tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37860285073641878902024-03-05T03:22:18.339-08:00hollys40thadventureholly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-35672487905913052172011-05-03T18:48:00.000-07:002011-05-22T15:46:59.993-07:00Adventure #24 - Part One the half Marathon April 30, 2011<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVa7cGv7RD5FiqeNCfk02TQBUIYiq2O09TgEKeOfQ1pryNz4Wc03mbrmm62apk_XYGK40MeXi1wQ73GvaOSGzVbNFfH66JwFPayPZlwEK4uYg5vZzkpqZwtB5HvooFvbhlBWsUvCmoWEc/s1600/75593-184-018f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
Well the encouragement to do a half marathon came in January from Joanne, who sent me an e-mail about the Illinois half marathon. I put it out of my mind as I was training for Hustle Up the Hancock and was trying to beat a sinus infection. After completing Hustle Up the Hancock, the race was revisited so on March 5, 2011 I signed up and began the whirlwind training for a half marathon as I had never run more than 4 miles at that point.<br />
So with weekly work-outs on the treadmill focused on running, I slowly added miles and time until I was able to run for 90 minutes on the treadmill which roughly translated for me to 8.5 miles. So the week before the half marathon, APril 16th Ben agreed to run the Rock Island Trail with me for my long run of 10 miles. Ben was very gracious as my run for him was a slow jog. Ben talked to me for the entire run to keep me going and at about 10.5 miles I wasa done. The thought that crossed my mind was "and I have 3 more miles to run - you have got to be kidding me!" <br />
Easter Sunday I woke up feeling really funny and by Monday I had a full blown sinus infection. I was able to see my MD on Thursday after work and told him that I had a half marathon to run on Saturday. Dr. Miller's response was "So I have 2 days to get you better - this should be interesting."<br />
Joanne, Amanda and I travelled to Champaign on Friday after work, had dinner on the road, picked up our packets and went to stay with the Crusade staff in Champaign as they had graciously opened their home to us.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_rA2oB7KES0m55GT-UN4B7F-CRnnCjIxg6IGoc52_oSPOhDYfo5cauo43T7tyytWorB7NwtH1jUBcpw-fp1BN6vGp0USiWqyiZ1gPvNQ8cVXkZ-H_d6BDuUF2psKJBwrg_2ZvQl24yQ/s1600/75593-973-025f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_rA2oB7KES0m55GT-UN4B7F-CRnnCjIxg6IGoc52_oSPOhDYfo5cauo43T7tyytWorB7NwtH1jUBcpw-fp1BN6vGp0USiWqyiZ1gPvNQ8cVXkZ-H_d6BDuUF2psKJBwrg_2ZvQl24yQ/s320/75593-973-025f.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Aftere coughing all night as I had been doing for 3 weeks, Saturday arrived and I felt terrible. So I was resigned to just finishing, even if it would mean walking. the race provided free pacers so I decided to join the 11:26 pacer and just see what would happen as I figured that I would not be able to run my 11:00 pace. So the race started. When we reached the 90 minute mark, my pacer, Beth, told us that we only had an hour left and I thought I am feeling good apart from using a kleenex every mile but another hour seems impossible so I turned on my i-pod to listen to music. As we approached mile 9, Beth told me that the plan was to speed up for the final 5K and I said "you have got to be kidding me - there is no way that I can do this." She told me that I could and to try but I was not planning on it. At mile 10 however, she slowed down a bit and so I went ahead and slowly began to speed up so that my last 5K was faster than my first one. As I approached the 13 mile mark, I was teary just with the realization that I was going to complete the half marathon. It was an overwhelming thought since in April of 2007, I had my worst month of chemotherapy treatments because at the beginning of April, one of my treatments burned my blood vessels, I had phlebitis, and never had a good week. My parents would check on me at night to be sure that I was breathing and doing OK. God has been gracious to me over these 4 years so that despite the loss of 30% of my lung diffusion due to chemotherapy, I am still able to be active and able to enjoy living life and trying new things - like a half marathon. Even if I could not do these things - God is still good. <br />
So at 2:28:54 I crossed the finish line under the 2:30 mark and well under my planned 3 hour goal. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>So now begins the full paced training for the full marathon in Dublin in October. Exactly 6 months away. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgZ-fY3SV0DpbOtffudcLqlkqX5rcmLg8cBKAnnt3MUAabsyD3PBH1BEUYrPUPK7T058eFHFK8WaLybW2AswMgWlKJyAenumwJSNvaprpEzA2Lx6UUTWGBY8JlTavVaBfx8ddk03Xj_Q/s1600/Girlshalf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgZ-fY3SV0DpbOtffudcLqlkqX5rcmLg8cBKAnnt3MUAabsyD3PBH1BEUYrPUPK7T058eFHFK8WaLybW2AswMgWlKJyAenumwJSNvaprpEzA2Lx6UUTWGBY8JlTavVaBfx8ddk03Xj_Q/s320/Girlshalf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><br />
<img border="0" height="212" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVa7cGv7RD5FiqeNCfk02TQBUIYiq2O09TgEKeOfQ1pryNz4Wc03mbrmm62apk_XYGK40MeXi1wQ73GvaOSGzVbNFfH66JwFPayPZlwEK4uYg5vZzkpqZwtB5HvooFvbhlBWsUvCmoWEc/s320/75593-184-018f.jpg" width="320" />holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-50158458072429087072011-04-23T15:24:00.000-07:002011-05-03T18:29:56.772-07:00April 20, 2011 Adventure #1 - Get a Spray Tan!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiievZgn9ijQCp8JVU0upO_1eWiRl6Aej6MDB7esCyM6ECMbdZ0tIYtmqtRsNbSXGiiQprSXQFDe28RNJ-lnSHS4fCBS3tx3UuAwjrf3bJ_EqR1jf_I_44V_4noKLKfYtfXU6Nu0N5c4HM/s1600/DSCN4334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiievZgn9ijQCp8JVU0upO_1eWiRl6Aej6MDB7esCyM6ECMbdZ0tIYtmqtRsNbSXGiiQprSXQFDe28RNJ-lnSHS4fCBS3tx3UuAwjrf3bJ_EqR1jf_I_44V_4noKLKfYtfXU6Nu0N5c4HM/s200/DSCN4334.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Ok - I wanted to see what I would look like with a skin color other than red or white. I do not tan at all and have learned over the years to just liberally apply sunscreen and a good hat is a must.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Shannon wanted to participate in one of my adventures before moving on April 28, 2011 for 4 years. So she called around to a few places to see if any times were available on April 20th as this was the only date available. We found Corpo Bello Spa and Salon.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So adventure to date has provided the most laughter. First of all, Shannon went first and I could hear her down the hall just cracking up! She came out really really dark. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So then it was my turn. So I stepped into the brown cave like plastic area and the spraying began. Up one side and down the other and several rotations later I was told to stand in front of the fan for 10 minutes to dry and to keep rotating for maximum even drying. Then I looked in the mirror and just laughed knowing that I was headed to choir practice for the evening.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZH0sEwYKtpl5HqauWTLruJd-oCae3ebV5UhdGZRmpDLOpQpiqYmfaHpODGvnwiDUss0mkpdx7oHdMl-sIzTOsI4wg3UoeVn7g2RNHYqKb4JrU3Lx19QD8e7JncEdzIxseDxb746Z7X0s/s1600/DSCN4341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZH0sEwYKtpl5HqauWTLruJd-oCae3ebV5UhdGZRmpDLOpQpiqYmfaHpODGvnwiDUss0mkpdx7oHdMl-sIzTOsI4wg3UoeVn7g2RNHYqKb4JrU3Lx19QD8e7JncEdzIxseDxb746Z7X0s/s200/DSCN4341.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We stopped at home and my mom said "I have two African daughters that have a white mother and father!"</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">At choir no one said a word until after practice when Carol Hornbrook and I just looked at each other and laughed. Mura and Don both laughed and wondered what I had done and I reminded them of my blog. Ben looked at me and said "you got your spray tan!"</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Thankfully the next day, the excess dye washed off in the shower leaving me less African looking.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBehrGNdF3E9VHo2pYAuYBv6uFI7M1m1B2a-INCo-31Ovz6l-UQJIdgFB-rZs-PGsnbJfKOhqdifbt95rGC0V6SiA7R95JLZBOXSmQT1UgOCP9ytPJKFQqovJ8Xbg-K4NmNGURkF3SX8/s1600/DSCN4329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVHcEgXFdHnrkHTsMWfZocqQpQPirHxrA9KmRWP46GVY17IQ63uVQZlQxbw8H9vR-vWLa-h620Hl6kWymxveJkzQOPOyJnjuzN2FCf8ypuYUrobjvQlkQy-yg6ldMGozAyagBhTdnyKc/s1600/DSCN4335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVHcEgXFdHnrkHTsMWfZocqQpQPirHxrA9KmRWP46GVY17IQ63uVQZlQxbw8H9vR-vWLa-h620Hl6kWymxveJkzQOPOyJnjuzN2FCf8ypuYUrobjvQlkQy-yg6ldMGozAyagBhTdnyKc/s200/DSCN4335.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQn2I3hVCHZlOhJwGDBr0cgeshpPDf9bPgJIXZZncfiakH-Uekrac8DSySF0xE47Ary0SPqCP132pu5OacyFsvkb7ewZK9YiuPaX194eIwr5jpwz49JM0GRVeBvwT4pDhIfLef2m47wp0/s1600/DSCN4339.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>At work, I had a dietitian staff meeting and in the middle of the meeting my former boss Karen looks at me and says "Holly - you are tan what did you do or where have you been?" The dietitians had already asked so we all just got a good laugh. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFtrc0vQTOAg2tN-VAO2zxugnAIeaUXyPExxYpiUja91Fi8CzyBfUmeRGfT5aTT9gwi0l1SlzbQgQOBeNH8WnIwefpD_WLPPo6DGLTFqPfZuX8Cy46MLVzU6zic0AOJRqPW33H8fmRYU/s1600/DSCN4347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFtrc0vQTOAg2tN-VAO2zxugnAIeaUXyPExxYpiUja91Fi8CzyBfUmeRGfT5aTT9gwi0l1SlzbQgQOBeNH8WnIwefpD_WLPPo6DGLTFqPfZuX8Cy46MLVzU6zic0AOJRqPW33H8fmRYU/s320/DSCN4347.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">easter sunday - 4 days post fake bake and it looks like a bronze tan</td></tr>
