Sarah la Viajera
Sarah la Viajera

An Unspoken Challenge

October 31, 2013SarahAdd comment
Written by Sarah
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It is less than two months until my 25th birthday. The birthday that supposedly puts the final stamp on one’s entrance card into adulthood. I haven’t had the greatest last few months so I wanted to change things and challenge myself to spend these next two months very wisely.

What is this unspoken challenge? Well, I’m glad you brought it up. I’ll reveal it…tomorrow. 😛

*Update* 
I realize that quite a bit of time has passed since I said “tomorrow.” I didn’t mean for that to happen so lo siento! Anyway, I will reveal what this unspoken challenge is now and make it public to all of you. A lot of people before they turn a milestone age in their younger years create bucket lists. You know like “25 Things to Do Before I’m 25.” Or instead they replace the word things with countries. I have several things on my bucket list but don’t exactly have the funds to complete them all before I turn 25. After all, it is next month. (Yikes! lol) At any rate, though, I wanted not only to challenge myself again but to also end my 24th year on a great note. It’s been one heck of a year full of mostly delightful surprises and that’s really only just begun. So…what better challenge to give myself than to try to do at least one new thing everyday for the next two months? 

Yes, there you have it! That’s my challenge. These ‘new things’ can really be small or big things (you’ll notice that I started small in the beginning), can cost money or not but must involve one or more of the 5 senses. 
After nearly a month of doing one new thing everyday I am pleased to say that it has become a habit. This is exactly the right type of spice my life needed and I’m glad I have begun this journey. I will be updating this post every week with more things I have done up until Dec. 15th so please bookmark this page and check back! 🙂
Without further ado, here’s what I’ve done so far!
October 15th: made butternut squash and spinach soup
16th saw Sanford and Son
17 tried a new type of yogurt
18 made one of Grandma’s recipes
19 saw a new 80s movie
20 toasted my parents’ anniversary with some wine (first time ever lol)
21 Went to the Duval Audoban Society talk and learned about wildlife in Ecuador!
22 Tried a new sparkling cider (sidra) drink from Spain (El Bochero)
23 Made a new cookie creation with Galletas Maria (a cookie sandwich with peanut butter and honey in the middle!)
24 Tried peppermint tea from Serbia!
25 Talked to an international person ego works at Pulp and tried a new orange sherbet flavor 
26 Went to the Balis Park opening and went into many stores in the Sq for the first time!
27 -I’m blanking on this day! lol-
28 met a friend for “coffee” first thing in the morning
29 Played tennis on a Tues!
30 New recipe for chicken lasagna & I got my second migraine in my life
November 1 – discovered who does the song Capitão Fantastico
2 Had an authentic bbq dinner
3 Tried a Halloween Cadbury creme egg!
4 Tried out a gig app, went to a new Publix and got great deals on tea! Tried a chai spice tea
5 Tried a new natural bar of soap for my face!
6 Got a delivery from Hello Fresh & made a brand meal
7 Got ice skating lessons from US Figure Skating pros
8 Played tennis on a Friday!
9 Spent $3 on a lot of groceries and tried Coconut water
10 Saw two trains pass by at the same time on both sides of the tracks, ate Caribbean style paella
11 Did a gig with a different app an tried the Girl Scout flavored Crunch bars
12 Ate my first caramel apple!
13 Went to a new area of Jacksonville today and saw the sunset over a new spot on the river
14 Tried sardines (produced in Morocco)-they actually taste good! haha
15 Saw a guy at the bus station do full body push-ups on a pillar! Went to a Walmart late at night-haven’t done that in years!
16 Went to my second ever JU football game haha
17 Made a new breakfast item and bought an all-natural soap (for my face) made mostly of olive oil and green tea!
18 Listened to an Indian (Asia) radio station and Created the most wonderful Greek yogurt combo ever- chocolate on the bottom, Greek yogurt and then cinnamon on top!
19  Slept on the sofa for the first time in weeks and then later took a nap. <-don’t normally do that!
20 Tried a coffee flavored yogurt
21 tried a new sandwich concoction, went to a GlobalJax event and met a girl from Morocco and a girl from Belarus!
22 Stood in line for the opening of the Microsoft store, met two nice ladies (one that reminded me so much of Sarah T.), ran into Aida, tried a new frozen yogurt place.
23 found a page about Spanish speakers in Denmark and listened to a pop song in Danish, found a Danish singer who sings in Spanish (lives in Cádiz)…and more to come!
24 Tried an organic roobios tea from the Twinings brand 
25 Put egg nog instead of milk into my cereal! (and proceeded to do that everyday this week lol)
26 Saw the Legend of Zorro (the sequel to the original)
27 Mixed cinnamon into my cranberry sauce and had a Latin themed Thanksgiving meal a day early
28 volunteered at Trinity Rescue Mission, accidentally fasted on Thanksgiving Day, didn’t have the traditional meal for the first time in my young life lol, went to a Starbucks on Tgiving, and saw what the line looked like at Best Buy before and after 6pm-too crazy
29 ate oatmeal with egg nog, did a little shopping on Black Friday in Jax for the first time ever
30 had a dream in Spanish where I didn’t let anyone else talk lol, saw some of the boat parade for the 2nd year in a row and found a new place to watch fireworks and/or sunrises
December 1
didn’t go anywhere on a Sunday (not feeling that well), tried a new Chai tea and Skyped with Santi in Spanish from my iPhone to his new iPad!
2 tried creamy curry chicken with coconut milk for the first time, 
3 first time I’ve been living in a house where all the Christmas decorations were up early (all of them were put up by today lol)
4 tried Hershey’s Symphony candy bar for the first time ever mixed in with Greek yogurt and peanut butter-sooo good!
5 ate dinner outside in a tank top in 70/80 degree weather in December, made a Manoli inspired fruit salad 🙂
6 went to my first TEDTalk event which was also a live stream from San Francisco!
7 ate at Village Bread Cafe, hung out at Friendship Fountain and spent the afternoon writing a letter in Spanish, got fake proposed to lol and listened to a radio station in Turkish!!
8 Went to the beach (on my dad’s birthday!) and it was foggy the whole time, went the farthest south of Jax Beach I’ve ever been by myself, listened to a radio station in Filipino! Got “promoted” to run a promotion for one of my clients on my own! 🙂
9  slept in a tank top and shorts while knowing that it was 60-70 degrees warmer here than where my family is
10 Tried curry couscous, saw a sunset by the river in my neighborhood-secret location-
11 Finished up the last season of Fraiser (never thought I’d watch that show going into this year lol), made fresh cranberry sauce for the first time ever

