What are you doing with your life? Part 2

I'm thankful for so many inspiring people in my life who remind me to not fall into a rut and to dream big:

Lorraine Johnson, my mother in law, who climbed Mt. Kilimajaro for her 60th birthday.




She's the tiny woman in the pink hat. And a few days before she was dancing up a storm at her birthday party. See that post here:

http://sybilbaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-are-you-doing-with-your-life-part.html
Here's a photo of me and Row out with friends when we lived in Korea--probably Fall 2006. Then:


Now: Ryan is living in Thailand, with no desire to return to the States. Silvia (the gal at the end) was the inspiration for Lucy in my first novel THE LIFE PLAN. She unfortunately is no longer with us, having died in 2009--but she was a close friend who lived life to the fullest and had no regrets. Liz (the gal with the glasses) moved to Kabul and has been a free lance journalist for years, focusing on women's issues. She's living in the country side in Afghanistan now. You can see her discussing Afghanistan in 2010 here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd_IC8OhW6c
She has an essay on Afghan women in prison in a book available (paper or ebook): Land Unconquerable Lives Contemporary Afghan Women. Heres the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Land-Unconquerable-Lives-Contemporary-Afghan/dp/0520261860/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325436195&sr=8-1
I've known Beth and Todd since the late 1980s when I was living in Boulder--they met through me and my then boyfriend. I was a bridesmaid in their fabulous wedding in 2002. Last summer they gave up their jobs, sold their house, and downsized dramatically so that they could embark on a 12 cities in 1 year tour. They planned to live in a different city for one month and report on it.
Here's their website:
http://12cities1year.com/
Unfortunately in November Beth was diagnosed with breast cancer and they had to return to Denver for her to begin treatment. They plan to resume their travels when they can. She and Todd also have personal blogs (he made my book trailer for THE LIFE PLAN and films a lot of roller derby) that they often update
http://bethpartin.com/ http://toddbradley.com/
booktrailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RVu8VbHEbY&fmt=18
I'm thankful to these people (as well as many other friends and family) as 2012 starts. They remind me to dream big and enjoy life to the fullest.