Monday, June 30, 2014

Life Listing Motivational Movies

 The following movies on my list are so enchanting and magical they will be able to take you on an adventure, inspire the wanderlust spirit and let your imagination have fun!

1. The Great Gatsby
2. Midnight in Paris
3. Julie and Julia
4. National Treasure (1 & 2) 
5. Boat Trip
6. French Kiss
7. The Terminal  
8. Eat, Pray, Love
9. Under the Tuscan Sun
10. Cocktail
11. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
12. The Wolf on Wall Street
13. Dirty Dancing 
14. Moon Over Parador 
15. Couple's Retreat 

Monday, June 23, 2014

10 life list goals in the making

HELLO! I hope you all are having a wonderful summer, things have been very busy for me- LOTS OF LIFE LISTING FUN! Here's a snapshot of the rather time consuming goals I've been arduously working at the past few weeks...

1. DAR- Joining the Daughters of the American Revolution has been on my list for years, and one that I have attempted to begin MANY times, however the very long list of steps involved has always left me with my head spinning and no clue where to even begin. And sometimes you just have to find yourself in the right mood for things. I have officially begun my journey and made great strides towards becoming a member.

2. MICHIGAN TEES- perhaps this may seem like a silly LIFE LIST goal but I have ALWAYS wanted to have a lot of Michigan Themed shirts and accessories....and it just so happens that I landed myself a job that sells them. I just love it when things work out like that. At this point I have 17 shirts and hoodies, the goal is to have 31, one for each day of the month!


3. HULA DANCE- my 3 year old daughter and I just completed our third year Hula Dancing and both performed in our 3rd Polynesian Dance Show. I am tremendously proud of her, she does such a good job and I love that we have this to share together for as long as she'll let me...I'm going to post a blog next week sharing pictures from our show. And to think that 3 years ago this was just a little item written down on my life list.

4. GARDEN- We've lived in our house for 2 years now and we're finally getting to the point where we can plant flowers. It was a shocking amount of work for my husband to clear out all the shrubs and trees that were planted before we became the owners. It's is also surprising how expensive the hydrangea bushes are that I've chosen to plant. We went to the garden store last week to start buying them...turns out they're $40 each...I'll need about 25-30 to create the look I'm going for. I feel very excited to already have 5 of them!

5. HOUSE- We are fixing up our house, this summer that means we've chosen the huge chose of painting the exterior of our house. We have the paint...so I feel pretty good about that. Some bonehead decided to paint this house yellow and green, both colors together, it's quite the eyesore and painting has been an urgent goal since we moved in 2 years ago. Unfortunately, there happened to be about 100 other urgent projects to attend to first.

6. CRUISE- I'm going on a cruise- CHECK, I'm going to the Bahamas- CHECK, I'm going to swim with dolphins, sea lions and sting rays-CHECK, CHECK, CHECK and I'm hoping to cross off 'parasailing' too!

7. EXERCISE/JUICE- Juicing was on my LIFE LIST and recently I've been trying hard to juice every single day which has definitely been life changing. I feel amazing. I've also started a running/exercise program on June 1st, I'm sticking with it, feeling great and seeing the results working towards achieving my life long goal of actually reaching my goal weight.

8. ZUMBA- In my attempt to tone up and burn calories I decided to take a Zumba class...as it turns out I signed myself up for 'Zumba Gold' or Senior Zumba....in a nursing home....nevertheless, I am the best in the class.

9. PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS- I love psych books, I think you can really learn a lot about yourself and others. I'm constantly trying to grow and change and I think this is just one more valuable outlet in which to do so.

10. VOLUNTEER- My volunteer position(s) have concluded for the summer months, this is a welcomed break. I added on a new position at the same location and I liked it but when it begins again in the fall I may just stick with the original job.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

The 6 BEST HOTELS IN THE USA

I have had the luxurious pleasure of saying in all of the following resorts and hotels. I HIGHLY recommend each of them to not only enhance your vacation but to make your vacation. Click on each link to see gather more detailed information and see some stunning photos.



                                               2. ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE RESORT

                                                        3. HYATT AT THE ARCH 

                                                                4. INN BY THE SEA

                                                       5. THE INN AT 909 LINCOLN 

                                                               6. KONA VILLAGE RESORT 

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

UP and down


2014 certainly has not been dull. It's been a roller coaster of highs and lows.

I got a new car. Chrysler 300 S. It is the nicest, smoothest, sleekest, smartest vehicle I've ever been inside, I love it! I could live in that car.

