Manifest Your Jellyfish Sting!

I should start this blog off by describing my mindset and recent book selection so the rest of the post makes some sort of sense. 

I picked up the book"Get Rich, Lucky B--" (I personally have the vocabulary of a sailor, but know when to refrain... such as a blog post. And occasionally church.) by Denise Duffield-Thomas. It talks about money specifically, but the general idea is to find and release the subconscious blocks that prevent you from getting the life you want. I had heard of the idea behind positive attraction several times before, but just kind of washed it off as a good idea, however not terribly realistic.
When I read the section that talks about how people who view themselves as unlucky are constantly saying things like, "Typical, another bill" or "This always happens to me", I had a light bulb moment. My life motto was, "It always seems to be something". Seriously, I said that at least once a day. The smallest things would set me into a terrible mood. And then I started thinking about how I end up spending my time with my friends by complaining about all the little things that made my day terrible. This certainly can't be the way to enjoy life...much less attract good things into it!

So I did some work in my mindset and actions. I blocked and deleted a few things that were eating my time up in unproductive ways, and set out to make the statement that I am indeed ready to move forward and manifest a positive and successful life. I looked back at friendships that I had held grudges against and forgave them. I forgave myself. I tried to imagine my life and exactly what it would look like if I could dream up anything I wanted, and wrote those things down.

So let's look at a few of those things that I manifested over the last week and a half, shall we?

*A month of free swim classes for Little Man. It was pretty adorable watching him take his first swim assessment so they knew what class to put him in. He seemed to be far more interested in pointing out passing airplanes to the swim instructor than blowing bubbles in the water, but he has already done a great job at getting more comfortable with floating on his back, and as least semi- listening to the teacher while she talks. I have also pushed my introverted self a little more than usual and struck up conversation with a few of the other moms while we wait. Maybe I will finally make some friends at the gym and not be by myself in the corner in the different studio classes :P

Before his first lesson

His certificate after 3 lessons showing he has passed a few new skill tests

*I manifested a sun tan as well. I wanted to visit one of my besties in Alabama when she graduated from the Air Force Officer Training School last week, and had actually planned on just driving up there quickly by myself and then leaving immediately afterwards, but GIJoe happened to be able to take some time off work, and the grandparents happened to be able to watch Matthew, and we happened to get a reimbursement in the mail that covered a nice hotel in Gulf Shores and 4 new tires on the car, so off to the coast we went! We stayed a night in a hotel directly on the beach, and managed to get our hotel rooms on the rest of the trip virtually half price. It never hurts to save a little moolah!

Headed out of town, and getting ready to drop LM off with grandparents

Our view from the hotel room

I ditched my recent (and fairly successful!) vow to eat very healthy and splurged a little. (Hence the sugar coffee) Now that we are home, I need to get back into the swing of things. I packed only my hot pink bikini so that even if I was slightly insecure, I wouldn't chicken out and cover up too much. I was pushing myself to not worry about the perfect beach bod, and just enjoy my time on the sand. (That, and I really didn't want an uneven tan that comes with a one piece. Not like it really matters, but hey- I had some time to practice loving my body even though it isn't perfect.) I probably also manifested myself a jellyfish sting, because I was terrified that it would happen and was quietly freaking out every time someone started yelling about a jellyfish next to them. I never saw one, but it became apparent that I was stung on my toe after a while, but fortunately it didn't actually hurt too much. So there you have it- if you concentrate on getting a jellyfish sting, it will probably happen.

Resting in the shade after a few hours of the hot sun, getting ready to hit the road again

We spent about 24 hours in Gulf Shores and enjoying the beach, before heading up to Montgomery for the graduation. It was some pretty needed alone time with GIJoe that we haven't had a quite a while. We drove overnight to get to the beach, so we had the whole time to just converse and be relaxed. I think it was the first trip in at least a long time that we didn't bicker back and forth about things. ('Cause I know no one else ever does that, right!?) He likes to joke that we spent some time away together, and who knew that we actually kind of like each other.

