> Things we're looking forward to

From Everything Changes, the Awl’s newsletter:

Here are all of the things readers of Everything Changes are looking forward to. It is a long list.

  • Thanksgiving with my family
  • getting pregnant (finally) (fingers crossed)
  • My House Warming Party and Riot Fest Chicago 2016!
  • Sleep
  • Halloween and beautiful fall weather
  • Retirement
  • The new Gilmore Girls.
  • Finally being able to afford to take my daughter to Disney this year.
  • The weekend.
  • seeing my dog
  • My Canada Goose down coat and cashmere scarves.
  • (pumpkin, frost)
  • soup cooked in the fireplace & cornbread
  • November 9
  • Getting started
  • Charles Bradley at the Georgia Theatre on Halloween Weekend
  • My morning coffee!
  • Finding a place to work where I don’t have to pretend to be somebody else. 12 years and counting.
  • My son breaking up with his horrible girlfriend.
  • Raw autumn air
  • seeing the world.
  • Living in Berlin for a month. I know only a few people here, and I’ve never taken advantage of my freelance schedule like this… will it help me be more productive, professionally and creatively, or less? I am looking forward to seeing what kind of person I am at the end.
  • I am looking forward to getting into a bed made with freshly washed sheets tonight.
  • Halloween! Horror movies, costume parties, pumpkin carving, and all the candy corn I can stuff into my face 🙂
  • Having this baby pretty soon, and then going back to work eventually.
  • California sun
  • Putting up the Christmas tree with my mum!
  • Getting out of work in an hour and a half and visiting friends & family for the first time in far too long.
  • Eating cider donuts and not sweating my face off
  • Saturday afternoons, generally. They are magic.
  • a day when everything makes sense like it did when i was a child
  • All my friends are having babies, I am going to try starting soon. I look forward to sharing the crazy chaotic years with all these people I love.
  • New Gilmore Girls and for the buzz around the iPhone 7 to die.
  • listening to records with my kids tonight while we get ready for our stoop sale
  • Fall weather and being able to wear scarves and boots again
  • Dinner
  • The election being over, Hillary Clinton being President, getting to plan my wedding, and sleep.
  • The first female POTUS.
  • A British show called Fleabag, cool fall breezes, and a nap.
  • I’m getting married in a little less than a year! It’s going to be great!
  • Sweatshirt time
  • This damn election being over.
  • Paying off my debts before I’m 35.
  • October, when it’s spooky out
  • the death of my abuser
  • hugging my parents, hugging my sister, telling my boyfriend that I love him, making garlic soup
  • Hot hot heat. Cool cool. Neat.
  • A neat Scotch when I get home from work.
  • wearing jackets again, fall day trips and trying the new burrito place in my neighborhood
  • Seeing my brother in California
  • I’m excited about seeing my first New England Autumn and watching the leaves turn red and orange and gold.
  • The defeat of Donald Trump
  • my son having full head control
  • I’m going on my first solo vacation! Going to the UK and am very, very, VERY excited.
  • I am bad at looking forward to things. Instead of thinking about the destination or goal I think about all the obstacles, small and large, that I will have to overcome to get there. Even while nice things are happening I’m busy thinking about that happens when they end — i.e. my first thought on any departing plane is that soon I’ll be on a returning plane wondering where the time went. All that said I just booked travel to Sweden for my first international vacation in 10 years and really my first week long vacation in I don’t know how long. Doing my best not to sweat the small things in the meantime.
  • a relationship
  • cool weather
  • Being in the same country as my partner and sharing not only our lives, but a bed, library and home.
  • The heat death of the universe.
  • The possibility of spending Thanksgiving with my whole immediate family for the first time in a decade.
  • Going back to my home city after a summer living in an alternative housing project in a decrepit, fun, kind of punky city nearby. Sure, I learnt a ton and I’m not such a privileged asshole anymore (I hope!). But… oh my god I miss luxury. Not luxury-luxury, just, like, BRUNCH. Buying salad and nobody eating it before I get to it. Casual home nudity because I don’t normally co-habitate. Early morning solitude. Jogging (seen as kind of yuppie-ish here).