In the winter I took my daughter to a play area in a mall, this winter was just too cold to even spend much time playing in the snow so we spent a lot of time at the mall. My daughter pushed...lightly...another little girl-this set off the other mother into a bizarre fit of rage. The woman began screaming, cursing and threatening me with physical violence. And she was dead serious. I was very cautious of how I handled this situation but I suppose ultimately I did the right thing seeings that everyone left unharmed, though this ridiculous spectacle did end with a police report filed against her and not surprisingly was broadcast on a local news source. One of the things that upsets me the most is that this 'woman' was so aggressive and violent towards me- there was at least one hundred people in the very nearby area and not one single person did or said anything to help out a mom with a child. Watching an adult behave in such a way is still and forever will be very hard to even believe.

On the lighter LIFE LISTING side, we went to Disney on Ice, I took a French Cooking Class with my long lost girlfriend and ran into another old friend there. We're on our 7th Hula Class getting ready for our 3rd my show this summer. We survived a polar vortex, arctic blast and pothole purgatory. We paid off my braces and I completed my invisalign treatment to which I'm very happy with my teeth and too afraid to fix the few small things I don't like since the last time I got a new retainer it chipped my tooth! My husband and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary at the shooting range where a complete ass who was standing right next to us, with zero muzzle discipline, pointed his handgun directly at my head standing about 2 feet away. Like my husband says "Never point your gun at something you aren't willing to destroy." If I ever see this nut again I'm going to engrave that on a wristband to serve as a daily reminder to just be PLAIN RESPECTFUL towards people who ARE NOT attacking you!

We booked our cruise to the Bahamas and our good friends surprised us and are coming with! We're all very excited. I think the only thing missing from our trip to Disney last year was that we didn't have anyone with us so this ought to be an ever better trip!

We've been internationally spoiled, my Indian student and his roommates cooked us, my Brazilian friend hand made us sushi, my Russian student brought us a bunch of treats on her recent trip to Europe.Then another friend cooked me a traditional Filipino meal! One of my student's mothers sent me my very own Sari from India, which was a terrific surprise and not to mention a LIFE LIST item of mine!

We gutted our bathroom...it's about 400x the amount of work I expected it to be but it'll look great when it's done. We had our mud room, living room and main hallway repainted and it looks great, we're very happy with the new look.

I had some problems at work which was extremely stressful but thankfully things have calmed down now.

I think I had about 9 different viruses and colds....severe headaches...but feeling very good now!

I am no cook. I just don't see the point. Everything I make tastes terrible. I'd rather just make some toast...or a juice. But one day I got a little overzealous and attempted to make guacamole. It was so hot I felt dizzy and thought I was going to pass out. The volcanic eruption of heat did not end there...apparently I am the only moron who does not know that when you're cooking with hot peppers YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO TOUCH THE SEEDS...but I didn't just 'touch the seeds...incidentally I chopped them up and added them to the guac....but that's also not where I stopped either...since I obviously do not have the correct instruments with which to make guacamole I had to use an improvisational method of turning it into a paste..so I used my bare hands. That's right I squished all those ingredients together and smashed jalapeno pepper seeds deep into the pours of my hands. For 9 hours I felt as if I was holding a scalding curling iron in each hand. Just imagine that...picking up the hot end of 2 curling irons...and sitting on the couch watching TV while you hold them in your hands...for 9 hours. At 3h in the morning I was laying in bed with winter gloves on my hands which were resting on ice packs whimpering and praying for it to go away. I finally passed out from shock of this incendiary vegetable. I guess I learned a lot that day.

My family met up in southwestern Tennessee....last minute my mom convinced me to take my daughter-we made it to southern Kentucky. A series of events forced me to turn around. We ended up staying the night in Dayton Ohio. Initially, I was disappointed but my daughter frequently talks about our 'bacation' to the hotel with breakfast and swimming. So, the fact that she had fun on our very busted trip makes me smile.

Then we hosted Easter dinner at our house which included my parents, my sister, the Brazilian family, the Russian student, the Indian student and all his roommates. It was 9 internationals to 6 Americans...and it was the best Easter we've ever had.

I've got a ton of things in the works and I'm juggling a million different ideas, plans and adventures! But, right now things are really great and I'm very excited about the rest of the year!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Surviving the Polar Vortex in Pictures




 

Feels like -34....yea...I remember that day.











After this snowstorm above in March I learned that we were just a few inches away from breaking the record..now, naturally a LIFE LISTER like myself would want to live through the SNOWIEST AND COLDEST MICHIGAN WINTER IN RECORDED HISTORY....
so I prayed. I prayed my little heart out...
             


An April Miracle. Thank you Jesus.
                     
 

So then the snow melted...and began POTHOLE PURGATORY!!

This extremely harsh winter took a toll on Michigan's already notoriously bad roads...but this was unbelievable. It got to the point where I wouldn't even go to certain places because as it happened...we decided to buy a brand new car at the worst time possible and these sinkholes were causing major damage to vehicles. 

Well...congratulations Michiganders...WE DID IT! We survived....well most of us...and we deserve this summer, Lord Almighty make it a good one! 


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