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The thoughts that I had afterwards were related to my BSF lecture questions that week - Where does God need to do a make-over in your life? My spray tan was temporary and just an external show that would wash away. God's makeovers are internal and result in a change in heart and then outward actions and attitudes that make me more like Christ.</div>holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-78498377126620975922011-04-23T15:02:00.000-07:002011-04-23T15:02:11.243-07:00April 16, 2011 Adventure #6 Serve Those in Need - Walk for Life<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhFv1_kEkFsvILJpxXRjWgpUYlHp1m-rSRNkF3I4C6BU_A2diPagy2ajG6uEAag2TrnYQzeZ2ZeawlUVq5VwcAwegW6F0AlD25JADw-kN6EyBqurSp3ssrrLENi_H2wZIHN79WcVsk_4/s1600/DSCN4327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhFv1_kEkFsvILJpxXRjWgpUYlHp1m-rSRNkF3I4C6BU_A2diPagy2ajG6uEAag2TrnYQzeZ2ZeawlUVq5VwcAwegW6F0AlD25JADw-kN6EyBqurSp3ssrrLENi_H2wZIHN79WcVsk_4/s320/DSCN4327.jpg" width="320" /></a>Life! What a gift! Today was an opportunity to walk with friends from Bethany for the Esther House and for the life of the unborn. The day was very rainy yet the walk went on. After a few laps, I was soaked even with a hood on my water proof jacket. Memorable!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div>holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-45599363268002054072011-04-23T14:58:00.000-07:002011-04-23T14:58:45.853-07:00Adventure #11 - Try a New Ethnic Food - Lebanese Sunday April 10, 2011So Ginger sent me a note to attend the Lebanese Food Festival to check another item off my list. <br />
I checked with Denisse and Hassan to see if they planned to attend but they were not.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPf7cZx0Eyzjdi5tDSIUxYuoi1Zmj3vZ1qMew_x1kvz_B1tfdYr5WGnQTWgI01YKtvhuiBxBj3j4WoM9dY9WYmOk16FPiWQCw5sppUoGbVRlRLAFXDPMu7unCmy1hVxq4d6sgi1RUlD-E/s1600/DSCN4310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPf7cZx0Eyzjdi5tDSIUxYuoi1Zmj3vZ1qMew_x1kvz_B1tfdYr5WGnQTWgI01YKtvhuiBxBj3j4WoM9dY9WYmOk16FPiWQCw5sppUoGbVRlRLAFXDPMu7unCmy1hVxq4d6sgi1RUlD-E/s320/DSCN4310.jpg" width="320" /></a>Ginger and I arrived and after getting our food, we set out to find a table. Ginger says to me "Holly how many people do you think that you will know here?" My response - "no one since Denisse and Hassan are not coming." I should know better than to make a statement like this as within 30 seconds I hear "Holly, Holly." I look over to see Rachel Haynes and some of her friends. Then at the next table were some of my parent's friends. As we were leaving I saw Jimmy Lahood. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKi3IWoFMoUydFQcQ0Wo4h6hLNowrcMdAum-h68tuKdMNcAGirnR1Z1EAsqdKH8ZQL49rLuAhbICOLAxRlmRCh2epnWCw_zi97YweGPd18oicMZWnMO7GIgneecv0ZV2A3u9nJQG3SRbI/s1600/DSCN4309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKi3IWoFMoUydFQcQ0Wo4h6hLNowrcMdAum-h68tuKdMNcAGirnR1Z1EAsqdKH8ZQL49rLuAhbICOLAxRlmRCh2epnWCw_zi97YweGPd18oicMZWnMO7GIgneecv0ZV2A3u9nJQG3SRbI/s200/DSCN4309.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> Ginger and I just laughed about this the entire time wondering who else would show up. So at the end of the day, I knew people at 3 tables</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWQaaA-yUUTLKSIDaYdkfbcYHJflkoTM8HhcYv-l6b-q_wka-BXZR21B5DoVPB_oXbVqBV8eOMl21Tx2U2nnV2t-a2hlMeDKP_hF3ElLDQEcdC2GEu4Tn_BrdZVd0zgYJkJVQkq7hyphenhyphenHPs/s1600/DSCN4312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWQaaA-yUUTLKSIDaYdkfbcYHJflkoTM8HhcYv-l6b-q_wka-BXZR21B5DoVPB_oXbVqBV8eOMl21Tx2U2nnV2t-a2hlMeDKP_hF3ElLDQEcdC2GEu4Tn_BrdZVd0zgYJkJVQkq7hyphenhyphenHPs/s200/DSCN4312.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUMiblhoRzG30I4KY-VVSOSfbeVducNQ8zgEf_OOmj1vFrm67ZqMH3hEdDunGdD1j778b6mUUbKhJQ-03h3n9lkaSh-1pSFr6l50AyvWYWdjDwiP4YTu556OlZmTVJwfwuxmHN7czNPM/s1600/DSCN4311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUMiblhoRzG30I4KY-VVSOSfbeVducNQ8zgEf_OOmj1vFrm67ZqMH3hEdDunGdD1j778b6mUUbKhJQ-03h3n9lkaSh-1pSFr6l50AyvWYWdjDwiP4YTu556OlZmTVJwfwuxmHN7czNPM/s200/DSCN4311.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-54117129500580208182011-03-17T05:40:00.000-07:002011-03-26T14:40:00.030-07:00Adventure #11 - Eat a new ethnic food each month March 10, 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihPzlMtIzQlxgy1RdskSdGsb4iQ6E-CZT9H9HVPFJ390Kr5sI5TCe39e-yDyJ9dGR9NL9oXGlDbWxXmcYKQPyhQvjhW4V4nWiavQyIMe-r4KiHDMLhEDDeg9wjwvzAtYgIF4d76HX8dAE/s1600/DSCN4243.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihPzlMtIzQlxgy1RdskSdGsb4iQ6E-CZT9H9HVPFJ390Kr5sI5TCe39e-yDyJ9dGR9NL9oXGlDbWxXmcYKQPyhQvjhW4V4nWiavQyIMe-r4KiHDMLhEDDeg9wjwvzAtYgIF4d76HX8dAE/s320/DSCN4243.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>March is an appropriate time to eat a new ethnic food celebrating the luck of the Irish." So Ginger and Julie joined me for an evening of fellowship and Irish fare. <br />
I ordered Irish Trio Platter which included Shepherd's Pie, Cabbage Casserole and Mashed Potatoes along with Irish Soda Bread.<br />
The food was quite good but the fellowship made the evening.<br />
Irish food had to be an item on the list given that some of my original ancestors in the states came from Ireland, although at this time we are not sure of the actual location due to a name change upon arrival in the states.<br />
Unexpectedly, Karan and Natasia arrived to have dinner after attending an opera as Shepherd's pie is one of Natasia's favorite dishes.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4W1Hm1PVo61VX6y9iSQMsOZ53T8AHnyytO2NaG3dpQixkLHDXJ5lSoD4LcU2PZXY0fgZGqtuumYm0eLXWyHViecpqLds-YUAy0chKOZHCNdpXrBNSe8Ca1YJu4bII-6g4BXfZYybl3ik/s1600/DSCN4242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4W1Hm1PVo61VX6y9iSQMsOZ53T8AHnyytO2NaG3dpQixkLHDXJ5lSoD4LcU2PZXY0fgZGqtuumYm0eLXWyHViecpqLds-YUAy0chKOZHCNdpXrBNSe8Ca1YJu4bII-6g4BXfZYybl3ik/s320/DSCN4242.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2Sn7Lcnz7lJosOv6OiZ71T_zdoIrKT7D0g1CGvYssYXJw6dtsLyesA_SK2mGEnbUAn3Ir5y_IJdnbvJ0T9CqPQSMpRaJQfBX3MMuc6B-ixsEmrYlP0y9Pmtmxbac8LbG7njZh8ct9JE/s1600/DSCN4246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2Sn7Lcnz7lJosOv6OiZ71T_zdoIrKT7D0g1CGvYssYXJw6dtsLyesA_SK2mGEnbUAn3Ir5y_IJdnbvJ0T9CqPQSMpRaJQfBX3MMuc6B-ixsEmrYlP0y9Pmtmxbac8LbG7njZh8ct9JE/s320/DSCN4246.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-30917098902799691412011-03-04T05:27:00.000-08:002011-03-17T17:16:41.933-07:00Adventure - random places to sleep<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This was suggested by a friend after hearing about several of the random places that I have had the opportunity to sleep in the past few months. The fun part of this suggestion is that I did not try to have these things happen, these events just occurred and provided some rare sleeping locations!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I am officially a stranded airline traveler and it occurred at Christmas time just a week before Christmas. Enroute to London from Geneva, my plane experienced an electrical failure in the instrument panel preventing a landing at London Heathrow and instead we were diverted to a small regional airport and bused to Heathrow where we arrived to utter chaos due to snow all over Europe. Since British Airways forgot about our flight and did not make other arrangements for us, we were left to try to find our own way home and to rebook our own flights. After hours in a line, British Airways closed their agent windows and left for the night, leaving thousands of passangers stranded. So after rebooking my flight via skype to American Airlines in the States, Malia and I joined the other passangers in sleeping on the floor at Healthrow. I slept on my bacakpack, holding my purse and covered up with my coat, fleece and other items and using my PJs as my pillow. Finally, employees brought us British Airways blankets. God was gracious as I was on the last flight out of London the next morning and all other passangers were stranded for days.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUABuDtSd7ZV5sjprcELjieMvSsczqCsTFC3dptv6aGEqQ4dGGabnLB3MNisi5FQRN3u6cjW9_MK4xjatfDPcdkQj77_SpPAGZWghU1FrjIObKEhqZ0_Qi3SNF6n3NZ2Ou8bkcCUEM7wM/s1600/DSCN4170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUABuDtSd7ZV5sjprcELjieMvSsczqCsTFC3dptv6aGEqQ4dGGabnLB3MNisi5FQRN3u6cjW9_MK4xjatfDPcdkQj77_SpPAGZWghU1FrjIObKEhqZ0_Qi3SNF6n3NZ2Ou8bkcCUEM7wM/s320/DSCN4170.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My bed for the evening the table in the RD office</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Snow seems to be the theme of sleeping adventures. February 2, 2011 was a major snowfall in the Peoria area. At lunch time the snow began to fall and our offices closed. I was asked to report to the manager of the dietitians and foodservice. I was sent home to get my things and returned to work. I was assigned to pass trays for dinner, pick up trays and work in the kitchen preparing for the next morning's tray line. The dietitians decided to sleep in the dietitian office. So I slept on the table in the dietitian office on my sleeping bag. We ended up with 13-15 inches throughout the city and I was released to return home at 3 pm the following day. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaS8PMvpDB41cQJhHHUyD_se8GsQuAKt9vsdZ7LCx4gwZjNoOKD1fEO3Fj4kwbawSx8zipPL9ON6kEbKo5M-wVmjtzinEAAZekBcuqKPcyaJbpHYf9PuDF_Xxuu4GJoGK97fmmCodE6o8/s1600/DSCN4167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaS8PMvpDB41cQJhHHUyD_se8GsQuAKt9vsdZ7LCx4gwZjNoOKD1fEO3Fj4kwbawSx8zipPL9ON6kEbKo5M-wVmjtzinEAAZekBcuqKPcyaJbpHYf9PuDF_Xxuu4GJoGK97fmmCodE6o8/s200/DSCN4167.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dietitians hard at work in the kitchen preparing trays</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwiodlPPd4Miiwg3cbCKY8rKPem1mbrHWIjC6YchdWXrECREd5YxibTBhH5X_ICG6QKRnFYljsk6PqyXuiHB7eubF-MQw3vDPG1FK4hK_WuipVEiRU8xkIT1MyNiU5QgQEykmaIUvpLBA/s1600/DSCN4169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwiodlPPd4Miiwg3cbCKY8rKPem1mbrHWIjC6YchdWXrECREd5YxibTBhH5X_ICG6QKRnFYljsk6PqyXuiHB7eubF-MQw3vDPG1FK4hK_WuipVEiRU8xkIT1MyNiU5QgQEykmaIUvpLBA/s200/DSCN4169.