44. Learn how to cook 10 traditional American dishes (2.5/10) - Southern Style Sun Tea

In the lazy, hazy days of summer, when the mercury hits well over a hundred and its just to darn hot to even work let alone boil water, its time to make a cup of sun tea in the good old south.. Sun tea is basically brewing tea using nothing more than the natural energy of the sun and you know what, it really does actually taste that little bit better than the hot water kind...

Ingredients 
6-8 cups of water
4-6 tea bags

Directions:
Wash container thoroughly with warm water and anti-bacterial soap (to ensure no bacterial growth during brewing process). Fill container with cold water water, add tea bags, cover the container securely and place the container in the direct sunlight for at least two hours.

Taste periodically and once its to your personal liking, remove the tea bags, pour into glasses and serve over ice. Drink tea within a few hours to once again, avoid any bacterial growth.

Feel free to add a touch of lemon, lime, a couple of sprigs of mint or even a couple of crushed raspberries.. the end result? You've captured summer in a jar... delicious!

86. Send a birthday card snail mail to every member of my immediate family for a year (6/11)

When I first saw this card at the store I fell in love with it... it was witty, it was cute, it was everything a birthday card should be.. and so of course I bought it home with me and have been struggling with who to give it to ever since (I've literally been hoarding the card for around 6-9 months now)... until now! My father in law is a little like this card.. sweet, witty, with a good sense of humour.. the perfect recipient!

Hippo Bir-die two ewe deer Bill - Hopefully this card brings as big a smile to your face as it did to mine... Wish we could be in cold and wintery Melbourne to celebrate with a glass of Paradigm Hill L'ami Sage Pinot Noir and a couple of Patons Macadamia Royals procured from a Qantas business class section or two... mmmmm.. now there is a drool worth birthday feast!! 

19. Spend at least 24 hours in 10 states (3/10) - Oklahoma

OooOOoo klahoma... where the wind comes sweeping down the plains... but apart from the musical and twisters, what else is Okie state really known for.. farm land and a horrific bombing?? You know what, I need to Google this.. population 3.6 million, member of the bible belt, large Native Indian population, state beverage is milk... and a major producer of natural gas and oil... ahhhh now my trip is suddenly making sense!!

This week I made my way to teeny tiny Velma, Oklahoma to co-present a pre-spud safety meeting for a drilling program we are about to start in town.  Due to the size of Velma (official population 750) I stayed overnight in nearby Duncan - a town that I swear must, at some point in the distant past in become a subsidiary of Halliburton!! There was a Halliburton Lane, Halliburton Blvd, Halliburton Research Centre, Halliburton Credit Union, I could even get a Halliburger at the local bar and grill.. you get the point!! But I think what I was most surprised with was how beautiful the countryside really was in Okie... everything was the most amazing shade of green, rolling hills, small country towns, farms and thousands of fat, happily content looking cows all lazing around chewing their cud... it'll be interesting to see what the change of seasons does to all the beauty when I return in a couple of weeks.

42. Take the PADI Nitrox Course

I've been meaning to complete my Nitrox certification since, well forever... Nitrox, or Enriched Air Diving (EANx) is basically diving on a tank containing a mix of nitrogen and oxygen (where oxygen content is between 22-40%). It gives you more no decompression time meaning you can usually stay underwater longer and get back in the water again sooner... and of course you can fly sooner, AND you feel better... due to the higher concentration of oxygen in the mix.

Honestly the course was a bit of a farce, a money making event for PADI and its dive certification stores.. Upon signing up you're given a book and a dvd and expected to go home and do a whole heap of pre-work, read the guide, watch the 45 minute DVD and complete all the review questions and dive table calculations... you then head into the class room and, with an instructor basically review the information, run through the oxygen analysing procedure and then complete the exam... two hours later and a exam score of at least 75% and voila.. you're Nitrox certified... without a single dive!

The best thing about completing the course (aside from the fact that I now have a dive certification issued in Fremantle and in Houston... hmmm what course am I going to complete when I move to Indo??) is that we've found an awesome dive shop.. one that we hope to become quite involved in, socially as well as recreationally... In fact we've already signed up on one of their group dive trips to the Flower Gardens National Park, a three day live aboard dive trip into the Gulf of Mexico... looks like that Nitrox training is going to be a very worthwhile investment!!

49. My two words of the month

Things right now are changing.. and changing fast.. I feel like Paul and I are a a kind of crossroads in our lives right now with all of the significant decisions and outcomes that are soon to be... or not be... and I feel a real urgency, a real need for these outcomes to become reality, whether good or bad so we can stop living in limbo... and therefore, I guess,  my two new words reflect this feeling of helpless urgency...

ad·ver·si·ty

   [ad-vur-si-tee]

–noun, plural -ties for 2.

1.

adverse fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune,calamity, or distress: A friend will show his or her truecolors in times of adversity.

2.

an adverse or unfortunate event or circumstance: You willmeet many adversities in life.

AND

ex·i·gen·cy

   [ek-si-juhn-see, ig-zij-uhn-]

–noun, plural -cies.

1.

exigent state or character; urgency.

2.

Usually, exigencies. the need, demand, or requirementintrinsic to a circumstance, condition, etc.: the exigencies ofcity life.

3.

a case or situation that demands prompt action or remedy;emergency: He promised help in any exigency.

22. Visit 50 of the locations in Northern and Central America in the books 'Frommers 500 places to see before the disappear' and 'Rough Guides: 1000 Ultimate Travel Experiences: Make to most of your time on Earth' (1&2/50) - Cozumel, Mexico

Now wasn't this just THE best trip ever for knocking off 101's?? Four 101's in a matter of days?? Awesome!

Number 661 of 1001 the most ultimate travel experiences (at least according to the Rough Guide) is 'Diving at Palancar Reef'... well we definitely did our fair share of this during our 5 days in Cozumel.. in fact, the only diving we did was on the Palancar reef.. and what an experience!! Imagine sitting on a boat... the variegated blues and greens of the Caribbean stretching towards the pearly luminous white sands of the Yucatan coast, hiding below its surface, a five kilometre stretch of some of the worlds riches coral beds, teeming with animal life and crystal clear visibility that stretches on forever and ever... paradise!!

673 of the most ultimate travel experiences (once again if asking the Rough Guide) is 'taking a dip in the Yucatan's cenotes' All I can seriously say here is WOW! What an amazing experience!! Diving into a freshwater cavern is nothing short of life changing, well at least for a scuba diver, and I think I now have one very hooked husband... teehehe... Gearing up, waddling down hand cut stairs to the cavern opening, and finding yourself in a cathedral like space full of turquoise water and dappled sunlight is simply breathtaking... and that's before you take the plunge and descend into the eerily haunting and ghostly caverns... a once in a lifetime opportunity... one that has opened my eyes to the opportunities within scuba!!

30. Visit 5 countries other than the US and Australia (3/5) - Mexico

Work was driving me crazy... incidents a plenty, stressed out of my mind, beginning to feel like I was sinking... and then along came a holiday... Praise the Lord!! Five glorious days in Mexico with nothing more to do than drink, eat, soak up the sun, spend copious amounts of time scuba diving and of course spend some quality, non stressed out time with my husband... Does life get any better?? Aaahhh Cozumel... your crystal clear waters, balmy evenings and friendly people stole my heart... I can't wait to return some day soon!