24 Before 24

I am posting this on September 5, 2013: Six months before my 24th birthday. In no particular order, I have devised a list of 24 items I think I can reasonably accomplish by my birthday but will still require me to challenge myself. The items range from silly to functional to inspirational, but I hope completing each one will help me to become a better person and live in a little happier of a world each day. :)

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#31: Have 100+ followers on my blog.

Hi friends! I promise to update y'all soon on my first days of training as an Alpha Delta Pi Leadership Consultant, but right now I wanted to share some different news with you....

How did I not notice that I've hit 100 followers? I know I've been a little MIA from my blog lately, but I still think I would have noticed a milestone like that. In fact, I've had getting 100 followers on my bucket list for quite a while.

I'm actually sitting at 107 right now. Eep!

I know the number of followers isn't the most important part of a blog, but it is fun to know I've become part of such a great community. A while ago, I noticed I was getting close to 100 followers on GFC and considered hosting a giveaway to celebrate when/if I reached this point. Now that I'm here, I wanted to offer all my readers the opportunity to help make this a group giveaway! Here's what I'm thinking:

• I ask that each participant offers a prize valued at $10 or more. This can be free ad space, a gift card or a physical item — whatever you want to offer!
• I will give each participant up to four entries on the Rafflecopter: One will be following your blog, and you can pick which social media accounts you would like the other three entries to be (Twitter, Facebook fan, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.).
• The giveaway will run from next Tuesday, July 24, to Tuesday, July 30. The winner will be announced as soon as I can verify the entries; hopefully that first weekend of August.

So, what do you think? E-mail me at semicharmedkol@gmail.com or tweet me at @SemiCharmedKoL if you want to participate! Please let me know by this Sunday, July 22, at 3 p.m. EST so I can get the Rafflecopter set up by Tuesday. Thanks!

Travel Tuesday: Week 16

Hello, and welcome to another edition of Travel Tuesday! This week's topic: What places in or near your town have you been meaning to see but haven't? Do you have a "local" bucket list? As always, you are free to write about anything travel-related; don't feel obligated to answer my prompt. And, of course, don't forget to link up below!

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This week's Travel Tuesday topic was inspired by the Santa Fe bucket list I made last week. One week from today is the last day of my internship (eek!), so one week from tomorrow I'll be headed out of Santa Fe for good with all my worldly possessions in my little Ford Fusion. However, there are still quite a few local spots I have been meaning to hit, so I wrote the list as a way to kick my butt into gear and get around the town. I've made a small dent in the list since posting it last Monday, but there are still quite a few more things I need to fit in.

First, the items I've checked off in the past week:

1. Visit Bandelier National Monument or Pecos National Historical Park: I took advantage of the free national park admission for Get Outdoors Day on Saturday, June 9, to visit Pecos National Historical Park. I decided on this park over Bandelier because apparently most of the hiking trails in Bandelier are still closed due to the wildfires last summer, and Pecos was slightly closer to Santa Fe. The best part of my trip was when I walked into the Visitor's Center and asked the ranger where I could hike the Civil War Trail. He got so excited and told me no one has ever asked him about the Civil War Trail before; apparently most people just hike the shorter trail outside the Visitor's Center to see the pueblo ruins. I'll do a separate post on the park later this week to share more details and pictures with y'all.
2. Visit the Canyon Road art galleries: Summer Fridays started last week, which means we can leave after noon if our work is done. Yay! After grabbing lunch with a co-worker last Friday, I rode my bike out to Canyon Road to check out the art galleries and buy some cards for upcoming birthdays/holidays. Some of the galleries had some pretty neat stuff, like these windmill contraptions, but I wasn't looking to buy anything.
3. Eat at Del Charro: I did my research on Del Charro's $5 daily specials and decided Tuesday's was the best: blue corn chicken enchiladas. Several co-workers and I walked over to the restaurant at the Plaza after work last Tuesday to enjoy this fine deal. Also, when you order a margarita, they bring you the entire shaker. Can you say, "Bad news bears"?

