Tonight Luke and I went out to dinner to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. I asked him what he would put on his bucket list, and it was a good one. I’ve been toying around with the same idea. #7 is dedicated to him.

6/7/8 Kathryn Albertson Park, Boise

It’s only been 4 years of wedded bliss, but the last 12 years have been filled with love and tenderness that will last a lifetime.

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.
4. Tour all 50 states in an RV.
5. Visit Monet’s Gardens at Giverny.
6. Take ballroom dancing classes so I can ballroom dance for fun.
7. Travel to a far away destination by boat.

 

Dance has always been a part of my life that brings me joy and happiness. My brother and I took traditional ballet/tap/jazz classes growing up, and as adults we took salsa classes. We also got to watch our mom’s BFF, Louise, do competitive ballroom dancing. In 5th grade I got a pair of gold and diamond dancing heels. So mature and so cool. Paired with the amazing dresses and Vaseline smiles, it calls to my inner Barbie.

Memories of ballroom dancing competitions, so tender.

Dance has made me coordinated and comfortable in my body. I’m sure that’s why I’m so confident trying new sports and physical activities, except snowboarding. I also learned that in pairs dancing I’m a terrible follower. During salsa dances I’ve had partners stop dancing and tell me to “stop leading.” I’m sure it helped me be a better kindergarten teacher, but not a dance partner. I don’t know if Luke would be willing to help me with #6, but I’m pretty sure my brother would be into it. Or I may just have to put myself out there and accept whoever is willing to try and break me of my bad leading habit. As long as I’m dancing, I’ll be happy.

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.
4. Tour all 50 states in an RV.
5. Visit Monet’s Gardens at Giverny.
6. Take ballroom dancing classes so I can ballroom dance for fun.

He’s an outdoor enthusiast already.

Interpreting the trail.

He was so good at following me because I was the keeper of the crackers. Or maybe he’s just really into hiking?

My mom was an Art Docent in our local elementary schools and enjoys water color painting. My dad was an Interior Landscape Designer and is an avid gardener. It is only fitting that my favorite artist growing up was Claude Monet, famous for his Water Lillies.

One of my favorite books is Linnea In Monet’s Garden. It’s a kid’s book, but one of my top 5 favorites of all time. If you have a child, get them this book! Or buy it for yourself and enjoy the beautiful art, photos, cartoons and awesome art education.

Monet painted flowers, family, and the lush gardens at his home in Giverny, France. I got to see some of his originals at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. For me, seeing original Monet pieces was akin to seeing a celebrity, only better. This is me next to an original of his water lillies and the bridge in his garden. When I saw people taking pictures throughout the museum I thought they were totally corny, until I saw this and then succumbed to the corniness within.

I kick myself for being a short train ride from Monet’s Gardens on our French Honeymoon and not going to see them because, according to books, it’s too commercial. Tour guides be damned! It’s my #5.

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.
4. Tour all 50 states in an RV.
5. Visit Monet’s Gardens at Giverny.

“Shh shh” aka brushing teeth

He’s got big shoes to fill.

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.
4. Tour all 50 states in an RV.

He’s become quite a good hugger, and nothing feels better than his little arms holding me close. This is the one armed hold, because heaven forbid he should let go of my water bottle. Somehow it’s water tastes so much better than the H2O from his own water bottle.

Mmmm, this water is heavenly.

Tender (open mouthed) kisses.

My mother once told me she believed that a child who sings is a happy child. She told me this when I was 5 or 6 years old and she found me sitting in the backyard, making daisy chains and singing to myself. There was a feeling of embarrassment at being caught singing to myself, but thankfully I was assured that I was still normal. Occasionally I would go to church with my godfather Brian. I would sit quietly, drawing on the collection cards, until it was time to sing. Opening the hymnal (and figuring out how to read it) was a wonderful feeling. Listening to Brian’s lovely voice, the one lady who always sang louder than anyone and to the entire congregation in song was a truly heart opening experience. When I was older I took a singing class, which was an unfortunate turn in my enjoyment of singing. My voice is naturally low and the teacher never instructed me on how to use it correctly. It was embarrassing when I sang a final solo in front of the class in what I’m sure is an octave or two above my natural range. That experience didn’t discourage my love of singing, and since then I have continued to do so.

I sing along with musicals, the radio, other people, I sing a lot. When I don’t know the words, I hum. One of the biggest perks of working at Challenger, as a teacher, was their very thorough use of songs as teaching tools. It was a dream, I got to sing every single day and with other people. Usually it was with a bunch of kids, but occasionally the teachers would sing together too. I often got goose bumps when that happened. It was so nice to feel the human connection that comes with singing in a chorus and to listen to children burst into song in the middle of an activity. They all knew the  words and it was the closest I’ve ever come to living in a musical.

It got to the point where I was singing so many school songs at home every night that Luke asked me to please stop singing Challenger songs. Luckily, country songs are nice and easy to belt out, and living in Idaho there is an abundance of country music. As much as I love singing with Porter, in the car, doing yard work, cleaning the house and in general I would love to have some more formal experience singing, and that is number 3 on my bucket list.

