Well here it is the first of January 2011.
A new day....a new year.....
Last year I made a list of 30 fun things to do and achieve.
Some things I had never tried and had fun just having a go at.
Paintball on my birthday was so much fun with all the girls.
Climbing the Harbour Bridge in the pouring rain is a great story I will retell again and again.
I bought and handled a raw lobster and cooked him up....and ate him.
I taught my son how to blow bubbles with bubble gum...ran one kilometre without stopping...and finished off the year by becoming a 1st Dan black belt in karate.
So you may ask did I achieve them all. The answer is NO. There were a few that just didn't happen either due to time, money or just plain convenience. But I am not disappointed at all...and as you know I am a 'tick the box' kind of person.
In life circumstances change all the time and you just have to roll with it.
My list was there to have fun and try new things which I did....and that was the whole point of the list.
So now a new year has begun....and I have a whole new list.
And why not? Life is all about having fun.
Here it is...and I hope it inspires you to be creative and try some new things.
2011 To-do list
1. Make homemade croissants
2. Make homemade hot cross buns
3. Cook peking duck
4. Cook something 'flaming'
5. Host a japanese dinner party
6. Learn the names of the bible in order
7. Watch 'The Shining'
8. Watch 'The Godfather' trilogy
9. Movie marathon
10. Learn basic french
11. Go jetty jumping
12. Ride a jet ski
13. Kick a door in
14. Break plates 'greek style'
15. Visit Byron Bay
16. Visit South West Rocks
17. Learn the Hoedown Throwdown
18. Ride in a hot air balloon
19. Fire a weapon (carried over from last year)
20. Black belt confirmed
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Bridge Climb
What a fantastic few weeks I have had; Sydney - Brisbane - Sydney - Melbourne
My verdict? I prefer flying to driving!!
I have ticked many things off my 2010 list during this time including a horse drawn carriage ride through Melbourne with my hubby and taking a friend to Tepinyaki in Sydney. But the best by far was the Harbour Bridge Climb.
Fiona and I were dressed in very attractive overalls (yes that was sarcasm) and girded with a belt that had a coat and raincoat in pouches attached to it, headsets to hear the guide and really cute beanies. Everything was attached to us; sunglasses, handkerchiefs, beanies; so that we couldn't drop anything on the cars below. It took two hours in total to dress, reach the top and return. The view was spectacular and we learned some very interesting facts. Did you know the entire bridge was constructed by hand? At the time it was built there was no OHS so none of the workers wore any harnesses or safety equipment of any kind? The four large stone pillars of the Harbour Bridge are actually hollow and are purely there for decoration, NOT to make the bridge stronger, and actually counted as 20% of the overall cost. The road was the last thing built and when the arches were finished, before the road was added, people wrote letters of complaint asking how were they supposed to take their horse and carriages over the arches to get to the other side?
But my story doesn't end there. The highlight of the trip was just five minutes from the top when we were informed to put our raincoats on, just in time for the rain to bucket down. Our group of six stood in the rain to have our photos taken with smiles on our wet faces. Not quite what we thought our photo would look like. We then had the joy of walking all the way to the bottom again in the rain with heads down and frozen wet hands. While the raincoats kept the top half of us dry, the pants and shoes were soaked through like we'd been swimming. And of course the rain stopped just as we arrived back at the bottom.
Of course the rain just makes for a more entertaining story.
It was a fantastic experience. It was completely safe as we were harnessed to the bridge the entire time too!
I highly recommend it to anyone...of any age! Have a go!
www.bridgeclimb.com
My verdict? I prefer flying to driving!!
I have ticked many things off my 2010 list during this time including a horse drawn carriage ride through Melbourne with my hubby and taking a friend to Tepinyaki in Sydney. But the best by far was the Harbour Bridge Climb.
Fiona and I were dressed in very attractive overalls (yes that was sarcasm) and girded with a belt that had a coat and raincoat in pouches attached to it, headsets to hear the guide and really cute beanies. Everything was attached to us; sunglasses, handkerchiefs, beanies; so that we couldn't drop anything on the cars below. It took two hours in total to dress, reach the top and return. The view was spectacular and we learned some very interesting facts. Did you know the entire bridge was constructed by hand? At the time it was built there was no OHS so none of the workers wore any harnesses or safety equipment of any kind? The four large stone pillars of the Harbour Bridge are actually hollow and are purely there for decoration, NOT to make the bridge stronger, and actually counted as 20% of the overall cost. The road was the last thing built and when the arches were finished, before the road was added, people wrote letters of complaint asking how were they supposed to take their horse and carriages over the arches to get to the other side?