Made it to Montgomery, AL and ate dinner downtown at Dreamland BBQ

Congrats Bri!!

What's funny is that the whole trip I was trying to get my hands on the other recommended books that talk about positive attraction, and every book store from here to there were sold out or no longer carried them. The irony. It was almost comical how I was searching for books about luck and the people would go right down the list and say they weren't available. GIJoe even was trying to manifest a book for me by giving me high fives before I walked into the bookstore. LOL! Maybe I will take this as a sign that I just need a little more practice. We did enjoy the parking spot downtown that didn't require the usual toll because it was open at just the right time. Maybe that's all I can positively attract for the time being... good parking spots.

When we got back (and much to our shock), had no food left in the fridge, I was groaning about having to go into the store with a fussy toddler. It's not exactly my favorite time, even if I'm trying to look at things positively. (I'm positive we would have a meltdown!) But I happened to scroll through my Facebook feed and see that someone else was trying a new curbside pickup from our local grocery store, and so I figured why not try it out as well? I put everything I needed into my online shopping cart, and also made a "shopping list" for next week of things that I am running low on but didn't need immediately. What was even easier is that I have been using the website www.thefresh20.com to do all my weekly meal plans and grocery list, so all I had to do was just copy from their list and place the items into my shopping cart (and add a couple things that we get for Matthew). I elected a time later that day to pick up my bags and just by calling I got a promo code that gave me the service for free. (Normally there is a $5 fee, but any mom knows it's totally worth it!!) They handed me a bag of cookies to share with Little Man while they loaded my trunk up with all my items. The employees even bagged the items with frozen, and fresh produce, and canned n the same bags. It was wonderful for my OCD heart. And what's funny is that Matthew refused his nap so going in would have been particularly painful, and here he is- smiling because he got a cookie! 

Now we are home again and recovered from the trip, I need to get back into the daily habit of eating healthy (no Starbucks) and going to the gym again. I had a personal training appointment on Monday, (and Matthew's swim class) so I went, but here it is Wednesday and I took so long in getting ready (because who really wants to go anyway) that I missed my window of opportunity. I would have been too late for my Yoga class, and we would have eaten into the sacred nap time. I suppose there is always tomorrow. I should probably do some mental work in trying to figure out why I have mental blocks to going to the gym, other than the simple fact that it's the gym. So I took my Snapchat selfie with an explanation that made it sound like I was going to the gym anyway, and then promptly decided that was enough of a workout and sat in my bed. And wrote this instead. So would that count as manifesting another day of rest?? I think so. 

Highlights of this last week...er, year

Yeah, yeah, it's been a while. I know. I'm guilting myself enough already, so no need to think these thoughts in your head.

Since this last week has been pretty dull and uneventful, I figured I would take a huge leap back in time and cover the few major things that have happened in the last, oh, 6 months or so. Don't worry, you can read quickly so it doesn't take you too long.

I believe this picture has been approved by all parties to post...

I turned the ripe old age of 30!! To be honest, I was kind of dreading the whole thing. But I do have to say that it's an easy number to remember when people ask now. I wish that I had been good about doing these blogs at that time, but we were in the process of making some big changes, and so it was kind of put on the side burner. I did plan out a fun Jeep trip in the Texas hill country and lunch at a little chic place in Fredericksburg, TX. It was really nice to feel the wind in your hair, and see the bluebonnets. Not much talking could be done over the music, and I chose to ignore one particular person (*cough, Carol Ann) who sat on her phone the whole ride...but I digress. Lunch was fabulous, and when we got back I went out with the fam bam to the Cheesecake Factory, and had a wonderful dinner as well. Angie came into town for the weekend to celebrate, so we had some great time to catch up and ride some horses too.