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauren, Km, Hannah and I are ready for bed - the RD office (a new kind of slumber party)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-88278922504313329952011-02-28T04:36:00.000-08:002011-03-03T04:34:39.758-08:00Adventure 27 - Hustle Up the Hancock February 27, 2011It began as an idea spraked by a conversation with a drug rep who had just completed the 2010 Hustle. So after looking up the details, I signed up to get additional information and shared the idea with a few friends who are always up for a challenging adventure.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFguV92YNhyphenhyphenZUN5TNvbAHHMHh_mJv5C98FyF3kEPWRkXJvCXkG6mk3Wt1HQr6ZvPviG13vHTKAKqxOyhGkCuZGrDueBduahhB8s2aQ_hhOhTf3O2v8Uj5fEQQZKBpHRKQHROLDSHJ2IY/s1600/DSCN4232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFguV92YNhyphenhyphenZUN5TNvbAHHMHh_mJv5C98FyF3kEPWRkXJvCXkG6mk3Wt1HQr6ZvPviG13vHTKAKqxOyhGkCuZGrDueBduahhB8s2aQ_hhOhTf3O2v8Uj5fEQQZKBpHRKQHROLDSHJ2IY/s200/DSCN4232.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>In November, sign up started for the 4000 Full Climb and Half Climb Spots for 2011 Race and the spots closed in 1 hour and 15 minutes on November 1. So when the lines closed, Ben Hobbs and I were the two that had been able to get a spot for the full climb. <br />
With good intentions of training well, I decided instead to travel the month of December and then was sick for most of January. Thus crash training began in February.<br />
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The weekend was delighful in Chicago. I was able to spend some time with Karen and Michael and the boys. Dinner with Karen, Michael and Ben at Elwood's was amazing and the BBQ chicken was delicious! In addition, I was able to see the 25th annivaersary of Les Miserables, the musical. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATe-2FAJ5VyKonJdAwUa9dX8l9uheBkvTr5Vt_Hb0zvXURjC6T3tA1ktX5HRilZKP7Fnz8wSYvNKF3PWRJD_pi1GTJe3sQd6jcXVSr1N1Uz1Qlv20_mC85Tr1NKIA30d8CpTRJT-9FUg/s1600/DSCN4234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATe-2FAJ5VyKonJdAwUa9dX8l9uheBkvTr5Vt_Hb0zvXURjC6T3tA1ktX5HRilZKP7Fnz8wSYvNKF3PWRJD_pi1GTJe3sQd6jcXVSr1N1Uz1Qlv20_mC85Tr1NKIA30d8CpTRJT-9FUg/s320/DSCN4234.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-Hustle Photo with Ben</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Sunday dawned with the Hustle. I was given a 12:15 wave time and Ben had the 1:30 time slot. I arrived early as requested. Ben joined me to wait in line around 11:30 for my start. It was awesome to have someone there to encourage and cheer me on at the start!<br />
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Thankfully a woman behind me had experience and gave me some good advice - take you time, don't look at the numbers on the floors and just keep your feet moving and don't stop. You will have sore legs and your lungs will hurt but keep going. <br />
So began the 94 floor climb to the top. Round and round and round I went, not prepared to become dizzy as I went up the stairs nor was I prepared for my ears to pop and to have some influence of a little altitude, as the stairmaster definately does not prepare you for ascending 94 floors. I did think about the germs that would be on the railings and the need to wash my hands at the top! My legs got tired and I was shocked by the lung pain and the coughing that awaited me the rest of the afternoon (and continued for a few days). By floor 70, I was exhausted and it took sheer will power to keep going and I was thrilled to get to the top even though I was completed out of breath! After some time on the cool observation deck and wandering around to catch my breath, I went to wait for Ben since his start time was an hour behind me, which really just gave me a head start!<br />
Ben did great and he too was a bit winded at the top. Ben is gifted with natural athletic ability and terrific endurance especially in longer races and other stamina related activities. He also thought the event was a challenge, which made me feel good because he is in such good shape. His time was impressive with a finish in 16:18, placing him 293 overall - yes for the entire field of Hustlers! Amazing!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Xg4THlvHtpwnMNzQrgHxUOVT-2GOewaaNE5NIby9hTSt1k_3G0ojWTekR2h7GusgfvrkGasWrFvyp0JbHK8aXQ8kOL76eMPCnK-e30TgBCYyncNQkBiu076TwCQRHoCE0XKs-DDinJI/s1600/DSCN4240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Xg4THlvHtpwnMNzQrgHxUOVT-2GOewaaNE5NIby9hTSt1k_3G0ojWTekR2h7GusgfvrkGasWrFvyp0JbHK8aXQ8kOL76eMPCnK-e30TgBCYyncNQkBiu076TwCQRHoCE0XKs-DDinJI/s320/DSCN4240.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post Hustle photo</td></tr>
</tbody></table> My unofficial time was 23:31 and I was thrilled as my goal was to finish under 30 minutes. I had been told by my primary care MD, that the loss of lung diffusion with my chemo, bleomycin in particular, would always limit my physical ability and that I have most likely gotten back the function that I can already. (I went from a lung diffusion of 115% pre-treatment to 85% after 5 months of treatment and my oncologist then removed the drug for the last month so that I would be able to do some physical activities that I enjoy and also so did not end up on a ventilator after my final treatments for a while!) <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwDVpQp7oxBvtDej0abucAu_9oA3iMlRpW2dX2l9t48dKlYZ9cq3EkiKHrz0Ah2EHtfGuLk5WlNW6A8iqd4u_bvQPK9Wz81zMUVMergij83R3qDjw2JJ6QZ38bOstJsD-x5Y72DSK0zY0/s1600/DSCN4241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwDVpQp7oxBvtDej0abucAu_9oA3iMlRpW2dX2l9t48dKlYZ9cq3EkiKHrz0Ah2EHtfGuLk5WlNW6A8iqd4u_bvQPK9Wz81zMUVMergij83R3qDjw2JJ6QZ38bOstJsD-x5Y72DSK0zY0/s320/DSCN4241.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post Hustle 2011</td></tr>
</tbody></table> In other words, I will never be really good at many endurance things again and will peak long before I would like. But I will continue to train with the understanding of realistic expectations. My official time was 23:28. My overall placement was 1728 out of roughly 2900. I finished 668 of 1435 women and 182 of 395 in my age group. I was really pretty surprised and encouraged. <br />
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The line to take the elevator was long and we were a part of a group that got to take the service elevators down to the main level. The elevators went from floor 94 to 44 and then we had to exit to get on another elevator to get to the main level. So we got to see parts of the Hancock reserved for service personnel, which was much more fun!holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-89665556144645931482011-02-28T04:17:00.001-08:002011-03-01T19:19:26.892-08:00Adventure 8 - Try Snowshoeing<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Dif3-21wQSRDtrQkc1ONlspr6ndP80t1zBFQ2zfU0ALenLB6Tm1W6urKkH7wpJfOVf4QaL1vs5-A0SObOOFnT9H12YoaBHaDch_DjRVTzY28be7g8nV8U2tfn-jMs1llhVNI4jxf1lk/s1600/DSCN4175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Dif3-21wQSRDtrQkc1ONlspr6ndP80t1zBFQ2zfU0ALenLB6Tm1W6urKkH7wpJfOVf4QaL1vs5-A0SObOOFnT9H12YoaBHaDch_DjRVTzY28be7g8nV8U2tfn-jMs1llhVNI4jxf1lk/s320/DSCN4175.jpg" width="320" /></a>We had quite a snowfall this year. We received 13-15 inches on Tuesday February 2, 2011 in the Peoria area. This much snow however does allow for lots of fun snow activities!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlO2OeLc1quqKkLru5DaRotE8UfltH2LrcIsxtF16KykU7GnV-aPewCsdJSm7AnEVodAq1lkZvlubrugzm7PN5pvNnbo-ftfRQzAeBvqK8HQIhjXJKEZeQapFTI0ovmxT9bgfEZ5Tn68/s1600/DSCN4177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlO2OeLc1quqKkLru5DaRotE8UfltH2LrcIsxtF16KykU7GnV-aPewCsdJSm7AnEVodAq1lkZvlubrugzm7PN5pvNnbo-ftfRQzAeBvqK8HQIhjXJKEZeQapFTI0ovmxT9bgfEZ5Tn68/s320/DSCN4177.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Kristin got out her snowshoes and I was able to try them out in my backyard. I was a little concerned that I would start out this adventure by face planting in the snow but was pleasantly surprised by how easy the snowshoes were to navigate. It definately made snow travel much simplier!holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-4087324626601642842011-02-06T13:54:00.000-08:002011-03-01T19:11:25.737-08:00Extra Credit item - Skate on a frozen body of water January 30, 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgELxQWv6CUpsAmDw3eSmyoGzkIXY8OWIYYHOGCwLwqgry_t7gl3UdaQyU0-c62ihlTA4SjuwTPjXRI0WhrFL24M2zlQhqUylkkdVvDRcRI4UzgLuTrSt3WZkC-iULqZ7oGlDwQpIdxESU/s1600/DSCN4156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgELxQWv6CUpsAmDw3eSmyoGzkIXY8OWIYYHOGCwLwqgry_t7gl3UdaQyU0-c62ihlTA4SjuwTPjXRI0WhrFL24M2zlQhqUylkkdVvDRcRI4UzgLuTrSt3WZkC-iULqZ7oGlDwQpIdxESU/s320/DSCN4156.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwlJ636EmYe9Zt7ayutRMVKwlqmR0f0Pjs4DQfrFbtvlbu2StJ0SNNtv0FZ3w2N7FHlqssh5eoLv_n88si8FaCAnwbpW-ZEMe1zvY9kjBjVLCvIJdZZqlqKT-nsGTTidA8xzR_XMJGUk/s1600/DSCN4165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwlJ636EmYe9Zt7ayutRMVKwlqmR0f0Pjs4DQfrFbtvlbu2StJ0SNNtv0FZ3w2N7FHlqssh5eoLv_n88si8FaCAnwbpW-ZEMe1zvY9kjBjVLCvIJdZZqlqKT-nsGTTidA8xzR_XMJGUk/s320/DSCN4165.jpg" width="240" /></a>Ice fishing and ice skating went together today! Kristin and I headed to her parent's house in Morton for an afternoon of winter fun. Kristin's dad drilled holes in the pond for fishing while Kristin and I took turns shoveling a circular path on the pond for us to skate!</div>The fish were not biting. Kristin and her dad each caught a fish. I however, caught a fish but in the process of bringing it up through the hole, hit it on the side of the ice and it got it's freedom! Oh, well. It was still exciting. <br />
