The photo above is from the celebration of my 60th birthday with most of our sons and DIL, Laura. Katie was in North Carolina (Camp Lejeune) marrying Andrew at the Justice of the Peace before he was deployed to Afghanistan. Dan had not met his future wife, Jamie yet. My kids surprised me both with the limo ride and with Dan coming over to celebrate from Eastern Washington.
I’m consolidating all my 60 things in my 60th year in one post so I can access them easier.
I’m now pushing 70 in 2021 so I’ve had 10 years to complete some of these things. In the last 10 years the major shifts and events in my/our lives include, becoming one of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook that resulted in publishing two cookbooks and a devotional, our daughter’s wedding in 2012 (she and Andrew were married in 2011 but the official wedding ceremony with friends and family happened a year later because of Andrew’s deployment), trip to England in 2013 with Josh and Laura, my mom’s death in 2013, another trip to England with Dear for our 40th wedding anniversary in 2014, our middle son’s wedding in 2015 to Jamie, the birth of our first granddaughter/grandchild in 2017, moving from the city to the country in 2018, our pop’s death in 2018, Dear’s retirement, the birth of our first grandson in 2019. Just to name a few…
When I wrote this post me and my sisters were on our way to Victoria, B.C. for the weekend in April, 2011 fulfilling #5 on my 60 things list. I also decided to check the completed items off instead of crossing them out…
1. Finally make it to the top of the Space Needle. Completed on Wednesday January 26th, 2011!
2. Dinner with the Mennonite Girls and their husbands. Met for dinner at the Chuckanut Manor on March 13th, 2011!
3. East Coast Trip. Things are shaping up for a trip to Washington D.C. (Any suggestions about what to see and where to eat would be highly appreciated) We were there from May 10th-18th. We saw more than our brains could take in!
4. Apply for my enhanced license so my trips to Canada will be easier. Completed in January!
5. Birthday getaway with my 3 sisters. Plans are afoot. Victoria B.C., April 1-3, 2011
6. Try one new restaurant every month of this year. Looks like this one is really going to be easy especially with trips planned. Eastlake Bar and Grill~ Lake Union. The Hitching Post~ Monroe. Racha Thai ~Seattle. Bishops Alehouse ~ Juanita. Chuckanut Manor-Bow. Barolo ~ Seattle. The Cabbage Patch ~ Snohomish. Pescatores ~ Victoria, B.C., Il Terrazzo Carmine Seattle, Duck’s Grille~Jacksonville N.C., Riverside Steak and Seafood~Swansboro N.C.,
7. Send my parents a bouquet of flowers on my 60th birthday thanking them for loving me all these years. Sent on March 14th and my parents were thrilled.
8. Visiting a a new garden. Hillwood Garden in Washington D.C., Bishop’s Garden in Washington D.C. and Botanical Gardens in D.C.
9. Plant something new in my yard. I planted some Sweet Peas and 2 Top Hat blueberry bushes.
10. Have my flagpole installed. Installed on my birthday March 14th.
11. Lose 10 pounds. Oh Nellie! I should have said gain 10 pounds! Woohoo!! Before I gain it back I want y’all to know that as of 7/18/11 I have lost 10 pounds. I started my program on June 12th. Now I’m moving on to lose 10 more. This past Sunday I fit into the jeans one size down that have been draped over the couch for a year waiting…
12. Enjoy a book by an author I haven’t read before. I’ve read a couple books by Jeanne Birdsall that I’ve enjoyed and I’m on the second book by Rick Riordan that I’m enjoying. I also read a non-fiction book by Lewis B. Smedes on Forgiveness.
13. Explore 6 cities/towns in Washington. Lake Union~ Monroe~ Snohomish~ Olympia ~ Lynden ~Port Townsend
14. Try 2 new recipes every month. As you can see by my mosaic at the bottom of this update I have been trying lots of new recipes.
15. Go on a easy day hike. I enjoyed a few of these day hikes with Dear and our daughter Katie before we moved to Eastern Washington in 2018. Carkeek Park and Magnuson Park.