Little man and I waiting on dessert

family photo in the bluebonnets on Easter Sunday 2016

Easter happened too. We went to church early and let Matthew be a part of his very first official egg hunt. He seemed to enjoy himself with it. After church service, we drove out onto a part of the ranch that is covered in Bluebonnets. What the family picture doesn't show, is us shooing the children behind us out of our shot, the grandmother who has no idea how to take photos on an iPhone, the harsh and awful angle of the sun (which I feel had I been the one taking the photos, I would have caught) and the fact that Matthew was impossibly tired and hungry and was DONE with this nonsense. Fortunately the phone takes about a million and one photos when people who don't know what they are doing hold the button down a little too long, so I had plenty to choose from.  We then had Easter lunch at my parent's house, where Matthew decided to pout about all the food in front of him.

One of my bucket list items in a previous blog post was to run a tough mudder. I decided to quit putting off the "one day when I'm in excellent health"...and just DO IT. I wasn't as fit as I would have liked, I didn't run the whole thing, and it was "only" the half (5 miles instead of 10) But by golly I did it and that's what counts. Plus, I made some super cute shirts for our team "The Plastics". This obstacle was pretty close to the end where GIJoe met us, and was able to get some pics.

Just finished running the tough mudder and about to get our beer

David Cowan made a great realtor, look him up!

My "old" house looking very warm and inviting for the next family to move in

We SOLD. OUR. HOUSE! It sold within 24 hours of posting it on the market. And it sold for a bit more than our asking price. But when I say that, it sounds like a freakin' easy process. It was anything but. We loved that house and I have so many wonderful childhood memories there (we bought my childhood home from my parents in 2014.) But we made the decision in January to take the huge and scary step towards eliminating all debt from our lives, and selling the house was one way to take care of that. It had turned into something that needed constant care and attention, (and money) to maintain, so it was time. We worked on it from January through mid-April when it was posted. Along with the decision to sell the house, came the decision to quit my job teaching piano. It was very frightening to hand out those final letters and helping each of my students find a new teacher, but looking back on it now, it was exactly what I needed. As one of my piano students put in her goodbye letter, "I wish you could stay, but I know your heart wants to go..." Yes. My heart needs a break from this job. So there you have it...no job and no house. Is the next picture going to be a cardboard box on the side of the road? Quite possibly...

Meet our "new" and temporary house. Look at all those leaves that were there to welcome us home! We wrestled with the idea of living in an apartment, or rental house, or buying something smaller and more manageable for quite a while. So we ended up here, in a rental that belongs to family. It has been needing some TLC, and we needed a place to stay for a while that allowed us to maximize our savings account, and eliminate those pesky monthly payments. It has a very large backyard that would be great for a garden if I had any energy, (but is wonderful for Matthew and Maverick) and is less maintenance than where we came from. I felt like over the last few years, I've been craving less work time and more time with family. So this living arrangement brings that. We will see where we are in a year!

Immediately after signing the papers to become house free, we headed up to Dallas to visit some fellow mommy friends of mine, and spent the weekend there relaxing and...drinking. obvs.
It was a wonderful time getting some real, honest conversation with some girl friends. Seriously, go out and make some friends by being your own goofy self and see what happens. Or maybe we are all goofy because we have kids and limited sleep now....never really thought of that.
GIJoe and I also celebrated our 9 year anniversary by going to a float tank (thing sensory deprivation tank) where you float around in warm salt water for a while with no sound or lights. Overall, it was ok. I spent most of my time floating back and forth between sides of the tub and counting how long it would take me to touch the other side. Not sure that is quite the experience everyone has, but I will say it was extremely stressful getting there through Dallas traffic, and we were 30 minutes late, so I was stressed going in. I left a little less stressed, so I guess it did what it was supposed to.

Matthew sliding down a slide in Dallas during a calm afternoon out

Our good friends (really like family) the Wellmans came down to visit at the end of May and we got to spend some fun time acting the tourists downtown. Fortunately they used to live here and didn't want to remember the Alamo. But we got our picture in front of it just 'cause. Guys, if you've not been San Antonio, I know that you feel the Alamo is something you HAVE to see, but I will tell you it is a building. Apparently they are now charging $30 to get your picture taken in front of it now. Ludicrous. It has deep history around it yes, but besides lots of reading plaques and hot, sticky weather, there isn't much to experience. Anyway...that was a rabbit trail and I apologize. Back on topic...I promised a short read.

