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The Year of Adventure--what are your adventures???
message 151:
by
Holli
(new)
Jul 18, 2008 05:54AM
All right.....I haven't finished the blog yet......Tera you have every right to beat me with a wet noodle now!! LOL I'm going to wait until I get back from Florida next Friday so I can have something exciting to start it off right with. Can't wait!!
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message 152:
by
Bloomin’Chick (Jo) aka The Eclectic Spoonie
(last edited Jul 18, 2008 06:40AM)
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Holli, I wasn't so sure about the whole blog thing back in 2005 when my dear best friend Gill told me about it, but I can tell you that it becomes fun and addicting! You'll never have it just exactly the way you want it! There's always things to move around, add and delete, backgrounds to change! Unless you're an HTML wiz, don't get too stressed about having it perfect and just have fun with it!!!Your vacation will be a good place to start with on the blog!!!
hey leslie!that is so cool your are learning portuguese! i am impressed at your language skills! make sure you get a portuguese brazilian dialect because the accent is so different from a portugal portuguese! i am trying to learn spanish. it is really hard to convert and change the accents. i really want to learn italian and french also. they are next on my list. i am so jealous you are going to brazil!!!! not in a bad way! just in a, i wish i was going with you!i am so excited for you, you will have so much fun! which state are you going to visit?
como vai? is how they say hello! pronto? is how they answer the phone. tchau! is how they say good bye. and sim. is how they say yes which is pronounced more like sing. and when they ask you what time is it. que hora sau? you will never understand what they are saying! after 18 months in the country i still could not hear it. i would always guess by the looks on their faces and the tone of their voice. also! they always say gente when they are refering to the people around them. instead of saying those people or us brazilians or all people they say gente. they kiss on the cheek twice unless you are unmarried then three for good luck! MAN I MISS BRAZIL!
oh, wow!!! I totally want to move to Brazil now. hahahah!Quick update on my year of adventure:
~Visited St. Louis for the first time ever. While I was there I:
went to a major league baseball game even though I don't like sports;
I saw lots of animals I've never seen before (at the zoo);
and I worked on figuring out how to use my digital camera and how to be a little artsy fartsy with my pictures.
~I got my nose pierced
~I negotiated a salary increase and was successful! (and this was from a job I just quit a few weeks ago--they asked me to come back for special projects only)
I think that's it for now.
Keep up the posts, gals! I love reading them even if I don't comment every time!!!!!!!!!!
I know 2008 is the year of adventure but I just have to post that in march of 2009 I am going to Las vegas and get married and then we are going to South America for six weeks to travel around...I am trying to learn more spanish so I don't sound like a complete idiot. This will be my first time in a plane and my first time leaving the country. what can I say I have lived a sheltered life...
Oooooh, your adventures are so varied and interesting. I am from rural Idaho where adventure only means 'danger', 'edgewaking' or 'sassing' your husband. I've hang glided, white water rafted, been an Emergency Medical Technician at the Nez Perce Tribe reservation; I have back packed in the Selway/Bitterroot Mountains and come face to rear with a cougar (my face, his rear, thank God), kayaked on the 'River of No Return' (the great Snake River), oh so many things. But the two things I really want to do... One I am scared to death of...finishing college (I'm 56 and have 20+ credits left). The other, I just need the opportunity (base jumping into Lake Mead).Wish me luck, physical health and God's blessing?
I wish these things for you!
Kathryne
RE: AMANDA'S BLIND DATEOh, Amanda, you are sooooooooo brave!!! And using your wise-type neurons, it seems. Good going!
Mod
I got married in Vegas....what are your plans for that? We got married at Mandalay Bay which was gorgeous and had a great wedding package!! Sounds fun and what an awesome honeymoon too!
I am in AWE of you all and your adventures!
I am not that adventourous! My two adventures this year are to go back to work after 6 years as a SAHM.. that was pretty scary! But I have mastered it! Allowing my baby to start kindergarten was quite an adventure for both of us!
I am learning to scuba dive that is a HUGE Scary but very exciting to me! I did my first dive in Feburary and now am going to schedule the rest of my lessons and get certified. IT is sad it has taken me so long.. I live in one of the most amazing places in the world for scuba diving and I am just starting as we are thinking of leaving!!
I am not that adventourous! My two adventures this year are to go back to work after 6 years as a SAHM.. that was pretty scary! But I have mastered it! Allowing my baby to start kindergarten was quite an adventure for both of us!
I am learning to scuba dive that is a HUGE Scary but very exciting to me! I did my first dive in Feburary and now am going to schedule the rest of my lessons and get certified. IT is sad it has taken me so long.. I live in one of the most amazing places in the world for scuba diving and I am just starting as we are thinking of leaving!!