  • Seeing my family
  • Basking in the glow of the unstoppable Dolly Parton at her upcoming show.
  • Eating healthier food and prioritizing sleep so I feel like a goddess queen and not a slug.
  • A wintry trip to Yosemite
  • Gilmore Girls, Christmas, Trips to San Francisco and Ann Arbor in October, submitting all my R1 applications in early October, not feeling sad about my breakup any more, biking 100mi tomorrow!
  • Cool nights
  • Eloping in NYC, finally getting to visit Paris (on my birthday!), and a new phase of life.
  • This election being over.
  • The end of humidity season (aka summer) and the beginning of fall
  • My boyfriend getting a job he loves.
  • Trying to improve my career prospects by starting a blog
  • the end of this goddamn election
  • The dog, our bed, and love is at home.
  • Getting away by myself for a whole weekend
  • Dunkirk and Dunkirk promo
  • hiking in killarney
  • biking in fall
  • I’m going sailing tomorrow morning and the weather looks nice
  • Also adopting a dog, possibly early next year!
  • The discovery of a habitable planet outside our galaxy. And visiting it.
  • Spending more time with my significant other, less time worrying about health and finances.
  • I’m using this opportunity to send my goals out to the universe in hopes they happen: Exercising more, layers of clothing and crisp air, hot drinks, pregnancy, not freaking out about pregnancy or lack of, more positive vibes in general, saving money and buying a car
  • Sleeping with the windows open
  • Sailing
  • Leaving this job far behind.
  • Ski Season!
  • I’m looking forward to hearing from u. (Hope this one is no too trivial…)
  • The LeFrak Center having ice skating again.
  • People I’ve missed visiting
  • New plays by Annie Baker and Will Eno at the Signature Theatre
  • My next move, wherever it takes me.
  • Soup-cooking season
  • New artistic collaborations.
  • Going up the new observation tower at Brighton seafront
  • iPhone 8
  • Not being stuck in a perpetual state of A/C shivers or drenched in sweat
  • I’m going to Nashville this weekend for the sole purpose of eating a bunch of DONUTS. Hoo boy!
  • Becoming SCUBA certified.
  • Starting my blog
  • the new how to dress well record
  • Moving out of my parents house.
  • The dysfunction at my job to end
  • paying off my house, my new washer and dryer, getting married, traveling to zimbabwe
  • The end of this upcoming winter, when I’m yearning to feel the sun on my legs again.
  • That next cup of coffee.
  • My grandmother & great-aunt coming to visit next week
  • OCTOBER. THANKSGIVING. SEEING MY COLLEGE FRIENDS AT HOMECOMING
Yes, please. Photo: Liz
  • I’m looking forward to getting married in October, with crunchy leaves and bright sun and a cool breeze. (And I’m looking forward to quitting my wedding diet, ugh)
  • Florida beach, hugging, cool days, the child’s questions
  • YOUR BOOK, WHICH I PREORDERED! (Ed. note: ✨ )
  • starting a podcast with my sister
  • going to the beach in two weeks
  • Sipping whiskey by a roaring peat fire
  • Finally nailing the art of riding a (my) motorcycle. So freeing.
  • Moving to Santa Fe and getting away from the ocean.
  • turning 30!
  • being reunited with my roommate’s dog after 10 days apart
  • GETTING TO VOTE FOR HILLARY CLINTON
  • Visiting New York again soon from Manchester, UK! Suggestions most welcome. (Ed. note: The Met Breuer is great right now!)
  • Installing Fuchsia on Acer12, Raspberry Pi 3, and Intel NUC this weekend
  • The changing leaves of the fall!
  • fall movie season
  • Thanksgiving and quitting my job
  • Visiting my family in Chicago in two weeks 🙂
  • Travelling to Detroit for No Rest Fest
  • Lila Bowen’s A Conspiracy of Ravens
  • Spending time in Italy and France soon.
  • A second date tonight with a guy who apparently doesn’t think I’m crazy even though I drunkenly poured my soul out to him on our first date.
