Update: Ten Things I Would Like To Do

In February 2010 I blogged about Ten Things I Would Like To Do. I included a list of dreams, goals, or aspirations (realistic or not) that I would like to do someday. Here is an update on a few of those wish list items:

* Take a photography class or lessons:
I really enjoy taking pictures. We have a pretty nice camera:

Nikon D300

Having a nice camera has inspired me to seek out picture taking opportunities. I have barely begun to learn how to take good/or professional looking pictures but I aspire to one day take some classes or just be a self taught amazing picture taker.

Most of the pictures I take are of my family and friends. I love capturing moments in our lives that I can look back and remember more clearly and also see things in retrospect that I did not notice or appreciate at the time. The down side for me is that people, especially my children, can be hard to photograph. Mostly because the thing they are doing when I reach for the camera is rarely occurring by the time the shutter opens. Furthermore, trying to create a photo moment is almost always more enjoyable as an idea in my head rather than the actual process involved in staging the photo shoot.

On our recent vacation I took 600 pictures! Again, most were of family and friends, but I did take a few others that made me want to take more pictures of the beautiful world around me:

St Louis Zoo:


Although I took some great shots of my family and friends, (which can be viewed here: myjoy), I had to include this one here too because I just love this picture!


Old Stone Fort State Park in Tennessee
A bit of a waterfall heaven:




*Learn another language fluently (perhaps sign language):
My daughter, Elizabeth, has recently shown an interest in learning Spanish. I checked into a local program that offers language learning experiences for children. After discussing the cost associated with the program with my husband we did not rule out the idea, but I started considering other options. I thought about the resources that are available right now at no additional cost. Then I remembered how fun it was and how much we learned from getting books and videos from the library and from television on sign language. I am by no means fluent in sign language but I have about a 300+ vocabulary in sign. Why not apply the same resources to learning Spanish (I have always wanted to learn Spanish myself) and also teach my daughters in the process? Brilliant!
So today we went to the library and came out with these:


* Conquer my fear of math:
I had not planned on writing about this particular wish list item until I reread the blog entry entitled "Ten Things I Would Like To Do." I looked over the wish list items and thought the list looked a little long, and sure enough there were 11 items on the Top Ten List, the last being, ironically, "Conquer my fear of math." Although at least visually I had a mathematical hunch, I am not sure if this can be construed as actual progress towards my goal.