I am in awe Katie that you live in the Cayman Islands and are thinking of leaving!!! i would never go.....ever!!! ;)
The idea of scuba diving is sooooo scarie to me! I think I would do it, but..... Tera, I'm trying to finish up my Communications degree. I have an Assoc. of Behavioral Sc.
My son, Nate, and I used to plan on doing the base jumping thing but now he has a girlfriend and they have all these plans and it's just so hard to get any time with him. You know, the normal stuff... She's a great girl, perfect for him. I would love to have company when the time comes that I can do this!
What part of Idaho did you grow up in? I'm 1 1/2 hours south of Couer d'lene. I used to live in Boise. I loved it there!
Mod
St. Anthony? Did you work at the center? Five young men burned my house down in 1984 on Christmas day. Only one got prosecuted and he was sent there. Such a tragic story. He used to hang out around the house, after the fire and the house was rebuilt. One night, around 10pm policeman brought him to the door by his collar and asked my what I would like to see happen. I said I'd like it if this boy would ring the door bell and ask to visit instead of lurking around (he was 13, my daughter's age) outside. The boy's chin started to shake, his eyes watered and he sort of darted over to me and gave me a hug and them quickly walked out the door. That was the last I ever saw of him. Soon after he was sent to St. Anthony's Home for the "Wicked". He did write my daughter and me and we wrote back, but eventually we lost touch. I've alway wondered how his life turned out. Well, that came out of the blue didn't it?
I live in Lewiston now. It is very pretty here, it just smells like pooh from the mill. We get used to it. The rivers are gorgeous and the hills. We are so close to wilderness and so far from good shopping. But that's ok. I visit my daughter in Seattle a lot.
She is married to a wonderfull man who just retired from the Seahawks after 15 years as their fullback. She's pretty great too! I have two beautiful grandsons!
Well, I've gone on, haven't I?
Kathryne
Mod
After I left ID I moved to Seattle (where I am on vacation now for about a month.)
I ADORE the NW. I never would have left if not for my daughters education. I lived in the Seattle area for about 14 years before just moving to Texas this last fall.
Now you have me wondering about that boy. How tragic that one moment of making a stupid choice can change your life forever. How horrible for you to lose your house to a fire any day but especially at Christmas! If you know his first and last name and aprox dob I have friends that can give me a background check on him to see if he had subsiquent arrests or charges while in ID.
I would love to give those to you in private. I know his approximate year of birth would be 1969-70. The name, even though it would be so odd for someone here to know him, I just hate to take the chance. My email is kathrynemae@gmail.com. You are welcome to contact me there and I will tell you what I know.I forgot how many people referred to it as St. Agony. That horrible place is still being used. Many many runaways go there. I worked at the pregnancy center here for quite awhile and we worked with the older girls at the children's home, getting them to volunteer with us. Many of them came straight from 'Agony'. Heartbreaking. I loved working with them.
By the way, my last name is Ankney, so guess what my nickname was growing up???? Agony or acne. Fortunately, I didn't have pimples, but I was a pain in the butt.
Kathryne
Wrong years of birth, more like 1971-1972. Sorry.Kathryne
Wow. This was really neat to read Kathryne and tera.Thanks, women.
We haven't picked a chapel yet, but I am researching
if you need any help let me know.....I researched the crap out of Vegas Wedding chapels before we went there!!! Course this was back in 2001 but I can't imagine much has changed LOL
I love reading all of these advenutres...and I feel so boring and unadventurous...I do have my oldest going off to college in a few weeks, which honestly, has consumed the last year or so of our time/money/energy...does that count? :)
That REALLY counts Cyn!!!!! How are you doing with that by the way?
:) She is only going to be about 3 hours away and we already are planning on visiting a few weeks into it...she is the oldest of 5, though, so her presence will be felt by all of us! I am sure whatever I think I have done to prepare us all for this, wont' even be close to the reality of it all! thanks for asking
Oh how sad......that made my heart break for ya! My old boss....she became like an aunt to me....just went thru this with her only child and it was very hard on her. I can't imagine how this will be for your WHOLE family as you say because she is the oldest. That will be hard for her sibs too....poor things! At least she can come home easily being 3 hours away....how is she handling it? Excited or anxious?
She is excited and very goal-driven, too! She picked this school way back early last Fall, and applied after her first visit. Thank God for the technology of today. I am sure we will chat/text/IM on a daily basis!
Hey that's how my mom and I talk every day! We call each other at least 2x's a week but we IM every day and if she doesn't see me on there so freaks out and calls to see where I am!! ;) I've only lived in Ohio since Oct and its taken some getting used to for me and for my family. they all live in CA so its been an experience that's for sure!I'm really happy for her that she got into her college of choice and that she is pursuing her dreams.....love to see that!!!
