My Updated Bucket List

Last October I made a bucket list for myself. I included 50 things I wanted to do but over the past year only managed to check one thing off my list. Still I figure one thing a year would make me 77 when I finish. Could be doable. However over the past month I have managed to check off (or have plans to check off) a few more things. Here is my updated list:

My Bucket List


Complete:

4. Go to a Corn Maze (went for my 28^th birthday)

11. Have a spa day (went with my mom last summer)

23. Learn to ski (I’ve been to Spring Hill which isn’t quite what I meant but I’m going to count this as done)

In the Works:

1. Go on a Hot Air Balloon Ride

(the plan is to do this for my 30^th birthday)

3. Go go-karting

(Kevin and I have plans to go in the next while)

9. Go to Europe

(Kevin and I are planning to go next July for 4 weeks!)

16. Fall in love

(Not to jinx things but I think I have found the one. Haven’t said it to him yet but definitely feel different about this guy.)

26. Go skiing (or snowboarding) on a real mountain

27. Learn to snowboard

45. Go on a road trip with friends

(Kevin is going to teach me to snowboard this winter and then we are going with some of his friends to Kicking Horse over New Years for a week.)

Still on the list (Down to 40):

2. Drive a quad

5. Learn to salsa dance

6. Take ballroom dancing lessons

7. Watch a sunrise

8. Travel to Australia

10. Go to the Maritimes

12. Go to an all-inclusive resort

13. Take an Alaskan Cruise

14. Travel somewhere by train

15. Go to Churchill

17. Get married

18. Have kids

19. Buy the perfect family dog

20. Build a new home

21. Own a country-style home with a wraparound deck

22. Buy a cottage by a lake

24. Learn to play guitar

25. Go on horse and carriage ride with a special someone

28. Go snowmobiling

29. Go cross-country skiing

30. Swim in the ocean

31. Go to Celebrations Dinner Theatre

32. Learn to speak French fluently

33. Learn sign language

34. Go to the Grand Ole Opry

35. Go to Vegas

36. See Garth Brooks in concert

37. Go snorkeling

38. Go scuba diving

39. Swim with dolphins

40. Go whale watching

41. Travel on a seaplane or other small plane

42. Go hiking in the rainforest

43. Go to Niagara Falls

44. See the Grand Canyon

46. See the Northern Lights

47. Make and sell crafts at a craft show

48. Learn to knit

49. Start a bakery

50. Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity

Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for this year. I feel like I am truly blessed and can't believe just how lucky I have been.  My family is absolutely amazing and they constantly surprise me with their generosity and caring.

My family at Austin's baby shower last June

I have an amazing nephew who is healthy, beautiful and so much fun to spend time with. I am so lucky to have such a close relationship with my brother and his wife as well, which allows me to spend a lot of time with Austin as well.

Austin

I also met an amazing guy this summer. I am crazy about him and can't believe how lucky I am to have found him. He really is one of the most thoughtful and caring people I know. He is constantly looking out for me, fixing things around my home and in my car that I didn't even think of fixing and he is always making sure I'm happy, comfortable and warm.

Kevin and I

This past school year I also finally got the permanent teaching contract I had been waiting 5 years for. It feels so good to know I am guaranteed a job next year, and no longer will have to go through interviews and applying for jobs each year.

The reading corner in my classroom

Early Birthday Surprise

Last Wednesday I pulled into my garage to find a huge surprise. My parents had spent the day at my house painting and building shelves in my garage. I had no idea they had planned to do this or that they were even heading to my house that day, I had asked my dad a while ago if he would help me with a project. I wanted to put a shelf across the top of my garage to make some more storage space for myself. My dad responded by saying he would have time in the spring to help me out with this. I was satisfied and hadn't mentioned it since. 

