30 X 30 Challenge

For the month of May, The David Suzuki Foundation promoted something called the 30x30 challenge: spend 30 minutes in nature for 30 days in a row.



I didn't hear about the challenge until mid-May, and I spent most of the month being cranky about the cold and rain, so I missed out on the formal challenge, but have decided to do it on my own in June. Spending time outdoors is important to me, but I'm sometimes too much of a procrastinator to actually get off the couch and go outside. So I am setting this goal so I will actually do it. After the winter we just had, I want to ensure I make the most of the summer weather.

Yesterday was day one, and even though it rained for much of it, I sat outside for twenty minutes in the morning (driven back inside by showers), and another ten minutes during a sunny break in the afternoon. I didn't do anything crazy while I was out there, I just sat in the backyard reading. It was calm and nice. On days when I'm not fearing a sudden downpour, I plan to spend my 30 minutes (or more) walking around and getting some exercise too. Should be fun. 

The only thing I'm worried about with this challenge is the weather. What if it rains all day? Hopefully I can do what I did yesterday and find the small breaks, even if it is just minutes at a time. 

Better get out there.

June Blogging Goals!

Holy crap it is June! I had been complaining about the prolonged winter so much that June sort of snuck up on me. June means almost half the year is gone, and that fact is forcing me to check in with myself and make sure I'm on track with where I want to be.

Earlier this year I changed my blog around and got more social with it. I am really happy to have new blog followers and new friends on Twitter and Google+; it has been great to meet everyone. Because blogging is what this is all about, I want to motivate myself to do it more, and my plan for June is to blog every single day. Goal set!

I love blogging, but I'm often too much of a procrastinator to sit at the computer and actually write. So I'm setting myself a real live goal! Thirty days in June = thirty blog posts. I got inspired recently by Ivy over at The Happy Whisk, who set herself a goal and awesomely blogged 36 times in May. Holy crap that is a lot of blog posts! Even when she was tired she did it anyway. That is my plan too!!

To help me reach my goal, I printed out a calendar for June and wrote in potential blog ideas for all thirty days. I am so proud of myself for getting organized and am really excited to post some things I have neglected. I even went through my Blogger drafts folder and found twenty posts in there! Some of them were just titles with no content, but some were actually real posts that just didn't get finished or edited or posted for whatever reason. This 30 day blog challenge will encourage me to get writing, get editing, and get posting!

Also, if I reach my blogging goal, at the end of June I will have over 300 posts on this here blog. And June 2013 will mark the most posts that I have ever written in one month. How cool will that be?!

So please join me over the next 30 days as I chew bubblegum and kick ass* through this Blogging Quest of Awesome!


*I'm all out of bubblegum

Going Into Darkness

In just a few short hours Mom, Bro-in-law, and I will be checking out the new Star Trek movie! A continued Mother's Day treat for Mom, who is really excited to see it. She texted me last night to say she was watching the first one to get ready.

We are going to see it in 2D, as none of us are really swayed by the allure of 3D. I'm pretty sure it is going to be great either way. I'm super excited for Benedict Cumberbatch as I absolutely love him in BBC's Sherlock.

Are you planning on seeing Star Trek Into Darkness? Do you like 2D or 3D?

After the movie we are heading to Applebees for early bird specials! So excited!

Happy Friday everyone!

42 Posts and My Continued Obsession With Space

This is the 42nd blog post I've published this year. The Douglas Adams significance of that number aside, this is a milestone for me because I only published 41 posts last year. I didn't set out to write more posts this year, I've just been feeling good and have been really excited about blogging. My returned drive is now showing in the numbers and I'm very happy about that!

Also, as with yesterday's post, I am still very obsessed with space. Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield returned to Earth last night and I spent the entire day talking, thinking, and tweeting about it. I watched webcasts via NASAtv and the CSA, I obsessively checked Twitter feeds (mainly CSA, NASA, and Chris and Evan Hadfield's), and I spent much of the day reading and learning about how we return people to Earth from the International Space Station. It was a very exciting day!

Periodically John would try to talk to me about other things and even though I thought I was answering appropriately, my response was always something like: "So basically they have to go 12km from the Space Station before they can start the deorbit burn." I was very focused!

And I'm still talking about it today. Still marveling at the wonder of going in and out of space. Forever in awe of those who dedicate their lives to exploring what is out there. And very happy that we can get astronauts safely back to the planet.

If you missed it and are interested, this CSA video sums up how the crew returned to Earth.

Commander Hadfield's Space Oddity is Awesome

Like many amazed fans on Earth, I am pretty obsessed with Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield. He has spent the past five months on the International Space Station, tweeting us photos of our hometowns, answering our questions about space and how things work up there, and being an all around nice, interesting, funny, insightful, inspiring, and amazing dude. There probably hasn't been a day in the last few months where I haven't talked about him to someone, or retweeted one of his tweets, or learned something new about space from a video he's posted. If we ever need an ambassador for all of Earth, we would be smart to select Commander Hadfield for the task. He is already the coolest guy in space!

For Commander Hadfield's last full day on the ISS he covered David Bowie's Space Oddity...in space! I can't think of a cooler way to say goodbye to the International Space Station and to all of his fans here on Earth. I have already watched it at least ten times, and will probably have it on repeat for the next few days. IT IS A MUSIC VIDEO THAT WAS FILMED IN SPACE! The lyrics have space references! It is beyond cool!

Commander Hadfield is coming home tonight and they are broadcasting it live on NASAtv starting at 3:30pm. I will be watching. Get home safely Commander Hadfield!!

This video is awesome! Enjoy!!