ANNIE & ASHLEY
This is a story about a great adventure—and the two sisters that make the journey. They started out discouraged and directionless, not unlike most 20-somethings today. They wrestled with anxiety about the future, finding purpose in life and grasping for what’s real in an affected world.
It all began with a conversation while driving southbound on the seven-mile bridge:
Ashley: “What am I doing with my life?”
Annie: “I don’t know—what am I doing with mine, I’m older.”
Ashley: “All I do is work.”
Annie: “That must be nice—I really wouldn’t know, because I don’t have a job.”
Ashley: “I’m depressed.”
Annie: “Me too—and bored.”
Ashley: “Let’s do something cool.”
Driving along the sun-drenched highway, they daydreamed about the cool and unusual things they, unfortunately, were not doing. In danger of slipping back into despondency, an idea dawned on Ashley just in time. A plan was born and with it their old feelings of frustration and restive discontent were shed and jettisoned out the window into the ocean below. It seemed the proverbial sun shone brighter and the aimless road they used to travel on converged with one leading straight towards optimism and rejuvenation.
This is a Story About a Great Adventure...
2010
Last Updated: 1.14.10
The plan: Explore, experience and enjoy life now. Even if that means being in our 20’s (when did that happen?), back living where we grew up (kind of over it), devoid of steady income (seriously?)
So, Mile Marker 20 was formed, an accountability project for two sisters at a transition in our lives. I recently moved back to South Florida after teaching in Africa and Ashley just graduated from college. On that trip to Key West we decided that we’re ready to do the things we’ve always said we’re going to do—no matter how small, large, eccentric or idealistic.
There is so much to learn, so much to discover—people to meet, places to go, skills to acquire and foods to eat! Lately, we just exist—settling for mere simulations of what’s real. We’re tired of making plans and saving them for another day.
Lao-tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Well, ok then.
Step 1: We’ve compiled a list of things we’ve always wanted to do— from the big: starting a non-profit and backpacking Europe (slated for summer 2010) to the seemingly small: flying a kite (Ashley’s most anticipated moment). Some items on our list reflect our location—we’re in South Florida, so let’s take advantage of what’s happening in our community.
Step 2: We’ve made a tentative calendar, committing to one activity per week and posting every Wednesday. Some goals will be ongoing, such as learning a language, while others will be one-time deals.
Step 3: Follow through with the plan.
It’s pretty funny—and when I say funny, I mean weird—that we’re doing a blog. I’m a private person and a perfectionist (killer blog combo) and Ashley’s anti-blog sentiments stem from the Live Journal days of emo rants and TMI laments. So, major memo: we don’t want to write a diary. We want to experience life, despite relative unemployment, unfavorable location and lack of direction. In doing so, we’ll share our experiences—irresistible recipes, travel tips, interesting social observations. This blog will work as a built-in motivator and will hopefully lead to much joy, many laughs, new friends, surprising discoveries and who knows, maybe we’ll pick up a few life lessons along the way.
Serendipity: good fortune—an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.
It so happened that after a beautiful fall afternoon walk through Central Park and a quiet moment in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, we walked over to lunch at Dean and Deluca before heading back to our hotel. Upon reaching the eatery, our attention was drawn to the flapping flags and glittering gold statue of Rockefeller Center.
“Let’s just take a look,” we said—and soon our next...
NY: ROCKEFELLER
So this week’s jaunt to the Hillsboro Lighthouse is a great example of something we’ve always been meaning to do, but without some added motivation, would never actually get around to. Those weekends where we could go tour the lighthouse, instead you may find us laying out by the pool in our backyard or sitting on the couch watching Project Runway marathons (seriously, over and over—spoiler alert: no matter how many times you watch the same episode, the ending never changes).
Here’s the thing—I pass the Hillsboro Inlet...
LIGHTHOUSE
So, first we must start by saying thank you to all of our readers! We are pretty excited to hear from you, learn your stories and share in some of your experiences. Thanks for the words of encouragement and your participation in our project! Please continue to interact with us on our website and Facebook page by sharing your stories. It’s so fun! These journeys are all about the people you meet, the friendships you make and the experiences we can share along the way!
FLORIDA HOPPING
12.3.09
11.02.09
11.21.09
So, basically I’ve had this life-long dream of being a travel photographer or videographer. I think capturing life’s moments is absolutely amazing. How powerful is it to stop time and capture a memory that you can look back on for years?
Up until this point, I’ve been the typical avid picture-taker, evidenced by my 11,000 photo library. I recently started a project to scan every old family photo that we own—preserving forgotten times...
PHOTO SHOOT
12.10.09
So MM 20 is back after the Christmas and New Year’s break. Yay! We hope you all had a great holiday! And to kick off this fresh and beautiful 2010, we here at MM 20 set out to do a local service project. Missions and humanitarian projects have played a huge part in our upbringing—and both of us desire to pursue careers consistent with this. Most of our experiences have been international, so we hope to become more involved in opportunities to help those in need here at home...
AGM
1.14.10