Apparently my dad and mom discussed this and planned to build the shelf as a surprise for me for my birthday. Now of course my garage is quite old and really nothing fancy. There isn't a lot you can do to make it look "cute" or "nice" but it's a garage and does it's job just fine. My mom however had plans to fix it up as much as possible and attempt "cutsying it up" for me. She painted my cupboards, put shelf liner in it, painted little shelves under my windows that my dad put in, painted my countertop and even added some cute decals. Then she purchased a bunch of bins and went about organizing all of my gardening tools and such. While my mom did this my dad built the shelf I wanted and a few extra shelves around my garage as well as rigging up a spot I can slide my patio table into without having to bungee cord it up in the corner of my garage like I did last winter. It was a huge surprise and very appreciated. I really have the most amazing parents. 

Here is a before picture of the cabinet.

Here are a couple after pictures.

I like White! :)

Before

After

Summer

So you are in for a treat. 3 blog posts in one night!! I guess I'm making up for a lack of posts this past month. Hard to believe I've been off from school for almost a month now and I really haven't written about anything I've done. It's been a pretty busy month, this last week wasn't as crazy and I actually had a few days I was bored but other than that I really have been keeping myself occupied. Here are some things I've done...

1) Went Camping in Spruce Woods for 5 days.

I went with my mom, dad, Steve, Olena and Austin. The 5 of us (6 with baby) slept in my parents trailer. It was a little "cozy" in there but it actually worked. I planned on setting up my tent so we'd have more sleeping room but our spot was a lot smaller than the picture showed and there was no room for it. It was Austin's first official camping trip and he was a little trooper. He slept pretty well at night and we had a great time with him each day. We went to the beach a couple times and for an evening stroll for ice cream in a town close by. Steve and Olena left a day earlier than we did so on that last evening and day we got some hiking in. My mom and dad even went with me on a 10km hike to the Spirit Sands and Devil's Punch Bowl. It was a long and hot walk but we made it.

Canada landed on our last night there

A small lake we crossed before getting to the Devil's Punchbowl. 

The Devil's Punchbowl

A view of the river nearby

The Spirit Sands

My parents after our 10km hike.

2) Painted the trim on my windows and watersealed my deck.

So the watersealing went super easy and looked fantastic.... for about a day. Then it rained! and rained! and the next morning I woke up to a splotchy and awful looking deck. I was so disapponted. I guess the water seal hadn't dried enough and where ever the rain was sitting on the deck over night it made splotchy marks. I was so frustrated and since the stuff is supposed to be clear, I figured a second coat wouldn't help any. Luckily it rained again the next day and it evened it out a bit more. I decided to sand down the worst spots and redid them (the railing mostly and the front step) but the rest will have to do and I just put the furniture back on the deck to cover it up. I'll redo it again next year and I guess it will even itself out from normal wear.

The painting went a lot better. I must admit I was a little scared to get up on the ladder to paint the second floor windows but after a while I kind of got used to it. Still not the funnest feeling though. So I decided to paint my window trim white. It was a reddish colour before and I never liked it. I know a few people have told me.. white??? That's so boring! (and I know one reader of this blog will think I'm just talking about her but you're not the olny one to say this) but I like the way it looks. I don't have a picture of the front of my house to show you yet but I'll post a before and after later for you to judge yourself :)

3) Spent time with my amazing nephew, Austin. Enough said!!!

4) Went golfing three times so far in the last 2 weeks.

I can't believe how long it's taken me to get out on a course this year but I've tried 2 new courses so far. I went to one just down my street for the first time and I loved it. Didn't do so great but it was my first time out this year. The second game was at an old favourite and then today I went with a new boy in my life and his friend. We went out to Teulon. It's an hour drive to get there but the course was really nice.

5) Other stuff here and there. Went for a few bike rides down the bike path near my home. It goes all the way to the cemetary where my cousin has his spot so it's nice to have a destination to ride to and to have a moment at his bench. Acutally went on a 24km bike ride with the new boy I spoke of earlier. We couldn't take the bike path because he was on roller blades and a small section was being redone so we took a very long detour and then when around some other areas as well. When all was said and done ended up figuring out it was about 24km long. I went to Corydon for ice cream. Tried out the frozen yogurt at Menchies for the first time. Had a bon fire at the boy's place. Been to a few movies including a drive-in at the church near my parents place and I went to see The Heat which I totally recommend. I've done a little planning here and there for school but nothing crazy. Still keeping up my garden and heading to the gym when I get the chance.

