50 Things at 50!

So I just turned 50 years old and I decided to make a goal to do 50 new things in my 50th year of life. I've been pretty blessed to have some awesome experiences in my life so far, so it may be kind of difficult to come up with 50 New things but I'm willing to give it a try! Here goes:

 (I started this post last May 15th on my birthday when I was feeling a little blue about turning the big 5-0! I mostly forgot about it until a few weeks ago as my next birthday was creeping closer. But amazingly I came up with 55 fun new things this year, mostly just living life as usual. They are kind of backwards chronologically, so if you want to scroll to the bottom and start with number one you can or just count backwards. Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to start your own list. I was inspired by my niece who chose to do 20 something new things on her 20 something birthday, all on one day!

55. Road a 4 wheeler and then hiked to the Mail Drop point of the Mail Drop Loop Trail. This is where the mail used to be delivered from Kanab and dropped to the communities below in Zion Park. It is about 500 feet down.

54. Hiked the walking trail along SR 18 with some of my Team Millcreek Friends.

53. Judged the National DECA competition in Salt Lake City with my friend, Jill Bridges.

52. Visited the new City Creek shopping center in downtown is Salt Lake City. Too bad it was a Sunday evening and all of the shops were closed. I'll have to return to shop another day!

51. Toured Temple Square in Salt Lake City by myself. Drove up on a Sunday night and enjoyed the beautiful spring flowers. I actually went in the visitor center and joined a group of DECA students from New Jersey and their adviser and visited with the sister missionaries. 

50. I almost got arrested! Our school resource officer came and got me out of class and told me he was told to issue me a citation. One of our students was stopped while out hanging posters on April 20, KONY day. The student told the officer that I, his teacher had assigned him to hang them up. Not exactly. My neighbor, Dannielle, had  brought me over some posters and said that maybe my students would like them. I had forgotten about the whole KONY movement that had swept the internet several months earlier. I used it as a lesson in my Character Ed class, that they were all excited to do something to make a difference, and a few months passed and everyone had forgotten the KONY story. I made some posters available and had them watch the video on the KONY site that said that they should do a 3 hour service project in their cities to make a difference for good and then if they did hang up signs, that they needed to take them down in a few days. Well, I got off with a warning and learned my lesson to be a little more clear about my assignments. :)

 With student, Kyle. He used his poster to make a book cover!

49. Repelled down a cliff to the river at Beaver Falls at Havasupai.

48. Swung into the river at Havasupai on another rope swing.

47.  Went to my first Lacrosse game. My friend, Gabe Suttner, called and asked me if I'd like to come watch his game and I said yes! Here I am with Gabe's mom, Mindy.

46.Witnessed a magnificent full rainbow above St. George. (Photo courtesy of Mike Anderson, taken up on Stone Cliff hill)

45. Ate a the first Pub in Philadelphia, McGillins. Great food! Good times.

Got a free trip to Philly to attend the National TESOL conference (for ESL teachers). This just happens to be the city where my daughter and her family live. What a blessing!

44. Had an up close and personal experience with the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. It was after 10:00 pm and no one was around so I just set and reflected on our freedom for a few minutes.

43. Lost my I-phone on the streets of down town Philadelphia. Luckily, a nice tourist answered it when I called and he met me at the Old Station downtown and said, "Aren't you glad there are still a few honest people in the world". He was from England and had a wonderful British accent.Yes, I am glad!

42. Discovered a quaint little city called Jerome, AZ that sits on the side of a steep hillside. It is an old mining town between Prescott and Sedona.We definitely want to explore this city sometime.

41. Drove through the town of Sedona and wished we had time to stop and explore. It is beautiful city that reminded me of the scenery in the movie Cars. We will go back to Sedona, AZ!

40. Met Dan's cousin, Congressman Jeff Flake and family at the town Courthouse in Prescott, AZ. He was campaigning for his run for the Arizona Senate. Dan and his family used to stay at Jeff's home when they were boys and Dan's family would go to Snowflake for the annual July reunion.

