things to do before i meet my maker

i passionately love to read. i am constantly coming home from libraries and bookstores with more books than i can carry. and in theory i am a writer. at least that's what my degree says. ha. this is definitely a distant goal, but i think it might eventually happen.

i've been skiing since i was a kiddo, tried snowboarding once when i was 14, and immediately went back to two boards. i've since picked it back up, but it's looking to be a slow process. i hate not being good at things, but i am determined that when people ask me if i ski or snowboard (the most common question in a ski town), i can honestly say both.

i've only been to north america (duh) and europe so far, but i have plans to go to brazil in september, and i am expecting to make it to australia next summer. that will be 4! definitely progress. now i have been to central america, but i've never really been sure where exactly that falls on the whole seven continents thing.

i'm not a bad cook. to be bad at something would imply that you actually participate in it. not true in my case. i simply don't cook. i have absolutely no interest in it whatsoever. can't be bothered. but i think that if i was good at it, then perhaps i would enjoy it every now and then. i find it kind of exhausting, but i would like to have at least a few things i could successfully make.

basically the same idea as the cooking. i'm not bad...i just don't do it. although at the moment i don't have a house with a yard. but that's beside the point. this is not something at the top of my priority list, but i'd love for gardening to be a major interest in my life somewhere down the line. right now, i'd settle for just knowing the names of common flowers, plants and trees.

okay, so this one is a little out there, but i am obsessed with certain animals, and my dream is to have a gigantic backyard with my own private zoo. which animals you ask? that is another list for another day.

technically i have had a stint in this industry before...an internship in london in college. but whether as a retailer, buyer, critic, designer, editor, etc., i'd really like to get back into it someday. someday being when i'm ready to stop being a ski bum and re-enter the real world. which brings me to my next goal...

i am no where near this step, but i cannot wait for the day when i can build, design, paint, decorate, furnish, landscape and live in my dream house. i devour home-decor magazines like they're chocolate. too many ideas for one house, i'm afraid. i guess i'll just have to own a few...beach house, mountain house, big-city pied-à-terre – the options are limitless.

i do speak pretty good spanish. and i used to be much more fluent than i am (it was my minor in college, but except for the six weeks i just spent in central america, i barely use it anymore). i want to brush up on that, as well as learn french. and maybe german, as well. it's so funny to listen to.

i've only done it once, in costa rica. it was lots o' fun, but so much harder than i thought it would be. i have a small (actually kind of large) fear of the ocean. well, it's really just a fear of sharks. and it's more than a fear...it's a paranoia that they are going to bite my leg off or worse anytime that i am in water deeper than my knees. it's kind of pathetic, but i am from land-locked missouri. what can i say? the point is i would like to be able to surf.

see above.