Other than that the days seem to be flying by. I know August is going to go by so much quicker. I have a 7 night camping trip planned for Rushing River. A 2 night camping trip to Grand Beach. A few events planned with family and friends and Rainbow Stage tickets for Mary Poppins are bought. The last two weeks before going back to school are going to be busy with back to school preperations and then that's it. Summer will be over. I'm going to make the most of it though and enjoy every minute.

Hope your summer is going great!

Concerts

So this summer I've been to a few country concerts already. I love outdoor concerts, especially country concerts. There is something about being outside listening to music that is just so amazing. It started out with the Ex concerts. Every year the schools get Ex tickets to give to students who read more than 20mins a day for 20 days the month before the Ex comes. There are always so many tickets left over that the teachers can take some for their own use. I took my share for sure (better than them going to waste!). So I invited Christine and some of her friends that we went with last year and I was super excited they wanted to go.  The main artist was Jason Blaine and the opening act was Small Town Pistols (The Wilkinson's minus the dad). Both were really good. It ended up raining on us and at first we went and hid under a roof off to the side but eventually I just gave in and got soaked. You couldn't hear very well standing off to the side where the roof was so I just enjoyed.

The following week George Canyon was performing at the Ex. A few of the ladies at my work were going and offered that I could join them if I couldn't find a friend who wanted to go. Unfortunately most of my friends don't listen to country and Olena, who loves going to country concerts with me, has a new baby at home and couldn't join me this year. I mentioned the concert to my mom however and she offered to come with me. It was actually really good and the weather turned out perfect.

Last weekend Doc Walker played at the Lyric Theatre in Assiniboine Park and The Show Was Free! (ok that was a sad joke based off of a song of their's, but it was actually free). Again I told my mom about it and she was even more exctied to join me after the last concert had been so good and she actually knew who the band was without me having to play their songs for her. On the day of the concert it rained all day and I was worried we wouldn't get to go but the skies cleared up just in time and we couldn't have asked for a better night. We bumped into several people there we hadn't seen in a while and just had a great time singing, dancing and laughing together. I love that my mom and I can go out and just hang out like a couple of girl friends.

Haircut

I was overdue for a haircut. Really overdue. My hair was at the length where I felt like the only thing I could do with it was a side braid and if I did anything other than that it just went crazy. So I finally got ahold of my hairdresser (which is nearly impossible) and booked an appointment for last Thursday.  I realized the last time I saw her was 11 months ago. I did go to Singleton's once in between (Christmas time I think) and they butchered my hair and I've been dying to get it recut since then. I was planning to go a bit shorter than I did. I usually go to around the shoulders but I had a few people suggest I leave some length to it, so I listened. Here are the results...

I was happy with the job my hairdresser did but not super impressed with her professionalism. She was busy texting the entire time she did my hair, she was 15mins late for our appointment (as in not even in the salon yet) and then made me sit for 30mins while she coloured her next clients hair before she blowdryed and styled my hair. I've gone to her for a few years now and I'm ready to find someone else. There is a hair salon opening at the end of my street I think I'll check out next time.

Missing You Mikey

Two years have passed without you here

It feels so wrong not to have you near

Not a day goes by I don’t think of you

And the amazing young man you grew into

The memories you left us make me ache

For all the memories we still should make

Yet the world keeps turning and the days go by

But for those who knew you, with each day we cry.

For at every occasion and happy time

We only wish that you could be by our side

As we go through our days, we think of you

You’re still around us in everything we do

A song, a quad, the number 22

A smile from a stranger who looked like you

All bring me back to a time before

And make me ache for just one more

One more chance to hear you laugh out loud

Or to see you hold Paige looking oh so proud

There’s still a hole here in my heart

Since that tragic day that you did part

But you are not gone, I feel you still

You’re all around us and always will

You’re in my heart, I hold you dear

As I wipe away another tear

I love you and miss you Mikey.