1. Travel to 6 of the 7 continents. Let’s be honest, Antarctica is a long shot. So far I’ve been to North America (Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica) and Europe (France).
2. Spend time practicing yoga at an ashram in India, with my brother.
3. Join a choral group and sing with them regularly.

Collecting sticks

“Mama, you don’t have any sticks! Let me give you one, or maybe three, of mine. Really, it’s no problem.”

Descendant from monkeys, the natural desire to climb.

Hurray! Acrobatic skill level unlocked.

May has come and gone and ’tis June 1st at last. I’ve been waiting for this day since January 1st. With it’s warm sunny evenings and lots of time and reasons to be outside enjoying nature, spring is fantastic. Last month’s Affirmation Challenge was a lovely way to get my mind focused and back on track. Those 4 affirmations played a large part in my motivation to continue the Couch to 5K training regimen, eating right, losing 10 more pounds (despite wonderful family visits, replete with parties, margaritas and many ‘smores), and all of that with a bountiful appreciation for life and love.

Each night I affirmed:

I make healthy choices in everything that I do. I treat myself and others with loving kindness, especially Luke and Porter. I follow through with everything that I begin. I surrender to my best and highest self.

June’s challenge is something I’ve never done before, but feel is essential to living a full and rewarding life. This month I’ll be creating my bucket list of goals to accomplish, before I kick the bucket. A few bucket list items that I’ve already completed in this lifetime are:

• Completed the Spudman Olympic Distance Triathlon
• Lived/studied internationally
• Own my own house and property
• Birthed my child naturally, out of hospital
• Became a teacher
• Went to college
• Have a deep and meaningful relationship
• River rafting
• Tried surfing
• Won: half way to Hawaii contest, woot! 
• Lost: came in dead last in said triathlon, not a total loss though really.

My criteria for adding items to the list are simple.

1. Each item must be something that can be solidly accomplished and documented, no touchy-feely goals for this list. 
2. A new item must be added every single day and posted on this blog. 
3. Ideas can be crazy and far fetched, but must have the potential to be accomplished in this lifetime.

I love this outfit, he’s like a real boy!

Definitely the king of his castle.

I don’t know about other mamas, but I kiss my kid all the time.

Goslings in the park, out for a field trip. I got so close and into taking this picture that when I looked up mama goose was dangerously close and giving me the stink eye.

Today’s walk put him right to sleep, my tender baby.

A few years ago, Porter’s Grandma Teri and Aunt Anna became bee keepers. Before that, his Granddad Craig and Grandma Teri were (and still are) avid gardeners. As we all know, bees and plants have a symbiotic relationship, without which our world would cease to exist. And the beautiful gardens we know and love would suck. Now, because of a stuffed bee, Porter also has a thing for stripey honey makers.

Bees are good and necessary.  We like bees, despite their kamikaze tendencies. So, as you can imagine, the whole Colony Collapse Disorder was understood and taken seriously by our families. It’s bad, real bad. Just a few weeks ago I came upon this article in “The Week” magazine, explaining where Colony Collapse probably stems from. Low and behold, it’s caused by current pesticide practices. An entirely human caused conundrum. Here’s what the article says,

“Why Honeybees Are Disappearing

The mystery of the massive die-off of honeybees may have been solved. Three new studies point to a widely used class of pesticides called neonicotinoids as the main reason for “colony collapse disorder,” in which millions of honeybees and bumblebees have died off in the U.S. and Europe in the past decade. Developed in the 1990s, neonicotinoids disrupt the nervous systems of insects that destroy crops. The pesticides are commonly used in agriculture and backyard gardening products, and have made their way into the corn syrup that many beekeepers feed their hives after harvesting honey. Around the time colonies started collapsing, farmers began heavily treating corn crops—used to make the syrup—with neonicotinoids. Studies indicate that the pesticide can be found in many honeybees, which pollinate more than a third of U.S. crops. “It apparently doesn’t take much of the pesticide to affect the bees,” Harvard University biologist Chensheng Lu tells Scientific American. He found that even trace amounts killed off hives within six months. In other studies, honey-bees fed neonicotinoids got lost while foraging, and bumblebees produced radically fewer queens. Says Pennsylvania beekeeper Dave Hackenberg, “We’ve got a toxic mess.”

The bee that started it all, in it’s habitat, bed. Bees like flowers, and we happen to have a small field of them blooming in our Thyme lawn. If you listen closely to the buzzing, they’re all shouting, “Hurray!!” and singing their busy bees working tune. As of today I dubbed Porter the bee whisperer. He’s fascinated with the insects, and having hundreds of them working in our front yard is naturally intriguing for him. He got the memo about not touching them, but not so much about walking through them. I looked up and found him standing in the middle of the bee zone with 10’s of bees flying all about him, head to toe. I knew I had to keep calm so the bees wouldn’t sense my freak out-ed-ness and then freak out on my baby in turn. He just stood there, smiling happily watching the bees zoom around him. Not knowing that bees sting he was delighted to be in the midst of their thrumming and buzzing. I asked him to walk to me on the driveway, and after a few LONG seconds, he did. Totally unscathed and unaware of any danger. It was a good thing! Post bee whispering Demanding to be given the camera. Me and my bee loving baby.