16. Walk more. This worked while we lived in the Puget Sound Area. Walking less since we moved to Colville. We have enjoyed a couple snowshoeing adventures.
17. Go to a new Tea Room. White Heather Tea Room in Victoria, B.C. (Oak Bay)
18. Purge 60 books off my bookshelves. Well on the way
19. Begin going through old boxes in the garage loft. Working on this with 4 boxes down to work on…
20. Go on an adventure with my daughter Katie. I’ve had many adventures. One fun one is going with her to register for her wedding!
21. Re-arrange some things that have been the same for 13 years in this old house. Moved antique hutch around and changed some wall hangings.
22. Buy a Welsh Sideboard. I’ve wanted one for years. Instead of a Welsh cabinet we found an Indonesian cabinet that fits our space perfectly. On the Eastside in April of 2020 we purchased a Sideboard that looks more like a Welsh Cabinet and fits a space in our Country Bungalow.
23. Make and serve our Russian favorite recipes for family gatherings. Golubtsi, Pelemeni, Borsch
My sister and I mastered making a favorite of ours that are mom used to make called Roolyet, Russian Nut Roll in 2017.
24. Find a couple new blogs to add to my favorites. Pondside, Mille Fiori, Cuisine Kathleen
Check my side bar for several that I’ve added to my blogroll.
25. Clean out my closet. Cleaned and now I need to clean it out again!
26. Take some time to journal. I have been journaling and have several notebooks full of prayers, quotes, sermon notes, and history of our days.
27. Invite someone new over for a meal. We have had several new folk from our church in Colville over for a meal since moving to here in 2017.
28. Invite old friends over for a meal. Had our dear friends over on April 8th for dinner.
29. Meet Dear downtown for lunch. Did this.
30. Do some volunteer work. Fulfilled on March 28th although I’d like to do more. United We Serve
31. Try baking a pie including the crust. Does a tart count?
32. Bake cinnamon rolls from scratch.
33. Write some letters and mail them. During the beginning of COVID in 2020 I wrote several cards and letters to friends and family.
34. Surprise someone. Sent cookbooks to Dear’s Aunts and to a dear lady who encouraged me in college.
35. Get a manicure and pedicure. Fulfilled on July 18th, a gift from my brother’s family for my 60th.
36. Have more than one hour long massage. Fulfilled on June 20th, a gift from Josh and Laura for my birthday.
37. Use my sewing machine. Miracle of miracles I made a banner for our British Pub night in 2013!
38. Be brave enough to get a new generation phone. Finally took the plunge on March 26, 2012 OYE…somebody help me figure this thing out!
39. Call Dear’s Aunts on their birthdays. Called Aunt Audrey on April 14th ~ Called Aunt Carol on June 26th
40. Try something new with my camera. Tried doing some angled shots. Tea Strainer Shots.
Now here are the final 20 of my list of 60 things to do in my 60th year!
41. Take a ride in a limousine with people she loves. Completed on my birthday March 14th with our sons, DIL, and Dear.
42. Treat people for her birthday. Bought drinks for all our season ticket neighbors at the opening game which was the day after my 60th birthday.
43. Find a purse that will accommodate my stuff plus my camera with a long enough strap to fit over my shoulder. Completed, I’ll share it soon.
44. Meet bloggy friends in person that she has never met in person before. Met the lovely Pondside in Victoria B.C. and she treated my sisters and I to a fine tour of her town. Met Jill from Jill’s World of Research, Reaction, and Millinery when she flew in to stay with us for the Lavender Farm Faire Tour.
45. Reorganize cabinets and purge some Chotskies. Not only did we do this but we moved several more pieces around and are enjoying the new uncluttered look!
46. Make those every so many year appointments you dread but need to do. Yearly-check, The Squeeze – check, Got my bone density done! check! Colonoscopy done!
47. Write a Psalm to God. Done!
48. Find a dress for our daughter’s wedding. Yippee Yahoo I found the dress, shoes and accessories.
50. Learn to put the flagpole up and take it down. It’s not as hard as I thought and I’ve done it several times already.
51. Back up the files on my computer.
52. Create some photo books. I made two memory/scrapebooks , One for our granddaughter’s first birthday in 2018 and one for our grandson’s first birthday in 2020.