We went to the wax museum and Ripley's museum downtown and learned a few new things. I was able to take some selfies with famous...wax people. We saw some shrunken heads, people with three legs, and possibly the most entertaining moment was when Gary lost the screw in his glasses and had to walk around downtown holding the glass in the frame so he could still see. 

yes, I realize the wording is backwards. I fixed it for Facebook because I care more about them than you.

Most importantly, (ok, probably least) I discovered Snapchat. The photo filters make take selfies almost a normal thing. It's embarrassing how much space now is taken up on both my phone and computer with pictures of myself now. It used to just be Matthew. It's kind of fun to follow actresses and just see how goofy everyone really is in life. I put off joining Snapchat for so long because like Facebook, I just didn't understand how on earth it could be cooler than MySpace. I'm showing my age now....I'm still holding strong to avoiding Twitter though, so go me.

We discovered a drive in movie theater, thanks to a church family night located in New Braunfels, TX. Bonus points that you get to pass Bucee's on the way out there and grab some beef jerky and candy. We watched Xmen with Matthew in our car and it didn't matter if he moved around or made noise. Plus we could turn on the ac and be comfortable. It's the way to do movies with toddlers. Plus, they were doing a double feature...but we were tired and went home after one.

Ahhhh, I still remember the cool breeze and sound of water at the glass bottomed boats in San Marcos, TX. We spent the day looking at the aquarium and learning about the natural springs. They used to have a park there that I went to as a child, to watch the swimming pig and mermaids swim through the crystal clear water. Then when I got my scuba certification, we were able to actually swim through the river and sit on the old, seaweed covered shells they used to sit on. It was closed up because someone found an endangered salamander, so the only thing they have now are the boats and an occasional scuba scientist.
Matthew enjoyed the "big boat" for about a grand total of 5 minutes. Everyone thought he was cute when he went on the boat wearing his pirate hat and talking about the fish. That quickly faded when he was restless and then wanting to throw said hat over the side into the water. We survived the 30 minute ride however, and quickly drove home for nap time.

Matthew has apparently learned this goofy smile and refuses to make a normal smile now.

So there you go. My busy, crazy life for the last few months. Selling the house has allowed us to plan some fun things in the future, and so I definitely plan on keeping the blogs going (hopefully a little more frequently) and share all those things in less amount of virtual space!

The Silver Lining

I feel like "The Silver Lining" should be the name to my blog instead of just this one post. Too often I have slumped into the state of being grumpy, ungrateful and just. plain. tired. Everyday there is a fight of some kind with Matthew. Get a pull up on. Take a pull up off. Get out the front door and in the car. Get out of the car and leave your toy because we will lose it. Get in the shopping cart. Put on your shirt. Eat your food. Whatever it is, by the end of the day I'm so physically and mentally exhausted, I'm ready to punch something or someone. Unfortunately, that's about the time GIJoe comes home from work....poor guy.
So this week, I'm going to look back through my pictures and try to remember what happened and see how many things I can spin into a happy memory...

We met Angie at the Library last Thursday and did the little toddler activity that they do for the public. A lady from the library did an excellent job of reading some book about a pig trying to get an apple off a branch, which Matthew (and most of the other kids) really didn't appreciate her effort. The fish tank was more exciting. Then they glued apple jacks on the letter A...or in Matthew's case, ate them. This picture is is what survived the activity and the walk out to the car. What this picture doesn't show are all the sweet little girls who were at the activity tables quietly coloring, painting, and gluing while the moms chatted and enjoyed a nice time talking about how precious their children were, while Matthew pulled book after book off the shelf, ran around in circles around the reading bench, and shoved his fingers up his nose and snorted to show off his talents. There were only a couple other boys there Matthew's age, and now- I understand why. 