  • Living by the ocean
  • The swing back, eventually, to civility and higher expectations, from our current situation, in which overt hate is touted as free speech and an expression of freedom of religion.
  • if I ever get to escape from my current living hell
  • I have been working to adopt a child for years, taking classes and learning to see things from the children’s perspective. Something that comes up very frequently is the pain many children feel when people equate adopting pets to kids. Please try to put yourself in an adopted child’s place and use another word when rescuing a pet. Words hurt, intentional or not. Imagine a child seeing pets in cages, potential owners picking and choosing and eventually ‘adopting’ the cutest one. Now imagine that child thinking that was how her adoption happened. Pets are animals, children are human, they see and hear and read and hurt, please keep the terminology separate. (Ed. note: I had honestly never thought about this before — thank you for bringing it up.)
  • Harvesting one or two fat leeks out of the garden this winter, every week, even in the snow, and turning them into different kinds of soup.
  • Getting in shape!!!!!
  • Sweater weather
  • Recovering enough to hike again.
  • having one day where everything falls into place
  • Phones with longer battery lives
  • I’m looking forward to either securing full-time employment or becoming more comfortable with cobbling together a living from various part-time gigs. Either way, I think I’ll feel better in two months than I do now.
  • Getting better at my new job so it isn’t so bewildering.
  • Biting into an apple on the first cool day of fall, and getting that excited/anxious feeling like school is starting even though I’m way too old for school, but that feeling is one of endless possibilities. With a tart crunch.
  • I am lucky — I have more to look forward to right now than usual. I’m wrapping up my M.A. in December, moving in with my boyfriend next month (and eventually to Pittsburgh next year), and I’m going to Seattle next week for a long weekend. And it’ll be my birthday while I’m there! Plus it’s fall, which means there will hopefully be some autumnal treats/apple-picking to do soon. It’s the best time of year to be outdoors.
  • Seeing all my friends at Interbike in just over a week!
  • to finally being a doctor in 1 year!
  • eventual confirmation of my life choices
  • Having a schedule again after a summer of freedom
  • Seeing my friends in New York more often and more leisurely now that I live here. Going to New York’s museums. The cool weather in fall. The end of the American election.
  • The first time it snows
  • Fidget Cube
  • Taking a very belated honeymoon.
  • Finding the time to read through my Pocket library
  • Relaxing time to myself
  • Fall weather
  • Seeing the Alabama Shakes play in Portsmouth, VA
  • My wedding!
  • 5 o’clock
  • Fall
  • Visiting New Zealand’s South Island for the first time
  • a quiet mind without burden
  • Sitting in the quiet
  • APPLE PICKING. SUBSEQUENT APPLE PIE BAKING.
  • Looking forward to going back to London in October, because I feel happier and filled with curiosity when I travel. And, somehow the people I know in London are super kind and fond of me. Maybe that’s my city.
  • Camping in the Adirondacks and mac & cheese weather
  • Getting over with 2016. Academics. Doing something creative. Taking control of my life. Music? More books. Quality time with friends.
  • Taking a trip to Cameroon to see my friend who is in the Peace Corps there!
  • Crisp fall afternoons with beautiful October light
  • Completing the sale of my business.
  • Christmas decorating!
  • Having more time to spend with my kids.
  • Crawling out of my own asshole so I can write something again.
  • Finding a college for my daughter
  • Going to Austin for the first time for Austin City Limits!
  • Going to Seoul in 4 weeks — placenta face masks though!
  • The day I can afford to take my mom on vacation
  • Traveling this winter!
  • the weekend
  • Sweater weather
  • lunch
  • (consistent) turtleneck weather
  • My vacation in Monterey!
  • Getting my own place and a hedgehog or guinea pig
  • Fall, Gilmore Girls, and finally being done moving
  • Traveling to Marfa, TX, at the end of September to sleep in a teepee and look at giant sculptures.
  • the projected date by which I’ll pay off my student loans (Jan 2019)
  • I’m looking forward to the morning when I don’t get off the train and walk out of the station simultaneously hoping and dreading to see my ex-boyfriend after having traveled to that station with him for so many mornings. I’m looking forward to starting my day with clarity and an inward focus — not anxiety and unwarranted expectations.