(List copied from my phone’s notepad)

We are creatures of habit so we often times do our best to avoid change. Change is often seen as the enemy. But one day, you’ll come to realize -sooner or later- that change is good. Change lets you know that there’s still more to learn in this life. More places to see and people to meet. More lives to touch. In order to do all of that, though, you must let go of some of your habits and routines. Without change and variety in your life, you will grow tired and weary.  However, with those two things, you might just feel more alive than you’ve felt in years!
Give change a try! How often do you try something new?

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When I read my very first blog post about the infamous pintxo de champiñón (champi for short) and gamba, I just knew that one day I had to try it. Fast forward 11 years and I did! And now I’m posting about it 2 months later, oops. 😅 Visiting Logroño, located just underneath País Vasco, back in March was a very pleasant surprise. The walkability, large concentration of bars in the city center and the fact that eating was the main focus of our weekend were wonderful. When I was dreaming about trying these absolutely delicious #pintxos all those years ago, I never imagined I would go to Logroño with the person I absolutely love trying new dishes and cuisines with. I never knew how fun going away to such a gastronomic gem of a region like La Rioja 🍷 would be and how eating my way around the town (plus, a little bit of culture and football ⚽️ for him) would be such an adventure. We didn’t make it everywhere we wanted to go so we’ve got yet another list of pintxos to try the next time we visit. 👫💕 Pintxos featured: 1️⃣ Champiñón 🍄 a la plancha con gamba 🍤 - Bar Soriano 2️⃣ Unas patatas bravas increíbles! 🤩 - Bar Jubera 3️⃣ El cojonudo (huevo de cordoniz con chorizo sobre pan) - Bar El Muro Restaurante 4️⃣ Un excelente pintxo de tortilla 🍳🥔“melosa” -La Concordia (Tortillera) 5️⃣ Croquetas de puerro y gamba (yo) y de cachopo (A) -Divina Croqueta 6️⃣ Otro pintxo de gamba y champi - Bar Ángel (mi favorito 😍) 7️⃣ Bocatita de jamón con queso de tetilla 🧀 (a nod to our beloved Galicia) 🤤 - Pata Negra 8️⃣ Tío Agus (un mini bocadillo de carne de cedro adobado con salsa secreta) - Tío Agus Bar Lorenzo 9️⃣ Tarta de queso vasca 😋 - Café Calenda (Calle Portales) 🔟 Brocheta de langostinos a la plancha con aceite de oliva y pimentón de la Vera - La Casita Mesón Bar Side note: it’s really hard to film one handed and try to eat at the same time (see slide #4). Have you been to Logroño before? What were some of your favorite foods/pintxos? 😋🥘🐷🥖⬇️ #callaurel #callelaurellogroño #logroño #pinchos #tapeando #lariojapetece #foodies #larioja
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