Bucket List #21

Bucket List

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let's be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I've been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.
4. Tour all 50 states in an RV.
5. Visit Monet's Gardens at Giverny.
6. Take ballroom dancing classes so I can ballroom dance for fun.
7. Travel to a far away destination by boat.
8. To be exceedingly generous to my family and friends.
9. Write a book.
10. Complete all three courses designed by BKS Iyengar in his book Light On Yoga, over the prescribed 300 weeks (5.7 years). 
11. Go hang gliding.
12. Catch a baby being born.
13. Champion a cause - out of hospital midwife assisted birth.
14. Have a garden worthy of a Sunset Magazine photo shoot.
15. Fit comfortably into a coach class airplane seat.
16. Throw a huge party and invite all of our friends and family. Dancing included.
17. Go on an epic solo adventure. 
18. See Alaska by train.
19. Blow glass.
20. Visit Lapland, Finland to celebrate the Solstice with the Midnight Sun.
21. See the Aurora Borealis.

~If you need to catch up on any of my bucket list items, find the corresponding post # in the June 2012 list at the right hand side of this page.

Photos courtesy of my friend Ashley Romero.

Bucket List #20

Today is summer solstice, the longest day of the year! It's a bittersweet day for me. I love the sun and have been relishing in the long warm evenings. My garden thanks me for that too. On the other hand, it also means that we are beginning our long decent into darkness, which makes me sad. 6 months until I can really celebrate the 1 day in winter that makes me happy, winter solstice. Since I'm a sun worshiper, my #20 fits perfectly.

Bucket List

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let's be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I've been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.
4. Tour all 50 states in an RV.
5. Visit Monet's Gardens at Giverny.
6. Take ballroom dancing classes so I can ballroom dance for fun.
7. Travel to a far away destination by boat.
8. To be exceedingly generous to my family and friends.
9. Write a book.
10. Complete all three courses designed by BKS Iyengar in his book Light On Yoga, over the prescribed 300 weeks (5.7 years). 
11. Go hang gliding.
12. Catch a baby being born.
13. Champion a cause - out of hospital midwife assisted birth.
14. Have a garden worthy of a Sunset Magazine photo shoot.
15. Fit comfortably into a coach class airplane seat.
16. Throw a huge party and invite all of our friends and family. Dancing included.
17. Go on an epic solo adventure. 
18. See Alaska by train.
19. Blow glass.
20. Visit Lapland, Finland to celebrate the Solstice with the Midnight Sun.

~If you need to catch up on any of my bucket list items, find the corresponding post # in the June 2012 list at the right hand side of this page.

Big Baby arrived via UPS overnight. We promptly changed her diaper and fresh attire.

She came with us in the car.

And to the Library, where no less than 15 peoples made comments about thinking she was a real baby
that I was allowing my toddler to man handle. Really people?!

The most tender part of the day was Porter waiting so patiently to say goodbye to monkey puppet at the library and then giving it a kiss.

Bucket List #19

Number 19 isn't anything crazy, just something I'd like to learn. I have a long relationship with blown glass. In Virginia on our 8th grade trip to DC we went to Colonial Williamsburg and a bunch of other colonial places. The part that I remember most is the glass blowing. I bought two pieces of the fragile green glass to bring home. Then there's all the blown glass that I came across in college at UCSC. My parents also have beautiful glasses to drink from and tiny candy shaped glass trinkets. It's beautiful and fragile. I'd really like to visit the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit in Seattle.

The parts about blowing glass that interest me are the constant motion you must keep, all the ancient tools and mostly the part where they cradle the hot glass in some version of a wooden spoon or newspaper to shape it. Something about that action seem soft, rhythmic and soothing. Here, like this:

Bucket List

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let's be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I've been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.
4. Tour all 50 states in an RV.
5. Visit Monet's Gardens at Giverny.
6. Take ballroom dancing classes so I can ballroom dance for fun.
7. Travel to a far away destination by boat.
8. To be exceedingly generous to my family and friends.
9. Write a book.
10. Complete all three courses designed by BKS Iyengar in his book Light On Yoga, over the prescribed 300 weeks (5.7 years). 
11. Go hang gliding.
12. Catch a baby being born.
13. Champion a cause - out of hospital midwife assisted birth.
14. Have a garden worthy of a Sunset Magazine photo shoot.
15. Fit comfortably into a coach class airplane seat.
16. Throw a huge party and invite all of our friends and family. Dancing included.
17. Go on an epic solo adventure. 
18. See Alaska by train.
19. Blow glass.

