12 New Things - A Journey

I was recently reading one of the blogs I follow - Like a Warm Cup of Coffee - and I saw this really cool journey that Sarah is taking and inviting her readers to take part in as well. Each month from August 2010 until July 2011, she (and the participants) will be doing a new thing. I decided to jump alongside her for the challenge and came up with a list of 12 things to do over the next year.

August: Learn how to make my own black bean burgers.

September: Research instructions for how to reupholster dining room chairs - and recover the 6 chairs in our dining room. (I'll be doing this with my friend Elyse who offered her assistance - it's also her "thing" for September!)

October: Determine how to sew using a sewing machine (project number one - curtain ties for my dining room). **Edit: Changing this to SNORKELING thanks to a surprise trip to Jamaica for my 30th Birthday!

November: Set up my own Etsy shop to sell both Steve's grandmother's creations as well as my own handmade wares.

December: Try sushi for real (and maybe even learn how to make some).

January: Find a recipe and make homemade vegetable stock. **Edit: Just kidding! This is when I'll be working how to use the sewing machine and making curtain ties for our dining room. This is thanks to the trip to Jamaica that appeared in October allowing me to do snorkeling instead.

February: Teach myself how to knit (and maybe even knit a scarf).

March: Learn how to make my own bar soap.

April: Start my own herb garden (complete with basil, dill, rosemary, and mint).

May: Learn how to make homemade paneer (Indian cheese) for use in various Indian dishes to cook at home.

June: Crochet a project that requires felting and see it start to finish.

July: Get some sort of teach-yourself series (Rosetta Stone-esque, something a bit cheaper) on how to speak Spanish. Learn some functional level of Spanish.

Some of these things I have wanted to do for a while. Other things are ones that I thought of while in process of writing this list. I have to say that I am pretty excited about doing these 12 things and will be blogging about each one as I complete them. I have a couple of friends who will be joining in the journey as well - my friend Elyse, my friend Leigh, and fellow blogger Mary from Fit This Girl.

Interested in following along? Go on over to Sarah Mae's blog Like a Warm Cup of Coffee for more information and to link in to the project. Trying new things is always fun - and participating in a project with others who are doing the same just increases the motivation and joy in doing it.