definitely not bleu cheese. Avocados on their own - doubt it 'cause gag. Olives in more dishes - yes. Who am I? Why do I not eat these things? IDKKK. This has been weird.

11. I must spend some weekends camping. I really love it. My family always camped when I was younger. There's just something about setting up a tent, cooking up some good grub over a fire, and crawling into a poofy mummy bag. 

Oh, tent. Where will we set you up next?

Because every campsite & fire for those 21 and over should have icy cold PBR. And also brats and Wavy Lays. 

12. I will buy myself some nice pillows. Right now I'm sleeping on two pillows that were each purchased for $5 (grad school probs) and  this was literally the worst decision I have ever made. Hashtag quinn fail

13. I will watch Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Scandal, and all the other TV shows that people are addicted to that I have never seen. I turn on a TV like once every other month so gosh dang it when it's thunderstorming or hot as fudge this summer and fall, I will give in and sit on the couch with my handthrown (?) Samoan carved bowl from Abby that will be filled with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

Oh, that sounds so nice right now.

And if you are wondering why I haven't watched GoT yet, it's because I REALLY want to read the books so...

14. Read the Game of Thrones books [at least the first two before I start watching the first season of the TV show]. I started reading the first one when I was in American Samoa but I didn't have enough time to read normal books because I was too busy teaching kids and taking pictures of all the kinds of MEAT you can find in AmSam grocery stores. It was a hard life.

15. I will give lots of hugs.

16. I will go on a flavored water binge. Why would you want to drink plain water when you can drink water with these additions & combinations: 50 Awesome Flavored Waters - 52 Kitchen Adventures [new goal: make every single one!]

17. I will try to spend as much time as I possibly can outside. I unfortunately have spent so much of my time in CA cooped up inside & behind a computer (grad school probs) that I want to make up for it by getting some much needed fresh air. Also, thanks to now being a dog owner, I will have instant motivation by just seeing his cute face.

18. Can someone teach me how to make & bake bread? (Mom?) I'd also like to make cinnamon rolls. I understand that all of these things involve using yeast. If anyone out there in the blogosphere is really good at making these two things and is willing to help me, I'd appreciate it. (Mom?!)

19. Make my own Oreo hacks. For all you Oreo lovers, you have to start following their tumblr: Oreo They post videos of people making awesome foods with Oreos - foods you would not normally think would go well with Oreos. Also, drool. I really want an Oreo now. Would you like me to say Oreo one more time? Oreo.

20. Probably never watch this video again: 

I don't really know why this was created. Was it meant to be art? 

What I don't understand is why anyone would want to waste a perfectly good brownie sundae and pour it on a bearded man's head.

21. I will move somewhere new. I have no idea where that will be, but it is an absolute guarantee. 

22. I will print more pictures, make more crafts, and send more cards.

23. Getting my groove thing on will be happening soon...Jerrod and I have a few weddings to go to this summer and fall! There's nothing quite as fun as celebrating love!

24. This will be happening:

25. I will go fishing with Connor and Jerrod. Last summer's fishing adventure was enough to make me want to go again. 

26. I will hug my parents. A lot. Words can't express how thankful I am to have them in my life and for all that they have taught me. They brought me into this world 26 years ago, and it's been an amazing 26 years so far. Thanks, Mom and Dad for supporting me, loving me, laughing at and with me, and for guiding me toward the life I want to live. Looking forward to giving you the first of many hugs in 23 days.