a treacherous trip

My husband and I have taken some amazing and adventurous trips, but nothing compares to our death defying white water rafting trip in Colorado.

tipping!

I would consider us (or at least me) moderate in the adventure category. (I have no interest in sky diving or bungie jumping, but I'm open to a lot.)  All of our trips are planned around activity and adventure, whether it's biking, hiking, kayaking, etc. We are always up for something exciting.  My bucket list consists of summiting Mt. Ranier.  I thrive for a challenge and love adventure!

trying to get back on board

Anyway, I planned (what I thought), a wonderful trip to Colorado.  We ran the half marathon in Steamboat, went to a Rockies game, hiked in boulder, did some biking, explored in Estes Park, etc.  I also included a white water rafting trip, that turned treacherous (class IV).  By far, the scariest moment of my life.  I was in the boat with my husband, 3 guys on a bachelor party, and the guide.  The river was running would be an understatement.  We are flying down the river and all of sudden we literally get stuck in a giant water hole.  The boat is at about a 75 degree angle at a standstill.  Everyone is yelling... I get thrown from the boat, I'm under the water.  I pop up, and my first thought is, I'm alive and I have all of my limbs.  But now what? I'm flying down this river which at any moment, I could be sucked under or crash into a rock, etc.  Somehow, I get back over to the boat and I will never forget the bachelor guy's look on his face.  He grabbed me with one arm and flung me back onto the boat.  We are spinning and flying down the river.  I don't have time to have any sigh of relief, where is Gary??  All I hear is, "get him, get him."  They end up getting him back on the boat along with our guide.  The boat is completely out of control, and they end up  throwing out a rope to pull us to the side.  Now on land, we reconvene and we all get back in the boat and head down the river.  The rest of the trip was amazing!

back on land... a

chilling out after a scary moment

My bachelor party friends were quite impressed (being the only girl in the two boats) that I continued on the trip.  I wasn't about to pack it up and quit.  I will tell you, it was the first time in my life that I thought, this is it.  This is how it's going to end.  It was that scary.

my creative side

So, I wanted to start 2012 starting something new, exciting, and crafty. Please keep in mind, I am not in any way, stretch, or form creative and/or artistic.  With that in mind, I committed to a craft for 2012.  I asked a crafty friend about mod podge, and for some reason, I thought it would be right up my alley, low and behold, I was correct, for a number of reasons.

I head out to Michaels for my craft endeavor and it was the perfect storm,  I was ready to delve into creativity, and I met the most wonderful associate in retail history.  She guided me through the store and opened my world to stickers, frames, brushes, canvases, etc.  It was amazing.  Needless to say, I purchased an entire workshop for mod podgers.

While speaking with the wonderful associate, I had decided I was committing to a mod podge portfolio for 2012. I am a trailblazer, and this will catch on.  (She thought it was a great idea!)

I get home and start cutting things out, creating my collages in my mind, etc. Now,  January 1st is upon us, and I begin my collage with excitement and curiousity.  I begin my "collaging" and all of sudden realize that mod podge is nothing but the watered down glue mixture that I had used as a first grade teacher to retell Eric Carle stories 20 years ago (although, I only used tissue paper because that is the eric carle technique), and a craft I had done as a child.  I'm in the midst of doing this and thinking, seriously, NOTHING has changed.  I realize people want to think things have changed, but they haven't.  If they had, I would be writing in some other form write now.  It is all the same, people...

It is now February 3rd, and I am ready to debut my 1st installment in the 2012 portfolio...

I like it!