Sunday, August 23, 2009

100th post

Yes, this is my 100th post and I know that is kind of sad given I have had this blog for nearly 2 years. But in honor of this momentous albeit long-time coming post I have written a "life list" with 100 things I want to do before I die. I started this list a few months ago when I saw I was getting close to the 100 milestone and have realized it is harder than I thought to come up with 100 things, therefore some of them I have already done. So if you want to know what I want to accomplish with my life- read on. But please be kind with your comments. Some of these are very personal. But I figure the universe will help them happen if I release them to the world.

1. Visit every state in the United States. (Already been to- Georgia, Florida, North & South Carolina, Montana, Utah, California, Neveda, Arizona, Illinois, Idaho, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Washington D.C., New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Virginia, Tennesee)
2. Go on a cruise.
3. Watch my children get married.
4. Watch my grandchildren get married.
5. Learn to snowboard.
6. Learn to slalom in water-skiing.
7. Become fluent in another language.
8. Visit Italy.
9. Experience natural childbirth- Done June 2001
10. Hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
11. Do a triathlon.
12. Watch a sunrise from a mountain top.
13. Go snorkeling- Done May 2008.
14. Go parasailing- Done May 2008.
15. Learn to scuba-dive.
16. Pick my son up from his mission.
17. Travel by train.
18. Watch a Broadway play in New York.
19. Watch a Broadway play in New York with my daughters.
20. Have a couples' massage with my husband.
21. Donate my hair to "Locks of Love." Done July 2012
22. Learn the names of constellations and be able to pick them out.
23. Publish a book.
24. Hike Mt. Timpanogos.
25. Hike to the "Y". I, unfortunately, never did this as a student at BYU, but still think I need to.
26. Learn to make a pie crust. Done
27. Attend a "Messiah" sing-a-long.
28. Make my Wii fit age younger than my real age.
29. Visit Norway- one of the lands of my ancestors.
30. See a Cirque-du-Soilel performance.
31. Be in a soccer league- Done summers of 2007, 2008, 2009.
32. Be on TV.
33. Read Charles Dickens.
34. Read Jane Austen.
35. Read all the Newbery Award books.
36. Sleep in a yurt. Done August 2009.
37. Change a tire.
38. Ride in a gondola.
39. Learn to knit.
40. Knit something recognizable.
41. Read C.S. Lewis.
42. Waterski at Lake Powell.
43. See edelweiss in person.
44. Attend a session in every temple in Utah.
45. Be an answer to someone's prayer.
46. Visit all the National Parks in Utah.
47. Run a 1/2 marathon in under 2 hours.
48. Have a caricature drawn of me.
49. Have my friend, Lara, do a "soul" painting of me.
50. Scrapbook my whole life.
51. Scrapbook my kids' lives.
52. Learn how to use a compass.
53. Go geocaching.
54. Go without candy for a year- Done August 2010
55. Yell, scream and go crazy at a sporting event or concert. I always want to but feel self-conscious, but I want to get over that.
56. Try a pilates class.
57. Try a yoga class. Done March 2009. And I love it so much that I have some new goals that relate to yoga.
58. Do and hold a headstand in yoga.
59. Do and hold the "crow" position in yoga without falling over.
60. Manage to not kill houseplants and actually have some real plants in my house.
61. Teach my daughters homemaking skills like cooking, sewing, cleaning, etc.
62. Have a fun sock collection.
63. Go ice-fishing. (IF my husband ever reads this-this one will shock him.)
64. See a Sundance film festival film in Park City during the festival.
65. Go on a mission with my husband.
66. Take my kids to Washington D.C.
67. Break 100 in bowling.- I really stink in bowling. Done July 23, 2012
68. Do the Wasatch Back. Done June 2011
69. Beat Julie in some sort of athletic event. Done August 2010- I can beat her at the Butterfly stroke.  We figured this out during our cooking club girls' retreat to St George
70. See the Northern Lights.
71. Visit Yellowstone in the winter.
72. Learn the names of and recognize wildflowers in Utah.
73. Try oysters.
74. Try Rocky Mountain oysters.
75. Buy real art and hang it in my house.
76. Learn to shoot a gun.
77. Learn to drive Eula May.
78. Swim with dolphins.
79. Be the kind of mom who will stop what she is doing to have fun with her kids- like make a snowman when it is snowing or fly a kite when it is windy.
80. Get a good quality camera and take a photography class to learn how to use it properly.
81. Take a cake decorating class.
82. Do a pull-up and not the wimpy kind.
83. Own a convertible.
84. Sleep on the beach overnight.
85. Sleep in a hammock overnight.
86. Buy a Jon Schmidt piano book and learn to play his pieces.
87. Go to an airshow.
88. See 4th of July fireworks at a really cool place like Washington D.C. or Boston.
89. Learn to play chess.
90. Learn to cook ribs.
91. Do more country dancing.
92. Attend the Shakespearan Festival in Utah.Done Summer 2010 & 2011
93. Learn to garden during the off-season or extended season- like knowing what vegetables I can plant in cool weather.
94. Learn to compost.
95. Be the first to say hello, give a hug, express gratitude, give a compliment, etc.
96. Help my kids discover who they were meant to be.
97. Let my kids know they are enough already.
98. Learn how to do family history.
99. Know that I am enough.
100. Turn this blog into a book one day that my family can read and know a bit more about their mother.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

The ingenuity of Summer

I just love the ingenuity of summer. It almost makes me sad that it is just about over. Almost.