After and hour of being really cold. Kristin and I went to warm up by the fire before trying again. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PJBjQZkhnHBHHJNJmxGnKpJLpcIG6ALcs_etBuM6ERDeH9oSkzTd9PlvBdsnxiUiHKPSSUojWCbkw3aFfpENjZF3BikrVTeQGb5Yjlc8nvGgfeD2va-8Cqk2nSAHgoSszeuQyLY5ibo/s1600/DSCN4159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PJBjQZkhnHBHHJNJmxGnKpJLpcIG6ALcs_etBuM6ERDeH9oSkzTd9PlvBdsnxiUiHKPSSUojWCbkw3aFfpENjZF3BikrVTeQGb5Yjlc8nvGgfeD2va-8Cqk2nSAHgoSszeuQyLY5ibo/s200/DSCN4159.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>After another 45 minutes of fishless time, we decided that we were done fishing and got out our skates. I put on my ice skates while Kristin laced up her roller blades! We set off along the bumpy path on the pond just laughing and having a good time as we watched each other stumble along.<br />
Kristin's dad prepared the 2 fish and then defrosted some fish from the freezer for a fish fry for dinner! Yummy!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrA2nyzu_fgK0Tuig-bNn2TAgSAD6qgvPDjSBYVVvav0DMNedJAw90-9bwImTQ4eUF46a3vBRrCfc3olE03zor_pJNpk5Vb2H-6mO7_tGbiiRYmPoMBmLNjhvK_ObnEfY4Exl8GABmAA/s1600/DSCN4162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrA2nyzu_fgK0Tuig-bNn2TAgSAD6qgvPDjSBYVVvav0DMNedJAw90-9bwImTQ4eUF46a3vBRrCfc3olE03zor_pJNpk5Vb2H-6mO7_tGbiiRYmPoMBmLNjhvK_ObnEfY4Exl8GABmAA/s320/DSCN4162.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We had to shovel our own skating rink for this event. Kristin and I shoveled an oval shaped rink that was the width of 2 shovels. It was a lot of work as the snow covered a layer of ice. The rink was definately not smooth and we needed a zamboni to come to our rescue!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kristin on rollerblades</td></tr>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-48353710149756071692011-02-06T13:48:00.000-08:002011-03-01T19:14:13.445-08:00Adventure #16 - Serve those in need in the community at least once a quarter. January 27, 2011It is easy to become wrapped up in our own lives and to miss out on serving those in need in our communities. Sometimes it is easier to give money rather than time to help those in need. However, spending time in service opens the eyes to those needs in our community and to respond to meet these basic needs thus granting the privilege of also providing for the spiritual need for Jesus.<br />
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I first heard about the Midwest Food Bank from a dietitan who serves on the Peoria board. Marjorie was the dietitian that I worked for at the Cooperative Extension Service the summer between my graduation from Bradley in May of 1993 and the start of my internship at Barnes in St Louis in August of 1993. When I returned to Peoria in 2004, Marjorie and I were now a part of the Central Illinois Dietetic Association together. During 2010, I first heard about Tender Mercies program at the Midwest Food Bank. Volunteers allow the Midwest Food Bank to use their resouces to meet the needs of those in the community with very little overhead cost. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDtDwK4K92PVlhSC2moRcAZTe4PCTM_rjYtuZa-eGa1keCz6Rtb61RoYt6XZnU3eaynX42gAceYp9vWsL9ABdbyNaAs0v2a8x6uuTi-pq4mxT8l1Fvt5CrJzdqzF9jnd_m8vmD1hvKrk/s1600/DSCN4148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDtDwK4K92PVlhSC2moRcAZTe4PCTM_rjYtuZa-eGa1keCz6Rtb61RoYt6XZnU3eaynX42gAceYp9vWsL9ABdbyNaAs0v2a8x6uuTi-pq4mxT8l1Fvt5CrJzdqzF9jnd_m8vmD1hvKrk/s320/DSCN4148.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I received an e-mail that the Career Impact Thursday night Bible study planned to go and serve by making Tender Mercies packets. So even though I did not attend this Bible Study, I e-mailed to see if there was still room for me to join them. This was a special privilege to join with my brothers and sister to serve while meeting the needs of those who would one day receive this food packet. <br />
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Tender Mercies is a mixture of TVP, beans, rice and a high nutrient flavoring that is able to feed a family of four. All that is needed is water and a heat source to prepare this meal. <br />
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So our team spent time putting together these packets. What was impressive to me was that most of the volunteers were men. It was great fun watching them enjoy one another's company as they filled the bags, tried to increase efficiency (can we say engineers), laughed and modeled new and fashionable hairnets! I was blest just to be with them and watch them at work. During the shift, our team put together 800 packets of food which would feed 3200 people.<br />
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On February 14, 2011 for Valentine's Day, the dietitians hosted a bake sale at Methodist to benefit Midwest Food Bank and the Tender Mercies program. We raised $615 for Tender Mercies.holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-70601369006225099622011-02-06T13:28:00.000-08:002011-02-06T13:28:26.934-08:00Adventure #11 - Eat a new ethnic food each month - JanuaryTurkey provided the opportunity to try new dishes. Some of the items were not new because I had tried them at Shannon's Turkish teas. The food was so much better than the food in Europe. It was less salty and had less fat. There were lots of vegetables and local fruits available at all meals. Yes - even vegetables at breakfast. I loved the tomato and cucumber salads that I could eat for breakfast and missed them when I returned home!<br />
Part of the unique dining experience at this 5 star hotel was the additional meal time guests - the 2 cats! The cats would rub up against your legs and just look at you and Meow! Occasionally the cats would hiss and spat at one another. It was a little disconcerting to also see the birds sitting on the fresh bread that was put out for all meals. Definately a new dining experience!holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-82076379615340661042011-02-06T13:22:00.000-08:002011-02-08T19:35:25.655-08:00Adventure #36 - Winter Swim in a Body of Water January 1, 2011<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBuKsuJRlOTmLw3-_UZjDdOCTP02VPZ9Yr-eQtYc0ln-8Gwnn28ZF-cDC0KuK-G6P3GpRpfOWn-iFbrBfSJDiu8dXxY2HOqb4qJ5aQg0jZAmt3osFLeWt9MzshjIEz36NHQTQDvnibrM/s1600/DSCN4003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBuKsuJRlOTmLw3-_UZjDdOCTP02VPZ9Yr-eQtYc0ln-8Gwnn28ZF-cDC0KuK-G6P3GpRpfOWn-iFbrBfSJDiu8dXxY2HOqb4qJ5aQg0jZAmt3osFLeWt9MzshjIEz36NHQTQDvnibrM/s320/DSCN4003.jpg" width="320" /></a>Happy New Year from turkey! So instead of participating in the Peoria area polar bear club by jumping into the frozen Illinois River. I rang in the New Year by jumping into the Aegean Sea in the winter. The outside temperature was around 40 degrees so the air was chilly. Not what you would think for being along the sea. The water was not frozen but it too was chilly. </div>Pastor Lyall, Kevin, Dorothy and I were joined by 6 of the MKs and one parent to take this morning swim. We all jumped together! What fun! We were definately awake after this swim!<br />
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This open door took me to Turkey. The trip was to support a mission organization's conference for European missionaries and their families. Our purpose was to provide the children and youth programming for the families by loving on them, teaching and providing cultural experiences with the goal of growing their walk with the Lord.<br />
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If you have been reading my other posts, you will then know that my trip really began in Geneva in early December. Really I consider it God's confirmation that I was to be a part of this team and trip for God's glory. Only God could orchestrate the meeting of a missionary with a team member from the States while in Geneva as he was teaching at the school where my friend attends for the week. God really is that big and in these moments God himself is clearly seen. Malia and I laughed that she was getting to be a part of my trip as she was able to hear Mark teach about Ephesus before I even stepped foot in Turkey or heard the teaching myself. Also God enabled me to get home so that I could depart with the team rather than departing after a few unplanned days extra in England. <br />
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God calls all believers to be involved in missions - either to go or to support those who go to tell all over the world. At this point in my life, God's call for me is to find ways to support those who he is sending to the field. This was such an opportunity to serve. <br />
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My brother, a Christian school teacher in Nashville, always reminds me that just because kids are in a Christian school does not mean that they are believers and that they are still in need of the life changing ministry that comes from the application and living out of the gospel in our daily lives. As our team taught through Ephesians, we too had the opportunity to speak the truth from God's Word found in this book to these MKs and to assist them as in their walk with the Lord. God's word too also was at work in my own heart as I spend time studying Ephesians 3 for my time teaching. God is still using this chapter to challenge my own daily thinking and application in my life.holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-70010519042951717182011-02-06T12:57:00.000-08:002011-03-01T18:41:09.699-08:00Adventure 22 - Prague December 12-16, 2010<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCif0lhOlVY758hHMacAK6YYa4fooiFEXC2amOR-KvPpHhQ-xgfOMSAWe7IaGcQLlVEG9ummaXwUq5kFPt03BmUV1PNxZ2yya7umLkqCNzzkuePY5kZ2EbqAiv92m1WPTUaCP09s-c_nY/s1600/DSCN3597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCif0lhOlVY758hHMacAK6YYa4fooiFEXC2amOR-KvPpHhQ-xgfOMSAWe7IaGcQLlVEG9ummaXwUq5kFPt03BmUV1PNxZ2yya7umLkqCNzzkuePY5kZ2EbqAiv92m1WPTUaCP09s-c_nY/s320/DSCN3597.jpg" width="240" /></a>Prague - the adventure started with the flight and the need to use my limited medical training for the man with the seizure. Prague also represented the blessing of spending time with Janna and the unexpected blessing of seeing Mark. The time spent listening to two missionaries share about their service to the Lord in Czech was encouraging and to actually see where Janna is serving was a blessing.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The city itself was amazing! I had been told this by many people but was not prepared for the city's rich heritgae, culture and beauty. It is a must see gem for a European travel adventure. I was able to see the Charles Bridge, The Prague Castle, Old Town Square and it's various buildings and churches, The Jewish Quarter (which was amazing). I would have loved to have more time to see buildings, hear concerts and tour museums. </div><br />