~If you need to catch up on any of my bucket list items, find the corresponding post # in the June 2012 list at the right hand side of this page.

Lookin' a whole lot like a kid these days. It's bittersweet.

Today we went to say farewell to the Baby and Me class that we attended weekly for Porter's first 14 months. There was a lifesize baby doll, which was weighted too. Porter saw all the mommies with their babies and co-opted the doll for himself.

He carried this baby around for 20 minutes and was devastated when we had to give it back to Kitty, the doll's "mama".

Fear not, Big Baby is on her way via UPS. She'll be so happy to have found a second chance with another child.

This is what the yard looks like when it's being flood irrigated. It would be fun to play in, if it was freezing.

Bucket List #18

When I was in 5th grade we took an Amtrak train from San Jose, CA to Seattle, WA to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends. It was an overnight experience and, besides my brother getting chicken pox, it was rad. When I lived in Seattle I would take the train down to Portland, a 3 hour ride and the same time as driving. The scenery you get from a train is bigger, rural, and more beautiful than most highways will offer, and that's why I want to do #18.

Porter's first walk on the local railroad tracks to the Boise Depot.

P's first train ride on the Narrow Gauge Railroad in Portland, Maine.

Bucket List

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let's be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I've been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.
4. Tour all 50 states in an RV.
5. Visit Monet's Gardens at Giverny.
6. Take ballroom dancing classes so I can ballroom dance for fun.
7. Travel to a far away destination by boat.
8. To be exceedingly generous to my family and friends.
9. Write a book.
10. Complete all three courses designed by BKS Iyengar in his book Light On Yoga, over the prescribed 300 weeks (5.7 years). 
11. Go hang gliding.
12. Catch a baby being born.
13. Champion a cause - out of hospital midwife assisted birth.
14. Have a garden worthy of a Sunset Magazine photo shoot.
15. Fit comfortably into a coach class airplane seat.
16. Throw a huge party and invite all of our friends and family. Dancing included.
17. Go on an epic solo adventure. 
18. See Alaska by train.

~If you need to catch up on any of my bucket list items, find the corresponding post # in the June 2012 list at the right hand side of this page.

Bucket List #17

As a child I attended a week long day camp called Redwood Grove. It was aptly named, since everyday we would gather at the entrance and walk down into a giant redwood forest in the Los Altos hills. There was a boardwalk that meandered through the trees, open spaces and an old house in the style of a Mexican hacienda, centered around a courtyard. In the house we would learn about the environment, local indigenous tribes, and native wildlife. We played any number of games in the open field and did scavenger hunts through the forest. My favorite part was making fry bread covered with cinnamon and sugar. That was until I was old enough to go to the older kids camp where we got to spend the last night of the week sleeping outdoors in the forest.

After the normal day of camp ended we would eat dinner and then the evening events would commence. This involved stories, chewing mint lifesavers in the dark and watching them light up in each others mouths, and laying out our sleeping bags. The highlight of the night was an unlit walk/hike around the camp and through the woods. It was terrifying and thrilling. We had just spent the week learning about all the native animals and creepy crawlies and then spend 30-45 minutes walking alone in the dark along a rough trail. Scary though it was, I was always happy that I chose to do it.

Today I picked up The Week magazine and turned to the last page, which is usually an excerpt from a current book. It just so happens that the article was from a book that I'm going to read for my book club called Wild: From Lost To Found On The Pacific Crest Trail. It's about a woman who walks the entire Pacific Crest Trail (Mexico to Canada), by herself, with no previous hiking experience. Whoa.  Along the same lines is the book Eat, Pray, Love and some of my favorite movies Under The Tuscan Sun and Southbounders. These are all stories of women who have set out for one reason or another, usually because of tragedy, on their own personal walkabouts. And I want to do that too, minus the tragedy. I give you #17.