53. Mail a box of goodies to Katie’s Andrew while he is deployed. We helped Katie send lots of goodies to Afghanistan. All but one box made it.
54. Order a DVR. Got one March 24th!
55. Get a new modem that might actually make her internet work well. Got one and things have improved but we need more improvement! Finally got some good service and much improvement the week of May 23rd!
56. Send flowers to some unsuspecting person. A surprise birthday bouquet went on it’s way…
57. Detail my car. Dear detailed my car for me!
58. Write poetic tribute of my history as seen on Debora’s blog.
59. Take a canoe ride on Lake Washington this summer with Dear. Him rowing, me taking photos.
60. Do a blog tribute to some of my favorite blog posts on other people’s blogs.
Coming up with 60 things was not an easy task. Maybe there will be some modifications along the way. It was a good exercise and I’ve already enjoyed the benefits of completing many of the 60.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Awesome way to organize your goals. You’re a young 60 year old! Continue to cherish your life and family. Thanks for posting. ~CJ
Hi Ellen, How nice it’s been to visit your blog (via Rebecca’s) – I see we both turned 60 last year. I love how you have created this page. We also both grew up in California (Sacramento here) and both of us have lived in the state of Washington — we went to college and lived in Spokane. We also both have 2 daughters – I have one son. I also spend time each year in LA as our son and his family live there. (I live in Nevada). But best of all …we both love our wonderful Savior Jesus! 🙂
Have a blessed day!
I will right away grasp your rss as I can’t to find your e-mail subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you’ve any?
Please let me know so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
Nice things to do list and the food in the photo looks really good! 🙂
Had a lovely visit here on your blog! Wow – everyone is so busy and having fun! God bless!
hi there,
you wouldn’t happen to have a picture of pyshki would you??? I haven’t made it in many years… and was trying to explain it to a girl I work with (she’s from the ukraine)
Thanks,
Katsa
Am impressed with the 60 things you came up with!
This is a cool idea! In answer to #31 yes, absolutely! And #51 best get to that one sooner rather than later 🙂
I turned 60 also, six months ago. I, too, was raised in California, and now I live in Oceanside. I loved your 60 things to do and am thinking that even though half of my 60th year is gone, I still will make a list to try to do as many things as I can before September 30th! Thanks for the inspiration! I loved your old pictures and stories . I am half Persian and half German. My father’s family came from Persia in 1913 with their many children. My father was the only one born in America, in 1917. Four years later, his father was hit by a train so my grandmother became a widow and the family was broken up because she had no way to care for all of those children. Thanks to the help of Fanny Bixby, a wealthy woman, they were all reunited, provided with a home and farm in Turlock, and eventually all received a good college education, and had great jobs. God has been so good to my family!!!
Wow! Thanks for sharing part of your story Joanie. God bless you and your family and keep celebrating!!
If i followed suit I would have to add some to the 60. Much too much thinking for me. Tom The Backroads Traveller
Hi Ellen! My father was Fred Shubin. He passed away in 2008 and I miss him. His mother and sisters made such wonderful Russian food and not being close to any of my dad’s side of the family, I don’t have access to much of the recipes as I’d like. I miss the Russian picnics too and Paska at Easter. I live in Arizona now and am 68. It was great growing up in LA in the 50s! I still make my Babunia’s beef and cabbage Borsh about once every other year or so. I make a big pot and freeze individual servings for enjoyment later. I’d love to try to make some Shashlik also! I love your blog and wish you and your family all my best wishes!
Hello Andrea, Nice to read your comment. Thank you for your best wishes. Blessings.
Trying to comment. Somehow your blog won´t let me. Loved this post of 60 things. My husband just turned 60 this year, and I´m on my way there. Tell me are you one of the Mennonite girls? of the book and the website? I have followed it for a long time and love their cook book.
Will be adding your blog to my new list.
It worked! Finally
Betty, hello and I’m so sorry you are having problems commenting on my blog. You aren’t the only one. Thanks for persevering!
Betty, Yes I am one of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook. Happy to hear you enjoy our work.