100 before 100! 61-70!

Happy Wednesday! We’re half way through the week! Only a few more days before the weekend! I’ve been working on creating my list of one hundred things to do before I turn one hundred. And let me tell you, it’s getting tougher and tougher to add items to the list!

Here's 61-70!

61. Be able to do and hold a handstand (again. Gah! 9 year old me was AWESOME!)
62. Read all of Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov (I've never been able to make it all the way through)
63. Own a house.
64. Always write thank you notes (my birthday is September 24th, I'd be happy to send you a thank you note in exchange for a present!)
65. Scan and organize all photos from high school on.
66. Jump off a cliff. Cliff diving sounds amazing!
67. See the live taping of a television show
68. Use a rain barrel to help be more environmentally friendly (but I guess I need a garden, number 54, first)
69. Learn how to throw a lasso (why not?)
70.Visit the town in Austria where my Great-Grandfather was born in 1901

However, I am happy to say that I’ve been able to work on and check a few items off of my list!

13. Learn to scuba dive (Completed in Utila, Honduras July 2010! I can't wait to go again!)

44. Beat my Mom at Scrabble (I did it!!! On a plane! Which means it was a trans-Atlantic win!)

57. Learn how to use the weigh machines at the gym (Chris has been teaching me! Yay!)

Hiking in Cinque Terre

At the tail end of my grand adventure through Europe I spent a few days in the amazing town of Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre area of Italy. If I ever have the chance I would love to spend a few weeks in Cinque Terre taking Italian lessons in the morning and hiking in the afternoon.

All of the people in Riomaggiore were so nice. I speak about 3 words of Italian and have excellent pointing skills; but, I was able to get around and work it out because everyone there was so patient and kind. I couldn't be more in love with this little town!

One morning I decided to take a hike along the coast line to another town and then a moderate to hard hike from that town, up through the mountain ridge, back down to my own little town.

This was the only map I had. A terrible terrible map with just basic squiggles for directions. Being fairly foolish, I decided that I could make it! I was a girl scout and a camp counselor (can you see where this is going?).

I made it along the path, called Via dell'Amore (Lovers Lane), stopping to take lots of pictures of these amazing cliff-side towns.

And without much trouble I made it to the trail and and started hiking. But being the responsible hiker I am, I checked the warning first:

(I actually took this picture with Stephanie from Le Sigh of a Fashionista in mind!)

Warning: do not wear high heels while hiking! Well, thank you, how thoughtful AND helpful. To be honest, I wasn't wearing the best of hiking shoes; no boots, only a pair of worn down converse.

After about thirty minutes of hiking I came across this sweet little altar. It was no more than 6 feet tall.

The gorgeous fall leaves reminded me of being home in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina (my personal happy place).

After about 2 hours of hiking I had made it about 3/4th of the way up the mountain when I encountered this:

and this!

WILD BOARS? WILD BOARS! WILD BOARS!

I didn't actually see any boars. But I was on the look out.

I hiked for another hour (about 3 to 4 hours total) and finally made it to the top! Wooo! At this point I knew I needed to turn right to head across the ridge but I just wasn't actually sure where to turn but kept my eyes open for a sign or arrows or something.

As I kept on the path I soon realized that I was incredibly lost. I had really only two options: try to keep on going or turn around for what was guaranteed to be a steep and slippery four hour hike home. So... what did I do? I called my mom.

That's right, I took my international blackberry on top on a mountain in Italy and called my mom. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hey Momma. Sorry to interrupt your meeting but I'm lost.
Mom: Yea? Are you okay? Where are you?
Me: Oh yea, everything is fine. Nothing to stress about. I'm just in the middle of the woods in Italy.
Mom: In the woods?! You have no idea where you are?!
Me: Erm. yea.

Eventually I found my way out of the forest, but at that point I had passed over the mountain ridge, out of one national park and into another. In the distance I could see a large town. I decided that town was the best bet for a ride home-- I would find a bus, a train, a donkey, something! I walked down a long winding road for 9 kilometers. After asking for directions and making some lucky guesses I got into town and found the train station. Using my Eurorail pass and passport (which, THANKFULLY I HAD IN MY BACKPACK) was able to take a 30 minute train ride home to Riomaggiore.

Getting off the train I was welcomed home with this amazing sunset!

After 9 hours of hiking, wandering, a bus ride, a train ride, and generally being lost I made myself a huge carbo-loaded dinner of lemon linguine with squash, tomatoes, prosciutto, and fresh ricotta:

(this is the picture appeared on the blog just a few days ago and got me started thinking about this story!)

This story could have turned out badly, forcing me to use my survival skills (of which I have none) and spend the night in woods. But honestly, I am so glad I got lost and spent those extra hours wandering through the woods. I'm also so glad I made it home that night!

But I will tell you that I was so sore after 9 hours of hiking and walking that I had a hard time walking for days!

Relationships: managing expectations

I've been in two really meaningful romantic relationships in my life. One failed in a miserable cry-fest which involved cheating, lying, yelling, and other unpleasantness. And now I'm in an amazing relationship with someone who I like (fine, I'm lame, and love him) so much that I might even be obsessed with him. But beyond being in happy and unhappy long term relationships I've also been single, dated a guy who delivered pizzas, and made myself look like a desperate fool. In the last 10 years that I've been dealing with boys (some, maybe, can be called men) I've learned a thing or two.


