Here's a link to the original post about Year Two: The Valancy Stirling Project Year Two
1. See One of My Bucket List Musical Acts in Concert: I was a child of the 80's, and as such I did a lot of my maturing during the 90's. One of the biggest bands of the 90's was The Goo Goo Dolls. I fell in love with them the minute I heard their song 'Iris'. For those of you who've never heard it (and therefore have probably been living in a cave for the last couple of decades), 'Iris' is an amazing song about love that seems unattainable.Iris- The Goo Goo Dolls
Now, for those of you who have known me for a while, you will know that there was a period of time when I thought it was my lot in life to be the human embodiment of this song. My teenage years were a successive string of unfulfilled crushes and disappointments. This song was my mantra. I can't tell you the hours I spent listening to this song, usually crying. But over the years, I have gained more confidence in myself and, after a few moderately successful relationships, am now patiently waiting for the love of my life. He'll come around eventually...right???
Anyway, I discovered that I loved many more of their songs, and have always wanted to see them perform live. And then I heard that Matchbox 20 (who I also love) was coming to Moncton WITH THE GOO GOO DOLLS, so I rounded up some friends and we headed off.
On August 28th, 2013, 15 years after I first discovered this song, I finally heard it performed live. Yes, the guys are a few years older, but they still know how to play, and it was just as amazing as I'd always hoped it would be. I sat there with my eyes closed, remembering that 15 year old girl who loved this song and of course, I cried again. But it was different this time. It wasn't the hopeless cry of someone who felt unlovable, but the thankful cry of someone who had made it to the other side and knew what possibilities lay ahead. Life goal fulfilled.
2. Make My Own Ketchup: This one was pretty cool, and easier than I'd always thought it would be. I even used (mostly) tomatoes that I grew in my own garden. If I did it again (which I probably will), I would use the food mill like the recipe suggested. I didn't have one, so I used a combination of a potato ricer my mom had kicking around and a sieve. Which made a huge mess and was slightly frustrating, but DID manage to eliminate the skins and most of the seeds from the tomatoes. It was kind of a stinky process, but the end result was actually really good! It was thinner than store-bought ketchup, so in the future I'd either let it simmer longer or thicken it a bit. I gave most of it away as gifts, because I realized that I don't actually eat ketchup very often... 
3. Meet one of the 12 Doctors: Although there are now 13. Technically. If you're a fan you'll understand, if not, there's no point trying to explain. ANYWHO, after my earth shattering decision in Year One to watch all episodes of Classic 'Doctor Who', I then completed the set and watched all the new Who. And then I went to Halcon. HALCON!! For those of you not as well versed in all things fandom related (read; geeky) as I, Halcon is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy/General Geekdom convention held every fall in Halifax. I could go on and on (and on and on and on) about Halcon, especially since I have now attended 2 years in a row and THIS year I met Mark Sheppard who has been in nearly every geeky show I love (Doctor Who, Firefly, Supernatural, X-Files and countless more). But I digress. 
Above you will see a picture of me with Peter Davison, Fifth Doctor and genuinely nice human being (also, father-in-law to David Tennant aka Tenth Doctor, and father to Georgia Moffet, aka the Doctor's daughter in the episode "The Doctor's Daughter", aka Mrs. David Tennant. Confused yet? Welcome to the fandom. It's all very wibbly wobbly). Kindly disregard the RIDICULOUS look on my face. I was in shock. I believe I stammered out something along the lines of "I love your work" in between goofy grins, shaking and blushing. Consequently, in the days leading up to meeting Mark Sheppard (who is known to tease and cajole people who come to see him), I had a real, unshakable fear that I was going to get up there and blurt out "I love turtles!!' or pass out. But I didn't. I played it much more coolly and even exchanged a few pleasantries with him. AND he called me 'sweetheart'. Here's photographic proof that I looked less like a tool than last year. My hair is better too. 
4. Sell Some Handmade Items: I definitely succeeded with this one. It started out small with co-workers ordering crocheted hats, and then I went to a couple of craft sales. I've since expanded my product line, gotten some fancy schmancy business cards and created a Facebook page for my items. I earned enough from selling my items last year and this year to do almost all my Christmas shopping. I do get a bit overwhelmed at times, and I have to gain some better time management skills, but all in all it's something I really enjoy doing and what better way to make some extra pocket money?
7. Complete My Reading Challenge for 2013: Well, I failed this one. I even changed my goal to 45, and still failed. In all fairness, I shouldn't say I failed. I read 42 books, which is a lot more than most people read, I suppose. I always plan to read 50 books, but the last few years I've had to alter that a bit. In my defense, at the end of the 2013 challenge I went without power for 6 days, and when it came back on all I wanted to do was soak up all the technology I'd missed in those 6 days. In July of 2014 we had a hurricane knock a tree down onto our house, disconnecting our power for another 9 days. Given that and other things keeping me busy I ended up shortening my list to 15, which I managed to complete. So far this year I'm 5 books behind, but it's early days and I'm confident I can catch up.
9. See a Movie in IMAX: I did this during Halcon 2013. My friends and I went to see "Thor 2". We almost didn't make it, since our GPS took us on some weird tour of the industrial underbelly of Halifax. We could SEE the theatre up on the hill, but couldn't figure out how to get there. I, of course, was driving. And swearing, as is my general habit when things don't go my way while driving. Eventually I just drove toward the theatre, turning when I had to. We were there plenty early, because the Halifax theatre didn't have assigned seating like ours does in Saint John, so we had to wait in line FOREVER to get good seats. Lame. And to think, there was a time when I hated the idea of assigned seating. How young and foolish I once was...My thoughts on IMAX? Not impressed. Not this IMAX anyway. I was expecting this full, robust experience, with the wrap around screen and high tech glasses. What I got instead was a hard seat, only marginally bigger screen, average 3D effects and the single most uncomfortable pair of glasses I have ever worn in my life INCLUDING the crazy face-covering shades I had to wear after my laser eye surgery. I won't be rushing back.
11. Continue to Nurture My Doctor Who Obsession: Ummm, yeah. I succeeded. The theme song was my ringtone for months. I have figurines all over my living room. I've seen every episode EVER, many of the new ones twice. I saw the 50th Anniversary Special AND the Season 8 premiere in theatre. I engage in lively and well informed debates on what qualifies someone to be a true companion (Captain Jack, River Song and Mickey = NO. You'll never change my mind!!), and get almost giddy when I find someone else who has seen the Classic episodes and can therefore understand what I'm talking about when I say "Ugggg, ADRIC!" or, "I wish they'd bring back The Rani!", or "Jamie was the best companion because he trekked all over time and space in a kilt!!". Yes. I'd say I nurtured it...
15. Cook Meals at Home as Much as Possible: I did really well at this in 2013. 2014 not so much. Especially at the end. Cooking for one is hard, and you can only freeze so many things. I'm now better at judging how much a recipe makes and how much I will legitimately eat. I've also started sharing some with my parents, which saves them some time and money too. I'm getting a lot better at this once again, in my efforts to get in better shape, which is one of the goals for Year Three. I started a fitness challenge about 4 weeks ago and so far I'm down 8 pounds, and several inches (I'm guessing about the inches. We aren't taking those til halfway through). And so there we are. All that I DID manage to do in Year Two, and a bit of a glimpse into Year Three. It feels good to be back!
