Thursday, August 26, 2010

L is for Life Lists

A little while ago I posted about Bucket Lists, and here now for your inspiration (or entertainment), and for my motivation (since it's now public), is the official "Life List."

One Hundred Things To Do Before I'm One Hundred

Sports / Fitness
Run in a 5k race.
Do a Triathlon.
Go snowshoeing.
Go cross country skiing again.
Take M kayaking.

Travel
Go on a cruise.
Go to Europe with Sean.
Go to the Maritimes - east coast.
Go to Vancouver Island - west coast.
Take Madeline to Ghana to meet Salomey.
Take a photo of 'the tree' in all four seasons. 

Accomplishments
Have at least ONE year where I send everybody cards for their birthdays and anniversaries.
Make bagels.
Write a book.
Landscape my yard so I love it.
Write a letter a week for a year.
  
Adventure
Go see U2 in concert again. (Preferably somewhere cool.)
Attend a World Cup soccer game.
Ride an elephant.
Ride a camel.
Hike behind a waterfall.
Find 100 Geocaches.
Ride in a helicopter.
Ride in a hot air balloon.

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Ok, so that's not 100... that wasn't literal.
Have you ever added to a list something you've accomplished just so you could check it off?
Here's that half of the list:

Cool Stuff I've Already Done
(these may or may not have been my ideas to start with...)

Sports / Fitness
Windsurfed across the lake without falling.
Snowboarded in 5 provinces.
At one point was a certified snowboard instructor.
Rock climbed in the mountains.
Ice climbed a frozen waterfall.
Played rugby & won provincials.
Set a provincial record for the 800 m in grade 8.
Played & coached soccer.
Played & coached basketball.

Travel
In Canada:  BC - Vancouver;  AB - Calgary, Edmonton, Banff, Jasper, Kananaskis;  SK & MB - these are home, so I've been to lots of cool places... Churchill MB is worth mentioning, though;  ON - Toronto, Niagra Falls;  PQ - Montreal, Quebec City

Mexico, Italy, Austria, Germany, Holland, Venezuela, England, Portugal, Barbados, Switzerland, Kenya, USA (North & South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Florida)

Accomplishments
Have been published in a scrapbooking magazine.
Have some handmade goods for sale in retail shops.
Done weddings.
Done baptisms.
Played with the Winnipeg Pops Orchestra.
Played in a jazz trio.  (Like I said, some of these were NOT my ideas...)

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Your Turn!  Leave me a comment with the top 3 things on your list.

 

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

K is for Kadence and the Trip to 'China'

M spent the last week and a bit in Winnipeg with family; when Mom called to make plans to bring her back, she asked if she could bring Levi and Kadence along.  This is Levi's third trip here without his brothers -  he and M are the same age, so he gets the perks, but Kadence, at 3 1/2, hasn't done much without her parents, so this was a pretty big deal.  Of course Mom ran it by Jen first, and Jen checked it out with Kadence, then K went to tell Granny that yes, she would like to go with her to China.  China, Regina.  Same difference.

The travellers with poor Adventure Barbie...


We took in the Royal Red Horse Show.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

J is for Just Curious...


What I'm curious about is who YOU are!  To help me celebrate this 300th post, please please please leave a comment and tell me where you're visiting from.  A very simple "Hi from Susie in Timbuktu!" works. 

I'll love you forever.  I promise.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

I is for Investing in People

If I cocoon myself - enjoy life from the comfort of my 4 walls, doing things that I enjoy or that entertain me - and neglect making time for going out with friends, I will become less.

The interaction with others helps define who I am.

If I look at only people's faults and reason's why they are different than me and reasons why we wouldn't be the best of friends, I will miss out.

Loving people in spite of their challenges, issues or quirks makes me a deeper person.

If I tell myself that I don't need friends, I am lying to myself.

Friends are worth the effort. 

If I never help in spite of it being an inconvenience, never grieve over someone else's sorrows, never offer myself as a possible solution, I am living only a fraction of the life I was given.

Helping makes my life fuller.

If I fail to see people as valuable, made lovingly by God and in his image, then I am disrespecting him.

I love God best by loving people.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

H is for Heat...

