Get a Tattoo

I have been planning to get a tattoo for about 5 years now, and finally decided on a design. I went from fairies, to my zodiac sign, to several other strange drawings of my own making, and finally the realization of my true passion won out. I also went to about 3 tattoo artists and didn't care for any of them. They were impersonal, creepy, and I never felt at ease with any of them. I realize that it takes a certain type of personality to stick needles into people all day, and nurses aren't the coziest of people either sometimes, but i'm always trust my gut when it comes to people, and i'm usually never wrong. So finally, I went to a friend's tattoo artist who she highly recommended, and he was completely different than all the others. All of the tattoo artists in his shop were. They were friendly, and helpful. I had to make several trips down there to get my design drawn up, something other tattoo artists were also unwilling to do ahead of time. Never trust a tattoo artist who won't show you an idea of what your tat will look like before he/she puts it on your skin forever. Each time I went back to the shop, the artists recognized me and greeted me like a friend. So, the day had finally arrived. My boyfriend went down to watch and giggle. He kept telling me how bad it hurt and wanted to see if I was going to cry. I laid down on the table and made myself comfortable, and had my pirate symbol carved into my back. I'm not sure if he was disappointed by the lack of tears and crying out, but i'm glad he went with me. I was very satisfied with the final result. I'm also very glad I waited so long and searched around before I got it though. It's always sad to see pretty girls with half-assed "garage tattoos" like they didn't regard their body and themselves highly enough to care what went on it. To me, that isn't what tattoos are all about. It should be a form of artwork and an expression of yourself. Not a practice sketchbook for any idiot who says they are an artist. No regrets!

Swim under a waterfall

It was a gorgeous day in Yosemite. We had planned this trip for months, and had thought a group of friends would be joining us, but that ended up not being the case. So, my boyfriend and I enjoyed a little trip to the woods alone. One of the days we hiked up the rocks to the pool at the base of the lower Yosemite falls and got the courage up to jump in. I'm not sure I have ever swam through water that cold in my life. I never caught my breath and felt like I was hyperventilating in between ever rock I swam to. Then we swam up underneath the waterfall into a little crevice there behind it. The water was still misting into our faces pretty good and it was difficult to see. The breeze certainly wasn't helping. It was worth it to say i've done it, but it is definitely not for the faint of heart and lungs.

Eat at the Blue Bayou in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride

You have to make reservations to eat at this restaurant a couple of months in advance. Lucky for me, and those that travel with me, I am usually a fantastic planner. Once I get it into my head that I want to do something, I usually research it to figure out exactly how to make it happen. So, finally the day came when we went to Disneyland. Not my first time, but the first time I had gone as an "adult", and the first time I had gone without "adult" supervision. It was just my sister, my boyfriend, and I. We went on a bunch of rides first, then when it came time for our reservation, we made out way to the restaurant. It was fun seeing the Pirates of the Caribbean ride from a different angle. All my life I have been riding that ride and wishing that I could be the people eating at the restaurant with the pretty white railing overlooking the "bayou". It was my birthday, so we all got to wear dorky paper pirate hats, which we continued to wear throughout the day. The food was excellent! Beef short ribs, which is my favorite food, with white asparagus, which I have never had, and potatoes of some sort. Then we had a creme burlee dessert that came with a few cookies in a little treasure chest. They let me keep the treasure chest and I keep my diamond jewelry in it now, as well as some plastic doubloons and rubies haha. I can't wait to go back again with my kids, when they are older of course. I am not paying those prices for screaming babies to throw food at me. I realize it's Disneyland, but there are still adult parts of the park, which is why it's great for all ages.

Ride on top of a "Jeepney"

So, I went to the Philippines when I was in my senior year of highschool. While we were there, we took a trip up a mountain (more than one, actually). On this trip, we were going to check out some radio tower thing that I was really not interested in, I had really wanted to go to the waterfall that half of our group had been blessed to see. I was never among those that got to see it because of guerilla warfare that was going on at that time in that particular region of the country. Anyways, all 25 of us piled onto this metal bus type vehicle with a mercedes logo on the front (definitely not one of their luxury vehicles! haha) I decided to ride on top with most of the boys, as usual, I hardly hung out with the girls at all in high school. It was fun, and probably not the safest thing in the work riding up there. You definitely had to keep a sharp eye out for low hanging branches and telephone wires and such. One of the boys in our group was unlucky enough to take a telephone wire right across the neck! It just flung him backward, he was lucky enough not to get shocked by it, but it definitely freaked him out and made the rest of us more wary. He rode inside on the way back down the mountain, but the incident hadn't dampened my sense of adventure. All in all it was a fun trip. It was definitely cooler up there with the breeze in that humidity than it was inside the vehicle. They were at 95% humidity in the middle of their summer while we were there. The air was just as damp as the ocean. At one point I was standing in it, and I couldn't even tell.