But my story doesn't end there. The highlight of the trip was just five minutes from the top when we were informed to put our raincoats on, just in time for the rain to bucket down. Our group of six stood in the rain to have our photos taken with smiles on our wet faces. Not quite what we thought our photo would look like. We then had the joy of walking all the way to the bottom again in the rain with heads down and frozen wet hands. While the raincoats kept the top half of us dry, the pants and shoes were soaked through like we'd been swimming. And of course the rain stopped just as we arrived back at the bottom.
Of course the rain just makes for a more entertaining story.
It was a fantastic experience. It was completely safe as we were harnessed to the bridge the entire time too!
I highly recommend it to anyone...of any age! Have a go!
www.bridgeclimb.com
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Culinary skills
As I've mentioned previously, to have fun and enjoy life I think it's really important to be able to laugh at yourself. I mean let's be honest, other people laugh at us all the time. So I'm going to share a story that is definitely worth a chuckle.
Last weekend was the Anzac Day public holiday and we had some friends over for the Aussie barbeque. I branched out and made Bruschetta for the very first time. I googled a few recipes and chose the one I liked. Here it is.
BRUSCHETTA
1 french stick loaf
4 firm tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
1 red onion (finely chopped)
4 cloves garlic (cut in half)
1/8 cup basil (chopped)
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
Drain the tomatoes for 20 mins.
Combine oil, vinegar, basil in large bowl and whisk together.
Add tomatoes and onion. Marinate for 10 mins.
Cut bread into 1/2 inch slices and toast lightly on both sides.
Rub garlic on the top side and cover with mixture.
Now if you're like me, you're thinking this recipe looks simple enough. I agree.
I got out my chopping board and started dicing everything....basil....onion....and wait! peeled tomatoes?
Hmmmm....I've never been asked to peel a tomato before....oh well....I got out the potato peeler and went on my merry way.
Now again, if you're like me everything sounds right so far....right?
HOWEVER....there are others who are laughing with great amusement right now. Here is the cooking tip for the day; apparently you don't peel a tomato with a potato peeler; you mark it with a cross on the bottom and put it in boiling water and the skin just lifts off all by itself. You learn something new every day hey?
My guests arrived ready to try my Bruschetta last week and were oh so amused by my culinary skills. Overall....I am amused by them myself. But then the Bruschetta was so good I really didn't care!
Last weekend was the Anzac Day public holiday and we had some friends over for the Aussie barbeque. I branched out and made Bruschetta for the very first time. I googled a few recipes and chose the one I liked. Here it is.
BRUSCHETTA
1 french stick loaf
4 firm tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
1 red onion (finely chopped)
4 cloves garlic (cut in half)
1/8 cup basil (chopped)
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
Drain the tomatoes for 20 mins.
Combine oil, vinegar, basil in large bowl and whisk together.
Add tomatoes and onion. Marinate for 10 mins.
Cut bread into 1/2 inch slices and toast lightly on both sides.
Rub garlic on the top side and cover with mixture.
Now if you're like me, you're thinking this recipe looks simple enough. I agree.
I got out my chopping board and started dicing everything....basil....onion....and wait! peeled tomatoes?
Hmmmm....I've never been asked to peel a tomato before....oh well....I got out the potato peeler and went on my merry way.
Now again, if you're like me everything sounds right so far....right?
HOWEVER....there are others who are laughing with great amusement right now. Here is the cooking tip for the day; apparently you don't peel a tomato with a potato peeler; you mark it with a cross on the bottom and put it in boiling water and the skin just lifts off all by itself. You learn something new every day hey?
My guests arrived ready to try my Bruschetta last week and were oh so amused by my culinary skills. Overall....I am amused by them myself. But then the Bruschetta was so good I really didn't care!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Birthday fun
Sooo...my birthday has been and gone.
Did I have lunch with the girls? Did I have a romantic dinner with hubby?
No. I tried paintball. I had to. It was on my list!
15 gorgeous girlfriends and I donned what looked like hockey jerseys and helmets, was handed paintball rifles and shot each other!!
Many of my girls were scared, some even thought about chucking a sicky on me on the day, but they all showed up excited and ready for some fun. After all, I was the birthday girl!!