Perfect Heat, that is.  Perfect Heat is the name I gave to the 'magic' bags I make when I decided to take them to retailers this spring.  I have them for sale now in 4 gift shops and the bookstore in a local massage school.

Tuesday this week we were sitting around the living room at my Mom & Dad's, and somehow ended up googling ourselves to see what images were online, and for my name, this is what came up:


When you follow the link, it takes you to the 'Featured Artists' page of the Government House Historical Society.  Ha!  That was an ego boost, finding out I was a featured artist!  I was pretty happy this spring when those places said yes, they'd be interested in selling them.  Besides Government House, you can find them at the gift shops at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, the Legislative Buildings, and Pasqua Hospital.

Then on Thursday, I got home from work to find a message on my phone - the Pasqua Hospital Gift Shop was calling to say they only had one left, and could I bring by 5 more!!  Yay for repeat customers!  Yay for making money!

**********

H is also for a Handheld GPS unit.  If you read my last post, you'll know about our my latest obsession with Geocaching.  I've been looking and pricing and wondering how I could get this expensive toy for nothing and trusting God for it.  Today, I ordered one - made specially for Geocaching and more expensive than any I had been looking for - for FREE from Air Miles.  Thank you, Father, for caring about little things and giving good gifts to your children.
**********

What made YOU say Yay! this week?

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

G is for Geocaching!

I had heard about geocaching a few times before I got around to looking it up...  watch this:



I saw this Friday night while M was at camp and couldn`t wait to tell her about it.  We had a full weekend, but first thing Monday morning, we were armed with printouts leading us to two caches in our neighborhood, a camera, a pen and pencil for signing the logs, and a handful of our handmade flower petal fairys to trade.  We went to the first one, hunted around and ended up finding it - a great first cache and very exciting way to start.  The second cache eluded us - probably with a GPS unit we might have had a better idea of which part of the park to look in.

Then yesterday, M and I drove to Winnipeg, and our friend Catherine hitched a ride with us - she had done a bit of geocaching with another friend, and I had printed out some possibilities along the #1 highway, so between the rains we made two stops.  The first one was a disappointment, because even with the hint, the area was too big.  Again, a GPS would have helped.  I've priced some out, but wanted to find some caches and be sure we were in this for the long haul before we made that purchase.  The second cache was much easier and a great place to stop, so our disappointment did not last long.

Madeline found this one!
And then again after supper we went out to hunt for two by mom & dad's place.  Mom came, and Jess and the 3 boys, and we found them both!  They had all heard of it, but never done any actual hunting.  I don't know if they're hooked yet, but we are!


So TeamLinz (CaroLYN and MadeLINE) is at 4 caches found - in two days! I've told her that when we get to 10, we'll make and hide our own.

Monday, August 09, 2010

F is for Friends Who Blog

 Here today, for your reading enjoyment, are links to the blogs of people I actually know.

Aaron and Erica Kenny - The Kenny's hosted us for a lot of our time in Kenya, and this blog follows their family, and the work they do there.

Alexis Arbuthnott - A friend from Regina who has moved to Guelph.  She and Shane are expecting their first baby in a few weeks, and it's great to be able to follow along this journey even though she's moved away. 

Erin Graas - A friend from way back - KBK first, I think.  She's just moved to Costa Rica to take a teaching position, and I have to fight twinges of jealousy over her adventure. 

Heather Vanderstelt - Heather and I went to Kenya together and because we keep up with each other's blogs, we keep up the friendship we started - wow - two years ago. 

Holly Johnson - A great friend who flew the coop all the way down under and has been there for two years!  

Jackie Ludke - We played basketball together at Briercrest, and love the visits we get every couple of years.

Jamie Bertram - Another friend from Briercrest days.  Her blog is from her daughter's point of view, and is always entertaining. 

Tera Howitt - Tera goes to my church and just started a blog.  She's only got two posts, but she's a friend who blogs, so here she is! 

Tyson Lyske - Tyson works at another church in the city, and always has something thought provoking on his blog.

Did I miss anyone?  If you have a blog (whether you know me or not!) leave a comment and I'll come and visit yours!