Thanks, Holli! That is what it is all about, right? I love that she is doing something that isn't a "traditional female field"...so much has changed since I was in college!Cool that you and your mom are so close still :)
Now you've piqued my interest Cyn.....what is she going into?
In not wanting to repeat myself, I guess I skipped that important detail! She wants to go into architecture and get her Masters.
How exciting!! Good for her....way to break down those stereotypes!!!!
Okay, ladies. Looks like I'm embarking on the Year of Adventure as well. I've already started teaching myself to knit this year. That's a pleasure!Now, my husband and I in trying to find some way to get motivated to get more exercise,have decided that we ought to golf. John golfed quite a bit in high school and continued off and on through his early thirties. Though I come from a family that has a number of golfers, has never picked up much more than a putter at a putt-putt course. John and I went to the driving range a couple of weeks ago so I coule see how it felt to swing a club.
While we were on vacation 10 days ago, John went golfing with my brother and his family and did quite well. Since John also took this past week off, he spent a bit more time at the driving range and buying a few new golf clubs, shoes, etc.
A friend's mother was able to provide a recommendation for a golf pro. I dropped her an email this evening. She called me back in about 10 minutes and wonder of wonders, I've got a golf lesson scheduled for next Saturday!
So the other adventure I'm thinking about is a blog...I've never been doing much of anything I thought other folks would be interested in reading about. But since I've got the golf adventure in the works, maybe I could blog about that. Haven't decided, but thinking about it...
Golfing is fun. Especially the driving range. Once you get the stance down, rote and all that, then you can start pulverizing those balls. Think of them as anger management tools, targets, or.....as balls.;) Kathryne
The knitting has been going pretty well so far. I do tend to knit pretty tight as well.I finished my first project, a scarf of course, and have several others started. Just like my reading habits, I can't seem to stick with just one knitting project. I've got two more scarves each with different patterns in production, one dishcloth that's about 1/2 way done, the first of four (?) placemats started, and a laprobe started. That gives me plenty to choose from depending on what mood I'm in.
One of scarves is almost done. I am planning to cut back a bit on the number of projects going at one time. As I finish a few of these off, I won't start new ones for a while.
My first project was with fairly big needles (Size 15) and forgive Thick 'n Quick yarn. I think that's a good way to start to get the coordination down.
I learned to knit 20 years ago. First, keep in mind that I am left handed and I wasn't capable of watching a right hander to learn the craft. I bought a how-to book and stayed up all night (so no one could distract me)and learned how to knit right handed, which was slow and clumsy for me, but I got it down. Then I switched the process over to my left hand. Man, I could just whizz right along while using my left hand to do the main work. So, I made scarves, hats, socks, baby blankets and so on for Christmas and birthdays. I was goooood. In fact, I could use just about any size needle and any kind of yarn. Brag, brag, brag. So, I decided to make my mom a beatiful sweater. I got the front panel done, just gorgeous! When I tried to attach the sleeves I just could NOT comprehend the instructions so I took it to a much older expert knitter friend. She asked me where I had learned my stitches. I told her, proudly, how I had taught myself. She then pointed out that during the process of changing from right handed knitting to left handed I had somehow inverted the stitches and they were all backward, but not in a way that I could make complicated things like sweaters work or even do a pretty cable stitch. Only blankets and socks and so on, and only knit and pearl. Humility is good. Left handedness is interesting. I don't knit much.Kathryne
Hahahahahaahaha!!!!!!! Hahahahaaha!!!! Hahaha!!!!!!!!! Oh, good grief, that's a funny story. :) Sorry to laugh at your expense, Kathryne. But damn...
I'm glad I could brighten your day Amanda...Anything else I can do???
Kathryne
Okay, I've gone and lost my mind. I signed up for another 5K. I still feel like I'm going to throw up after running 2 miles on the track so I really don't know why I'm torturing myself with this. (5K= 3.2 miles) I guess I just really want to conquer the hatred I have for running. I've made it this far, eventually I'm going to be able to run a 5K without even worrying about finishing. Not to mention running REALLY burns calories. And I can see my leg muscles again... they don't just look like moosh. :-)
Sydney~ You go, girl! I also signed up for a 5K..mine is Oct 5th. Send me a message and let's start a little runing motivation thing here!
My Year of Adventure 2008!!! YAY!!! :DI guess my year of adventure was also a coming of age adventure.
2nd year of University had me crawling on hands and knees as I spent my whole semester at the Library studying physics, organic chem, genetics and ecology. Thankfully I also found a best friend who was always next to me climbing trees to identify leaves, imagining the structures of compounds from the 2nd to the 3rd carbon, and memorizing pages upon pages of physics equations.