Many of our husbands share in the paintball experience once or twice a year and I always thought it would be fun to try it.....just once.
The place that we went was indoors and therefore the guns were set at a lower pressure so thankfully if we were hit it wouldn't hurt as much. It was an amazing experience watching my friends...some squealing in girlie fear running from one shelter to another and apologising with each shot they fired, some yelling like army brats on a killing spree. I thought I knew my friends so well and yet some still surprised me. Many of them texted me later that night to say how much they enjoyed it and how it was much more fun than what they thought it would be.
C'mon girls, don't let the boys have all the fun!!
Did I have lunch with the girls? Did I have a romantic dinner with hubby?
No. I tried paintball. I had to. It was on my list!
15 gorgeous girlfriends and I donned what looked like hockey jerseys and helmets, was handed paintball rifles and shot each other!!
Many of my girls were scared, some even thought about chucking a sicky on me on the day, but they all showed up excited and ready for some fun. After all, I was the birthday girl!!
Many of our husbands share in the paintball experience once or twice a year and I always thought it would be fun to try it.....just once.
The place that we went was indoors and therefore the guns were set at a lower pressure so thankfully if we were hit it wouldn't hurt as much. It was an amazing experience watching my friends...some squealing in girlie fear running from one shelter to another and apologising with each shot they fired, some yelling like army brats on a killing spree. I thought I knew my friends so well and yet some still surprised me. Many of them texted me later that night to say how much they enjoyed it and how it was much more fun than what they thought it would be.
C'mon girls, don't let the boys have all the fun!!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Girlie fun on a budget
Can you believe that we are a quarter of the way into the year? Crazy.
So far this year I have taught my son how to blow bubbles with bubble gum, watched the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" which is my favourite book and taken a ride in a helicopter, which was really enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone.
Quite often we think that having fun cost heaps of money. Yes I have bought my Harbour Bridge Climb ticket and yes it wasn't cheap. But you know, I have also spent a whole day laying on my lounge, working my way through an entire series of a sitcom on DVD, eating cheese balls and drinking coke zero (which can be a good day every now and then.)
Last week I spent an amazing day with my best friend and we had an incredible day that cost almost nothing.
We went to one of the best beaches in Coffs Harbour that really only the locals know about (so I can't tell you the location....lol) and took almost 100 photos; artistic ones that could go in a magazine, creative ones like writing in the sand and decorating it with shells, fun ones playing in the surf and random ones that show how silly friends can be (ready for scrapbooking!)
We then went to the shops and grabbed some takeaway.
We ate lunch while watching the musical "Annie" and had the best sing-a-long together. We both do an exceptional "Miss Hannigan" impersonation and killed ourselves laughing.
But the best was yet to come! My friend has her own bucket list and mentioned in casual conversation something she had always wanted to do. So I organised it without her knowledge and surprised her. I bought 5kgs of red grapes and a plastic tub that I usually use for "at home" foot spas. Together we picked all the grapes off the stems and put them into the tub. She then got to stomp on them, barefoot for about 10 minutes. Of course I took a stack of photos and video footage. The squishing sound was so loud and she couldn't stop laughing. To share the experience I jumped in the tub too and we had to hold each other so we wouldn't fall out. It was so funny; we laughed and laughed. And if you're wondering, it did NOT look like red wine, the liquid was quite clear. (and we never considered what we were going to do with the slush when we were finished - I won't tell you what we did with it!)
We then finished off the day colouring each others hair; the cheap way with supermarket kits. She is single and I live in a house of males so we both really appreciated being girlie girls together. We laughed and laughed and really didn't spend hardly any money at all.
It is amazing how much fun you can have when you get creative.
xxx
So far this year I have taught my son how to blow bubbles with bubble gum, watched the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" which is my favourite book and taken a ride in a helicopter, which was really enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone.
Quite often we think that having fun cost heaps of money. Yes I have bought my Harbour Bridge Climb ticket and yes it wasn't cheap. But you know, I have also spent a whole day laying on my lounge, working my way through an entire series of a sitcom on DVD, eating cheese balls and drinking coke zero (which can be a good day every now and then.)
Last week I spent an amazing day with my best friend and we had an incredible day that cost almost nothing.
We went to one of the best beaches in Coffs Harbour that really only the locals know about (so I can't tell you the location....lol) and took almost 100 photos; artistic ones that could go in a magazine, creative ones like writing in the sand and decorating it with shells, fun ones playing in the surf and random ones that show how silly friends can be (ready for scrapbooking!)
