Should Have Been Bucket List Items

For a little over a week I've been gone on vacation to a little lake near Whitefish, Montana.  While there I did many water sports that would have definitely been on my bucket list, but I started doing them far before my bucket list started.  I had a great week, so I thought I would write about these non bucket list items.

Non-Bucket List List

-Try kneeboarding

-Learn to wakeboard

-Drop a waterski 

-Do a 360 on the kneeboard

After I was born, I spent three out of my first five weeks at the lake. At a young age I first tried kneeboarded.  I was small enough that I could kneel on the board, and it would still float, before the boat started pulling.  I had very little control over what I was doing; I would stay directly behind the boat, too small to have the strength to get over the wake.  It was a start; a decade later I was confident, going back, and forth across the wake.  Learning to do the 360 took practice.  After a while I was able to easily spin the kneeboard all the way around, catching the handle behind my back as I made the circle.

After learning to kneeboard, waterskiing was next.  It was much harder then the kneeboard, but I remember being bribed with perigees (my favorite food at the time) to get in the water, and go for a waterski.  I started on the boom, which is shown in the photo above, it's a pole that goes out the side of the boat, making it easier for beginner to learn, because they are close, and can get instructions from the boat driver. Next I tried being pulled behind the boat.  Then after years of practice I tried dropping a ski, it was slightly scary, but after a few tries I did it.  To drop a ski you make one ski boot really loose, then when you feel comfortable you slip your foot out, and put it behind your foot that is still attached to the ski.  This is how you learn to slalom ski, eventually with more practice I will learn to get up on one ski; I should probably put that one on my bucket list.

I started wakeboarding when I was a little older; I think it's the hardest to begin learning.  It's my favorite of the water sports, because it reminds me of snowboarding; I did a lot of wakeboarding this past week.  I have mastered doing switch stands on both sides, and though it's easy to wipeout, it's totally worth it.  Though I didn't accomplish any bucket list items on my vacation, I had fun relaxing in Montana.

See A Talking Parrot

This would have definitely been a bucket list item if I new that talking parrots were real!  Up till a few days ago I thought they only existed in movies.  I'm glad to say I was wrong!

I was with a group of friends watching movies at a house that one of them is house sitting at.  After arriving I discovered the parrot.  His name is Jake, and at first he was very quiet, shy in front of the new people, who had just entered his home.  Eventually he started making his weird noises, like random gurgles, or chuckles.  After starting the movie we heard words for the first time, though they were difficult to understand. Later I was impressed when Jake made the noise of a phone ringing, followed by the sound of a person answering, and talking on the phone. Sadly Jake could not say Polly want a cracker.

I was amazed that this bird was able to mimic sounds, and human words; I couldn't stop wonder how, and why Jake made the noises he did.  After googling why do parrots talk, I came to the conclusion that it is to get attention.  When the parrot is alone without any other parrots around, it quickly tries to learn how to communicate with the people around them. Though they can not understand what they are saying, the shape of a parrots airway allows it to mimic the noises they hear around them.  It was a moment of shock when I learned that like in the movies parrots can actually talk.  It was very entertaining listening to Jake, but he is loud in the early morning, and rather messy, so I would never want a parrot of my own.

60. Bake A Pie

Today I proved why I'm not a baker...

I arrive home this evening, and I was determined to cross something off my bucket list.  I quickly decided I wanted to bake a pie, so I looked in the freezer to see if I had any pie crusts.  Disappointed for a second when I didn't find any, I hopped in my car, and drove to town.  After arriving home I found the bucket of Saskatoon berries that I had picked from my Mum's bush the day before.  We have been having problems with birds eating our berries, so as you see in the photo bellow we have put out some "scarecrows" to scare away the birds, and they have been working quite well.

One of the easiest ways to wash berries is to put them in a bucket of water.  The berries float making it easy to scoop them out after they are clean.

Saskatoon Pie

3 cups           -Saskatoon berries
3/4 cup          -sugar
1/4 cup          -flour (or uncooked minute tapioca)
1 tsp            -lemon juice
2                -pastry pie crust

After letting the crusts thaw for fifteen minutes, I placed the bottom crust in the pie plate.  In a bowl I mixed the sugar and flour, then add the Saskatoon berries.  I poured the content of the bowl into the pie crust, then sprinkled the lemon juice on top of the pie.