It was an unusual frienship. I liked to follow the rules. He liked to break them. I was awkward and shy. He was grinning and confident. My name meant "from the forest" whereas his name meant "hansome". BUT! The stomach gripping, knee bending laughter we had together was like no other connection I had ever felt before. The inevitable happened and we began to date. Quite typical you say? Ahhh, but there's a catch! Isn't there always? :P
I immigrated from Romania to Canada when I was 9. He immigrated from Pakistan at 18. We both came from very different cultures with very different expectations. Very different religions. Thus our stomch gripping, knee bending laughter relationship is still a secret. A 4 month beautiful secret that keeps me wondering what will happen in the future when the secret is out? A 4 month secret that makes me smile and catch my breath.
Aaa! But let's move on to different exciting 2008 adventures that are maybe of a less serious nature :)
January 2008 was a month of sickness! At the fruitful age of 19 I came down with the dreadful chicken pox! I had evaded it till then! Oh the itchiness! My scalp, the inside of my mouth! I know the description is quite gruesome! After 2 weeks in the quarantine of my own house I was free to celebrate! So I decided to have a meal of celebration whych YUM YUM turned into very serious food poisoning. Ahhh a wonderful way to start the year!
I joined a 4 part harmony choir of women ranging from the ages of 18 to 67. There is no instrumentation in the choir. The choir is split up into 4 parts: Bass, Alto, Tenor and Soprano. The 4 parts put together sound beautful without the accompaniement of instruments. I sing Bass which is the lowest register. The women in the choir are spunky and hilarious. I go to sing every Wednesday night and am refreshes after each practice. Some have battled or are battling breast cancer as I speak. They are amazing, beautful women which show me what strength really is!
March 9 2008 I turned 20! A big number! A whole new digit! So maybe it wasn't just the beginning of a big adventure of a year but the beginning of an adventurous decade!
Summer 2008 I went back home to the apartment I used to live in Romania. I travelled all over my home country. Bucuresti, Targoviste, Azuga, and the Black Sea (which I had forgotten was salty!)
I also went for a week to Germany from where I travelled to France and Austria. It opened my eyes to the beauty of the world and reminded me that there were many more places in the world to see.
Now I've applied for foreign exchange to Australia for my upcoming Winter Semester at school! I have my fingers crossed!!!
This year has been amazing!
To update on my radio talk show/letter to myself saga..... a magazine called Tickled Pink from Columbus OH wants to run my Letter To My Younger Self in their October issue!!!!I'm thrilled and it has inspired me to shop it around to a few others maybe. I'll let you know what happens ;)
Mod
Way to go.
School is about to start for the kidlets and it seems like a new year when that happens. I have desire to do something big or new but Im not sure what or where my heart is taking me.
Tera! Maybe you should go after something you've always had a desire to do. Whatever it is that makes you happy! :D So maybe singing, hiking, yoga, volunteering, writing a novel, whatever your heart desires.
You women are the bestest esteset EVER!
Just read through this and all of you women are so inspiring. I wanted to add to it.....In Oct (Oct 11) to be exact, I will be in the Race for the Cure. I am doing it in memory of my mother.
As for the rest of the "adventures".... finally beginning to move on with life... even a new love interest...... and "interesting" it is.......lol It has been 16 yrs since I have been officially single and man has it changed! I did also get asked out by one of the interns on my service last week....... had to turn him down though...... he is still being persistent...lol.......guess it is him being 28 that is keeping him persistent.... who knows?!! lol
I can't match teri's so I'm not going to try!
Wow! It's been fun to skim through these 90+ posts on your adventures! What wonderful women you are!Kathryne (and Tera), my sister-in-law works at that place in St. Anthony you were talking about. You can send the info to me at mlyfalke@yahoo.com, and I can see if she can find anything.
OK, I'm going to read more adventures in depth now!
My adventure is applying to the MA/PhD in English program at UT for next year. I'm taking the GRE on 10/3 (and remembering why I hate math so much), and the Literature GRE on 11/8 (which I will bomb; the practice tests are so hard). All the app materials at due 12/1. YIKES! But, my husband and I feel like this is what I should be doing now, so hopefully all will work out.
Is anybody good at algebra...?
Shoot. I was thinking about applying to grad schools, too. Damn! That means I need to start studying. Thanks helping me realize how close the application deadlines are!!!I used to be great at algebra. I wonder if my skills have rusted beyond belief? hee hee
Go Kat!!!! One of the women I used to sing with died from Cancer last week. We need to bring awareness and strength to the issue!
Gals! I went skydiving today and I did NOT die. :)
