My goal of experiencing or doing fifty new things before I turn the big 5-0 has finally hit ten completed items. Some are more interesting than others but this is just a fun activity that I gleaned from my sweet friend Valorie.
Below you will find my first ten items, some with photos. I hope you enjoy this and get inspired to go out of your comfort zone and try new things.
Ten down forty to go.
1) Get a book themed tattoo. I did this a couple of months ago and I am in love with it. Done by the amazing Rebecca Ainslie at Black Diamond Tattoo. It resides on my right forearm, the list of books are my personal favorites and apparently many of them are banned somewhere. That’s okay, I’m with the banned anyway!
2) See the Northern Lights! A rarity to say the least, but we actually saw them from our own home. The camera picked up the color much better than the naked eye but it was still awesome.
3) Watch my son participate in a Game Show. This is a riding competition for youth. He just started riding as part of his grief journey and he’s done exceptionally well. He’s a natural actually. He ran barrels, and two different pole events. He’s riding Gene, who’s known as a “hot horse”, meaning he knows his job & when he hits the arena, he wants go, go, go. But Nate does well. I’m excited to watch them.
4) Work at a different clinic (fill-in only). I did this several weeks ago. I offered to assist in Peds Neurology. I drove to Portland and worked at Kaiser East Interstate. Their MA’s don’t have a lot of extra things to do, like we do in regular pediatrics, so it was a very slow day to me. This is not something I would probably repeat, but I can say I did it.
5) Buy an RV! We finally did it. We love to camp but tent camping is no longer any fun for us. This is the perfect solution and it gives us much more family time. I see many camping trips in our future, rain or shine.
6) Make frosting from scratch. No photo for this one but I made a cream cheese frosting for a cake I took to work. I couldn’t believe how easy it was and how good it tasted.
7) Enter a writing contest. Eeek, I did this. I have zero expectations, however getting recognition and/or feedback would be amazing. It taught me a lot about editing as I had to lower my word count, making adjustments without compromising my story. Time will tell if it was what they were looking for.
8) Get licked by a horse. I know it’s not typical and no, it wasn’t something I put on the list as a thing I wanted but it happened and it was a first for me. Therefore it made the list! It made me laugh and wasn’t slimy or gross at all. But I am a country girl so I wouldn’t find it gross anyway.
9) Make biscuits from scratch! May not seem like a big deal, but I have never done it before. I was very proud of myself. They were a little flat as I spread the dough too thin but they tasted fine.
10) Participate in “The World Needs More Love Letters” an organization that “combines the power of social media with the art of letter writing to hand write + mail love letters to people in need around the world”. I first heard of this when my daughter received over 200 letters after the loss of our son, Alex. A friend of ours nominated her and the letters poured in.
It was the kindest gesture and just what she needed. So much so, that I was moved to join this movement. I sent my first letter to a young man who struck me at my soul. Alex, a 16 year old ball player who needed a heart transplant. I wrote to him, telling him about our Alex and his organ donation, our viewpoint being a donation family. I encouraged him to feel okay to write to his donors family because I knew he would get his heart. This morning I was informed that Alex received his new heart the night before. It rocked me to my core, ugly crying ensued. Sadness for the family who lost someone and happiness that this child was being saved. It also brought to the surface our own experiences with our son. Either way, it was a good moment.
As usual I’d like to thank you for joining me on my many journey’s. Watch for the next ten Fifty before 50! installment!
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My Journey’s My Own 
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