  • The State fair
  • taco night
  • Looking forward to volunteering at a dog shelter starting next month and for fall breezes
  • Thai food in Thailand
  • weekend coffee on the patio with my dog
  • Seeing the face of the one I love
  • Crunchy fall leaves
  • Going on my yearly cheapie Costa Rican vacation with my bf
  • Cooking big western thanksgiving for ‘foreign’ students from my friend’s university where he teaches
  • Self Driving Cars
  • sweater weather
  • I am looking forward to wearing sweaters and tights again soon.
  • Time alone
  • When my heating oil gets delivered on Monday. I’m in Fairbanks, Alaska and it’s almost winter.
  • An exploratory weekend with an old, true friend
  • Fresh bread
  • Seeing the puppet show tonight.
  • Spending the winter huddled together with three of my best friends in a new (to us) house filled with art that we love.
  • Seeing James Bay live
  • Apple Picking!
  • feeling better
  • That time of the month when my period comes as expected and I know my body are balance and healthy.
  • My cool new job at an environmental nonprofit
  • My husband has spent two years taking care of me (and everything else) as I’ve been sick, so in two weeks I’m taking him to Wisconsin to see the Packers home opener against Detroit. It’s time to make one of his dreams come true.
  • Weekend away with my daughter at the end of September
  • I’m looking forward to the presidential election being over and done with
  • Autumn!!! It’s so pretty!!
  • making myself happier
  • The fall (the crisp fall, not the soggy fall)
  • Going to bed.
  • Peace in my life
  • I am looking forward to experiencing new things.
  • Things!
  • I am also looking forward to adopting a dog soon! But first, finding a pet-friendly place to live.
  • Kissing my boyfriend after coming back home in three months.
  • A new Connie Willis novel
  • Returning to Leo’s 1$ al pastor taco after half a decade in the greater midwest
  • Season 3 of Transparent
  • The game Hiveswap getting released.
  • Meeting Danny. We met online over 15 years ago and have loved each other over the miles since…. The stars are about to align.
  • Autumn in Chicago
  • oktoberfest
  • College (9/15/16)
  • fixing and decorating my new house
  • Space colonization
  • Working again. I’ve been unemployed for a little while now and isn’t that the great tragedy of job searching — while you’re working, all you want is some time off, and then when the days stretch endlessly before you, full of spin classes and netflix binges, all you want is to re-join the mass of commuters with their lattes and sensible shoes. I’ll be glad to be setting my alarm for 6am again once I find a job.
  • My wife’s arrival home after biz travel
  • Pickling, fermenting and canning, and then eating those pickles, ferments and preserves this winter. The tomato sandwich I am going to eat in 20 minutes.
  • The end
  • Moving apartments
  • Taking my kids camping for the first time
  • Seeing my sister in chicago tomorrow
  • Going freelance
  • Sleeping in tomorrow.
  • My wife giving birth, and then whenever that baby starts sleeping through the night consistently. Also, the Leon Bridges show tonight. And taking a nap this weekend.
  • Rooftop bar weather
  • Fall — also known as the Season When I’m Cute Again.
  • Seeing an old friend again. Tomorrow.
  • My parent’s retirement (so they can stop working so hard all the time and just relax and finally enjoy)
  • Seeing Kanye’s Saint Pablo tour
  • The time when people realise we don’t need to work more than a few days a week and we can give up bullshit jobs and all be happier
  • Lying down on the floor.
  • My next five-hour-long Krav Maga test.
  • Taking a trip with the band to Milwaukee on Saturday to play our first out of town show
  • Being able to pay my bills on time!
  • going home and taking a long, hot shower
  • Winter: When the weather is cold and the days are short and grey and nobody comes to visit. Then it’s time for a pile of books and a warm sofa…
  • My daughter’s winter wedding.
  • saying no and moving on
  • Reading my book in bed
  • Snow
  • Jacket weather.
  • the election ending.