We then went to the shops and grabbed some takeaway.
We ate lunch while watching the musical "Annie" and had the best sing-a-long together. We both do an exceptional "Miss Hannigan" impersonation and killed ourselves laughing.
But the best was yet to come! My friend has her own bucket list and mentioned in casual conversation something she had always wanted to do. So I organised it without her knowledge and surprised her. I bought 5kgs of red grapes and a plastic tub that I usually use for "at home" foot spas. Together we picked all the grapes off the stems and put them into the tub. She then got to stomp on them, barefoot for about 10 minutes. Of course I took a stack of photos and video footage. The squishing sound was so loud and she couldn't stop laughing. To share the experience I jumped in the tub too and we had to hold each other so we wouldn't fall out. It was so funny; we laughed and laughed. And if you're wondering, it did NOT look like red wine, the liquid was quite clear. (and we never considered what we were going to do with the slush when we were finished - I won't tell you what we did with it!)
We then finished off the day colouring each others hair; the cheap way with supermarket kits. She is single and I live in a house of males so we both really appreciated being girlie girls together. We laughed and laughed and really didn't spend hardly any money at all.
It is amazing how much fun you can have when you get creative.
xxx
Monday, March 22, 2010
Finish the race
There is a line in a Brooke Fraser song that says, "I'll run til I finish the race".
I don't want to just cross the finish line. I want to do it with a smile on my face.
I want to get to the end of my life, look back and say 'WOW'. No regrets.
I didn't chicken out of something because I was too afraid.
I didn't stop trying because it was too hard.
I got back up when I got knocked to the ground.
I had fun trying things that were new.
I laughed at myself when I had no idea what I was doing.
A few years ago the movie "The Bucket List" came out with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. They each had a list of things they wanted to do or experience before they died.
So of course, then became the fad of writing our own bucket lists.
I never wanted to have a "bucket list" linking it with the thought that death will surely follow.
Instead I started thinking of all the fun ways I can experience life right now.
In January, the talk turned to "New Years Resolutions" which of course just reminds me of the good intentions we all have to lose weight, get fit and feel like a failure by January 15th when the novelty has already worn off....
So this year I made myself a to-do list. Not a bucket list and not a resolution.
30 fun things to do for the first time, try for the first time or experience for the first time.
A few years ago I tried snow skiing. I'm not very good. I'm actually too slow and cautious to achieve the thrill that my sons demonstrated and will probably never do it again, but I can say I've tried it and I did it.
I started karate two years ago after what seemed like a lifetime of teaching little girls to dance. I am planning to grade for my black belt this December.
This year I plan on climbing the Harbour Bridge, riding in a helicopter, boiling my own lobster, try paintball, donate blood, learn the tango and ride in a limo (to name a few) just because I can!
Is there anything you've always wanted to do? It's never too late.....
I don't want to just cross the finish line. I want to do it with a smile on my face.
I want to get to the end of my life, look back and say 'WOW'. No regrets.
I didn't chicken out of something because I was too afraid.
I didn't stop trying because it was too hard.
I got back up when I got knocked to the ground.
I had fun trying things that were new.
I laughed at myself when I had no idea what I was doing.
A few years ago the movie "The Bucket List" came out with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. They each had a list of things they wanted to do or experience before they died.
So of course, then became the fad of writing our own bucket lists.
I never wanted to have a "bucket list" linking it with the thought that death will surely follow.
Instead I started thinking of all the fun ways I can experience life right now.
In January, the talk turned to "New Years Resolutions" which of course just reminds me of the good intentions we all have to lose weight, get fit and feel like a failure by January 15th when the novelty has already worn off....
So this year I made myself a to-do list. Not a bucket list and not a resolution.
30 fun things to do for the first time, try for the first time or experience for the first time.
A few years ago I tried snow skiing. I'm not very good. I'm actually too slow and cautious to achieve the thrill that my sons demonstrated and will probably never do it again, but I can say I've tried it and I did it.
I started karate two years ago after what seemed like a lifetime of teaching little girls to dance. I am planning to grade for my black belt this December.
This year I plan on climbing the Harbour Bridge, riding in a helicopter, boiling my own lobster, try paintball, donate blood, learn the tango and ride in a limo (to name a few) just because I can!
Is there anything you've always wanted to do? It's never too late.....
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