 We had huge fight we had to get him dressed and in the carseat to get to the library, another fight to get him out of the carseat (because he had to leave his car behind) and then a screaming/crying fest we had through the long parking lot to go back to the car after the activity. I got him back into the car with a couple techniques like the well known elbow pull, and the new "bribery with elmers glued apple jacks" to take a couple more steps. One of the mothers of 3 precious little girls who were all strapping themselves into their carseats and asking politely for a book to entertain themselves glared at me as we went screaming, dragging past her car as if to say "contain your child". I gave her a look that said "eat it". It's amazing the amount of language that can be communicated with others without saying a word... I will pretend that she was one of those women that write blogs with sympathy for mothers like me who are just trying to survive day by day. I think the biggest plus from this experience is that we have an empty A to hang up on the fridge, and that I actually went to an event so I can feel better about the effort I put into educating Matthew. That's about it. I survived...check!

After the library, we ate at Chickfila...They had a really neat little play area for kids his age and he did a great job playing on his own and being nice to the other kids around him. It wasn't until I decided it was nap time and snatched him up did he become grumpy....but once he did, let me tell you...Everyone in the resturaunt looked up with the noise he was making. He kept pointing to the play area saying "slide!" He then managed to knock the bag of food out of my hands as we were leaving and then promptly sat his butt down right in the middle of the door way as I was trying to gather up the dropped bag and pull him out of the way. He kicked, screamed, became limp and pulled out all the stops. I think I mumbled "it's nap time" to a few people who were trying to get through the door and stepping over him to get to their food. But the plus side, he ate! I'm not letting my child starve....check!

Most of the time when we are faced with the huge need to get out of the house (because I have a boy that needs to move and not be cooped up inside for too long or else all hell breaks loose) we go to the church. They have a dog, a little trough with frogs, a couple horses looking for carrots, a slide and a plenty of trees for me to sit under. This particular time Matthew insisted that I follow him around for all of the 2 hours we were out there. I was ready to collapse inside the church and lock the door and have him fend for himself....but then again, there is barbed wire, and a pool and several other things that little boys can get into, that require a responsible person to be paying attention. I guess since I was there, that would have to be me. So, silver lining....he's alive and sufficiently worn out for the day. Nap time went well.

Keeping up with the "I'm a creative mom" idea, I allowed matthew to do some finger painting. He pretty much pulled the paints out and sat himself down while saying "please" so, I was politely wrangled into it. I drew a tree, put some paint out and let him dab his colored fingers on the paper while I did a little baking. Remember that post a long time ago that talks about me eating nothing but healthy food? Forget that...these are Teas sheet cake cookies and the best cookies I have ever eaten. Be jealous....that's why I posted a pic. I ate my frustration about having to clean up paint spots off everything away with these suckers. 

GIJoe had to work all week (even over Labor day) and when I say work, I mean WORK. He was home around 1:30 in the mornings and then would get up to go back around 5:30 am. He was gone a lot. It left me in charge of keeping the ever grumpy toddler semi-happy, the house clean and whatever else falls onto my plate when there is no help around. So I snatched said toddler up and brought him to my parents house for an afternoon and let him run around with my dad. Here they are looking in a hole in the backyard for bugs. They later announced that there were no bugs and marched off somewhere else. It was a nice break for me. So silver lining here is that Matthew spent time with grandparents and I got a few minutes where I could just. sit. check!

That was our week in a nutshell. It's been physically challenging, and mentally exhausting, but there are a few things here that I will look back on and smile. And the moral of this post is that if you have a little girl, please, please don't judge the moms of boys who just can't be perfect little angels like your children are. We're trying the best we can to survive the little tornado that runs our lives.

Geronimo!!!

I was staying with my grandparents in Kentucky one summer and I was probably around 16, and deep in my teenage years of looking through magazines and wishing I was like every single model on the page in front of me. I remember coming across an article that had several different famous people who were about to celebrate their birthdays plastered all over the place and a list of 30 things they wanted to do before they turned 30.

"What a great way to make myself feel even more inefficient!" I thought. I quickly pulled out a spiral notebook and started writing 20 things to do before I turned 20. (Because who wants to turn the ripe old age of 30?!) I'm not really even sure what I wrote down on my list. Probably teenagery things that equated to "Learn to drive!" or "Get a boy to like me!"