  • I just started a PhD program and I cannot wait to have a routine again! I’m looking forward to all of the new exciting changes in my life at the moment but it will feel so nice to know where the grocery store is in my new town and how long it’ll take me to finish the mountain of readings I have already accumulated. Also looking forward to Gilmore Girls in November, of course.
  • Sundays with my husband that don’t end with either of us boarding an airplane, starting as soon as this election is over
  • Getting new clothes in the mail
  • Death
  • crisp fall days playing tennis 😀
  • Starting a degree at University, in a subject love
  • Seeing the glittery Palm Springs desert for the first time
  • Moving into my new house.
  • Fall
  • My mom overcoming cancer treatment and being able to visit me at my new house.
  • getting your book, coffee, opening the windows
  • Three days into the school year, I’m looking forward to being three days away from the end of the school year.
  • seeing my husband
  • Visiting friends at a wedding!
  • Radiohead live show
  • Going home every day after work.
  • Answers
  • A friend from home’s visit whom I haven’t seen in over a year
  • Gaslight Gathering, a steampunk convention!
  • For all of my online orders to arrive
  • my current work contract ending
  • Brisk autumn days
  • The first day of summer.
  • Seeing my friends
  • Winter and the down time that comes with it. I can watch more tv shows and read more books. Any suggestions???? (Ed. note: I’m so bad at TV *but* I am reading a novel right now called Pond by Claire Louise-Bennett that is really wonderful.)
  • The rest of my 20s.
  • Voting for the first female president
  • Stranger Things Season 2
  • Halloween
  • My birthday on Monday sept 12th ( 58th )!!
  • October trip to Atlanta to see the fabulous exhibit at the Botanical Gardens by Glass artist Dale Chihuly
  • A drive to see oldest friend living in KY in early Nov. sans husbands for almost a week ! And best of all my youngest son Ethan arrives from CA in late November to celebrate Thanksgiving and drop off his cat for us to care for until his move to Detroit is complete in early Jan. 2017
  • travel
  • Renewable energy becoming boring and mainstream
  • The end of this interminable U.S. election
  • A slow weekend with my wife
  • Zadie Smith writing a Sci-Fi script
  • Vacation
  • Getting into bed and reading with my cats
  • Getting off this phone call
  • my promotion
  • The next time I’ll see my mom
  • Going to Paris with my boyfriend and spend all the days together as he normally has a really packed schedule.
  • Asking my partner to marry me
  • Hanging out with my friends this weekend.
  • change
  • A new job. Going back to work
  • The weekend
  • Moving closer to work, so I don’t have to drive 3 hours each day.
  • The end of this election! The goal of owning a dog someday.
  • Not giving a shit about what Donald Trump says or thinks
  • My dog’s welcome when I get home
  • Looking at my girlfriend in the eyes right before turning off the lights.
  • Learning more.
  • Moving across the globe and taking on new challenges!
  • the eradication of guinea worm
  • i’m looking forward to finding my purpose. I have been trying to find the answer to the question “what does my soul want?”. I am open to life and where it might take me. I am ready to enter my heroine journey. I am eager to be more true to myself and others. And to share light, love and meaning with friends and anyone who is is the same vibration. I want to have a more collective, connected and collaborative life. I hope this comes by the end of the month. :]
  • Launching my company’s new website and traveling home to meet my new nephew soon.
  • Finishing my BA by next spring
  • Cozy sweaters and fires
  • The season change
  • seeing my boyfriend at the end of every day. i’m sorry (Ed. note: Yo don’t be!)
  • Seeing Jen
  • cuddles
  • Being surprised again.
  • Coming up for air. Someday.
  • My cats not having fleas anymore.
  • Rebekah
  • Seeing my friends from overseas gathered in Singapore
  • meeting my Swiss goddaughter for the first time
  • a trip to the US next year!! All the way from Asia
  • The Singularity (i.e. “The Rapture Of The Nerds”)
  • Laying my head on my love’s chest, and falling asleep to the rhythm of his heartbeat
  • Worshipping at the altar of Beyonce, in Atlanta on September 26th
  • Traveling to Nashville for Story — a storytelling conference.
  • Becoming a psychologist
  • Going down a waterslide with my son next summer.