Sunday, August 08, 2010

E is for Experimenting with Supper

I had no supper plans on Friday, I was working late, and it was a hot day, so I didn't want anything that would heat up the house.  When someone at work mentioned subs, I thought that was great, but wanted to make it more substantial than a normal sandwich.  (My normal sandwiches are really good, but not supper-quantity for my hard working man, you know?)  So I looked on line and found some ideas, and this is what I came up with:

A little TOO substantial. Sean only needed half of what I made him. I guess two thirds of a loaf of french bread was an overestimation.

But it did taste good!

Saturday, August 07, 2010

D is for Date Week

Date week is an annual event that *surprise surprise* coincides with M's week at camp.  We got a head start by making a short list of movies we'd like to see on our TV, and watched Couples Retreat on Saturday and Clash of the Titans on Sunday.  Monday was the day we took the girls to camp, and Tuesday I had something on in the evening already (Craft Social!), so we picked back up on Wednesday with a trip to the driving range and then Chapters / Starbucks.  Thursday we went to the Ex and took in the Collective Soul concert, and last night we went to Wascana Lake down by the Legislative Buildings and rented kayaks.  Sean had never done that before, but we will most definitely do it again.

Since the kid is gone again soon for a week in Winnipeg, there will be more dates to come!  Hmm - maybe it could be Double Date Week?!

Photo: www.brickset.com

Friday, August 06, 2010

C is for Camp

...and that's where M is this week.  For your viewing entertainment, here are some photos of M at KBK (Katepwa Baptist Kamp) from 2004 to the present.  


2004 - Just out for a visit.  Cute hair - it's just growing out from when she cut it all off.


2005 - This was at family camp.  Still not old enough to be a camper on her own.


2006 - There is more to camp than the lake!  Judging from the time of day, though, we were just visiting again.  And when you're visiting, you hang out on the beach.


2007 -  This is what camp is all about!


2008 - Ok, it is lots about the water, too.


2009 - It's not usually about horses...  We love horses, but KBK doesn't have them.  This is from family camp at Valley View in Manitoba; we lost our pictures from most of this year, including the KBK ones, but the fam sent me their copies since they were all there, too.


2010 - This was taken Monday when we dropped them off.  They will look much more bedraggled (and dirty) tomorrow when we pick them up.

What are your best camp memories?
Do you have a camp that you call 'yours'?

B is for Birthday Party


M turned 11 two weeks ago, and I haven`t taken photos off the camera until now...  We had a party for her on the actual birthday (handy when it falls on a Saturday!) and had 5 girls come over for pizza and a movie.  They played for an hour in the back yard - M had bubbles and quizzes and fun glasses for them.  Pizza and ice cream cake (Winnie the Pooh was the requested theme) filled their bellies, and then they watched The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, which was a birthday present to her from us.  Note for next time - M and one other girl watched the movie - the others had no interest in it and goofed around the whole time instead.  Oh, well.  It was a party, and next year we`ll do something different.

A is for Alphabet August!

I had a fun idea for a series of posts!  This and the next 25 posts are going to follow the ABC`s... There might be a few tough posts to find ideas for, but thankfully the tricky letters won`t come up for a few weeks!

So this is today - your introduction to Alphabet August!

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Do you have a Bucket List?

Years ago, Neil and I had lists - "100 things I want to do during my life" or something like that.  I don't think we actually had a title for them; I wonder if they are still around somewhere.  If I ever come across one, I'll post it for you.  I wonder how many of his he got to in his 30 years. 

Have you seen the Bucket List movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson?  I'd recommend it if you haven't. It's about two guys who take off from the hospital to do all sorts of crazy adventures - one of them has a list of things he wants to do before he kicks the bucket.

Sean and I started new ones (since I have no idea where my old one ended up...) on the drive home from the races the other weekend.  Well, I started a new one for me, and started one for Sean with things he was talking about.

And today I was browsing blogs and found one called My Bucket List Journey - it's fabulous!  She's got a list and is actively working through it, spending her life doing the things she wants to do most in life and writing about it.  Here is her post on how to create your own bucket list.  It's got a lot of great ideas, too, and my list may just get a lot longer!  When I get it filled out a little more, I will add it here for your amusement and inspiration.

Do you have a list?  If you do and have it online somewhere, send the link!  I'd love to read some other ones.