Drive across the U.S.

This is a bucket list idea that I accomplished a long time ago. I actually did not do any of the driving. I was 12 years old at the time this happened, which was, I'm embarassed to say, 16 years ago! I never thought I would be old enough to be able to say something like "oh yeah, I remember that, that was 16 years ago." But here I am, and soon enough I will be saying things like 30 years ago, and then 50 years ago. Weird, anyways. 16 years ago, my mom, sister, and my two deceased grandparents piled into a 25 to 30ft motorhome, I'm not quite sure how big it was. My sister and I were homeschooled at the time and it was to be an educational trip. We started off at our home in California, and from there made our way to Utah, which I'm sure was not our first stop. I have a whole journal about the trip, this is just a brief recounting of a tale that is not exactly fresh in my mind anymore. I do remember the highlights though, and I'm sure you don't want to hear what I had for breakfast on day 17 anyways. So we went to Utah, saw some friends there, built a car out of cardboard and rode it down the stairs until, inevitably, somebody got hurt. We then made our way up to Jackson Hole Wyomming where my parents drooled over property they couldn't afford, and we rode horses and were made fun of by our guide for being vegetarians. Then we went to Yellowstone National Park, where we saw a ton of Buffalo a coyote, various other animals and waited around for "Old Faithful" forever, to no avail. Then we went to Mount Rushmore, a homestead in South Dakota, or Nebraska, not sure which, the Norman Rockwell hall of fame, the most mosquito instested campsite I have ever seen in my life, and then we came to the Kentucky Horse Park. Here we got to see the statues, and sometimes the stuffed actual bodies of the most famous race horses that ever lived. We also got to ride horses, which of course was one of the highlights of the trips for me. Then, we piled back into the motorhome and continued on our way to Richmond Virginia to visit some of my grandmother's family, my great aunt and my mother's cousin. Then on to New York City where we only got to see the Statue of Liberty from a distance, and we also went to Ellis Island. Then on to Colonial Williamsburg, which was one of the most memorable 4th of July's I have ever had. Then to Washington D.C. Then to Pennsylvania to visit my dad's whole entire side of the family in a few short days. To be honest, this was the most fun part of the trip, getting to hang out with the cousins. My dad met us out here and we spent about a week here before we flew back home with my dad and my grandparents finished off the drive home with each other. Great memories, and I can't wait to go on a trip like that with my kids someday. I wonder how much it cost my parents...

Mail a secret to Post Secret

Well, this is a difficult bucket list accomplishment to write about. It kind of defeats the purpose if I tell you what the secret was, though I will say, it is kind of relieving to tell somebody something that nobody can ever trace back to you, even though, I feel like mine wasn't as huge as some of the secrets I am harboring inside myself. At the same time it is also a little frustrating not to be able to find it on the website. Part of the relief for me I think would actually be to see it up there, but maybe we aren't supposed to. I wonder if anybody has ever spotted their secret up on the website...maybe I just didn't know when to look so I missed the window of opportunity. It doesn't really matter, I know what the secret was. I do think its a wondering tool for people to be able to unload guilt or send a cry for help, or get something off their chest, or just basically a tool to help people heal from things and learn to let go and forget about it. Thank you Post Secret!

Eat Cajun Food

So, I didn't know what to expect, but I heard an announcement for a little cajun restaurant on the radio. So I dragged my boyfriend down there with me and we checked it out. We started out with cornbread, and then we tried an appetizer of deep fried alligator! then the entrees came. I had Filet Medallions topped with grilled shrimp and some sort of mustard sauce. All of which was very good. Then some collard greens, which I am usually a big fan of, these were a little more cooked than I usually make them a whole lot spicier. That's probably the way they are meant to be made, just not how I make mine haha. Good just the same though. Then some mashed potatoes on the side. All in all it was fun to try something new, and I can't wait for my next food adventure!