twenty-five

Last year during the week prior to my twenty-fourth birthday, I knocked on the doors of stranger's houses to ask, "what is your advice to a girl who has never been 24 before?" I wrote the various words of wisdom down in a notebook, which is now tucked away in the archives of my Ontario home. I spent the afternoon of my twenty-third birthday making bamboo fish with children in northern Thailand. My twenty-second birthday I remember as being a turning point; I decided that I would not be ashamed of the attention being pointed at me, and instead intentionally and thoroughly enjoyed the love showered on me by my friends, and family. It was a good turning point. However, every birthday is a bit of an identity crisis for me: am I where I want to be? Is this where I thought I would be at this age? Though I have a strongly held belief that our notion of age-appropriateness is determined by social constructs, I still struggle with feeling worthy and successful each third of December. This year, I find myself nestled in an orchard in the lovely Okanagan Valley in which I share an apartment with a high school friend. I work as a ski instructor/wax hound at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre North of here, and enjoy the crisp blue skies and crunching snow high on the mountain each day above Vernon. This year, I've decided to challenge myself: twenty-five things to do before I turn twenty-five.

Incidentally, Dec 3rd is in 6 days. : )

1. join a flash mob
2. make Thai curry from scratch
3. ski with a flask and friends
4. begin/acquire a sourdough starter
5. make a recipe off of the CBC website
6. make beer
7. tye-dye something
8. light a candle each night for supper (for the week)
9. decorate my first Canadian apartment for Christmas : )
10. learn to ride the rollers (bicycle inside)
11. learn to can
12. make Christmas postcards
13. write a poem over lunch every day
14. take note of the sunset each evening (for the week)
15. try a new drink
16. make 25 Christmas cookies
17. plant something
18. take someone for a drink
19. go to an art gallery in Kelowna
20. learn a new game
21. make an advent wreath
22. bring baked goods to work
23. experience a new Christmas tradition
24. 25 intentional acts of kindness
25. blog about attempting twenty-five things in the week prior to turning twenty-five

So, there you have it!

Tonight, my housemate, Carrie, and I attended our Swedish friend's Advent gathering where we drank Swedish mulled wine (Gluug?), I learned to play the game Flux, and she told me about the Christmas traditions of Sweden while we listened to Swedish Christmas music.

[ps. this idea was inspired by my one of my fav blogs: www.kfar.blogspot.com]

What do you do to celebrate your birthday? Any suggestions on how I make my quarter-century a future favourite? : )