The idea of writing things down that I want to do though has stuck with me through the last few years, and once I got an iPhone, I kept a little note page with a list of stuff to try or learn before....well, before I die. Because that's a long time from now. I hope.

I will share said list with you.

MY BUCKET LIST:

• See a foal be born: this one is left over from that list that I wrote out when I was younger. I used to work at a place called Triple H Equitherapy, which provided riding lessons for the physically and mentally disabled. I spent two nights out sleeping on the hay bales and checking on the very pregnant mare every hour to see if she was in labor. I never got to see it. But it's still on my list. I ended up getting pretty crazy sick after sleeping in hay too...
• Go hang gliding: this one is pretty self explanatory. I think it would be fun to feel like you can fly. Even more fun to feel like you can safely land too. 
• Sky Diving!: I put this on my list (complete with the explanation point) because I knew I would probably never do it. But it's the thing that everyone just HAS to have on their list, right? I joked that I wouldn't actually be able to do the initial jump. Just way too scary for me, thank you. But, it's funny how things work out sometimes.

Yup, that's me. Free falling at about 120 mph, and actually smiling. I came across a coupon that allowed me grab a friend and "just do it". It was surprising to me how calm I actually was through the whole ordeal. The hardest part was signing the line on the paper underneath the print that said, "There is no such thing as a perfect parachute packer" meaning, oops. Mistakes happen. Hopefully not with your parachute or anything, but we are pressed for time and everyone walking around has a red bull in their hands (because it gives you wings!) and who knows if they were too jittery to actually get in in there correctly." But I digress. 

We flew up in a small fixed wing airplane and had pleasant conversation with our assigned tandem jumpers. Mine was a wild girl with dreadlocks and a loud and boisterous attitude. Carol Ann, my deaf friend got the hot guy with an Australian accent. (I grumbled that she couldn't even hear him so that wasn't fair)

I was the first one out of the plane. They have you put your feet on a little tiny bar outside of the plane and curl up. Your tandem person does the hard part of jumping for you. I don't remember what I was thinking, but it wasn't anything like the overwhelming fear that I thought I would have. She rocked a couple times and then out we went. 

It feels a bit like you are being tossed around in very strong ocean current, and that you are drowning. The wind is cold and fast and overwhelming at times. If you remind yourself that you can breathe, it helps. They told me that people actually start trying to swim when they are falling, because it feels that much like you're underwater. Anyway, about 15 seconds into the minute free fall, I got used to it. I got to wear some pretty goofy looking glasses too, so that's always a plus in my book. 

It was fun. I am kind of proud of myself for actually doing the one thing on my list that I didn't have intention of actually following through with. Go me!

• Run 10 miles: I think I added this one on my list after I actually finished running 10 miles, but it felt really good to write it and then scratch it off. Angie, my crazy running friend had the terrible idea to run 30 miles for her 30th birthday, and I had the terrible idea to support her and run part of it. It actually was pretty dang difficult for me. Especially since I have the pace of a granny on a walker when it comes to running. People were far, far ahead of me. It was a little disheartening the whole time. But, I did it. (November 2010)

This wasn't our 10 mile run, but a great pic with my crazy running buddies

• Run a Half Marathon: Because I hated running 10 miles, lets do it again and do it a little longer!!! whoo-hoo!
• Be a Bridesmaid: This is one of those things that I can't really do on my own. I was delighted when this year one of my former piano students sent me a scarf in the mail asking me to be a bridesmaid at her wedding. The dress was beautiful, and as a bonus, my son was the ring bearer. It was a beautiful wedding and I was so excited to be a part of it...not just because I had it on my bucket list of course.

• Learn to ride a motorcycle: The motorcycle safety course was a pretty fun little class to take. It was a few hours in the classroom, a written exam, and then a few hours out on the bikes; finished with a driving test. It really didn't take too long to get used to it, but again, we were in a parking lot and on puny little dirt bikes. My friend Mari and I took the class together and later went out for several country drives with bigger and better bikes. I would like to own my own motorcycle one day, and have a pink jacket and helmet. Because it's all about the fashion, of course. 

