I have a year and ten months to go, and here is my list.

1.) Run a half-marathon

2.) Take a road trip with the boyfriend

3.) Become a morning person

4.) Go horseback riding in the mountains

5.) Have at least $7000 saved for a down-payment for a home (obviously the purchasing of a home will not happen in the next  two years…)

6.) Buy new snowboard gear (board, boots, bindings, coat)

7.) Sit on the board of an organization

8.) Hold a full-time position that utilizes my Gerontology degree

9.) Own a diamond (before you all get too excited – this can be in the form of a necklace, earrings or a ring. And maybe I will buy it for myself – who knows!)

10.) Travel to Vancouver

11.) Get a tattoo

12.) Gain a professional mentor

13.) Grow a garden

14.) Learn to play the guitar

15.) Acquire a piece of vintage furniture and re-create it

16.) Wear more dresses

17.) Go surfing

18.) Give myself an A+ for budgeting for three months straight (I grade myself biweekly on how well I stick to my budget)

19.) Take my time – with everything. This includes being a calmer person, being prepared in advance (whether for a date or a presentation) and becoming more aware of my surroundings

20.) Donate blood as often as I can

21.) Encourage Mr. Leah to start a cooking blog, or have him do a regular guest blog feature here

22.) See Simon and Garfunkel in concert

23.) Take a trip with girlfriends

24.) Decorate a room to my taste

25.) Model in a fashion show

Last night a girlfriend and I read our lists on the phone to each other (she has 100 before 50) and it is a great way to keep yourself in check. Little did she know that she had accomplished about 15 items on her list in one short year! We were surprised at how many ideas on our list were the same and will be doing some of our items together.

Well, my dear girls, guess what I dreamt about last night?

(Insert groans here)

Instead of a pig farm we had a wild African safari animal farm and we had tons of wild animals, especially elephants and rhinoceros’ (rhinoseri?) and the elephants and rhinos would run around everywhere and bully everyone and throw all the other animals really high in the air. And then they would chase us all over the place except we were never scared of them.

So welcome to a night in the life of Leah. It is not uncommon for me to wake up laughing because my dreams are so out there, and it always makes for an interesting sleep!

Tell me about your dreams!

Today is an extra-important birthday – it is her last single birthday, her first foray into her LATE 20’s, and she was the first of the infamous five blonde farm girls. She was the one who started the often asked and ever-hated question … “Which one are you again?”

Without this girl, our blog would be a puddle of words, swept into a closet in a farm house only to be forgotten about.

So Eri Scari – HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM YOUR SISTERS! This year will be such an exciting one for you, and for all of us. And Thank you for bringing this site to life and us so much closer together. And as the Dutch would say, Congratulations to your parents. Happy 26th!

I’m still working on persuading him to let me put his picture on the blog sometime so you can all see how cute he is – especially since (sisters you will be happy to hear this!) he will be growing his beard back starting this weekend! I love the facial hair. I can’t stop Mom from posting his picture on her blog though…hint hint! Unfortunately I also can’t stop Mom from leaving pictures of my WEDDING DRESS on the KITCHEN TABLE, making it extremely possible that Mr. X might see it! MOM!!!

Shoot, where was I? Oh yes – As wedding planning has moved into the forefront of my brain over the last few weeks, I’ve begun to dream about weddings. And, as it seems with all dreams of an impending life event, things go very…strangely. I’ve had some weird dreams caused by his family in the past (the one that comes to mind involves a squirrel named Shirley with talons jumping out a freezer onto my face – they still tease me!), and these dreams are just as odd.

In my first, short wedding dream, I arrive at our reception only to be told by Mr. X that the party is over! Indeed, everyone is leaving our reception hall and I haven’t had a bite to eat, nor danced a step. Bummer!

The second dream is the stranger of the two. The ceremony goes off without a hitch, and I’ve (finally!) made it to the reception. At one point someone (I think mom?) takes me to the ladies room and persuades me to switch outfits. I realize that sounds really odd, but odder yet is the fact that I am not wearing my wedding dress anymore. I’m wearing a skirt. So we switch and I’m now wearing jeans. At my wedding. Every bride’s dream (HA!). We head out to the hall again, just in time to see Leah and Tim launch into the latest, choreographed new dance craze: The Panda.

I gotta tell you, in my dream the Panda looked pretty darn cool. Leah and Tim seemed to really have it down pat – whatever it was. However, I just cannot get over the fact that, in my dream, there was a dance inspired by panda bears. Seriously, what about pandas is dancable? I think about them and I think,

1. Slow
2. Lumbering
3. Bamboo

The Panda was anything but slow and lumbering. Bamboo may or may not have been used – my dream didn’t give me a good angle to watch it from (don’t you hate that?). But yowza. Pandas. There is something wrong with my mind.

Currently I am deciding what Calgary-Leah will be like … I thrive on change and actively pursuing new and exciting adventures.

Hometown friends – there will be some sort of gathering chez Bontje farm on Sunday, so pop on over if you have time! I will keep you updated concerning times.

P.S. Don’t forget to vote for us!