Before putting my pie in the oven I covered it with the top crust on, and cut slits in the top for steam to release.  The recipe said to bake the pie for 10 min at 425 degrees, then 45 min at 350 degrees.  I forgot to turn the temperature down on the oven, which resulted in the crust being very dry.  The inside was still very good, but it was disappointing that the pie did not turn out perfectly.  Saskatoon pie is my favorite pie, after I pick three more cups of berries I'm gonna try to bake another pie.

Survive Eighteen Years

This isn't a bucket list item...well it should have been.  A few days ago I celebrated my eighteenth birthday!  I now enter a world with far more freedom, and responsibility.  I've never been one to make a big deal about birthdays; I stopped having birthday parties at the age when my Mum stopped organizing them.  Of course this birthday was an exception, it was an important day that marked the transition into adulthood.

I went out for lunch at Boston Pizza with my Mum (if your ever there try the Spicy Perogy Pizza, it's my favorite).  This is where I had my first legal drink!  I ordered a blue martini with my meal, which tasted very good!  That evening I went out with friends to celebrate the significant milestone.  Throughout the day I thought about the last eighteen years, the long journey I took to get where I was now, and the exciting future I have planned.  Now I'm done high school, I'm eighteen, and heading off to university.  Everything is going so fast, it's kind of hard to believe.

P.S. I've been thinking to celebrate my eighteenth that I might go sky diving.  There is a local company, and I've been looking at prices, so I'm deeply considering it!

P.S.S. What do you guys think if I do a few posts every so often like this one, which is not about specific bucket list items?

122. Learn To Walk In High Heels

After buying my beautiful dress for graduation I knew the next thing to do was buy some fancy shoes.  Since my date was 6.3'' I quickly decided I was going to be wear heels.  It's not that I've never wore heels before, just that these four inch heels are easily the highest I've ever owned. I was unsure of my new shoes when I first tried them on at the store; I imagined one clumsy step resulting in me falling on my face, but I bought them anyways.  Soon after bring them home I added bucket list item 122 to the list, and began practicing.

I started by googling how to walk in high heels, and learned the technique of going heel then toe.  They recommended going gradually through the different heal heights and styles before going to the four inch pump, but I didn't have the shoes, or the time for that.  I began where the heels whenever I was at home.  I'd wear them while studying, cooking, or even watching T.V.  Once when hanging out with one of my friends we had a high heel wearing contest to see who could where their pumps the longest...I won!

Wearing heels to graduation was extremely fun!  It made the occasion feel even more special, because it was the first time I had wore my new shoes out of the house.  I found walking in heels on grass was difficult, because the heels would slip through the dirt; I ended up aerating the grass.  I'm happy to say I never fell once, though my feet did get sore from all the standing, and walking.  Now I'll have to find more excuses to wear my high heels!

54. Learn To Play The Harmonica

So, I'll be honest...I completed this bucket list item a little while ago...well actually a little more then a little while...ok, around two years ago.  I have a few bucket list items that are from my originally bucket list, that I completed before my blog started.  Well I have to catch up sometime, so I was thinking now.

It was the spring of 2010, and I was running around Walmart waiting for my Mum to be done here grocery shopping, when I saw the harmonica for sale with an instruction booklet.  I'm always up for a challenge (like look at that list to the right), so I thought why not, and grabbed the harmonica, and went to the till.  I found the harmonica easy to learn, soon I was playing all the songs in the little beginners book that came with it.  I started translating old clarinet music I had lying around.  I eventually bought the Harmonicas for Dummies book from chapters, but honestly I didn't find it very useful.  The harmonica was a short lived hobby, I soon got bored, and moved on to a new challenge.  It is a very unique instrument, I would recommend anyone who plays an instrument to find one to try.  I learned a lot from my little harmonica, and had a lot of fun with it.

I pulled out my little harmonica today, and remember how I used to play it.  I was nowhere near as good as after I got it all those years ago. After a few minutes of playing with it, and taking a picture, I slid my harmonica back into my past.

89. Explore A Castle

It's been a while since my castle exploring, but I got distracted, and never finished writing about my bucket list items I completed on my trip to Europe.  When in Italy I stopped at a smaller town called Assisi (this is also where I completed 7. Try Gelato).  I had no clue I would get to see a castle, or even get to go in one, it was a pleasant surprise.  My tour guide lead us on a short hike, which took no more then ten minutes to reach the castle.  There was a small fee to enter the castle, but it was definitely worth it.

