Ending is beginning
Well, it is with great excitement that I wrap up 25 Steps. It’s been a fun ride, and I’ve accomplished a number of things that I’m very proud of, but I’m ready to move on to the next phase.
Starting today, you can follow my NEW journey at Thirtyx30.wordpress.com. Here I’ll be working my way through a list of 30 new goals to be completed by my 30th birthday.
Thank you to those who have been there to cheer me along for the past couple of years. I’d love to have you join me for the next five!
Lauryn
#16 Get totally caught up on my scrapbooks… DONE!
THIS IS IT!
My very last goal update on 25 Steps. I intentionally saved this report for last because it’s the goal I’ve put the most work into.
At the end of college when I started getting back into scrapbooking, I found that I was so far behind that I was having trouble remembering who some of the people were in my photos, let alone recalling specifics about events.
(How sad.)
I knew it was time to boogie and get caught up to the present day again.
I’m proud to say that, in the last few years, I’ve printed and cropped over 800 photos and assembled them into 4 albums… a total of 206 scrapbook pages in all!
Whew!
It’s very exciting to be at this place and feel like scrapbooking is a hobby again rather than an obligation. Not to say that I haven’t enjoyed my scrapbooking… I definitely have! I just didn’t particularly enjoy feeling like I was always playing catch up.
And now, for your viewing pleasure, some of my favorite spreads from the last few years:
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#23 See the top 10 movies on the AFI list… (soon to be) DONE!
I feel bad that it’s taken me so long to blog about this particular goal, but I’ve had a heck of a time trying to get hold of a copy of The Godfather. We finally broke down and signed up for a Netflix account (we were going to anyway), so the first movie on our list is The Godfather. We’re expecting it in our mailbox any day now. 
If you’re unfamiliar with the AFI or their famous “list” …
in 1998 the American Film Institute began a series called “100 Years…” in which they cataloged cinematic milestones from the 1890′s to present day. The first list they created was called “100 Years… 100 Movies,” which listed the best American movies as evaluated by the AFI’s 1500-member panel. Over the next ten years, AFI released several more top 100 lists such as “100 Stars,” “100 Songs,” and “100 Movie Quotes.”Now, in 2007 the AFI released a second top-100-films list that they referred to as their 10th Anniversary Edition, which considered films released in the last ten years and took “changing cultural perspectives” into account. (If you ask me, though, some disgruntled Hitchcock fan came up with the idea. Ha ha.)
So that’s the history.
Having studied film in college, I had the chance to learn more about the history of filmmaking as well as some of the standout films of the mid-20th century. There were several films, though, that were ranked very highly by the AFI that I had yet to see. So between an interest in learning more about what made these films so great and a desire to have “WHAT? You’ve never seen <insert monumental film here>?!” comments go away, I set out to make sure I as least had the top ten films under my belt.
When I made my 25 Steps list, I planned to use the only best-100-films list in existence, but the 2007 list came about midway through my process, leaving me with a slight dilemma. Since there were only minor discrepancies between the two top-ten lists, I decided to tackle the films on both lists:
While I certainly enjoyed some of the films more than others (ok, make that WAY more than others), I’m glad to have seen them all and to be able to talk intelligently about them with others. I encourage everyone to seek out films like these to view, based on their significance, but here’s a brief rundown on how I felt about these movies.
Everyone should see:
Citizen Kane (because it’s #1)
Casablanca
Schindler’s List
I also enjoyed viewing:
Gone With the Wind
Singin’ In the Rain
The Wizard of Oz
The Graduate
On The Waterfront
Vertigo
Don’t feel obligated to watch:
Lawrence of Arabia
Raging Bull
Note: I’ll rank The Godfather soon!
View the full 1998 or 2007 AFI lists here (as well as all of the more specific lists they released in between).
An interesting side-by-side chart of the 1998 and 2007 top-100 lists can be found at Wikipedia.
#4 Europe itself will have to wait
One of the goals on my list that I was most looking forward to when I wrote it was traveling to Europe.
I hadn’t really thought much about being able to go there anytime soon until I married Aaron. But he has an aunt and uncle living in Germany, which makes visiting Europe a little cheaper and easier. Between that and the fact that we were both gainfully employed and saving money little by little, traveling to Europe seemed like a real possibility.
Over the last few years, though, a few things changed. We had a year of unsteady income, which certainly took us down a peg in the “let’s do fun expensive things” category. Also, some of our priorities changed. We bought a house. We paid off all our loans. Even smallish things like adopting a cat have taken a toll on our budget.
So… needless to say, we haven’t taken a trip to Europe.
We have, however, begun planning a trip for some unspecified time in the future. We’ve spent some time reading through various travel books and websites and are currently looking into various European group tour packages. The latter especially has helped us put the trip’s cost into perspective and helped us plan better for when the time finally comes.
In the meantime we’ve been finding ways to experience little bits of Europe here in the Twin Cities. We’ve made a point to try several European-themed eateries—a Greek restaurant, an Irish pub, a Spanish tapas bar—and order whatever seems most authentic. I got a healthy dose of European history, especially that of Britain and France, reading my “major world wars” book. We made a special trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to experience some of the painting, sculpture, etc. from the region. And I’ve been pleased to take in bits of the beauty of Italy and the Greek Isles five times a week thanks to my lovely wall calendars at work.