• Milk a dairy cow: Why would I have this on my list? Not entirely sure, but I did go and find someone who had cows and would allow me to fondle them. I actually still go there and purchase fresh raw milk from the farm, 5 years later. Anyway, we also got to feed some of the baby cows from bottles, and that was pretty fun too. They were really cute. 

• Ride in a hot air balloon: too dang bad that it costs like $350 per person...still waiting on that one. 
• Learn to lasso: Check. I get a few lessons from an old friend who just happened to be on a team roping team back in the day. I really showed that plastic cow head who's boss. 

• Fly an airplane: Still waiting on this one too. Not sure how to go about this one when I'm a poor person. 
• Ride a mechanical bull: I have always wanted to this, but still haven't mustered up the courage to act like a fool in front of a crowd. Cue alcohol. And maybe a trash can afterwards.
• Get a tattoo: Since my mom will be reading this, I'll let you wonder if I've actually checked this one off my list or not. It's anyone's guess really. Yes, I'm almost 30 and am afraid she will scrub it off with steel wool. 
• Swim with sharks: Thanks to working at Sea World, I've gotten to swim with sharks, sting rays, penguins, dolphins, and beluga whales. Not sure why I have sharks down specifically, and I'm even more not sure why the hell I don't have a picture of my swimming with sharks.

Getting a kiss from Luna the Beluga whale

• Become scuba certified: I don't think I have a picture of this either, but I went through the weekend course. It was surreal swimming under the water with the fish, and not having to worry about surfacing to breathe. We took our water test in the old spring at Aquarina Springs park, where the mermaids used to sit on sea shells and perform underwater. It was pretty neat to swim past the sea shell seats and remember my childhood spent watching them. You also get a nifty little license with your name and picture on it proving that you are certified...but don't try to get into a bar with one. It won't work. Been there, done that. 
• Go deep sea fishing: I haven't done it yet....one day I too can be hanging over the side of a boat and vomiting. I can't wait.
• Camp out on the beach: Super romantic, right? The waves can lull you to sleep, a nice breeze keeping your tent cool throughout the night. Maybe even a bonfire on the beach? GIJoe and I packed up the truck, threw the dogs in and went to do just that....until we got there and realized the tent hadn't been packed, the humidity was god awful with not even a hint of a breeze, and so we slept in the truck. All four of us...and I couldn't sleep because I kept imagining the sand sinking under the tires and we would be stuck...forever.
• Go to Ireland: The closest I've come to this has been pinning pictures and trip plans on Pinterest. huh.
• See the Aurora Lights: This really should be number one, but goes hand in hand with my desire to go to Alaska, which is next. 
• Go on a cruise: To Alaska, duh. 
• Go to Yellowstone National Park: I got the opportunity to go this year as a matter of fact. It was beautiful. I got to ride around in a Jeep with the windows down, music up, my absolute best friend at the wheel, and plenty of beautiful scenery to look at. It was heaven on Earth. We saw grizzlies, moose, bison, elk and a mountain range that would take your breath away. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to go. We even managed to grab a cabin by the lake for a night. 

