77 Things I Did in 2010

2010 was really a landmark year for my family and me. It’s hard to believe how much our lives have changed in these short 12 months, how much we have grown, and how much we have been able to do. After reading a great post by Dragos Roua about 77 things he did in 2010, I decided to follow suit and write about some things I did in 2010. I didn’t really intend to write exactly 77 things like he had, but I just happened to end up with that number when I was done writing my list.

Of course, this isn’t a comprehensive list (that would be impossible – can you imagine, “I breathed, then blinked, then ate a strawberry…”), but I tried to pick some of the year’s highlights, and have listed them below in no particular order. Enjoy!

1. Moved my family to Costa Rica with only 1 carry-on suitcase, and one small backpack each
2. Became comfortably fluent in Spanish
3. Visited the incredible ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru
4. Went paragliding for the first time
5. Bought a car in Costa Rica
6. Changed my diet to more natural, wholesome foods, including more fruit and vegetables
7. Took up the daily practice of meditation
8. Hosted fun visits from family and friends
9. Almost doubled my monthly income
10. Visited 8 different countries: United States, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Guatemala
11. Lived in a dream home with a gorgeous view for just $900/month
12. Met several new friends including some native Costa Ricans who have become some of my closest friends EVER!
13. Turned 30
14. Tried and enjoyed some delicious new fruit – guanabana, cas, chirimoya, naranjilla, mamón chino, and water apples
15. Got pulled over by corrupt traffic cops asking for bribes in Panama
16. Worked an average of 8 hours per week on income producing activities (ie. “work”)
17. Was interviewed by JetSetCitizen and ExpatAlley
18. Watched Emily learn how to read well
19. Became more open minded about religion and different belief systems
20. Experienced intense Costa Rican lightning and rainstorms/downpours (and a couple earthquakes)
21. Visited the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal in Guatemala
22. Bought 2 iPads, 1 iPhone, 1 Macbook Pro, and 2 PCs. Sold one old computer, and gave one away. One of the new PC’s already broke. I will buy no more PC’s.
23. Helped my kids each start their own blog: EmilyInTheJungle.com and RidingAButterfly.com
24. Started writing a book about how to create an on-line business
25. Attended my first “Spiritual” conference (Celebrate Your Life)
26. Read over a dozen non-fiction books (mostly on the iPad), 3 fiction books, and lots of small e-books. I’ll be reviewing some on my blog shortly.
27. Ate an ostrich burger in Ecuador
28. Awoke every morning with the sun to the sound of bird songs, and NO alarm clock
29. Took my family to Disney World and sang on “American Idol” in Hollywood Studios
30. Learned how to really play foosball with proper technique
31. Homeschooled my kids without a set curriculum
32. Saw a man getting beat up in the streets of Quito, Ecuador, and the police standing around doing nothing about it
33. Played in the warm ocean waves with my family
34. Composed several piano and vocal arrangements and recorded them
35. Saw the giant tortoises on the Galapagos Islands
36. Grew a beard
37. Saw how chocolate is made and tasted it fresh from the farm
38. Served as a 1st counselor in a branch presidency
39. Took steps to purchase my first real estate investment property
40. Watched nesting sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach at night
41. Made some great friends while volunteering at a school in Peru
42. Grew my business to over 1,000 paying customers
43. Decided to get my Costa Rican residency
44. Visited the largest water fountain park in the world in Lima, Peru
45. Saw three different types of monkeys, as well as iguanas, coati, sea lions, crabs, blue-footed boobies, sharks, scorpions, llama, alpaca, large beetles and spiders, cane toads, and many more animals – all in the wild
46. Finally got my tongue to properly pronounce “yigüirro” – the national bird of Costa Rica
47. Got a stomach bug in Peru and threw up for several days in a row. Also got photo bombed by an old woman picking her nose.
48. Hand-fed carrots to a giraffe, ostrich, dromedary, and deer
49. Survived Ecuador police strikes and political riots
50. Saw lots of ancient American ruins and artifacts
51. Had the best cinnamon roll I’ve ever had at Cafe Delicias in Grecia, Costa Rica
52. Hiked to several beautiful waterfalls
53. Lived with my Grandma for two weeks while visiting family back in my hometown
54. Continued practicing Tai Chi as part of my morning routine
55. Got a free yellow fever vaccination in Colombia
56. Straddled the equator line in Ecuador
57. Stopped programming and fixing programming errors. It’s now 100% outsourced.
58. Realized I still don’t miss not having lots of “stuff”. But I do like to live near nice restaurants. :)
59. Held a sloth, toucan, poison dart frog, rainbow boa, blue morpho butterfly (and its caterpillar equivalent), and a red-eyed tree frog
60. Changed a flat tire on the highway in Guatemala
61. Looked into the craters of two active volcanos
62. Watched as our kids gradually taught themselves how to swim
63. Met people who moved to Costa Rica because they had read my blog
64. Saw a pair of scarlet macaws in flight and in the wild. Also saw blue crowned mot mots, toucans, toucanets, bananaquits, several varieties of hummingbird, and other beautiful birds in the wild, many in my own backyard
65. Visited organic farms and ate some of the freshest produce I’ve ever had, and honey right out of the hive
66. Enjoyed the hot springs near the Arenal volcano in Costa Rica
67. Celebrated 8 years of marriage
68. Volunteered at an animal rescue center in Costa Rica
69. Discovered we’re pregnant with our third child
70. Zip-lined through the jungle – several times
71. Played with my kids almost every day
72. Toured an old fort in Old Town Cartagena, Colombia
73. Lived out of a small school-sized backpack for 2 1/2 months while traveling through South America
74. Ate dinner with friends once a week.
75. Hiked through the Monteverde cloud forest and saw the rainforest canopy from hanging bridges.
76. Went surfing for the first time
77. Ate lots and lots and lots of rice and beans

It’s so fun to look back and see all that we’ve done this year, and I’m excited to see what 2011 brings. In the mean time, I’m going to try and enjoy whatever I’m doing at the moment and make the most of my life right now.