before i die

For sometime now, I have kept a list of things I want to do before I die. Well, I've accomplised quite a few so here's the updated list in no particular order. The stars (*) with the info indicate things I've already done.

1. Heli-Boarding

2. Sky Diving

3. Bungee Jumping

4. Attend the Winter Olympics

5. Visit Chile

6. Backpack for a month or more

7. Coast-to-Coast Road Trip

8. Live in CO

9. Go to Carnival in Rio

10. Dive the GBR

11. See a Broadway Show

*"Wicked" November, 2007

12. Deep Sea Fishing

*Florida, 25 miles out from the Isles of Capri. 2005, 2006, and 2007

13. Set foot on all 7 continents

14. Live in Africa

15. See Mayan Ruins

*Chichenizta Ruins, Yucatan State, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.-March 2007

16. Climb an Active Volcano

17. Summit Mt. Saint Helens

18. Go to an FIFA game

19. Visit Prague

20. See a concentration camp

21. Meet the current President

22. Visit Ireland, visit county Armagh where my family is from

23. Surf in HI

34. Learn to play Cello

35. Hike a section of the App. trail

36. Cliff Diving

*Tennesee River, Outside of Knoxville-1999

*Cenote "Ik Kil" outside of Pista, Yucatan, Mexico 2007

37. Climb at LEAST one of the seven Summits

38. Backcountry Riding

*2004, 2006, 2007. -CO

39. Work as a Backcountry Guide

40. Walk a section of the Great Wall

41. Run a Marathon-finish in under 3 hours

42. Complete a Triatholon

43. Name a Star

44. Rodeo 720

45. Swim in Every Ocean

46. Visit Los Isles Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

47. Niagra Falls

*Toronto, 2004

48. Visit Easter Islands with my Dad

49. Write a book

50. Kite Boarding

51. Sleep in a tree

52. Sleep in my Hammock for 365 days consecutively

*currently haven't made it past 28 days...

53. Take a Kayaking coastal trip

54. Own a Dog

55. NYC

*2003

56. Eat an insect

57. Ride at Snowplanet or Tokyo Dome (indoor snow resorts)

58. Ride at Whistler & Blackcomb

59. Swim in a Fountain

60. White Water Rafting

61. See Midnight Sun AND Northern Lights in Alaska

62. Get my pilot's license

63. Get AASI Level 1 & 2 Certified

*Level 1 certified-January 24-25th, 2009

64. Get AAIRE Level I & II Certified

65. Plant a garden

66. BASE (Building-Antenna-Span-Earth) Jump

68. Have a piece of my art publicly displayed

69. See the catacombs in Europe

70. Attend an All-Blacks game (NZ's Rugby Team)

71. Visit Venice, Italy

72. Zorbing

73. Victoria Falls

74. Visit the MMoA in NYC

75. Visit at LEAST 4/7 of the new wonders of the world.

*1. Chichen Itza, Mexico 2007

76. Visit the Valencia Aquarium

77. Go on a Wine Tasting tour

78. Paragliding

79. Join the Traveler's Century Club (i.e. travel to 100 or more countries to obtain membership)

*current count...3...this one may take a "lifetime" haha

thoughts after reading "a grief observed"

"I need Christ, not something that resembles Him."
-C.S. Lewis

I think that this is the tragic flaw, the pitfall if you will, of the young Christian women of my generation. We fall in love not with the Creator, but with the creation. We fall in love with the "idea" of a man. We place the man, the creation, upon a pedestal and expect him to provide the perfection we desire. I think that we, young Christian women, are in desperate need of a reality check. To expect that because a man is Christian, he is without flaw, never to be rebuked, never to be assisted when he stumbles is not only ignorant and unrealistic, it is dangerous. There is nothing more dangerous than to ignore the reality that God has set before us.

We are flawed, we are not now, what we should have been. We are fallen, we have come away from what we were.

Women of Christ. Daughters of God. Chosen ones of the Most Holy. Only one man will ever satisfy you. Only one man will ever know you inside and out. Only one man will ever give you what you need. Only one man will ever fulfill you.

Jesus Christ.

Friends. We must love the Creator before we can love the creation.

into the woods.

"How vain it is to write when you have not stood up to live."
-Henry David Thoreau

"I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life...to put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."
~Henry David Thoreau

friends, i am going into the woods.

so many talented friends...

A dear old friend of mine is a talented artist. Please check out Chris's work.