While I did enjoy the above activities, I don't think I've been moving through my list quite fast enough. Here are the items I still need to complete:

1. Eat at Aztec Cafe.
2. Visit the Georgia O'Keefe Museum (only if I can get in for free as a New Mexico resident).
3. Eat at The Shed. (I've eaten at its sister restaurant, La Choza, and it's my favorite New Mexican joint in town. The Shed is more popular because it's on the Plaza, so we'll see how it stacks up.)
4. Get breakfast at The Pantry.
5. Order guacamole at Gabriel's. (Apparently it's the best, and they make it fresh right in front of you.)
6. Visit the Farmer's Market.
7. Get a burrito at El Tesoro.
8. Grab a slice at Backroad Pizza.
9. Eat at Tune-Up Cafe.
10. Get coffee at the Travel Bug. (I've been here before to look at the maps but have never ordered anything from the cafe.)
11. Eat at Jambo Cafe.

So, do you think I can do it? I can't wait to see your local bucket lists!

P.S. — Travel Tuesday will be taking a little break beginning next week as I move out of Santa Fe, attend a conference for my new job in Atlanta, soak up the Fourth of July holiday in Pennsylvania and then proceed to make four more cross-country trips within a month. I hope to bring it back after I get settled into my new job, but we'll see how my schedule looks! Thanks to everyone who has participated, and I still guarantee I'll be sharing my travels on my blog, just not in a themed link-up each week. Toodles!

Santa Fe bucket list.

It's hard to believe, but two weeks from tomorrow is my last day at Outside before I head home to transition for my year as an LC. Wow. Time sure flies. I've slowly been checking things off my "Santa Fe bucket list" over the past few weekends, but I still have quite a few locations to hit (mostly restaurants). Maybe sharing this list publicly will help keep me accountable and encourage me to get out on the town. Here are some things I've recently completed (with links to my Instagram photos or blog posts when applicable):

1. Visit every Santa Fe Public Library branch.
2. Eat at Cafe Vingt Cinq.
3. Get a fajita from a food truck on the Plaza.
4. Eat gelato from Ecco.
5. Visit the New Mexico National History Museum/Palace of Governors. (Both are free on Friday evenings from 5 to 8 p.m., along with the art museum!)
6. Eat at Blake's Lotaburger (a New Mexico-only fast food joint).
7. Get a crepe at The French Pastry Shop.  
8. Drink coffee from Holy Spirit Espresso. (It claims to have the "best coffee in Santa Fe." It doesn't.)
9. Celebrate Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

The Cathedral Basilica, Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez

And here are the remaining items I hope to squeeze into the next two weeks:

Travel Tuesday: Week 10

Hello, and welcome to another edition of Travel Tuesday! In honor of National Park Week (which ended Sunday), this week's topic is: Which is your favorite national park? What parks have you always wanted to visit? What are your favorite activities to do in a national park? As always, you are free to write about anything travel-related; don't feel obligated to answer my prompt. And, of course, don't forget to link up below!

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My favorite national park is, without a doubt, Yosemite. I mentioned it a little last week, so this week I wanted to share some photos from when I climbed Half Dome two summers again. It was also No. 43 on my to-do list. (I added it after I had already made the climb, but hey, it was something I had always wanted to do! So I wanted to cross it off my list.)

This is Half Dome! Pretty cool, huh?

#8: Change someone's life ... for the better.

I feel a little silly—and slightly conceited—crossing this item off my bucket list, but I think I have sufficient evidence to say I have changed someone's life. I say this because he told me so himself.

