31 things I did, experienced or learned at 31

It has been three years since I last used the day before my birthday to reflect on the previous years. Those years have been challenging and sometimes heart breaking times. As I move forward I am trying to find solace in reflection. So here goes.

1. I saw Niagara Fall and it was worth it.
2. I wrote a dissertation, which is the single most miserable experience I have ever had.
3. I spent 3 days in the front cab of U-haul with my husband and daughter. These are the times that build family memories.
4. I wrote a physics curriculum from scratch for 4 different courses.
5. I got back on my bike. I am slower and I tire more easily, but it feels good to ride.
6. I took a stab at mountain biking and I have a lot of work to do if I want to go more regularly.
7. I started taking a boot camp class.
8. I submitted a non-physics paper for publication written with an incredibly talented co-author.
9. I accepted a post doc at Penn State.
10. I moved away from Kansas.
11. As a result of 10, I will always be grateful for anywhere I live because it is not Kansas.
12. My husband and I drove through a tornado.
13. I defended and the dissertation I wrote and felt weird afterwards.
14. I have come to have a deeper appreciation for the power of strong friendships and am grateful for the women who have stood by through move after move and for whom distance is no barrier for our relationship.
15. I gave talks at IUSB, Stamford, Berkeley and Yale.
16. I bought a pair of (used but still beautiful) Manolo Blahnik's, so I can cross that shallow goal off the list.
17. I saw the Golden Gate Bridge.
18. I saw the St. Louis Arch
19. I went to Lincoln, NE and saw some wonderful friends and rode my old bike paths.
20. I took Esther to visit her first national lab. (Fermilab)
21. I listened to Esther as she sang the songs she makes up.
22. I made a British Trifle
23. I watched some dreams die.
24. I acquired a single speed and then moved to a place with lots of hills.
25. I saw a quantum computing lab in Canada.
26. I joined LZ.
27. I had my hair dyed blonde and I love it.
28. I voted in an historical election.
29. I saw golden waves of grain, and it really is beautiful.
30. I am regularly reminded of how wonderful my husband Piper is to me.
31. I still do not have anything figured out.

So here I am. A little more travel weary as I emerge from the exhaustion of the past three years. I not quite sure where I am going but I am trying to move forward.