  • time for myself
  • Moving to the Bay Area.
  • Apple’s new MacBook Pro this fall.
  • The BFG with my daughter
  • Seeing my lover.
  • Getting old, sitting on the porch, and laughing about the good ol’ days
  • traveling with friends
  • Another holiday like this one.
  • The holidays and being able to settle down with a good book, uninterrupted for a whole day
  • My nephew learning how to talk
  • The new Gilmore Girls
  • finishing school
  • Building our own tiny house!
  • Scoring some nice pot
  • I’m looking forward to receiving the books I’ve ordered online. ❤
  • Saying my wedding vows with the guy I really love and all our friends and family watching
  • Bridget Jones’s Baby movie! I’m hoping and looking forward to the scene where Bridget realises that Mark Darcy has and will always be hers. And if it doesn’t happen, I’ll look forward to the day when it does.
  • Going back to Belgium in the fall. I tear up just thinking about it. I can’t wait to see my family and friends and be in this place I love so very much.
  • My mom is coming to visit for two weeks!
  • a new life in LA
  • Going home for winter holiday
  • Thanksgiving with my siblings and probably not a parent in sight.
  • quitting my awful dayjob, moving out of my mouldy apartment
  • Summer.
  • A beautiful new tattoo I can see all the time, because it will be on my arm
  • The total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017
  • Feeling years of hustle to increase my salary start to pay off when, for the first time this month, I didn’t have to spend every dime of my paycheck. I am looking forward to shrugging off years of money anxiety and paying off those student loans.
  • having children whose faces I can see my partner’s features in, who slowly grow into their own human selves
  • LeakyCon! (A Harry Potter conference in LA in October 2016)
  • Election Day itself. The run up to elections can be super stressful. But on the actual day, when I’m actually voting, I always rush of pride and joy to be part of the American experiment.
  • Dinner, a recipe humbly named ‘Brown Chicken’. It is a family recipe of my boyfriend’s and I am (probably unreasonably) proud to be one of the few people outside of his genepool to enjoy it. Three hours and counting!
  • No more children and everything for free.
  • Diving on a coral reef
  • travelling with a dear friend
  • The sweet release of death.
  • My first vacation with all my hard-earned money to Vietnam.
  • The first crisp winter morning
  • death
  • I’m looking forward to the Gilmore Girls reunion shows, getting baptized, my first paycheck from my new job and hopefully, meeting someone wonderful soon!
  • Fall 🙂
  • I’m in a wedding in October. After that wedding there are no more weddings on my calendar. After that wedding I am going out of town for a weekend and shutting off my phone.
  • I’m looking forward to seeing my latest campaign for work come into fruition. Also, my parents getting a US tourist VISA, so that we can all go visit my aunt who lives there for 15 years now for Christmas — they have never visited her home in the US.
  • Waffles on Saturday mornings, maybe Tuesdays too
  • Going back to University
  • School year anticipation being converted into school year hustle
  • stable and content lifestyle
  • MORE ICE CREAM
  • Seeing Hamilton on Broadway in January.
  • cheese.
  • Food form my mind and more motivations
  • Tomorrow. And Yesterday. Definitely not today.
  • I am looking forward to a bright future. Every day. Also brain-uploading, space-travel and personal-universe creation.
  • cheesecake!
  • Fresh fruit and acarajé
  • peace of mind
  • Getting a t-Rex costume
  • Autumn weather — hiking among changing leaves, golden light, and chilly breezes.
  • Trip to Croatia
  • Creating a healthier me through exercise and nutrition
  • Asking my girlfriend to marry me
  • Upcoming travel to Belgium and Japan in 2016 and to 3 of the Hawaiian Islands in 2017.
  • A three week trip throughout Europe (cliche; still exciting)
  • fall 🙂
  • Twin Peaks is coming back!
  • The election to be over. ughhhhh
  • A long and slow road trip to the beach.
  • 37
  • November 8th.
  • Seeing friends I have not seen in a while this weekend at a college football game.