After paying the fee my friends, and I went exploring.  I kept thinking how this would be the perfect place to play hide and seek.  There were passageways going every where connecting to smaller rooms, and towers. It was quite the workout going up the continuous spiral stair cases to get to the lookout towers, but the view from the tops was incredible.  One of the best parts was going through the small tunnel that connected the castle to another tower; they were dark, and while walking through them it was easy to forget the world that existed outside the castle walls. One day I would love to get the opportunity to visit another castle, probably in different european county.  It would be fun to explore it, and compare it to the castle in Assisi.

125. Spray Paint Something

This was a last minute add on to the bucket list when I learned that at the end of my grade twelve year I would get to spray paint the street in front of the high school.  It was my first time ever using a can of spray paint, and after painting the street, I came to the conclusion that graffiti artist is not a career option for my future.  It was a creative way to leave our mark on the school we had spent our last twelve years in; though the paint will soon wash away, it will disappearing like the class of 2012.

The students union supplied dozens of cans of spray paint; I grabbed a bright orange, and picked a spot on the street to begin writing my name. Soon after I found the lime green, and traced around the orange, and followed creating a border with blue.  I ended with drawing the 'smiley' face I have doodled on everything this past year.  It is a symbol of memories from my last year of high school, and the person I was when I left, before entering the real world.  I don't know if I will ever spray paint again, but it is nice for my rebel side to be able to say I tried it at least once.

117. Swim With Sea Turtles

Before going to Hawaii I thought that seeing a sea turtle in the wild was rare; soon after arriving I learned I was wrong.  I was ecstatic when I saw a couple turtles on my first morning snorkelling. The one in the first photo is the turtle I technically completed this bucket list item with.  I swam a small distance behind him, as he swam his way across the reef.  For a few minutes I followed taking pictures of the unique creature.  After that I saw many turtles, most were resting on the bottom, or under ledges, and were only saw when they swam up to the surface for air.

The second two turtles I saw when I went snorkelling at turtle town (as I said in the post 78. Go Snorkelling in the Ocean, turtle town is not a specific place it is just an area named that when many turtles are there, and is easily accessible from shore).  These two were huge, and came up very close to me.  There is a Hawaiian law that you may not touch, or interfere with the turtles in anyway; violators are charged up to a $10 000 fine.  As these large animals swam toward me, I did my best to keep my distance.  The one in the back is missing it's front right flipper; likely it was attacked by a shark.  Even missing a flipper the turtle was swimming great, he was a very speedy, gigantic, amputee.  They soon returned back under the ledge they were hiding under, and I swam along, continuing to explore the corl reef.  It was amazing to be swimming with the creature that has been my favorite animal since grade two!

64. Graduate From High School

After twelve years of counting down I finally made it!  Last week I finished diplomas, and a few days ago was the cap and gown, and the prom. It was a long busy day, but overall was a lot of fun.  The day began when we put on those funny black dresses, and those weird square hats with the tassels.  The graduating class was lined up in alphabetical order, and sent into a gym full of proud family members,  and friends.  After many heart felt speeches we were all called up, given our diplomas, and then finally as a group, we through the weird square hats up into the air. All of which occurred before 11:30am.

As soon as cap and gown was finished I took some photos with friends, and family, then left the school to prepare for the prom.  At this point it would be much more simple to be a boy then a girl; all guys have to do is possibly shave, comb there hair, and put on a suit.  For us ladies it is a far longer process; first I did my makeup, then my hour plus long hair appointment, followed by painted my finger nails, and finally I put on my prom dress.  It was so exciting to get to wearing the dress I bought over six months ago.

My escort- a close friend of mine- picked me up at my house, we both admitted the other cleaned up good.  With our matching corsage, and buttoner we set out for the exciting evening.  I don't know how prom works at other schools, but ours started with the grads meeting up for a group picture, then with our escorts we walk to the arena, which was decorated in an Winter Wonderland theme.  Inside we had  an evening of celebrating with friends, and family.  There was a dinner, then more speeches, and finally some music was put on to dance.  By the end of the night my dress had a big rip in the back from the end being stepped on while I was walking, and the bottom was muddy from the floor being wet, luckily I only intended to wear the dress once.  The evening ended when the grads were loaded into a bus, and headed to the safe grad party to celebrate together.  It was the last time my class of 2012 will all be together, but I will be left with many good memories from that night.

PS. I apologize for the length of this post, but I thought since it is such a milestone it would be ok.