Pictures are worth a thousand words!<br />
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Old Town Square and Christmas Markets</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Nicholas Church in Old Town Square</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mozart played here and introduced Don Giovanni</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaSb-xUM8dDOuAtGMYZDs7DrGsd88uo1G6XNIg4yxHLAxd2QEzDHN7VDalFIdsNYYtxVLtw01RB7s_b0MBHobUQh4MkThyphenhyphenzdZLJbJmo2Zcrypperm_V7543unY4yjqdiXVsLTpWnaKqw/s1600/DSCN3454.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaSb-xUM8dDOuAtGMYZDs7DrGsd88uo1G6XNIg4yxHLAxd2QEzDHN7VDalFIdsNYYtxVLtw01RB7s_b0MBHobUQh4MkThyphenhyphenzdZLJbJmo2Zcrypperm_V7543unY4yjqdiXVsLTpWnaKqw/s320/DSCN3454.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-60744955540288386202011-02-06T11:07:00.000-08:002011-02-12T20:21:31.184-08:00Adventure 11 - Eat a new ethnic food every month December 9, 2010 and December 15, 2010<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNmKVtEhDN-Cdc2WvGvNzwFBnHw29dIQqrCXlYKYoxwpEkiCGlP3jSJXd6lhExC8TM0PQP71srlN9OYfS0pdEg4VZ36QmuFL87tsFe-CETkZ1p2QI2llvmqapzMSzEMFz3ttn-WgDWawI/s1600/DSCN3266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNmKVtEhDN-Cdc2WvGvNzwFBnHw29dIQqrCXlYKYoxwpEkiCGlP3jSJXd6lhExC8TM0PQP71srlN9OYfS0pdEg4VZ36QmuFL87tsFe-CETkZ1p2QI2llvmqapzMSzEMFz3ttn-WgDWawI/s320/DSCN3266.jpg" width="240" /></a><strong>December 9, 2010</strong> Malia and I set out after her classes finshed and took a train to Morges to investigate a Christmas market. The Switerland tourism site recommended this Christmas market and it was a short train ride from Geneva. Lesson learned - Never assume based on a title. "Christmas market" to both Malia and myself meant that there would be booths selling Christmas items. Not so! It was a glorified craft show and flee market and there were very few traditional Swiss items.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">However there was traditional Swiss food being served. Malia was not sure what some of the food items were either so she talked to a couple about the sausage and cabbage dish that they were eating. She told the couple that I was looking to try some traditional foods so the woman cut off a bite of her sausage and added some cabbage and gave it to me to try. It was pretty good. So Malia and I each ordered one. We, really Malia, talked with the couple in French. Then the gentleman brought over 2 wine glasses and they shared their wine with us. In reality for me, it was a very gracious and generous form of hospitality given by this couple to welcome us to Switzerland. (Now the not so fun part was that sausages are often so high in fat that they disagree with my gut and I was in the bathroom within the hour!)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><strong>December 15, 2010</strong> Prague <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjeWjfSQ1LhY2xvG4bJaOSpNlHCpenv76Db6nBeUw5ZGG5fzrO1GLg3f9f-EWkQ9j-YEVQ6VxZF7_JyiqlQDLUbfWyC0aVni4GTby-OV-W_ZBW7pk8UuRvHw_AvxR0fb6loOBDqheobs/s1600/DSCN3640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjeWjfSQ1LhY2xvG4bJaOSpNlHCpenv76Db6nBeUw5ZGG5fzrO1GLg3f9f-EWkQ9j-YEVQ6VxZF7_JyiqlQDLUbfWyC0aVni4GTby-OV-W_ZBW7pk8UuRvHw_AvxR0fb6loOBDqheobs/s320/DSCN3640.jpg" width="320" /></a>In prague, I had the opportunity to eat many different traditional foods which was very fun. Two of the restaurants spoke English so this was helpful. One of the restaurants was in Rick Steve's book on Prague and was recommended by one of Janna's co-teachers. In addition, I was able to eat lunch with Mark and I had fun watching him enjoy his favorite Czech dish from one of his favorite Czech restaurants in Old Town Square. The last evening provided the most fun with food! For my last evening in Prague, Janna and I went to the local tavern for some traditional Czech food. Our waitress did not speak english and no english menu was available, lending itself to a very fun food adventure! So I decided to just pick an item off the menu and try it. I tried to use common sense to figure out some of the words and my limited Russian vocabulary for food items from my job in St Louis. So I ordered an item using my best Czech pronounciation possible and actually got a thumbs up from the waitress. What arrived, you may wonder? It was a surprise to me too. I ended up with red peppers filled with a melted salty cheese of some kind. The peppers were good and I eventually just scraped off the cheese. It was fun however just to order.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLAV9BRe7sk3Z6RZzkt7EnyDTXa_1JQUeHUABfeq2chyxyJZ5Z2c2rcmsmcLECiPAogsIk5SR2NtpW8j9Vp5MYB2mpYCVLbQC7cclBqOT2Rc46pp-u1YhNRRj9o5zJG6YNRI04bg6-T0U/s1600/DSCN3525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLAV9BRe7sk3Z6RZzkt7EnyDTXa_1JQUeHUABfeq2chyxyJZ5Z2c2rcmsmcLECiPAogsIk5SR2NtpW8j9Vp5MYB2mpYCVLbQC7cclBqOT2Rc46pp-u1YhNRRj9o5zJG6YNRI04bg6-T0U/s320/DSCN3525.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjzg26JtbGYdWMqEQpPuRiw2EGwlh6CSDBBMkgG67BJUY37XiB3cSgrMcmHUE2AvJI3brUKp0VdULODUH79jy6kReQ3i6_2xK_XbCFnJikZ7ErPUg6ynJCFvHfEEKiBI0z_P0D1cry-gk/s1600/DSCN3639.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjzg26JtbGYdWMqEQpPuRiw2EGwlh6CSDBBMkgG67BJUY37XiB3cSgrMcmHUE2AvJI3brUKp0VdULODUH79jy6kReQ3i6_2xK_XbCFnJikZ7ErPUg6ynJCFvHfEEKiBI0z_P0D1cry-gk/s320/DSCN3639.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tbz5EzckDjUUdSAUtWtSsPIbNdnWO_gdznqyZLweTh0t_y75Bh6A7MTJlVHfJUmWKMLHljrr1VUDR7xPl2Fho9WEFfSPDFJY0CTQQlYF5GqaraGgTy_AcepA2paVNkh0Osoyzhb2iYY/s1600/DSCN3611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tbz5EzckDjUUdSAUtWtSsPIbNdnWO_gdznqyZLweTh0t_y75Bh6A7MTJlVHfJUmWKMLHljrr1VUDR7xPl2Fho9WEFfSPDFJY0CTQQlYF5GqaraGgTy_AcepA2paVNkh0Osoyzhb2iYY/s320/DSCN3611.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-10965815671710483222011-02-05T19:56:00.000-08:002011-03-01T18:05:04.091-08:00Adventure item #21 - Downhill Ski in Europe December 11, 2010I thought that this would be easy, afterall I was in Europe and there had been a big storm 2 weeks before I arrived. However, I did not count on a warmup. Malia and I looked for ski resorts close to Geneva only to discover that none of them had snow and were not open. So we searched further and found one that was a 2 hour train ride away. So on December 11, 2010 we got on the train and headed to Verbier to ski. Malia had decided to study while I skied so this adventure would be solo.<br />
Lesson learned from this adventure - never assume. I made the assumption that the color coding and system of trail marking was universal - Big mistake! So I arrived at the top of the mountain and and after reviewing the map discovered that only a few trails had names. Furthermore, I discovered a very interesting way of marking the runs, which were not labeled or marked. The system uses a series of poles, sticks really. The sticks are painted with two colors but the color at the bottom represented the run difficulty. The amount of color on the stick told you rather the run difficulty was to the left or the right. It was so confusing! So after striking out on a easy run to warm up and spending the next 45 minutes crossing several mountains, I stopped someone to ask where I was on the map only to be told - I am not sure but I think that we are here. Because the runs were not well marked and there were no names on the mountain and only a few runs had names - it was hard to use the map. So I made the determination to try out several runs and then stick with the ones that I was confortable doing. The day was beautiful and the skies were amazing. Plus I had a good time just talking with people. Adventure completed!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1GPKmDhUG-Ep0yT5uDSWbblAlrTUugSME1lIlHtgQ_fsrMCC7IzbY4ranP6H_FxAnL_bcSkgELmSKRRlTEUze7Nab3sjVAgGABaIdgnDXSpW9ZgisNa0cmaDpITEDtuGydntnGxfFwc/s1600/DSCN3369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1GPKmDhUG-Ep0yT5uDSWbblAlrTUugSME1lIlHtgQ_fsrMCC7IzbY4ranP6H_FxAnL_bcSkgELmSKRRlTEUze7Nab3sjVAgGABaIdgnDXSpW9ZgisNa0cmaDpITEDtuGydntnGxfFwc/s320/DSCN3369.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiWKSIZ82cyatBEv5VU6JrY8qoslVxIVlh9hj65ck-92bGs4gx6m2XwWhsWmCL65ibaaY8q0XhpcO_6DNft0lV1kG5sYVp8paZJkYULlRUiLKyEQHSrHx_SKjBp1p1_p5DjKDtnu0soQ/s1600/DSCN3374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiWKSIZ82cyatBEv5VU6JrY8qoslVxIVlh9hj65ck-92bGs4gx6m2XwWhsWmCL65ibaaY8q0XhpcO_6DNft0lV1kG5sYVp8paZJkYULlRUiLKyEQHSrHx_SKjBp1p1_p5DjKDtnu0soQ/s320/DSCN3374.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhp7QhrkW5QSV-_SjNrx6vD-SfOdmbLhXNlZbOhr6H5POQhYAwvJg9M_ZZqO6eFU29ARXU6HW3MkC_ufrs6UvrDnOr0y4dt51Hxdd-KSw5Gdi1P6Eg4_YWtv-FWG4gCzZrbSLfdx7lyk/s1600/DSCN3391.