QuarterlifeQuests: February Review (Month 2 of Quests)

Quests Completed

Quest # 14: Compost
I (with tons of the help from my mother) put together a compost bin, and have started putting kitchen scraps and leaves from the yard in it! We'll see if I can get this ratio of "greens" to "browns" figured out. It would be wonderful to be able to use some good compost on my garden this year.

Work Complete!

Quests-in-Progress

Quest # 1: Biographies
Officially kicked off this quest with Negroland, a memoir, by Margo Jefferson. I highly recommend the book, as it helps put some current news in better perspective. It's a bit rough to get through - of course - but sort of like eating your healthy-foods: you can feel the wholesomeness improving you after getting through it. My post on it is a bit long and disjointed... it's kind of difficult for me to collect my thoughts if I don't have someone to talk with/at. But I'm up for discussion if someone has feedback.

Quest # 2: Finances

Mint has been very helpful with giving me a better big-picture view of my situation. I also did my taxes (early!), and found out that I will be getting money back this year. Now the dilemma is: do I spend it on necessary things, spontaneously fun things, or fun things that I have planned? I am (after counseling from family and coworkers, since I tend to blab to everyone before making big-ish decisions) leaning toward putting that money away for my reunion with the ladies in Paris this October.

Quest # 3: Tithing
Time: I spaced on this one. Didn't volunteer this month.
Money: I substituted this months lack of volunteer time with extra donation money, and "adopted" a sloth through the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)!.

Quest # 5: Performance

Local 506 - a popular music venue, where Amigo played this month.

I went to see my college friend's band (Amigo) open for a couple other bands' album release party (Silver Dollar Switchblade and Campfires and Constellations), which are all of the Americana variety, and local North Carolina bands. I'm getting to the point that I can sing along a bit with some of their songs, and even recently bought their record album! I love hanging out with them before and after their performance. They're a trio of fun/funny/chill guys. Their song "A Murder of Crows Outside" gets stuck in my head (although, the lyrics make me squirm a bit, admittedly).
They also recently had one of their songs played on a TV show - Z Nation, on the SyFy channel - which is completely awesome! "Love's Made a Fool Out of Me" was played during an epic zombie stripper dance/bounty hunter fight scene, and played again in total during the end credits. I was also impressed with Campfires and Constellations. If they can keep focused, I would be willing to bet that they could go pretty far. They've got charisma and catchy songs like you could hear on the radio ("Outlaw's Dream" is especially fun, in my opinion).

Quest # 11: Photography
I took some fun photos during my work trip with dad down to Charleston (photos at the end of the blog). I also finally downloaded an app which allows for making collages!

Quest # 12: Utilize Pinterest

Used Pinterest to plan my birthday party (see previous post for photos),

Quest # 15: Housework

This month I had been planning to help out with the renovation of our upstairs bathroom, but our general contractor was swamped with work. Instead, I cleaned up the work area in the garage - which is something I have been wanting to do for almost a year now. That felt really good. Now, we can access all of the drawers and compartments, and utilize the tabletop. We also have a big bundle of things now to donate to the ReStore and to Goodwill.

Before. I had just finished pulling stuff off of the top of the workbench.

After. Things put away, and now we have access to all of the cabinets and drawers!

Quest # 16: Job Work

Had a ton of jobs this month. My "own" (w/ my supervisor's help), as well as assisting in training my new coworker.

One of my jobs this month (this one really was more of me assisting my supervisor, since it was so much over my head), lead me to stay in Charleston, South Carolina! I love traveling and checking out the history of the area....and the food. So, Charleston is one of my more favorite southern American cities I've been to. I posted photos from the trip below, at the end of the blog.
We got our stand-up desks! S. and I put them together ourselves, which was a pretty fun teamwork activity. ;-D

Quest # 18: Exercise

The goal is three times a week, and I made it more like two times a week.... With work keeping me late and on weekends (and sometimes out of town), it was a struggle to get myself to carve out time to go to the gym.

Quest # 20: Meal Plan

Did some meal planning, but still not quite up to what my goal is. Got a NutriBullet from my dad for my birthday, so I've been doing some prep for that on Sundays. At least I have a morning drink some mornings. Some other things I've done ....

.. I made some curry ttoekpokki (카레 떡볶이 - rice cake noodles in curry with vegetables) after talking with one of my dear friends, Natalie. It was a bit jarring to shop at the Korean food market in town. I had so many happy memories of the food I would make or buy there. It was quite the nostalgic rush on the emotions. The dish came out great, thanks to my friend's instructions.

... and some yooboo chobap ( 유부 초밥 -rice with veggies and apple cider vinegar, stuffed into tofu triangle pockets). One of the places I tutored at would often make these for the students to snack on while we were in class. One of my favorite summer foods!

.... I also tried a curried cauliflower cheese soup! I'm not completely sure if I did it right - I feel like I ended up with more soup than the recipe says I should have - but it is yummy. Thanks to my coworker for lending me her soup cook-book, and my little brother for helping with some finishing tweaks to the recipe to make it even more delicious!

... and, with my kombucha batch this month, I tried making some hibiscus flavored bottles, thanks to my friend McNeill for the idea! Apparently someone in her area in Vietnam has been selling kombucha, and hibiscus was McNeill's favorite. It is so tart, sweet, and refreshing!

Quest # 24: Floss

Again, I averaged about 3 times a week. I'm starting to think this may be the healthy number for me and my gums, since I've noticed if I do a couple nights in a row, my teeth get incredibly sensitive. So, maybe I'll build up to consecutive flossings, but for now, the 'every-other-day' thing seems to be best for my mouth.

Quest # 26: Friends

Had Skype dates with Natalie in Paris, Suh in Daegu (S. Korea), and my monthly video chat date with my group of university friends. I chatted a bit with a few others, and I hope to visit friends in March.

Coming up next:

Quest # 1: Biographies
March is Women History Month, and I am slated to read Bachelor Girl by Betsy Israel. There are a couple other options though, so we'll see what's available at the library.

Quest # 13: Garden
I've got a solid, general idea of what I want: a raised bed for veggies, out in the yard, and pots of herbs on the back porch. I have everything to start off some seedlings, so, March is it! Let's get this party started!

Quest # 15: House Work - bathroom remodel.
Hopefully it will happen this month. I have a friend who will help with the demo of the existing bathroom, and we have paint and shower tiles picked (basically). Just need a date for our GC and we'll be ready to go on this project.

Quest # 22: Contact Lenses
It's starting to get sunny and warm, so I'm sure I'll be wanting to wear sunglasses soon. I'm not sure that my eyelids have improved much. I'm not completely positive they are ready to accept lenses again. But I'm mentally ready to have them back in my life (I think, ultimately, I'll need to just save up for surgery).

Quest # 23: Knee
The exercising multiple times a week has really helped (ie I can walk on that leg now), but I'd like to get back into dancing, and I'd like to do a 5k in May. It's time to see a doc about a knee.

and I'll continue with the above Quests-in-Progress!

Below are photos from our trip down south I-95 to Charleston, South Carolina. I hope ya'll enjoy!

KJets

South of the Border (theme park? destination area?), just across the NC/SC border, in Hamer, South Carolina

Welcome to the lovely Charleston!

Poogan's Porch - scrumptious American food in a traditional Charleston home

There were quite a few of the frames on the walls - framed notes and signatures from famous actors, singers, and other public figures who have dined here, at Poogin's Porch.