  • dancing 4 days straight at my cousin’s (Indian) wedding
  • feeling strong, assured and buoyant within my relationship once more
  • Running a marathon later this fall . . . and becoming an auntie for the first time!
  • Next season of Game of Thrones
  • Managing my fear of flying enough to get on an airplane and fly to one of my favorite places, New York City this November. I will hug my beautiful cousin who is getting married, and trade secrets with family members I haven’t seen in years, and ride in crowded subway cars trying to hide my fascination at the impersonal intimacy of it, and soak in art from the streets and galleries and museums, and see a play that moves me to tears, and basically feel like I can do anything (NYC is my favorite because it makes me believe I can be fearless).
  • Every morning’s first coffee.
  • Getting married in Las Vegas in October, and touring the surrounding national parks as part of our improvised honey-week (then it’s back to Spain)
  • Graduating from post grad next summer. Feeling excited for the future.
  • Friday night football (soccer)!
  • After the election, when we can get to the business of how to improve rather than who’s going to be leading us.
  • Hawaii! My first “real” vacation in too many years, and my first big trip with the man I love. I’m nervous, but excited, and looking forward to enjoying a new adventure together.
  • This fall I am going back to a country where I used to live for a friend’s wedding, and I can’t wait to see this particular group of people in the place where we all fell in love with each other.
  • Growing up
  • Getting my 10Q back from last year and filling out the questions again for next year
  • Moving into our new house! Getting a dog!
  • My daughters giving themselves the gift of forgiving me for leaving their mother.
  • going on vacation by myself: driving to the Blue Ridge Mountains, drinking coffee at the dining room table in a house that belonged to my grandparents, going for a morning hike and spending the rest of my day with a book.
  • the moment my best friend and I finally admit we’re crazy about each other and start dating
  • New Years — not because I want 2016 to end but because it was so good to me, it’ll be nice to look back
  • meeting someone
  • Telling my boyfriend I love him for the first time — when I get the balls to do it.
  • a good coffee every morning
  • The first Hillary / Trump debate
  • not feeling like this (sorry — not quite in the spirit) (Ed. note: I disagree 🙂 and I hope you feel better.)
  • growing old and retiring and having all the time in the world to read the books i haven’t had time to read, watch the shows i haven’t had time to watch, see the movies i haven’t had time to see, find new hobbies, travel, call family and friends (or whatever the future analog to “calling” will be when i’m old)… there’s so much!
  • hiking with my dog this weekend (and how tired and well behaved she is when we get home)
  • I stared at this page for a long time. Thinking it was pretty sad that I couldn’t come up with anything to look forward to, I realized that this life that I’m living, what I’m doing now and who I’m doing it with, has been what I’ve been looking forward to for such a long time. It feels weird to be “in” what I’m supposed to be looking forward to, since mostly we’re trained to think that Our Best, Happiest Selves are in the future. I guess now I feel freaked out and anxious about how I might look back on my life now, at these moments, as the happiest of my life.
  • Moving out of my parent’s house to a place with people my age
  • Getting to know a new city that I never thought I’d end up in
  • Princess nokia
  • Becoming human
  • Being free.
  • When I don’t have to deal with my dead mother’s estate anymore. (No offense, mom)
  • Having enough money to buy an MBA and my podcast editing becoming simplified so much.
  • One of my nephew’s hugs.
  • a quiet day at home during a rainstorm
  • Settling Catan
  • Returning to Work, Moving, Love.
  • Sitting down with my new husband and writing personalised thank you cards to everyone who was so lovely at our wedding! It’s a sweetly domestic, administrative thing and is giving me serious back-to-school vibes for September.
  • Thanksgiving
  • Finishing my grad school application!
  • Finishing my book someday.
  • The election being over
  • My girlfriend visiting for a week
  • autumn
  • The day when my rabbits are fully bonded so they can have a companion that makes them both happy, someone to snuggle with and groom and love in all their rabbity ways, and so they’ll stop fighting every damn time they get close enough to touch noses
  • A PhD admit.
  • 6 pm
  • moving abroad one day.
  • a good, home-cooked meal
  • To be able to do the work I love full time, and to not constantly feel daunted by the fear of failing in that work

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