Reverse Bucket List Mode on Life Led Thus Far in a Coffee Chat Random Tuesday Kinda Way

It’s a brand new year – seriously, where did 2015 go? Here’s to 2016 being an awesome year!

We spent Christmas with my BFF in Nevada – of course we drove 2 cars with 2 kids, 2 dogs and 2 crazy adults. We had a lot of fun but it’s always nice to be home. This is the first year – ever – that I didn’t play paparazzi during the big Christmas gift unwrapping frenzy. This year? I put my camera down and lived in the moment.

While I’ll probably wish I had some images to remember those moments, I do not regret living in the moments instead. It was quite refreshing! And of course everyone got spoiled rotten (including me) so we obviously made it on the ‘good’ list again…heh.

Since I’m still trying to catch up after the hectic-ness of the holidays (and I’m sure you are, too), I’m going to take this opportunity to segue right into this week’s coffee chat, since it’s a little bit wordy. Or, wordy-er than my usual wordiness.

But first some funny stuff before I forget to share…because you know I’ll be distracted by a shiny object.

This gave me a giggle – an image of a car designed by using ‘new math’:

I know, right?!

But that’s pretty accurate – I mean ‘new math’ to me is like going around your elbow to get to your thumb. No wonder my kids are so not a fan of math!

I’m going to have to do this with Blackspot since this cat could totally be his doppelganger:

I’m still laughing. And Blackspot has no idea what he’s in for. I’ll keep you posted.

It’s time once again for Leslie’s (aka Rory Bore) Tuesday Coffee Chat!

This week’s prompt or question is:

“Reverse Bucket List – Look back and share some of the adventures and accomplishments of your life.”

And, for more insight or clarification, this tidbit from Leslie’s post:

“Traditional Bucket Lists are often full of grand ideas.  Inspirational activities and most certainly designed to motivate you towards that kind of Life.   But here, it only matters what has been important to You.  What made an impact worth a memory in your experience.  It doesn’t have to be a grand idea to anybody else. 

Life itself, is a grand adventure.

 

(And you, feel free to go back as far as you want in your own experiences – you don’t have to limit to the previous year.) “

And away we go!

I’ve always thought I’ve lived kind of a boring life so far, with a bunch of stuff on my ‘bucket list’ to see and do, but when I sat down and really thought about it, my reverse bucket list isn’t all that bad!

My list is a little discombobulated in no organized order like Leslie’s list is, but this is how my scattered brain functions. Welcome to my world.

I’ve traveled through (or to) every state in the U.S. (except Alaska – that’s definitely on the to-do list)

Caught my first fish when I was 4 using a broomstick handle, length of fishing line and a safety pin (my dad was not happy he didn’t even get a bite that day, even with his fancy schmancy rod and reel setup)

Extended a long weekend with friends by traveling the 440 miles around the North Cascades Scenic Loop and stopping to sleep under the stars each night

Skied the awesomeness of Whistler Mountain, BC (and enjoyed hanging out in Whistler Village for a week):

Skied the best fresh powder on Crystal Mountain and subsequently took a tumble and got stuck in waist deep snow for my efforts – totally laugh about it now and still love Crystal Mountain:

I may or may not have had some liquid courage by way of the bota bag strapped around my neck filled with Peppermint Schnapps making me think I was ready for the Black Diamond runs on that particular day. I’ll never tell.

Hiked Mt. Hood during one summer, then skied on it during that winter

Wind surfed on Hood River

Camped each summer on Mt. Rainier and floated down the river on inner-tubes (and anyone familiar with the PNW knows that water is cold!)

Camped each summer near Ocean Shores catching lots of fish off the ocean jetty

Cruised the Caribbean three times (all of the pictures of which were lost in the great hard drive crash of 2008 – except a few thumbnails that I found yesterday but then lost track of because – look! Shiny object!) I’ll find them again in the future and share. So long as I don’t get distracted again.

Had a great year of snow in PA when I got to introduce Princess Nagger to a game us kids played when we got lots of snow growing up, the Fox and the Hound – even the dogs got into the fun:

At the end of the pathway there was the mountain of snow. Princess Nagger encouraged me to climb the mountain and slide down the other side like a penguin. How could I not?

I’ve dined at the top of the Space Needle multiple times (and loved it more each time)

Learned how to sail a 27′ sail boat in Lake Washington

Spent SeaFair weekend watching the races while lounging on a boat

I’ve met some fun famous people along the way, the short list (off the top of my head) are:

• Scott Bakula
• Maria Bello
• Patrick Dempsey
• Paul Newman
• Robert Hays
• Jared Leto
• Ed O’Neill
• Lindsay Crouse
• John Ratzenberger
• Mario Andretti
• Michael Andretti
• Rusty Wallace

I had the honor of riding in the Pace Car at a Formula One race in Spokane – I still remember the exhilaration (and maybe a tiny bit of fear) as I watched the speedometer exceed 174 mph

Vacationed in Punta Cana (Caribbean) twice

Cross-country skied in a wind storm in Michigan and caught a fish ice fishing along the way (and of course enjoyed wine and cheese at the finish line)

Spent many weekends in Vancouver, BC just for fun (and shopping)

Spent many fun weekends in the Bavarian town of Leavenworth, WA:

It’s especially pretty during the winter snow with the snow and lights:

Played in both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts

Got the rental car stuck in the sand at Daytona Beach during Spring Break – cute guys helped us girls get the car out of the sand

Grew up in Washington but have lived in Oregon, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York

Visited Niagara Falls in the wintertime (so beautiful!)

Spent a weekend at a Maple farm in Vermont

Walked the beaches (and went whale watching) in Maine

Drove down Highway 101 to take the ‘scenic route’ to California, destination: Disneyland

OK, I’ve inundated you with my jumbled life memories enough already – I could go on and on, and like Leslie said – that’s a lot of living! What’s on your reverse bucket list?

That’s a wrap for this week – you know the drill, link up and join in the fun, everyone is welcome, random or not. And that means even if you don’t have a specific Random Tuesday Thoughts Rebel post posted, you can still link up, I’m not picky. You don’t even have to add the badge, just link up so I can come harass you on your blog. I promise to play nice.

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Link up your Random (or not) here:

Keeping the random alive (barely) – feel free to snag a badge and play along – one for my wino friends:

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And one for my non-wino friends:

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