Source: ohsobeautifulpaper.com via Brannon on Pinterest

For six of my seven semesters at Mizzou, I worked at the campus recreation center, first as an equipment attendant and later as a student supervisor. During my last year there I had at least one shift a week with a younger employee who ended up being promoted to take my supervisor position when I left. He was a great kid: hard-working, ambitious, smart, witty and always fun to work with, even before sunrise. (Yes, the rec center opened that early.) We didn't interact much outside of work, but I definitely considered him a friend. Even so, I was surprised after my graduation when a mutual friend of ours gave me a card from him. Inside was a Starbucks gift card (those early mornings had made it quite apparent how dependent I was on caffeine) and a Winnie the Pooh card containing some of the nicest things anyone has ever said about me, including:

"Although this is a congratulatory card, I would like for it to also be a thank you card. So, thank you Megan! What for? Well, as it turns out, you've been like a big sister for me over the past year. I never thought that someone who I only saw once a week at 5:15 in the morning would ever influence me as much as you have. You ... have influenced me more than anyone else I've yet to meet in college!"

As I sat in my mom's rental car on the way to my graduation dinner reading his card, I started crying. Seriously, it was that bad good. I was sad to be leaving Mizzou, obviously, but it was nice to know I had made a positive impact on at least one other person during my college years. I don't know if the person I'm writing about reads my blog (or even knows it exists), but if he does: Thank you. You definitely added substance to my college experience, I'm so proud of everything you've done for the Mizzou community, and I know you'll continue to achieve much more! Thank you for making me feel like I made a difference. (Oh, and of course: I hope MizzouRec is treating you well!)

Source: twopeasinabucket.com via Teresa on Pinterest

Travel Tuesday: Week 4

Welcome to another edition of Travel Tuesday! This week's question(s): What destination is at the top of your travel bucket list? Why? What do you want to do there? Do you think it will ever happen, and if so, when/how? As usual, please link up with your travel-related posts below, even if they're a different topic than the prompt I provided.

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I am so incredibly blessed to have already visited my number-one must-see destination when I studied abroad last year: Rwanda. During that same trip, I also went on a safari in Kenya, but there is still one African destination I would give almost anything to visit ...

51. See my name on the masthead of a national magazine.

Alright y'all, it's been hard to hold this in for the past two weeks, but I wanted to wait until the April issue was on newsstands before I shared this. (On my blog, that is. Of course it was up on Twitter the day I got my office copy.)

That's me! Four lines down from the OUTSIDE ONLINE heading. I might be just a lowly intern, but I got my name on the masthead, so I've crossed off #51 on my to-do list. Yippee! Also, it happened to be the travel issue, so I'm telling myself that's a good omen for my future career path. Right?

Happy birthday to me!

Source: weheartit.com via Soraya on Pinterest

In honor of my 22nd birthday, I was going to share with you 22 fabulous things that have happened to me in the past year (inspired by the lovely Jessica at Lovely Undergrad). Then I realized I already shared most of them (and more!) with you last October when I posted about my favorite college memories. So instead, I'm going to share 22 random things about me that you might not already know:

#4: Live alone.

This is the first of (hopefully) many posts in a series about completing items on my bucket list. Today marks my third day as the sole tenant of a studio apartment. As soon as my power drill charges, I'll be able to finish putting together my new shelves and can declare myself officially moved in! Likewise, I can officially say I have lived alone, and will do so for the next six months (give or take).

So glad I didn't get the 9-cube unit. Those screws are tricky!

Photo courtesy of Google Images.

I anticipate writing a longer series about living on my own, including pictures of the apartment, shopping lists and budgetary concerns, but for now, here are my first impressions:

• Pro: I have my own washer and dryer, no quarters necessary. Such a relief after living in campus/sorority housing for almost four years!
• Con: My shower doesn't have a tub. Not that I'm used to one (see above), but a bathtub would have been nice.
• Pro: I have my own coffeemaker! Finally, I can save some money by not visiting Starbucks so frequently.
• Con: My fridge is mini-sized. I didn't think this would be a big deal because I only have to feed myself, but I had to take out a shelf to make my gallon of milk fit.
• Pro: I sleep in a queen bed!! No more bunk beds for this girl.
• Con: Honestly, I'm just coming up with cons to even this list out. There are way more pros!

In conclusion, I am thoroughly enjoying my new place! Stay tuned for more details.