For me, the biggest thing that keeps me sane in my relationship is managing expectations and my insecurities. I had (and at times still have) these impossible standards and ideals about the way my partner should act. Undeniably, they are completely unreasonable. Keep in mind that Chris is amazing, and I honestly can't imagine a better boyfriend (gag. mush-fest). But in the beginning I had to work on my own expectations. Not because he was doing anything wrong but because I was wanting too much (an impossible amount) from him. And I let my imagination get away from me many many times. Chris and I call this "Hypothetical Evil Chris". Hypothetical Evil Chris is a cheating asshole who likes to put me down and sleep with strippers or any other lady he can find. When he goes away on boys weekends and I'm worried about what might happen I like to think to myself, "are these ideas about what Chris might do and think really something I know about his character? Or is this just Hypothetical Evil Chris who I am thinking about?"

So, when managing expectations I think you need to figure out what is {insert boyfriend's name} honestly capable of giving you? And what is an absolute need for you? I need lots of physical attention: I need kisses and hugs all day long. I need to be listened to and respected. I need to feel sexually attractive (I would hate for my boyfriend to like me just for my personality-- no seriously, that would suck). I need a partner who will dream big with me. I need someone who will be there for me on the great days but also on the days when I can't stop crying.

In the first 6 months or so of my relationship with Chris, our (okay, really my) biggest challenge was realizing how completely amazing our relationship was (and still is!) and to bask in that without letting some sort of crazy "ideal" or letting my overactive and insecure imagination get in the way.

So, the big question is what do you need, what do you want, and can someone balance them?



Ef... now that I've written this I'm going to be really embarrassed if Chris dumps my ass. But if that happens at least I'll have something to blog about...

I would tweet about it but....

Do y'all tweet? Cause I do! And I would love more little tweet bunnies to tweet with! Follow me! I'll follow you!

www.twitter.com/mertravels

xoxo,
M

Choices. Choices. Choices.

I'm a lucky duck and CSN asked me to do a review of one of their fabulous products. If you don't know CSN is a great place to do some online shopping. They have everything! Dining room furniture! Shoes! Rugs! Everything! With about two thousand choices I'm a little stuck!

Right now I'm in a holding pattern. We're waiting to leave on our trip (details to come!), living in a temporary place and know that our stuff has to go into storage soon. So, I want to choose something that we will use now and when we return. I don't any decor items since I'm not sure of the space we are moving into.

Maybe a cute laptop case?

Maybe a few Le Crueset items to add to my small collection?



Maybe a suitcase?


Some fancy new kitchen gadget?

(So fancy! A crock pot!)

Maybe something entirely different? What would you choose to review?

Please sir, another carb? I'm 'ungry

Last Thursday I started a new lifestyle program (that's my fancy happy face word for diet) with Chris. So far it's been going pretty well.

I've worked out every day. And haven't touched a sip of alcohol. Y'all I went to dinner with my mom and turned down wine! TURNED DOWN WINE! Do you hear me? I could have ordered multiple martinis or delicious glasses of pinot. But I was strong! I made it!

Not boozing has been okay. It was a little weird this weekend though. What do people who don't drink do on the weekend? No, seriously. What is there to do on a Saturday night if I'm not going to a bar? Movies? Board games? Sleeping?

But here's the real problem. I'm craving carbs like crazy. I was ready to cut someone for french friends on Sunday.

This is what I want. I actually want 5 of them:

(This is the most delicious giant bowl of past I have ever eaten. That's fresh lemon linguini and ricotta fresh from the market. Ah, nothing beats Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre in Italy!)

If it stops raining today I'm going to for a run. I downloaded a Couch to 5k program on my ipod last night and am going to try to start running. I'm not someone who likes to run (actually I totally hate it), but I figured it was worth the $2.99 to download the app.

I'm trying for 30 days straight of working out. 7 days down! Only 23 more to go!

Now that you're gone sweetie...

Chris usually travels 2 or 3 weeks a month for work. That leaves me all by my lonesome to do whatever I want in Chicago.

When we lived in Dallas I just counted Chris' work weeks as extended time with my girls. Now that that we're in Chicago and I don't the same extended group of friends I end up hanging out by myself on weekend nights fairly often. And right now we don't have cable in our apartment so I can't even throw myself into Real Housewives or HGTV

So, what do I do by myself when I'm all alone? What are things I can't do when my dear sweet boyfriend is home?

- Instead of cooking real meals I make whatever is easiest and most readily available. Wheat Thins with cream cheese and tomatoes? Yes please!

- I play countless games of "scrabble" on the internet.

- I watch whatever chick flicks I want. I definitely take advantage of our Netflix membership when Chris is gone. (Speaking of, any good suggestions for girly movies?)

- I spend tons of time in front of the mirror checking out possible blackheads, stray eyebrow hairs, and wondering I will look like in 20 years.

- I work out and watch hours of bad reality tv at the gym. Honestly, most of the time I work out just so I can watch tv.

What do you do when no one else is home?