SandiSplash

Happy New Year! A little late, I know but I figure a normal post seems kinda outta place for the first blog post of the year. I’m not too big on resolutions even though I’ve had quite a few successful runs with them. I think it’s great to reflect on life and identify what changes you want to make.  And…(cynical remark) you can do this at any time of the year – not just when it begins. 

This year I don’t have any hard and fast resolutions. I know goals are important but so is living life. I’ve never really thought of a bucket list cos I prefer taking life as it comes. Life throws you so many hurdles anyway. With everything that one has to deal with, who has time to set a long list of goals and then chase after them? With that in mind, I decided to put together a retrospective bucket list – a list of all the things I managed to accomplish this year that didn’t start out as goals but achievements that just materialised when life happened.  

Getting married!

This has always been one of dreams. Not the wedding bit but just the being married bit. My friends do not understand this but I think it stems from me never being lucky in love. I was one of those girls who were defined by my single status. And while I’ve only been married for three months, it’s better than everything I imagined it to be. I love falling asleep in his arms, cooking for someone and just plain having someone around all the time. I’ve been accused of dissing the single life but hey I can’t help that I love being married…to the right person.

Going on my dream holiday

I cannot believe I managed to convince The Husband to part with a small fortune to celebrate our newlywed status in the Maldives. I’ve looked at photos of this heavenly place for years and I finally went there. I’d recommend it to anyone. My advice is to just do it! Whatever your dream destination is – go for it. Money was tight while we were planning a wedding so we decided to book it on our credit cards and pay for it later. Was it a smart financial decision to make? Not at all. Do I regret it? Absolutely not!

Understanding the important things in life

We weren’t even married for a month before the husband received a letter from work informing him that he may be affected by the upcoming retrenchments. Suddenly, our newly-wed dream of buying a house was put on hold. The husband was upset about being put in a position where he couldn’t provide me with everything I wanted. It was then I realised what was important. I have many wants that I’m working towards but I really don’t need a big house or international holidays. I was grateful that I married a man who loves me and even if life threw us more curveballs, I’d be happy even if I only had him, my friends and family.

My first roller-coaster ride!

Yeah yeah…everyone gave me funny looks when I exclaimed that. I had a sheltered childhood, ok. I went to Gold Reef City for the first time and my inner child was let loose. I had permanent smiles and intermittent screams for my entire visit. If I could, I would have been covered in ice-cream and candy floss too.

Learnt how to swim

I don’t know why people call this a life skill. Surely, if you never need to be in or near water, you don’t need to learn how to swim. I did it cos I needed to fully enjoy my honeymoon destination – which was surrounded by water. I’m so glad I did it – it helped with playing on the beach and snorkelling in the deep ocean. If you’re planning an island holiday and you don’t know how to swim, you should learn.

Developing a pretentious palate

I was en route to a proper restaurant when I spotted Spur and convinced the husband to go there for supper. When the food arrived, I couldn’t believe I ever enjoyed Spur’s cuisine before. I remember calling Debonairs my favourite pizza joint and McDonald’s my favourite fast food outlet. In a few years, my palate developed to enjoy the finer foods and to understand that my previous favourites weren’t all that. In fact, I recently had the best steak of my life. I think it’s because I had finally gotten accustomed to it and that I ordered my steak medium – instead of well done. Yes, I’m embarrassed about my culinary past but I’m also worried about the cost of my pretentious culinary future.

Visiting the Kingdom of Lesotho

The problem with visiting new countries for work is that there’s never any time to sight see but you do get a flavour of the culture just by interacting with the locals at work. I hadn’t realised how South African Lesotho is. In comparison to the other African countries I’ve been to, I’d probably be more at home in Maseru. I can’t wait to go back, but this time to go up those famous mountains.

A rather short list but I’m hoping that without the stresses of planning and paying for a wedding, this year will be a lot more spontaneous and fun. I hope to travel more – both internationally and locally. I want to not only eat great food but cook it too when I entertain. I am getting my husband to study so that I can get more blog time. I’d like a bigger house with more home projects that I can busy myself with. I just want to do so much with what I have and above all, I want to be happy!

Why don’t you try looking back at the things you’ve done. You might just be surprised with your retrospective bucket list.