Pie and postcards

I'm just checking things off the list this week!

First up was baking a pie. Like all things in our household pie making didn't go quite as planned. I hadn't planned on baking a pie but Sylas K saw Reese's Peanut Butter Cup pie on a restaurant menu and wanted a piece. It was $4.99 a slice! Nope, not happening. So my genius self said, "We can make that pie ourselves for cheaper."

I was wrong! We found a great recipe and ran to the store to get the necessary ingredients — $22 later we had all we needed but I still had to make the dang pie! Sylas K actually helped me and it didn't take to long to make. He was pretty impatient letting it chill for three hours before we could finally try a slice.

Once the chill time passed we sliced the pie and sat down to enjoy it. We each took a bite... and another... and neither one of us wanted to admit it. We didn't like the pie!!!! It just wasn't good. For as many calories as each slice had you would have thought it would have had more flavor. It was just so so. It wasn't horrible but it sure didn't taste like what I thought a $22 homemade pie would taste like.

One down, nine to go! Hopefully pie number two is better!

Today I got my first postcard via PostCrossing! I'm pretty psyched about this whole postcard adventure. How it works is you sign up for a free account. You can send five postcards to people to start. The website provides you with the addresses. My first five postcards went to Russia, Poland, China, Uganda and the U.S. Once one of your postcards is received someone else sends you a postcard.

It has been such a fun conversation starter with Sylas. We talk about each of the countries our postcards are going to and tonight we talked about where our first postcard came from. I think it would be a really fun activity for teacher's to do with their students. It's a great way to learn about the world.

The goal is to get 40 postcards from 40 different countries. My first one came from the U.S. so I'm not counting it in my total but it was awesome to get.

The beginning

Welcome to the beginning! 

The beginning of my 40 by 40 adventure...

The beginning of this blog... 

The beginning of a whole heck of a lot of fun!

I celebrated my 37th birthday recently. Which means my 40th birthday is only three years away. It dawned on me that the years are flying by and I want to maximize my time. The idea of living and not just making a living is always on my mind. I enjoy life, I believe in living a life filled with joy and laughter. However, I also know how easy it is to get caught up in the responsibilities of life and forget about the fun, the joy, the adventures... My 40 by 40 adventure is my way to chisel out time for building the life I want to be living. 

Here is my full list of 40 things to do before I turn 40. Some of them are places to visit, things to do and silly things that I know will make me laugh.  Others are a bit more serious — growing my family and my career. Most of all each of these things were added to my list because I knew they would add value to my life and help fulfill my mission of living with joy and laughter. 

My mom died when she was only 57 years old. When you have a parent die young a strange thing happens where you are unable to view your own life past the age they were when they died. I have never seen my mom experience retirement, watch her children marry, be a grandparent, etc. I don't know what any of that will look like for me. While I hope I live past the age of 57 I know with certainty none of us are guaranteed another day. Each day may be our last. 

When my mom died I was amazed at all the living she did in only 57 years. While she didn't see us marry or meet her grandchildren she did a lot of really cool things. She lived a full life with joy and laughter. Whether I die at 42, 57, 76 or 110 I want people to be able to say the same about me. The 40 by 40 is a way I can focus on living life each and every day! 

I'm sharing this adventure on a blog as a way to document it for myself. If you all want to read along that is awesome but this is really about holding myself accountable and leaving a record of what I've learned along the way. Who knows maybe someday my own grandchildren will look back and read all this and think to themselves, "my grandma was one kick ass lady"! 

Buckle up folks! It's time for an adventure!

Jessie