• Jump on a horse: Maybe I should have said make a horse jump while I'm riding it...but that would make more sense. I took jumping lessons for a while and jumped over a bar...that was laying on the ground. So, I have to wonder if that actually counts. 
• Be Spontaneous: You know when you're driving home and daydream about taking a road to anywhere? Please tell me other people do that! Someday when I have time and money, I plan on waltzing into the airport and buying a ticket for the next available flight. Doesn't matter where. Doesn't that sound like a crazy adventure? I might have to wait a while for that one though. Or maybe I'll compromise and go on a drive and flip a coin at every crossroads I come to and see where I end up.
• Go to a movie by myself: You wouldn't think this would be so hard, but for me? Yeah...I just imagine everyone staring at me and just feeling sorry for the poor person sitting all on their own. The funny thing is, I make it a point to look around when I'm finding a seat in the theater and inevitably I see someone on their own and all I think is, "That's cool" or, "I wish I could sit by myself like that". I just need to suck it up and go do it. 
• Inspire Someone: I feel like my job as a piano teacher would put me in the position to inspire some of my students. Even if it is just to practice a little more to avoid my wrath, but I am not sure if I have or not. I guess I want to inspire someone in a profound way. I know for sure one of my students started teaching after she took lessons from me for several years, so I suppose that I have inspired her a little bit. She will at least have a job that she can fall back on or make it her life journey because she learned the skills she needs to teach from me. I'm still considering this as not complete yet. Maybe this one will never fully be checked off...
• Brand a cow: yeah. I think I added this one after my actual cowboy adventure of helping round up and vaccinate the cattle at the church ranch. My friend castrated one, and I thought about adding that on my list, but it just seems a little too grotesque for me to have written down somewhere as something I really want to do one day. So for now, branding a cow seems to fit. I live in Texas, it's not that hard to find a place to do this. Funny thing? It smelled like steak....

• Shoot a deer/pig: I'm married to someone who really enjoys hunting...so needless to say, in my attempts at bonding with said man, I have found myself in countless hunting blinds over the last few years. Mostly I just wish I could pee and eat out of a crinkly bag without fear that every deer within 10 miles of me won't freak out. I enjoyed the time spent walking around actively looking for animals a little more than being quiet in a blind. I did get a pig, although not a deer yet. I was invited by a friend of GiJoe's to hunt on their property a few years ago. They have a black pig that they keep as a pet named Wilbur. So, after being told "don't shoot Wilbur, and have fun!" I aimed at the only one that was obviously not Wilbur...and when we pulled up, she cried that I had shot the "black and white" one. Sometimes you can't win.

Sorry, a little gory for some of you faint of heart

• Go fly fishing: This one is significantly harder when you live no where near water. For some reason though, I think I would find it really relaxing. I have found coupons for learning how to do it, but just haven't been in a situation (or place) yet to learn and relax.
• Go on an overnight trail ride: I think I will have to pay one of the local dude ranches for a nighttime ride in order to check this one off. I could probably ride at the church, but I happen to know that there are lots of coyotes and pigs out there, and I also happen to know that my horse wouldn't even know how to handle that. He can't even, so for the time being, I can't even either. 
• Go ice fishing: hahahaha. Not here in Texas. Unless I throw a few ice cubes in a lake while I fish...would that count? I guess I need to make some more friends up north to go bug in the winter. Preferably friends who know how to ice fish and own a small heater. 
• Kayak in Alaska: I saw a show of survivor where he lived for a week on the shores of Alaska. Not sure I want to live there for so many days roughing it, but boy would I like to kayak around in the ocean. Maybe even get close to some whales. It's like a lifelong dream of mine to see that and be so close to such powerful animals. 
• Go whale watching: see above.
• Save an animal: I have done some work with our local dog shelter as a foster. You see, San Antonio is a kill city...meaning when they get too crowded, the dogs (and cats) are euthanized. There is a company called Pets Alive that takes the animals right before euthanasia and tried to find a last minute person willing to take them into their homes and help find a family to adopt them. It's been pretty rewarding, but it's also a lot of work depending on the age of the dog (and how many) you take in. We've had a two puppies from our first round of fostering, and I still to this day (4 years later) get pictures of them from their families. Then we did an adult boxer mix who I was glad to see go after digging in our trash can for the upteenth time. I currently have 3, 4 week old puppies who have been with me for the last 3 weeks. I've fed them from a bottle around the clock. It's been fun to watch them grow, but I think they will be the hardest to see leave since I've poured so much time into them. 

Our first puppies that were both adopted and found forever homes

The three puppies we have right now

• Leaving this one blank for now....because I know that I will eventually come on here and add more.

Anyway, I feel like most of these things are really meaningful to me, as small as they may be. I want to be able to look back and say I've lived my life fully without any regrets of not doing something when the opportunity came up. I will continue to refine my own list, but if you don't have one already started, make one! And make it intentional to complete it!