YOB: #18. Build Something Together (Part 2)

By Lara

I can still remember it all so clearly. Beth and I were in line at Lowe's. She had just picked out a new piece for her Christmas village. I had just been fantasizing about my future french-doored, stainless steel refrigerator with pull out freezer and humidity controlled deli and vegetable drawers. Sigh.

Beth was admiring the gift cards. One of them was clever. It said something about projects bringing people closer together. Beth got excited. "We should build something together." I looked skeptical. Build. Something. Together. That's vague, and I'm clumsy.

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YOB: #18. Build Something Together

By Beth

I am a big fan of creating things. I always have some sort of project going. OK, I'll be honest, I usually have 2-4 projects going at one time. These can range from doing a challenging puzzle (1000+ pieces, with cats in the house who like to play guess where I hid the piece your looking for), to painting/re-painting rooms in the house, to rearranging furniture (I do this once every six months or so, I don't like to be in a furniture rut). Over the past several years I have found new projects in miniatures. It is one of my favorite hobbies and I only wish I could do it and get paid for it.

My love of miniatures actually started long before I ever built my first dollhouse. I had wanted a dollhouse for a long time when I was a kid and one Christmas my parents delivered. But it was in a box, it had to be put together. For a while I insisted that I was going to do it but after six months or so of it sitting in the basement untouched, I gave in and let my dad build it. I wasn't too great with power tools at that point in my life.

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YOB: #10. See Some Ridiculously Exciting Fireworks (Part 2)

By Lara

Oh Yes. Ridiculously exciting fireworks, Lara style.

I know that Beth already described the fireworks in great detail, but now it's time for my take on the whole sordid incident. It felt slightly cliche for our "ridiculously exciting fireworks" to occur on the 4th of July, but we were running low on funds. The great thing about Independence Day fireworks displays is that they are usually free.

Beth had described the traditional Ambler fireworks display to me several times. It didn't sound like Disney World quality, but Beth promised that it was cooler than the average small town affair. I was skeptical regarding "ridiculously exciting," but continued to keep an open mind.

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YOB: #13. Go Gambling in Atlantic City

By Beth

When I was 16 my Great Aunt Nancy got married in Las Vegas in one of those little wedding chapels that are so prominent out there. Before you ask, no, she was not married by Elvis, it was not a drive through chapel and the only theme was "wedding." It was a second marriage so they wanted to skip the fuss of a big church wedding and they actually lived in Vegas. My mother and I flew out for the wedding and stayed for a few days. I remember being very impressed, not only with the shortness of the ceremony (it was maybe 15 minutes, and the recessional was "Tea For Two;" there was another bride waiting outside when we came out, too) but with all the sights Vegas has to offer. It really is a beautiful city and it is still on my own personal list to go back and see again. Somewhere in a shoebox I have pictures of all the dazzling casinos, hotels, resorts and theaters out there. I also have a picture of my grandfather getting ready to pull the lever on the slot machines in the airport. It's one of my favorite poses of him.

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YOB: Adventure Alaska

By Lara

As I may have mentioned, Alaska wasn't on the Year of the Birthday list. However, it was my 30th birthday present to myself. I am rarely one to turn down an opportunity to travel. I have felt that Alaska was calling my name for a long time. I was finally able to cross it off the list in May. I was also able to be more specific about the things I want to see when I go back to Alaska.

This article would probably be about twenty pages long if I were to describe the entire trip in detail, but I still wanted to relive the highlights. Keep in mind that my goal on the trip, aside from wanting to see the breath-taking scenery, was to see both a moose and a sea otter up close and personal.

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