List of things I’ve learned

Several years ago I gave up making New Year’s Resolutions.  I am a goal oriented person and making goals around ‘do less of’ or ‘do more of’, left me feeling like I had failed every year.  I am passionate about learning, and since I have no desire to be an academic environment ever again I decided to instead learn something new every year.  There are so many things I wished I knew how to do or hope to experience in my life, that I figured I better start living and experiencing instead of waiting until I looked back on my life wishing I had done more.  It was a very similar feeling I’ve had about books—too many books, not enough life to read them all.  Really I may only have about 50 more things I can learn—that’s not that many!

I’ve found that people are particularly fascinated by this idea.  I’ve had many people ‘steal’ it for themselves.  How cool is that?  Chris also picks something and we help the kids pick something to learn every year.  I don’t know what I will do when I have too many hobbies to keep up with! 

I honestly don’t remember which year I switched to the Learn a New Thing, but I know it was before I had Cooper.  Although I’m pretty sure I still went back and forth between resolutions and learning new things.  I don’t think I defined it until I learned about wine.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned so far…

Wine:  I lived in California and was surrounded by wineries.  I would go out with friends or colleagues and I would bypass the wine menu because it was too daunting.  My friend Heather and I would buy the same bottle of wine, call each other once a month and talk for 4-6 hours in order to maintain our friendship while she was in Colorado and I in California.  It was our Wine Night or Whine Night, depending on what we needed.  She always recommended the bottle of wine.

I had always viewed wine as something cultured people do and I didn’t like knowing what I was doing.  With Heather’s encouragement I spent the entire year learning about wine.  I started by reading Wine for Dummies.  From there I would peruse websites to read about the history of wine and various recommendations.  I asked people what their favorite whine was and why, and then I bought a bottle.  I learned how to drink wine, how to identify the smells and flavors in wine, what makes a good wine vs a bad wine, and how to buy glassware.  I also learned that I have a preference for red, specifically Zinfandel and Pinot Noir.  I can confidently order or purchase a bottle of wine.

Blogging & basic html coding:  I started this blog in 2007 when I was pregnant with Cooper in lieu of a baby book (and our announcement about pregnancy still cracks me up).  It has turned into a journal of sorts and I love going back and reading about it.  Blogger used to be much less user friendly and most of the customizations I made on the blog had to be done with html code…so I learned the basics.  It helped that I had Fortran coding in college.

Photography:  After I had Cooper, I was SO frustrated with taking photos of him.  We upgraded from a Sony Cybershot point and shoot to a Pentax DSLR.  I was surprised that my fancy camera didn’t just take good photos!  I set out to learn how to use my DSLR and the basics of photography.  I started the photoblog and took a photo every day for an entire year.  I read my DSLR manual front to back several times.  I did the Two Peas in a Bucket online course.  I read message boards and tutorials.  And finally I learned how to use my DSLR and how to take great photos as evidenced by this:

Cooper’s newborn (2008) vs. Garrett’s newborn (2012)

Christmas 2008 vs. Christmas 2011

Photoshop:  This went hand in hand with learning photography, but over time I have continued to grow in my understanding and use of photoshop.  I used a book called Adobe Photoshop Classroom in a Book, read tons of tutorials online, and perused other photographer’s work who I admired and then tried to mimic.  I’m still finding my style, but I’m no longer overwhelmed in PS.

2009 Holiday Card vs 2010 Holiday Card

Crocheting and knitting:  This was my least favorite thing to learn.  I made a lot of scarves and hats and I didn’t ever learn to enjoy it.  I really disliked knitting more than crocheting.  All of it was tedious and boring, and after spending all day on the computer, my hands would cramp up.  I know the basics, but this will never be a hobby for me.

Healthy Eating and Fitness:  I was always naturally thin, never had to watch what I ate and I didn’t really grow up doing sports seriously.  That worked fine in my early 20s.  Then I had a baby and hit 30 and all of that went out the window.  I was always comfortable with my body, no matter the size, but I felt unhealthy.  I had no idea how to eat or cook healthy food (my diet growing up consisted of: hamburger, potatoes, boxed mac & cheese, and canned vegetables).  I also had no idea how to exercise properly.  I spent an entire year learning what to eat, what calories/macros mean, how much to eat, and how to exercise mostly from a lot of reading on My Fitness Pal forums, but also from reading and doing the New Rules of Lifting programs.  Yes, the look of my body changed, but that’s not what I was most impressed by.  I was most impressed by what my body could DO.  I completed 3 obstacle runs this year because I got healthy and I plan to do the Tough Mudder next year!

Personal Finance:  I’m still working on this, but I’ve learned a ton this year.  Organizing financial files, how I spend my money based on my value system, setting a budget and managing it, retirement planning, savings accounts, will/trust, health/life/car/house/disability/long term care insurance, how to teach the kids about finance.  This is a very boring thing to learn.  I know we will keep working on it, but we’ve hired a financial planner to take care of the details because I know enough to know that I don’t want to deal with most of it!

Ballet: I’ve talked a lot about this goal since I’m in the middle of it.  It is by far the HARDEST thing I’ve ever learned.  Everything is new.  Everything is hard.  I’m using muscles I didn’t know I had.  I have to be balanced, coordinated, understand rhythm and music.  My legs, feet, and ankles are chronically tired.  But I’m in love.  And I’m dancing in a recital! WHAT??!?!?!  I take class at a studio twice a week and then use Finis Jhung DVDs at home once a week.  I read about technique in books and online.  I follow ballet blogs.  I watch documentaries about ballet.  I watch youtube to see proper and improper technique.  I’ve become stronger, more graceful and more flexible.  Now I just need to decide if I want to go on pointe because I definitely plan to keep this as a hobby!

These are from a couple months ago and I can already see how much I’ve improved from these photos!

Things I still want to learn:

Play piano (plan for 2014)

Play guitar

French language & cooking

Spanish language – reading, writing, speaking

Write a book

How to Sew

Judo

Beer

Liquor

Golf

Fishing

Shooting

Archery

Card games like Poker and Gin Rummy

Basic Survival – start a fire, navigate with map/compass, identify non-poisonous food, find fresh water, etc

Build a computer