Bucket List

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let's be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I've been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.
4. Tour all 50 states in an RV.
5. Visit Monet's Gardens at Giverny.
6. Take ballroom dancing classes so I can ballroom dance for fun.
7. Travel to a far away destination by boat.
8. To be exceedingly generous to my family and friends.
9. Write a book.
10. Complete all three courses designed by BKS Iyengar in his book Light On Yoga, over the prescribed 300 weeks (5.7 years). 
11. Go hang gliding.
12. Catch a baby being born.
13. Champion a cause - out of hospital midwife assisted birth.
14. Have a garden worthy of a Sunset Magazine photo shoot.
15. Fit comfortably into a coach class airplane seat.
16. Throw a huge party and invite all of our friends and family. Dancing included.
17. Go on an epic solo adventure. 

~If you need to catch up on any of my bucket list items, find the corresponding post # in the June 2012 list at the right hand side of this page.

Feelin' good.

And we're over it.

Bucket List #16

June is wedding season and 2012 proves to be no different. On Saturday, we attended the wedding of our friends Becky and Gary. It was in the sloping foothills of the Sierra Nevada, on a ranch, in a converted barn. It was beautiful, as was the bride. This was Porter's first wedding and he was patient, well mannered and friendly. We caught up with some old friends and got to swim in a bonafied pond, with a paddle boat. All in all it was the perfect country weekend, and we have Becky and Gary's eternal love to thank for giving us a good reason to celebrate.

Luke and I were also married in June, here is Boise. We had been together for 8 years, lived together for 6, and were homeowners together for 4 before the big day arrived. To be honest, it was okay with me if we didn't have an official ceremony with all the bells and whistles. Luke, however, had a more traditional view on the matter. In the end I'm so glad we made an event of our wedding, and had an amazing honeymoon in France. We've been talking about celebrating our anniversary every 5 years with a party, and luckily that falls right into my #16.

Bucket List

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let's be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I've been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.
4. Tour all 50 states in an RV.
5. Visit Monet's Gardens at Giverny.
6. Take ballroom dancing classes so I can ballroom dance for fun.
7. Travel to a far away destination by boat.
8. To be exceedingly generous to my family and friends.
9. Write a book.
10. Complete all three courses designed by BKS Iyengar in his book Light On Yoga, over the prescribed 300 weeks (5.7 years). 
11. Go hang gliding.
12. Catch a baby being born.
13. Champion a cause - out of hospital midwife assisted birth.
14. Have a garden worthy of a Sunset Magazine photo shoot.
15. Fit comfortably into a coach class airplane seat.
16. Throw a huge party and invite all of our friends and family. Dancing included.

~If you need to catch up on any of my bucket list items, find the corresponding post # in the June 2012 list at the right hand side of this page.

Making new friends.

My really big baby boy, on the way to the wedding.

The best bubbles to date were the wedding bubbles.

Bucket List #15

We do gobs of travelling. In fact, I am frightfully aware that by doing so we raise our carbon footprint to a size that I'm not proud of. How to justify this? I'm not sure. Maybe after Porter turns two and we have to start paying for his own seat we won't fly so much. Luke and I are large people (we are actively changing this) and having a large child makes flying even more squished and far from comfortable. We've flown first class on a few occasions, and I have to say that if we could afford it, we'd fly first class everywhere. But we can't, at least not yet :)  I considered making tonight's item to fly somewhere in a private jet, but I feel pretty 'eh' about that. I feel that #15 is something attainable, sustainable, and something I really want to do. Albeit it's somewhat silly. At least if I accomplish it, then my experience travelling to a destination should be more pleasurable, and that's always a good way to start and end a trip.

Safety first.
First class allows Porter to sit comfortably on our laps without the ability to harass the person sitting in front of us.

Lots of space in coach, good.

Shared seating in first class, also good.

Paris Airport

Flying home from France, in coach.
International coach flying is painful, but a small price to pay for a bucket list experience, right?

Bucket List

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let's be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I've been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.
4. Tour all 50 states in an RV.
5. Visit Monet's Gardens at Giverny.
6. Take ballroom dancing classes so I can ballroom dance for fun.
7. Travel to a far away destination by boat.
8. To be exceedingly generous to my family and friends.
9. Write a book.
10. Complete all three courses designed by BKS Iyengar in his book Light On Yoga, over the prescribed 300 weeks (5.7 years). 
11. Go hang gliding.
12. Catch a baby being born.
13. Champion a cause - out of hospital midwife assisted birth.
14. Have a garden worthy of a Sunset Magazine photo shoot.
15. Fit comfortably into a coach class airplane seat.

~If you need to catch up on any of my bucket list items, find the corresponding post # in the June 2012 list at the right hand side of this page.