Bucket List # 35

A little late this week...

Bucket list item # 35

Visit the top ten theme parks in the United States

Bucket List # 65

Bucket List item # 65
Balloon Dart Paint

Don't you think this would be fun??

Winter Break

Guess what I've been doing this winter break...

Don't worry, I haven't just been catching up on all the movies I've wanted to see...

I also made a special trip to the library and checked out four Jennifer Weiner books.

Some other goals for winter break: cook more, clean out car, more classes at courthouse, Body Worlds

This past Thursday a friend and I made homemade take 5 bars. Not only were they super easy to make, but they turned out AMAZING and disappeared quickly.


As for cleaning out the car...

Some dumb ass kind generous person decided to help me achieve this goal by making it unavoidable. My car has now had every square inch vacuumed and wiped down and is cleaner than it has been in a long time.

Bucket List # 50

Bucket List item # 50
Visit the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Museum in Jamestown, NY!

I've always been a big I Love Lucy fan and I'd love to visit this museum some day.

Ho Ho 5k

This past Sunday my friend Kelsie and I ran the Ho Ho 5k. This was her first race and I was super excited to be able to share the experience with her. I had only gone for one run since my last race Thanksgiving day and didn't have high expectations for this one.  This being Kelsie's first race she had no set goals either so we were prepared to just have fun. It was about 33 degrees out when we arrived and we were feeling it! We tried to walk around as much as we could to warm up a bit but it wasn't very effective. I was glad I had decided to keep my hoodie on for the first part of the race...I don't think I became comfortable with the temperature till I was 20 or so minutes in.

We ran at a similar pace which was nice. There were times where I walked for a minute and she ran ahead and vice versa, but we always caught up to each other and we crossed the finish line together. She loved the experience and is excited to run more races, and I'm excited to have a new running buddy.

Santa was waiting for us at the finish line!

 

After a warm shower and little nap I met Kelsie at the Courthouse for our Group Active class. The only reason we decided not to take the day off was because we had a Group Soup potluck after. I made this recipe. I was a little nervous to bring it because I had never made it before and wasn't sure how it would turn out. I'm glad I did though because it was amazing!

Up next: Hangover Run January 1st

Bucket List # 62

I can never find pictures I like for Wordless Wednesday, and I'm no where near creative enough to come up with fantastic posts like my sister does for Awkward/Awesome Thursday. So as a way to make sure I blog at least once a week, I have decided to post a weekly bucket list item of mine. With a bucket list focusing on changes and goals, I feel this applies very well to this blog and am actually a bit excited to share these items!

Bucket List item # 62

See Greg Pattillo perform in person

I sorta like running

I started running back in May and have pretty much hated it the entire time.

Running is: boring, painful, tiring, lonely, time consuming, hard and discouraging.

However, I ran my first race back in June and discovered a love of them. Race atmosphere is like nothing else. It is the only thing that has kept me running all these months. While I haven't developed a love of running, and I'm not sure I would even go as far as saying I like it, I am hating it less than I did before.

My first race was the Twilight Run, a 5k back in June

In July my friend Stacy and I ran the Go Girl 10k Trail Run

In September I participated in Warrior Dash with two friends. It's a 5k course with fourteen obstacles

 Here is our finish  photo

In October my sister Natalie and I ran in Run Like Hell Portland

It was a Halloween themed race so we rocked these tutus

In November I ran in the Tigard Thanksgiving Day Turkeython

My sister Natalie came to support and took this wonderful finish photo

Up next: Ho Ho 5k this Sunday. My new friend Kelsie is running it with me and we're both very excited. It will be her first 5k!



In the past year...

I graduated from Chemeketa with my AAOT

I started working on my Bachelors at PSU

I moved to Hillsboro

I fell asleep on the max and missed my stop…by a lot

I have seen my entire digestive track start to finish thanks to various tests including colonoscopy, upper GI endoscopy, and a PillCam

I was diagnosed with IBS, brought on by some mystery parasite or virus

I discovered Dexter (currently on season 4)

I decided PSU was not my school for many reasons

I decided it was time to stop watching LD for many reasons

I moved back home and enrolled at Chemeketa for the summer

I failed statistics…twice.

I applied and was accepted to WOU…VERY excited for this

I am in the last week of the term and have never loved school as much as I do right now

I went to camp with T as her caregiver

I was asked to come back and finish out the summer as a counselor      

I made the choice not to start working with T again when I moved back home

I started running and absolutely hate it

I started running races and absolutely love it…totally addicted

I ran a 5k

I ran a 10k

I ran (ok…walked most of ) Warrior Dash Oregon

I set a goal of running a race every month for a year

I surprised myself by discovering a love of Marvel

I watched my dog age way too fast, she is now on pain meds for arthritis 24/7

I took out my first student loan

I signed up to volunteer with Special Olympics

I made a bucket list with 67 items on it

I gutted a fish

I started reading every night before bed again, something I had stopped doing during a low period

I started swimming

I gave a presentation on sexuality in people with special needs and my group was nominated for my schools academic excellence showcase

I saw Globetrotters perform

I made a new friend =)

Running Towards Change

For as long as I can remember I have feared change. I had the mentality that I shouldn’t mess with the way things are. I worried that by trying to better a situation, I would only make it worse.

The past two years I’ve made a lot of changes. To be honest I don’t know what sparked this change in mentality, but I’m glad it happened. While many of the decisions I have made have been difficult, and not all of them have worked out exactly how I expected, I have learned a lot and am thankful for everything that has happened.

I now view change as a positive opportunity. It is something that I am literally and figuratively running towards.

I have tried blogging again and again, and it is something I continue to fail at. I have a slightly different focus with this one and am hoping that this time I'll be able to find some joy in blogging and stick with it.

Wish me luck!