Meet the Mayor

I am so excited! I just got a call from Mayor Annise Parker's office that I will be able to meet her on Friday, March 1st! I admire this woman so incredibly much, and it will be an honor to meet her. I'm so nervous, I hope I don't say anything dumb. You can assure me that I won't, but when I left a message on her machine I said that I was the girl who wanted to park meeting Mayor Cross off her bucket list, AND I gave them the wrong number. When I get nervous my brain cells run for cover. You guys, I cannot stress enough how important it is to let everyone know what your goals are! Don't keep them locked away inside your head or on paper that only you ever see. Share! Tell everyone! Post your goals on FB, Twitter, your blog, make sure all your friends know, keep your list with you everywhere and seize every opportunity to show it off. I get so much stuff crossed off that way. It works!

Flash Mobbing, rain and freezing temps

Ever since I saw a video of a flash mob, I knew I wanted to be a part of one. The happy surprised looks on the faces of the unsuspecting audience, the feeling of being a part of something awesome, the hint of joy at being sneaky like you're pulling off a big prank, all a big appeal to me. I searched on google until I found a local group who organizes them, and planned to join one as soon as I could. They didn't have too many last year, and as it happens, I wasn't able to go to the few they did. But I got a message a couple of weeks ago that they were planning a new one, so I jumped right on it. Last weekend we were supposed to meet somewhere (I don't want to give too many details and ruin the surprise for anyone from Houston who may read this) and do a mob to support an animal shelter. I bought my donations for the shelter and eagerly awaited Sunday morning. I knew there was a chance of rain, but the group said they would be there rain or shine. When I got up Sunday morning, an hour late, I jumped out of bed, got dressed and grabbed my bag of donations, only to get an email a few minutes later that the rain was so bad it was called off. Bummer. Not to worry though, because they were rescheduling it. So I have to wait a week, so what? It'll still be an amazingly cool thing to mark off and hopefully get a good video of for the blog. Last night my neighbor told me it is going to be 32 degrees on Saturday. 32! It's Houston! How is that possible?! I would just wait for the next flash mob opportunity, but given how things went last year, I know I may not get another chance for a long time. Sometimes when you really want to mark stuff off your list, you just need to seize opportunities as they come and suck it up if the conditions aren't perfect. Rain, cold, too early, too far away...it's not always ideal. But the satisfaction you feel after you do it anyway makes it that much sweeter. Not only will I participate in a flash mob, I'll participate in one in the freezing cold. It may not be as much fun for me as I'm doing it, but it'll make an even better story to tell, right?

Blog changes

I've recently started a blogging course with the amazing Celestine Chua of Personal Excellence and in the first week learned a ton about proper blog layout. If you've seen this blog before, you can see it is drastically different. I've changed the name, title, tag line, layout, theme, everything. I will be changing things more as I learn more. I hope to gain viewers and expand to teaching others how to be more adventurous and create their own bucket lists as well. I hope you'll stick with me as I learn and grow with blogging!

I'm a winner!!

I entered a contest with Visit Houston Texas earlier this year where I submitted things on my Houston Bucket list. Apparently they liked it because I won! I'd forgotten I even entered when I got an email last week from them saying I'd won a night at the Hotel Galvez and 4 tickets to see the Sugar Land Skeeters (both were on my list). Today I got my prize pack and it is even better than they said it was!! I got a two night stay plus brunch at the Hotel Galvez, 4 tickets to a 2013 Skeeters game, 6 passes to the St. Arnold Brewery, and 2 passes each to the Museum of Natural Science, Cockrell Butterfly Center and the Burke Baker Planetarium. St. Arnold's and the Planetarium were on my list, too! And even though I've already been there, I adore the museum and butterfly exhibit and am thrilled with passes to go again. This is going to help me knock so many things off my list in 2013!

Catching up

It seems like my bucket listing adventures pick up in the spring and summer, and then wane during the fall and winter months. I don't know if it's because the weather lends itself more to activity in warmer months, or if it's coincidence, or another aspect at play. But here I am again in May, putting full focus on my list. Some exciting news on the horizon...Mother's Day is this weekend here in the US, and my husband bought me the ultimate gift for an adventure junkie - a 30 minute flight discovery class, which includes flying an airplane (with an instructor)! I'm excited beyond belief, but also terrified. In other news, I am trying to win free tickets to Cypress Valley Canopy Tours to explore tree canopies and zipline. The two pictures with the most "likes" on Facebook win 4 tickets, and I am in third place now. I am so excited to hopefully win, I can taste it. If you would like to vote for me, please go here and click like on my picture. I did do a few things over the fall and winter months that I would like to share with you. I have done the Houston Zombie Walk previously in 2009, and convinced my friends to join me to walk again in 2011.

I also donated a few hand carved foam pumpkins to some causes I support, such as one to the local fire station and another to a local VFW. I made a third pumpkin especially for the Texas Heart Institute who are responsible saving the life of my best friend's husband twice. Once when he almost died from major heart complications, and again when they gave him a heart transplant. I am forever indebted to them. While I was donating the fire station pumpkin, the great volunteers there invited us inside to tour the station, get a good look at the trucks and where they sleep and hang out while on duty. I would really love to get a ride on Big Red someday! Here's to another Spring and Summer full of adventure!

Sports and Physical Activity

1. Play a round of golf
2. Surf
3. Wake board
4. Water ski
5. Swim in the ocean
6. Sail
7. Scuba dive
8. Snorkle
9. Parasail
10. Wind surf
11. Kayak
12. Canoe
13. Ski
14. Bowl
15. Hit a baseball with a bat
16. Bowl a strike
17. Raft
18. Hike a long trail
19. Mountain climbing
20. Rock climbing
21. Volcano boarding
22. Volcano climbing
23. Catch a fish
24. Deep sea fishing
25. Skateboard
26. Hit a bullseye with a dart
27. Win a game of pool
28. Rappel
29. Spelunk
30. Jet ski
31. Camping
32. Tree Canopy Exploration
33. Ziplining
34. See a Manchester United game live
35. See a Manchester United game in Old Trafford
36. Rope swing into water
37. See a roller derby match
38. Go to a live game for every major sport
39. See a baseball game live
40. See a live basketball game
41. " football
42. " hockey
43. " soccer
44. " tennis
45. " golf
46. " rugby
47. " cricket
48. " lacrosse
49. Attend the Olympics
50. Attend the World Cup
51. Attend the World Series
52. Attend the Superbowl
53. Attend a basketball championship game
54. Attend Wimbeldon
55. Attend the Stanley Cup
56. Attend a wrestling event
57. Run a marathon
58. Go fly fishing
59. Participate in a regatta
60. Catch a sailfish/swordfish or marlin
61. Snowmobile
62. Try fencing
63. Go sandboarding
64. Play paintball
65. Play laser tag
66. Watch a soccer match at a pub
67. Clean/gut a fish
68. Get seasons tickets for something
69. Do indoor sky diving
70. Do the polar plunge
71. Fly on a trapeze
72. Bike across the Golden Gate Bridge
73. Watch sumo wrestling (preferrably live)
74. Throw out the first pitch at a baseball game
75. See a minor league game
76. Take a circus class
77. Do the Great Urban Race

Leave a note in a library book

I went to the local library today to check out a book that is on my reading bucket list, and while I was there, decided to cross "Leave a positive note in a library book for a stranger to find" off my 101 things list. I decided to leave it in a self help book, and chose one by Dr. Phil, as I felt it'd be a popular one for people to check out. I stuck it in the middle of the book, folded up. Here is the letter -

I hope it helps someone!