The taste of European beauty, history, and culture has made me even more excited for when we get to go, but I’m glad that we’re waiting for just the right time in our lives to make the trip.
#24 Intentionally letting this one go
It’s definitely sad for me to have to report on goals that I didn’t accomplish by my 25th birthday. Although I intentionally let this one slide, it too is the result of a missed goal.
As you might remember from my December 20 update, I made the decision to put off purchasing the little black dress from goal #24 until the weight loss from goal #15 was accomplished. And, since the weight loss goal is still in process, my promised LBD is still hanging on a rack somewhere. 
Why every woman needs a little black dress
I should mention, though, that my wonderful husband, ever supportive of me accomplishing my goals, included this in my 25th birthday card. Isn’t he cute?
#5 Learn to edit on Final Cut and Vegas… halfway there
For a quick review of what this means and why it’s on my list, click here.
I wish I could say that I’m a pro at both types of software now, but that’s not exactly the case. After the update above, I hardly touched the Vegas editor again.
I have, however, spent numerous hours this year working on Final Cut Pro, including two wedding videos and several projects for the church. Using it has become more like second nature to me now. I’m really enjoying using the program because it’s much like the software I learned on and makes more sense than what I used to edit on in college.
I definitely plan to continue to learn more about the Final Cut software, and at some point I’d love the chance to dig a little deeper into Vegas. I’m content, though, being able to work on both of the big two programs—Final Cut Pro and Avid—with confidence.
#3 Learn to Salsa dance… DONE!
Please pardon my absence! I went out of town for over a week and had very limited Web access, so blogging was more or less out of the question. I’m back and ready to wrap up the last few stories on 25 Steps.
As I hinted at in a recent post, Aaron and I have recently been learning to Salsa dance. We’ve done so with the help of Salsa instructor Ken Baldwin who, after coaching such stars as Renee Zellweger and Morgan Freeman, has been visiting out living room regularly to teach us the steps. I wish I could say it’s been in person, but…
I initially found the Hot Salsa Lessons DVD series because of its high rating on Amazon and was then pleased to learn it was offered as a free rental at our county library. We’ve been taking a couple of nights each week to practice and learn a new step/pattern, and while I don’t figure we’ll be hitting the dance floor at a club anytime soon, I’m very pleased with our progress.
The DVD instruction is very easy to follow, so I recommend it to anyone who’s interested in learning the basics of Salsa. See if your library has it, add it to your Netflix queue, or head over to Amazon and pick it up.
#14 Make Up a Recipe… DONE!
Sometimes people tell me I’m a good cook, and to that I reply, “No, I’m just good at following directions.” I am an eternal recipe follower, and though I know a lot about cooking and ingredients, I’m very rarely daring or inventive when it comes to making up my own combinations.
I recently had a dish that inspired me to try to make something similar at home, with a few changes of my own. And that is how my recipe for Tortellini and Asparagus in a Red Wine Cream Sauce came to be. By my taste, it’s delicious, but I want to know what YOU think. I’m posting the recipe at White Kitchen for you to check out. Please let me know if it sounds like something you’d like to try, and if you DO try it, please let me know your suggestions for improvement. Thanks!
Link: Tortellini and Asparagus in a Red Wine Cream Sauce
#15 Sadly, not yet
I wish I could continue this string of posts about goals I achieved, but as I mentioned before, there are a few items I wasn’t able to cross off my list by age 25.
One of those is the goal to get back to a body healthier weight, specifically, the weight that I was when I got married. That weight has been listed on my license for the last four years, and I have steadily gained weight ever since it was printed.
I wish I could say that, after putting this goal on my list and making it to 25, I’m every bit as skinny today as I when I walked down the aisle. But this has been one of the hardest for me to get motivated about and actually accomplish. I can blame it on age and metabolism or on the fact that I sit behind a desk all rather than running around a restaurant like I used to, but it really comes down to the simple fact that I heart food, hate exercise, and have had a hard time motivating myself to change the way I live.
I can say, though, that I am working on the goal, and in the last two weeks I’ve dropped 7 pounds. Hooray! Hoping I can keep up the momentum and keep going to work off another 15.
Maybe I can do it if I practice my salsa dancing every day… but that’s another post.
#13 Begin a documentary… DONE!
In my December progress report, I mentioned that I had technically started work on a documentary but wanted to do more before I crossed this goal off my list.
As you may remember, in January I went with a group from work on a trip to Belize. Our group traveled around to various radio stations in the country and hosted a media seminar for local broadcasters. One of my roles while I was there was to document the trip through video.
Shooting footage in Belize
I loved the opportunity to be able to capture everything from the beauty of the countryside to the poverty of the city, the excitement of the seminar and the joy of the graduation ceremony.
Editing the footage into a nice neat little package is one of my summer projects, but I can safely say that I’m far enough into the documentary to cross “beginning it” off the list.
Note: If you want to know more about the Belize trip in general, you can check out my Facebook photos.
