Missions Accomplished: 26 and 44

It’s been a really long time since I’ve updated, and a lot of stuff has gone down, but I thought I’d start with my latest life list adventures.  To bring you up to speed in case you have no idea what I’m talking about, at the beginning of the year I made a bucket list of sorts with 100 things I want to do before I die.  Apparently I’ve been a busy girl, beacause I’ve accomplished TWO things from my list and didn’t even pay attention!  Yay me!

Number 26: Cherry Blossom Tattoo

My most recent adventure was getting the cherry blossom tattoo that I”ve been thinking about for a long time.  I wanted a tattoo to remind me of all of the amazing women in my life.  Both of my grandpas died before I ever got to know them. My grandma’s never remarried, but have kept active, taking care of the family and caring for others.  My great grandma lived to be 102, was born in 1900, traveled across Kansas in a covered wagon as a kid, was the first woman in her town to own a car, survived breast cancer, outlived two husbands, survived the death of her son, and took care of people until the day she died.  My mom went back to school when my brother and I were little, working 40 hrs a week as a secretary and taking night classes to become an interpreter.  Anyway, in Asian symbology, cherry blossoms represent femininity and beauty.  I wanted a cherry blossom tree to represent the strength of these awesome women in my family.  I got the outline done in June, went a couple of weeks ago to get the color filled in and I LOVE it!  Mission accomplished.

Number 44: Do something completely random

This is one that I forgot I put on the list but realized that I completed when I read back through it today.  For some reason, I thought it would be fun do do something completely and totally random that nobody would think of doing.  I’ve already told you about the adventures of Harriet the Hula-Hooping-Hippo in Colorado.  I thought it would be funny to start a wierd photo project with a pink hippo alarm clock.  That’s pretty random, don’t you think?  I went on a mission trip, brought along a silly pink hippo and took it up to Pike’s Peak.  Who does that?  I’m going to call that a mission accomplished.  haha.

 
Suggestions for Number 50: Do something out of my normal routine every day for one month

So there you have it.  I can now officially cross two more things off my life to-do list.  Now here comes the part where I want some suggestions.  I have officially decided that October is going to be the month that I am going to do something new, something different, something out of my normal routine every day.  If you have any suggestions as to what I should do, I’d love to hear them.  So far, I know that I’m going to eat completely vegetarian for a day, start a meal with desert, watch casablanca, and try a morning yoga routine.  Other suggestions??  My whole thought process is that I want to get out of the daily grind, change up my normal routine, try new things, and look for fun ways to spend my time.

Thanks for listening (or reading as the case may be).  I promise I’ll get better about updating this thing yet.  Happy Thursday!

Harriet the Hula-Hooping Hippo’s Colorado Adventure

It’s been a while, and I could probably talk about any number of things in this entry.  To shake things up, I have decided to tell you about my hippo.  I received an awesomely cheezy hula-hooping hippo clock during high school from a friend (kateohkatie).  It is freakin annoying to actually use for its intented purpose of waking you up, but it makes me giggle.  This stupid hippo clock has been sitting in my room collecting dust for literally YEARS and I finally decided that I either need to make use of it or get rid of it.  At the beginning of August I went on a mission trip to Colorado Springs with a group of young adults from my church.  I haven’t ever been to CO, so I thought it would be fun to take my hippo along and snap a few vacation pics.  We drove from KC to Colby, KS (the Oasis of the Plains), which took about 6 hrs, and then went the rest of the way to Colorado Springs.  Here’s Hippo on the road.

We stayed at a local United Methodist church in Colorado Springs.    

Not the best digs. We had to sleep on air mattresses in their fellowship hall, but it was free lodging so I can’t complain too much.

We spent a day working on a Habitat for Humanity house in Colorado Springs.

We also spent a morning at a Ronald McDonald house where families can stay when their kids have serious medical problems.

But don’t worry, we had some time for sight seeing too.  We made a trip to Pike’s Peak.  Saw the mountains and a random stuffed long horn sheep at the gift shop.

I made a point to bring Hippo with me most of the time, but she didn’t make it everywhere.  In addition to working with Habitat, we also spent a day at a Salvation Army homeless shelter doing yard work and clearing off their front porch area.  And then we went to a Rescue Mission and helped them sort clothing donations to put in their store that benefits families in need in Colorado Springs.  As far as fun stuff, not only did we go to Pikes Peak, we also went to the Olympic training center, the Air Force training academy, and Garden of the Gods.  It was seriously an awesome time.  Not only did I get to go to a new place, spend some time around the mountains, and do some good work, I also got to hang out with young adults from my church who I haven’t really spent a lot of time with before.  It was nice to hang out with new people around my age, which is something that I haven’t done a lot lately.

So there you have it.  Hippo and I had a great time in Colorado Springs.  This begs the question: Should my hula-hooping hippo make another trip?  If so, where?  Thoughts??