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhp7QhrkW5QSV-_SjNrx6vD-SfOdmbLhXNlZbOhr6H5POQhYAwvJg9M_ZZqO6eFU29ARXU6HW3MkC_ufrs6UvrDnOr0y4dt51Hxdd-KSw5Gdi1P6Eg4_YWtv-FWG4gCzZrbSLfdx7lyk/s320/DSCN3391.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-7704357435976231832011-02-05T19:47:00.000-08:002011-02-12T20:28:17.108-08:00My European Adventure - My missionary encouragement tour December 6, 2010-December 18, 2010So I embarked on an adventure - a European adventure really. I called it my missionary visitation encouragement tour as I was headed to Geneva to spend time with Malia and experience life with her as she studies at the Bible Institue of Geneva as she discerns God's call as a missionary to France and then headed to Prague to see Janna as she serves with the Christian School of Prague. My unexpected visit came in Prague also as I was able to see a childhood friend, Mark Krupa, who also serves in the Czech Republic with Josiah Venture. This was one of many God sightings as I had sent him a message that I was going to be in Prague from 12/12-12/16. I received a message back while in Geneva that he comes to Prague once a year and would be in town from 1215-12/17 so I was able to see him on Wednesday and he was able to share his story with Janna and talk about his language and cultural assimiliation in Czech. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTiieAkCZLAreECuHwFy51OdOKs_-CQaUgxEOzxc0RQHMe59WUvtJ-0S2oNn6j1cfr9cEBUB8HkzcLVqMp4K9DJV6B2tVFXSJATfAW6MGwJMb7eqVz-ngvO4cR5YphuQkcWH2UHGKlVM/s1600/DSCN3428.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTiieAkCZLAreECuHwFy51OdOKs_-CQaUgxEOzxc0RQHMe59WUvtJ-0S2oNn6j1cfr9cEBUB8HkzcLVqMp4K9DJV6B2tVFXSJATfAW6MGwJMb7eqVz-ngvO4cR5YphuQkcWH2UHGKlVM/s320/DSCN3428.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Janna and I at a Christmas Concert in St. Nicholas Church in Old Town Square in Prague</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time with Mark at Starbucks in Prague </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAzFYC7ABuN4Myv3r6xGidj6vZ02AmRlUQg4xVdzNJGbt2TY9V-kE0so7mi7UbzxGGSvp5IBaAAC3i6rQd5Abf16pe3bN9u0vZ1xYJHFHW9VVtawW3EH-w2tzYbN85he2f9QY4mXZLwM/s1600/DSCN3268.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAzFYC7ABuN4Myv3r6xGidj6vZ02AmRlUQg4xVdzNJGbt2TY9V-kE0so7mi7UbzxGGSvp5IBaAAC3i6rQd5Abf16pe3bN9u0vZ1xYJHFHW9VVtawW3EH-w2tzYbN85he2f9QY4mXZLwM/s320/DSCN3268.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Christmas Market in Morges with Malia</td></tr>
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What an adventure! I left work on Monday December 6 and headed to Chicago for a 10pm departure from OHare, all the while having a very uncomfortable feeling about the flight. After arriving at Karen's and checking the flight schedule, we headed off to Ohare as my flight was on time. When we arrived however we discovered that my flight had been cancelled with no reason offered. American Airlines was unable to get me to London any other way to meet my connection to Geneva so I had to reschedule both flights and lost a day. So on 12/7 I departed to London and arrived in Geneva on 12/8, a day late. Malia picked me up at the airport and we headed to the school. This was the next in a series of God moments. Two of the professors were American and one was in to teach a week long class. So I was able to visit with them in English. So at dinner as I spoke with Tom, he asked about my church in Peoria and this led to a coversation about theology and John Piper. He let me know that the other professor would be interesting for me to talk with and that he was with particular missions organization. This perked up my ears and I asked "Is he going to be at a conference in Turkey in a few weeks?" "My church is going to Turkey to provide the children and youth programming for a group serving with this missions organization from all over Europe." At this Tom said "Let's go find out." After speaking with Mark in French, Mark turned to me and said "You are part of Pastor Lyall's team from Bethany!" This began the coversation and I was able to meet one of the families that we would be serving in Turkey while in Geneva. A God sighting both as a confirmation that I was to go to Turkey and an encouragement to the other students as Mark explained to them in French what had just occurred. Malia however was back at the table telling Tom that in the scheme of life, we see God provide these meetings sometimes but in Holly's life these meetings happen all the time. I asked her if she had rolled her eyes for Linda, who had been our third roommate and had experienced this with me many times in the past! <br />
Flights continued to provide interesting stories and much excitement as after the first delay I figured that it would be smooth sailing. Think again! As I relaxed on my flight from Geneva to Prague, the man across the aisle began to throw up. The young man with him waved me off when I offered my white bag as an extra. In a few minutes however, the man began to have a seizure. The flight attendants asked for a nurse of physician for a medical emergency and no one responded. Silence. And I realized that I was most likely the only medical person on the flight and was a dietitian with both healthcare professional CPR and first aid training. So I told them that I had basic first aid and was trained in CPR. After sending up a quick prayer, began to help the young man help his dad by talking him through how to keep his dad's airway open since he had passed out in his seat. This went on for 45 minutes and I continued to pray and watch his breathing and look for signs of cardiac arrest all the while praying that CPR would not be needed but ready and willing to do what I could to keep this stranger alive. The man began to respond as we approached Prague and an emergency response team boarded the plane. I disembarked thankful that God had provided wisdom and strength and that the man was enroute to a hospital but I was still very shaken.<br />
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Plane Adventures continue....<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU16w-QNn2BaC7CALSx1UovWOQMaqB-UginJAvo-Di6hkmi3x3GqA2jlVX54XiWWKETgDpvGE6hGINxakpmgvM_8F9aeYBpvw8q7qMkP9lR0D1UxcmaE2WDld11G6GQdzX3dkAbDTJXOw/s1600/DSCN3646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU16w-QNn2BaC7CALSx1UovWOQMaqB-UginJAvo-Di6hkmi3x3GqA2jlVX54XiWWKETgDpvGE6hGINxakpmgvM_8F9aeYBpvw8q7qMkP9lR0D1UxcmaE2WDld11G6GQdzX3dkAbDTJXOw/s320/DSCN3646.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our transportation to Heathrow - a charter bus</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I arrived back in Geneva on December 16 after a very uneventful flight and Malia and I spent the evening together and prepared to depart on the 17th for home. We knew that it was going to be interesting when we awoke to 3-4 inches of fresh snow on the ground and then arrived at the Geneva airport to discover that the first 3 hours of flights had been cancelled and the airport was in chaos. Our flight was still listed as departing on time but the British Airways ticket counter was very disorganized and Malia and I were shuffled from being in line to out of line and in other lines all while getting very frustrated. When we finally got our tickets and headed to the gate, we knew that we were departing an hour late but that we still had plenty of time to catch our next flight out of London. So after our plane was deiced, we headed to London but this time I was uneasy again. As we approached London the first officer came on and told us that there was a lot of traffic on the ground at Heathrow and that we would need to circle the city for another 45 minutes - now this was going to be interesting as our time to make our connection would be really close. In a few minutes however the landing gear was down and the first officer got back on and told us that we would be landing on time and to review the safety card information in the seat pocket in front of us. Now that was an odd request and made me realize that something was wrong. After a few minutes as we prepared to land, the plane instead shot back into the sky and then I knew something was really wrong. There was silence from the cockpit for about 20-25 minutes and then we heard from the first officer. They had experienced the loss of their instrument panel as they descended into Heathrow and were being diverted to another city in England where it was clear so that they could do a manual landing. As we prepared to land a second time, Malia and I joined hands and each began to pray. In my mind asking the question "Jesus do I see you today?" and yet I was completely at peace despite having no idea what the outcome would be. When we landed about 60 km north of London the pilot got on and told us that they had experienced and electrical failure in the cockpit and that this was the reason that they lost the use of the instrument panel and the autopilot. They needed to completely turn off the plane for safety and that they would keep us informed. So after another 2 hours on the plane, we were towed towards the terminal and then disembarked to go throgh customs and collect our luggage. British Airways hired charter buses to take us to Heathrow. When we arrived now after 7 pm we enetered expecting to have new flights and to be on our way home when we entered absolute chaos in the British Airways terminal due to cancelled flights all over Europe related to weather and thousands of people were in line. We found an information desk and no one realized that our flight had not landed in London. We finally found a group of people from our flight who had managed to get a British Airways employee to believe the story about the flight failure and he realized that the ball had been dropped related to rescheduling all of our flights. So we were all placed in a line together and we waited to get new itineries. 