Forever 22

In a Grade 6 Classroom

My grade 6 class has been very busy wrapping up the end of this year. We have had a chance to do some pretty cool projects that I thought I would share with you. Last month we finished up our Science unit on Electricty and our class had the opportunity to build Robo Critters. They created the circuits themselves, wired up the controllers, soldered it themselves and then had a chance to design whatever creature they wanted.  Most of them turned out quite wonderfully (a few got their wires mixed up so when they moved the controller forward it went backwards or when they wanted it to turn left it turned right but c'est le vie!) After the Robo Critters were complete we held our own Robo Critter Olympics with the other Grade 6 class. We had relay races, Robo Critter soccer, a maze, a cup push and a balance  station. For the most part it was a lot of fun.

Now we are studying Space which has been a blast. We started off by writing our own Constellation stories. Students came up with their own myth and then created a picture of their constellation to go along with it.

While we were studying the stars I thought this would be a great opportunity to introduce my students' to the painting A Starry Night. We created our own versions of this painting using oil pastels and the hatching technique. I was impressed at some of the work my student's produced.

The Original by Van Gogh

Then we looked at the size of the planets to scale. Here is some art we produced while studying the planets' sizes. And yes we had a few good laughs when students were looking at pictures to copy from and asking the colours of each planet (What colour is Uranus? Can I see Uranus?).  haha I must admit I was laughing along side them.

Today we went outside and drew the distances of the planets from the sun to scale using sidewalk chalk.  It was a great way to visualize just how far apart the outer planets are. It also wasn't a bad way to get outside on such a gorgeous day.

In Social Studies students completed their own "Decades Project". Each student selected a decade from the 1900s to the 1990s to study and present to the class in the format of their choice. We had a lot of Power Points and Prezi presentations, a game show, one skit and a couple dioramas. This was probably the most unique presentation of facts done for the 1910s. This student discovered that the NHL started during his decade so he made a model of an NHL rink and then added his facts for each topic around the boards.  This was his end result:

Well 3 weeks left of school and it will be a busy three weeks. Field Day, a talent show, Grade 6 Farewell, Fun Mountain, a picnic in the school yard as well as a few other activities to finish off the year.  Kind of sad to see this group go and to have to say goodbye to them but two months of summer holidays will help console me :)

Baby Showers

So this is a week late but last week was busy with report card writing. Now that I'm finished up with that (well mostly anyways) I have some time to blog about last weekend.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to share (I took some with Olena's camera which I will get from her later and hopefully share).

Well last Saturday I hosted a baby shower for my little nephew Austin at my house.  I invited all of Olena and my high school friends as well as my brother's friends. We ended up having 15 adults and 5 children there. The 5 kids were ALL boys under the age of 3. It was super cute seeing them interact with each other. At one point I took a picture of the 5 boys all sitting together in a semi-circle just kind of looking at eachother. I HAVE to get this picture from Olena and post it, as it was adorable.

Anyways, the party went well. We had a BBQ and cupcakes (which I unfortunately realized afterwards that I never got a picture of).  It was kind of sad just how long it had been since all of us high school friends got together at the same time. Each of us had some exciting news to share or be congratulated on since we had last seen eachother. There was one engagement, one person moving to a new place, one person got a new car, one friend has decided not to go back to work after her maternity ends, my sister-in-law had a baby and I was able to share that I finally got permanent. Definitely nice to have so much to celebrate and great to hear so many good things are happening in my friend's lives.

On Sunday my sister-in-law's mom was hosting a Meet and Greet for Austin at her place. I went with my parents to this. It was another wonderful event with great people, great food and another chance to spend some time with my perfect little nephew. Again no pictures but I'll get some to share later.

In the mean time here are a few newer pictures of Austin:

I just got a few pictures from the Meet and Greet on Sunday that I am adding to this post. Here they are:

Father and son with their matching Hurley shirts

Family Photo

Mom and Dad with Baby

My dad photobombing our picture

A lot of food

Cookies by Kelly

Cake

Fruit Carriage

Decorations in the background

Grandma and Grandpa