39. Hiked nearly to the top of the Thumb above Prescott, AZ. There were endangered birds at the top so they wouldn't allow us to hike all the way to the top. 

38. Looked down over the Colorado River from the new bridge at the Hoover Dam. 800 feet up.

37. Got to go down to the team room and video room at the bottom of the Marriott center after a BYU basketball game. Thanks to connections with the Jackson family.  

36. Rode mountain bikes with my sister, Jill, husband, Dan and son Andrew in Green Valley.

35.Visited Vancouver British Colombia for the First time. Also first trip to Canada other than a quick walk over the border at Niagara Falls near New York. 

34.  Visited many of the Olympic sights from the Vancouver Winter Games.

33. Visited the Vancouver, BC, Canadian temple. Lindsey served her mission here                                  but the temple wasn't quite complete.

32.  Mountain biked along the famous trails of Whistler Canada. Even saw a bear near the lake.

31. Visited many beautiful waterfalls near Whistler, Canada. 

30.  Fed birds trail mix from our hands on the top of Whistler mountain.

29.  Rode the longest spanning Gondola in the world from one ski mountain to another on top of Whistler.

28. Visited Linvilla Apple and Pumpkin orchard near Philadelphia. 

27. Participated with Mormon Helping Hands to help Clean up a Philadelphia cemetery. 

26.  Made friends with the lovely Liberian Immigrant sisters in the Philadelphia First Ward.

25. Happy that my daughter Lindsey graduated from Bellevue University. 

I'll take credit for supporting her financially and helping to keep her motivated to finish.

24. Celebrated my 29th Wedding anniversary with my husband, Dan, by riding on the new                       St. George Carousal for the first time. 

23. Spent $100's of dollars for food at Costco to feed the youth on their Temple Trek.

 Then we had to load the refrigerated truck.

 22. Was driven to drink with my fellow young women leaders after cooking food for 400 people during the Youth Conference Temple Trek. (Root beer of course)

21.  Helped build a replica of the St. George temple on our stake youth Temple Trek.

20. Swung on a rope swing into the Merced River in Yosemite Park.

19. Rode down the lazy Merced River as my son and nephews paddled the boat.

18. Headed out on a two week trip from St. George. It was a work and pleasure trip. First stop was Bear Lake for a family reunion where we launched and sailed our Hobie Cat. Next we were off to Folsom, CA for a job for the boys.

 

17. Swung on a rope swing out over Bloomington Lake up near Bear Lake.
I didn't jump but some of the kids and adults did.

16. Mother of a BYU graduate! 

15. Attended an all day Yoga Retreat taught by my friend, Pam Molesworth.

14. Attended the inaugural session of Hot Hula at the Summit Fitness Center.

13.. Videoed and produced my first Music Video, Peponi on Sand Mountain above Warner Valley.

12. Discovered the beautiful playground on top of the Red Sand Mountain.


11. Watched and participated in a natural birth, as my daughter Lindsey delivered
baby Dillon in Philadelphia.

10. Welcomed home my first son, Dawson after he faithfully served a two year mission.

9. Ran my first 5K, well I actually walked, in support of Children of Hope. My good friend, Sam attends the school for students who have graduated from high school and post high and need somewhere to keep learning. Dawson went with me and he ran!

8. Designed, pieced and quilted a blanket for my little grand daughter for Christmas.

7. Skippered a boat on Lake Powell
6. Raced in an official Hobie Regatta and took first place in the 3 man division!

5. Attended a Zumba Master Class with the Crazy Socks guy and my new friend Laurie.

4. Participated in the life saving efforts of saving children from tipped canoes at Sand Hollow Reservoir when a big wind came up and boats were capsizing.

3. Hiked to the top of Angels Landing in Zion National Park.

2. Performed with the singing Elvis's at our end of year assembly singing a medley of Elvis songs. My solo was "Jailhouse Rock." I'm the Elvis in the black leather jacket.

1. Lead the Singing in front of the whole congregation at Church!