3 hours later however, the airline employees left at the end of their shift with none of our flight having been served. Through a series of circumstances we found an employee who was willing to answer my questions about the partnership with American Airlines and what information AA employees could see about what had happened to our flight. She told me that on the BA side they could see that our flight did not land in Heathrow but in Luton. So Malia and I decided to try calling AA in the states to see if they could help us. After trying to use my international calling card without success, Malia and I found a corner and prayed and then opened her laptop and tried skype and got through to someone at AA who could help us. After being told that the first flight we could get on was Sunday, I mentioned that I would miss my family Christmas and had no more vacation time left at work. Soon a seat on the Saturday am flight opened and after a discussion with Malia about who would take this flight, the reservation person was told to give it to me and she would Malia on stand-by. So with great thankfulness Malia and I went to join our flightmates to spend the night on the floor of Heathrow. The morning dawned and Malia and I headed to the American Airlines terminal and another challenge presented itself. My flight had been rebooked but Malia's had not been. So we spoke with AA ticket agents about the BA flight failure the day before and they were able to get Malia a seat on the Saturday 4:30 pm flight. So we had breakfast and then went to the my departure gate where we parted ways. Then as we went to board the plane, the skies opened and snow began to fall. By the time that we boarded and the plane was deiced, there were several inches of snow on the ground and I could barely see the runway and I thought that this was going to be very interesting. We taxied down the runway and took off and had clear skies all the way to Chicago. When we were about an hour from Chicago, the flight attendant told the women in front of me that they should be thankful for their Christmas miracle as our flight was the last one out before London Heathrow closed the airport and it would remain closed for 4-5 days. Malia was stuck and my heart broke. God had a purpose for each one of us and her sacrifice enabled me to get home for Christmas and to prepare for my trip to Turkey. </div>The interesting note about my adventure getting home was that when I did not arrive in Chicago, American Airlines told Karen to contact British Airways about my connecting flight. She looked it up online to discover that the listed information stated - flight status - contact British Airways. So she called and was told that "yes she was on the flight and that I was alive and that everyone was ok." When Karen asked where I was she was told "We do not know."holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-24645574995341498872011-02-05T18:34:00.000-08:002011-03-01T18:33:42.071-08:00November 27, 2010 - Extra Credit Idea 23 - Go to a Concert in a Cave<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvxpec2XeJqiZXjizngMfDyUR5xLm5mdbwq1McjQHyfUuXyqFWi4nEDZFCC_6FB6WGAQvGuSwE5SLHl4PTlYHYxEkj1vrQds2_awKSM6NdTjEhYrY_4sRIrNwHZyeV8ei0BqF6P3gJ4vA/s1600/DSCN3167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvxpec2XeJqiZXjizngMfDyUR5xLm5mdbwq1McjQHyfUuXyqFWi4nEDZFCC_6FB6WGAQvGuSwE5SLHl4PTlYHYxEkj1vrQds2_awKSM6NdTjEhYrY_4sRIrNwHZyeV8ei0BqF6P3gJ4vA/s320/DSCN3167.jpg" width="320" /></a>Today I am 40 and I have the privilege of spending it in Nashville with my family, making this the perfect day. 40 years have passed so quickly and so will the next 40, if the Lord wills! Today is extra special because 4 years ago the testing process that finally led to my Hodgkins lymphoma started on 11/28/2006 and in a few short weeks, I would wonder if I would live to be 37 let alone celebrate 40. So life itself is a precious gift.</div>So Mark's special gift was to take me to a concert in a cave. We drove to Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville, Tennessee to attend the monthly Bluegrass Underground concert. The featured group was Blue Highway with Rockin Acoustic Circus. So after hiking into a cave about a half mile we heard an amazing concert in a place with incredible acoustics! This event only occurs once a month and so the program included a concert Thanksgiving weekend - my birthday! What a fun gift and great idea. Mark is always clever and knows that I love music and trying things that are different and this was the perfect idea. A great family Underground Music Adventure.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1n9uL8EnB4yy0ztYAEWARpON3DKYc-MoxMsHPu9lUaF1HzblPuqoQ9qvHSHkZM1bqVUMzr-kC0972s4Ca9ku-_4PxAWXRHIUhsHM_g3i_CgD4ywIHsrPeIUflnDOesHxDy96JV47_M84/s1600/DSCN3169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1n9uL8EnB4yy0ztYAEWARpON3DKYc-MoxMsHPu9lUaF1HzblPuqoQ9qvHSHkZM1bqVUMzr-kC0972s4Ca9ku-_4PxAWXRHIUhsHM_g3i_CgD4ywIHsrPeIUflnDOesHxDy96JV47_M84/s320/DSCN3169.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We went to dinner at the Silly Goose in Nashville. It was just a wonderful day to be with family and to celebrate together and for this I was thankful. Most of the food items are made with couscous and each dish is unique and yet very healthy.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXt6pz5nk0R5MQmaUZ3-HNUyyJLvKmqZWyCYbo-d9OTtrM9N-GmE2uCWk2_Cz9qnWX-_vGNbbkpA-qb2b40afKb775088g-yRVYFYtFCGM18nX5p7H6SVod8urZH6tCPRJKfJB_chUuGY/s1600/DSCN3165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXt6pz5nk0R5MQmaUZ3-HNUyyJLvKmqZWyCYbo-d9OTtrM9N-GmE2uCWk2_Cz9qnWX-_vGNbbkpA-qb2b40afKb775088g-yRVYFYtFCGM18nX5p7H6SVod8urZH6tCPRJKfJB_chUuGY/s320/DSCN3165.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4NXV_UBz_uo5dNlbxguCJuEqhAjmWZvF1Y7ioEsKLIrju0Ht8CxOn1lbQ_3O0i6c03or_7EBYZYldliqoNl8Y6ePyaNxUnQDPo6vOgE6IvKwBQseXiAbLHxnWTviYRsaS3xjTF9NYg0/s1600/DSCN3160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4NXV_UBz_uo5dNlbxguCJuEqhAjmWZvF1Y7ioEsKLIrju0Ht8CxOn1lbQ_3O0i6c03or_7EBYZYldliqoNl8Y6ePyaNxUnQDPo6vOgE6IvKwBQseXiAbLHxnWTviYRsaS3xjTF9NYg0/s320/DSCN3160.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue Highway</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7uYunFv2MC8pk2EW6bZrDfgmFWM52kD3Lu-456kcghrMeohfG5lmbpO5c25AoOKe88VcK5qLO_UoizEpGKU1agc2xdmFa2L54z8g_ApPj_nhw04UcLDyI86pi_CIA3AK2wZm-0fM0a3I/s1600/DSCN3154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7uYunFv2MC8pk2EW6bZrDfgmFWM52kD3Lu-456kcghrMeohfG5lmbpO5c25AoOKe88VcK5qLO_UoizEpGKU1agc2xdmFa2L54z8g_ApPj_nhw04UcLDyI86pi_CIA3AK2wZm-0fM0a3I/s320/DSCN3154.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rockin Acousic Circus</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DPSPy99KZ1HHjKe9zAjAOrpD2vkYNYLqinBEgX5W4V30eEZiabJH8yzdMRJVgwJ9eJvXCqok2HPoZrZbpX853ztJjEkwk07mPKmmDgWqaojJTqDpR81ogGPdNmVALCguC8fvvTxja6s/s1600/DSCN3163.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DPSPy99KZ1HHjKe9zAjAOrpD2vkYNYLqinBEgX5W4V30eEZiabJH8yzdMRJVgwJ9eJvXCqok2HPoZrZbpX853ztJjEkwk07mPKmmDgWqaojJTqDpR81ogGPdNmVALCguC8fvvTxja6s/s320/DSCN3163.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark and Erin check out the map and information</td></tr>
</tbody></table>holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-63001898267089998682010-11-27T07:36:00.000-08:002010-11-27T07:36:24.310-08:00let the fun beginWell 40 is here! Last Sunday I was talking with a college friend and his wife in Sunday School and he said to me "Well you have a big birthday coming up." My response was "that means yours is coming up soon too.' He then said to me - "can you believe that we have reached the halfway point in our lives." This was a great perspective for me as I reflect on the events of the past few years and that just 4 years ago I started the testing process that eventually revealed my hodgkin's lymphoma. It is only by God's grace alone that I am alive today to celebrate 40 years of life. <br />
Mark reminded me today that we have much to be thankful for today and every day. Now I look forward in hopeful anticipation to the next 40 years of adventure if the Lord wills. <br />
So let the fun begin related to the next year with all of the upcoming adventures. I am looking forward sharing the adventure with you as you participate with me in this fun endeavor.<br />
So here is the final list:<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">1. Get a spray on tan just to see what I look like with a little color other than red or white!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">2. Highlight my hair because I can not because I have to!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">3. Hike in the Grand Canyon</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">4. Be able to do the splits again.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">5. Attend a Penn State football game in Pennsylvania!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">6. Go snowmobiling</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">7. Go horseback riding - not on a trail trained horse. Must try side saddle and bare back too!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">8. Try Snowshoeing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">9. Make a piece of pottery - using the wheel and all!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">10. Ride a motorcycle</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">11. Try a new ethnic food once a month - either at a restaurant, someone's home or make it myself</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">12. Ride a tandem bike</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">13. Hot air balloon ride - somewhere really scenic</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">14. Take some kind of class towards a new degree (not sure what yet!)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">15. Dance - Something beautiful</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">16. Serve those in need in the community at least quarterly</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">17. Recite from memory an entire book of the Bible</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">18. Missions Trip</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">19. Read at least 6 classic novels (the first will be Pilgrims Progress, then I am open for suggestions)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">20. Hike a 14,000 peak in Colorado</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">21. Downhill ski in Europe</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">22. Prague</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">23. Catch up on scrapbooking from 2008-present</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">24. Team in Training Event - I am thinking a half or full marathon - in Ireland to support blood cancer research</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">25. Buy a pearl bracelet</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">26. Attend a U2 concert</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">27. Hustle Up the Hancock</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">28. Learn to shoot a gun - gun safety class</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">29. Take a basic self defense class</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">30. Meet someone Famous</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The final 10 as voted on by you....</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">31. Running barefoot on a beach</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">32. Hang gliding</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">33. Irish dance lessons</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">34. Attend a session in DC of the house or senate</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">35. race a car around a racetrack</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">36. Go for a winter swim in a body of water</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">37. Go to the Grand hotel or another hotel get-a-way weekend</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">38. Pose like Jack Vettriano paintings </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">39. Kentucky Derby</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">40. Seder Meal</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">(41) My personal adventure item that only a few know.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Here are the extra credit suggestions</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> Hitch hike to Chicago<br />
20. Fly a crop duster<br />
21. Get arrested (but not for something that is arrest worthy)<br />
22. Participate in a flash mob.<br />
23. See a concert in a cave.<br />
24. Learn a new sport<br />
25. Try surfing</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">26. Cartwheels in Bethany parking ot - 40 of them</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">27. Write a song to publish in Nashville</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">So the adventure begins.....Come along and join me for the fun!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span>holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-91476771161962632182010-11-26T09:30:00.000-08:002010-11-26T09:30:41.343-08:00Additional suggestions - for extra creditLet the voting continue. I received some additional suggestions after the deadline but I thought that I would share them since they are exceptional suggestions. In other words if I can do one of these extras - then it is extra credit for something in the top 40 that does not get accomplished.<br />
<br />
Extra credit suggestions (those that suggestions may need to consider themselves fair game to have to do them with me for my extra credit)<br />
<br />
19. Hitch hike to Chicago<br />
20. Fly a crop duster<br />
21. Get arrested (but not for something that is arrest worthy)<br />
22. Participate in a flash mob.<br />
23. See a concert in a cave.<br />
24. Learn a new sport<br />
25. Try surfing<br />
<br />
The voting is getting tight for the other 18 suggestions so be sure to vote as the list is complete tomorrow am.<br />
<br />
Hollyholly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-34060746934409565722010-11-23T18:50:00.000-08:002010-11-23T18:50:28.062-08:00Cast Your Vote to Complete My 40th Adventure To-Do ListAs the suggestions have been rolling in, I have been able to spend time just plain laughing and enjoying the suggestions. It has been fun to walk down memory lane with those of you who have sent in suggestions, comments or encouragements. <br />
You may vote for your favorite 3 suggestions and then the top 10 will make the cut! The final list will be unveiled on my birthday - November 27!<br />
I will definately need some connections for some of these but that is so a part of this challenge!!<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-size: large;">Let the voting begin.....</span></strong><br />
<br />
Suggestions for the List<br />
1. Race a car around a race track!<br />
2. Attend the Kentucky Derby.<br />
3. Throw out the first pitch for the Cubs/Cards game (or any Cards game) <br />
4. Learn a new language - <br />
5. Snorkling a great reef in the Caribbean (complete with a wet suit and lots of sunscreen - you know me well).<br />
6. No camping!<br />
7. Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island, Michigan or another destination hotel weekend get-away.<br />
8. Run barefoot on a beach.<br />
9. Get a henna tattoo<br />
10. Hang gliding<br />
11. Take Irish dancing lessons<br />
12. Be on the radio<br />
13. Write a letter to the President<br />
14. Pose for photographs like Jack Wettriano paintings "Dance Me to the End of Love" and "The Singing Butler."<br />
15. Ice Skate on a frozen lake<br />
16. Attend a session of the Senate or House in DC<br />
17. Take a winter swim in a body of water somewhere<br />
18. Attend a Seder meal<br />
<br />
Sorry to those who suggested sky diving - as this would promote the need for an ear drum repair of my currently best ear drum so that one was edited from the list. holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786028507364187890.post-67286356388411672782010-11-18T17:35:00.000-08:002010-11-18T17:35:43.686-08:00My 40th Adventure<span style="color: #f1c232;">"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9</span><br />
<br />
Life is an adventure! Life's journey takes us places that we would never expect but that is part of the adventure. God has marked our lives with a time that only He knows and has a plan for us that He reveals along the way, I guess milestones. As I reflect on life, I can see God's sovereign purpose marked out on the path that my feet have journeyed. My journey has not been what I would have expected and what I would have planned for myself but it has been good. On 11/27, I will turn 40 so to mark this milestone I have made a list of things that I would like to do between my 40-41st birthdays in order to make this year a bit more fun! (And yes there will be 40 items on the list) You can join me for the fun and follow the journey this year. If you would like to help me with an adventure, let me know or I may recruit you......<br />
Your first assignment if you so choose is to review my list, which is incomplete. I need an additional 10 suggestions and you can offer some. You can e-mail, call, post, facebook suggestions to me for until November 22. Then I will post the suggestions and you all can vote on the remaining 10 items which will be revealed on November 27 - day one! (Yes I was challenged to this one - make it a real adventure and let others pick some and vote on them - thanks Ben!)<br />
So I hold this list loosely as as James reminds us that I should say "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." (James 4:15b)<br />
The List Begins<br />
1. Get a spray on tan just to see what I look like with a little color other than red or white!<br />
2. Highlight my hair because I can not because I have to!<br />
3. Hike in the Grand Canyon<br />
4. Be able to do the splits again.<br />
5. Attend a Penn State football game in Pennsylvania!<br />
6. Go snowmobiling<br />
7. Go horseback riding - not on a trail trained horse. Must try side saddle and bare back too!<br />
8. Try Snowshoeing<br />
9. Make a piece of pottery - using the wheel and all!<br />
10. Ride a motorcycle<br />
11. Try a new ethnic food once a month - either at a restaurant, someone's home or make it myself<br />
12. Ride a tandem bike<br />
13. Hot air balloon ride - somewhere really scenic<br />
14. Take some kind of class towards a new degree (not sure what yet!)<br />
15. Dance - Something beautiful<br />
16. Serve those in need in the community at least quarterly<br />
17. Recite from memory an entire book of the Bible <br />
18. Missions Trip<br />
19. Read at least 6 classic novels (the first will be Pilgrims Progress, then I am open for suggestions)<br />
20. Hike a 14,000 peak in Colorado<br />
21. Downhill ski in Europe<br />
22. Prague<br />
23. Catch up on scrapbooking from 2008-present <br />
24. Team in Training Event - I am thinking a half or full marathon - in Ireland to support blood cancer research<br />
25. Buy a pearl bracelet<br />
26. Attend a U2 concert<br />
27. Hustle Up the Hancock<br />
28. Learn to shoot a gun - gun safety class<br />
29. Take a basic self defense class<br />
30. Meet someone Famous<br />
31.<br />
32.<br />
33.<br />
34.<br />
35.<br />
36.<br />
37.<br />
38.<br />
39.<br />
40.<br />
(41) My personal adventure item that only a few know.holly's40thadventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15329698647153758494noreply@blogger.com1