Bucket List Heros

images (1).jpg

So recently others have been seeing my bucket list and apparently they have made comments about it and found it just as interesting. My younger brother made the comment that I was too young to have a bucket list. He was not aware of the more trendy phenomenon of people creating them just to be sure that they live life to the fullest so that they have no regrets. It’t no just for those of us who are sick and have chronic illnesses. I know when I first told him it alarmed him though because I do have a chronic illness and he probably thought the worst. But I explained that people with MG live LONG healthy lives and that I created my list to ensure that I do not allow myself to sit and wallow in my disorder. Bucket list are meant to inspire you to do these things not just before you DIE but just to get out and do something more than get up, go to work, come home, repeat!

SO with that said I have a master bucket list that will not change but will slowly grow over time as I see fit an accomplish things and I have an annual list that I will create around the 3rd quarter of each year and have from that time to the end of the following year to complete. It will give me great joy to complete the list because I enjoy creating to do list and crossing items off of them as I tackle them. I also enjoy planning and organizing events.

Anyways, I have been enjoying finding new ways to tackle the list and when I can get them done. Some of them have been harder than others due to time management. I have found that I am not the only one who wants to see me accomplish these goals and that feels great too. I always tell people I do not want anything for Christmas or my birthday. It’s not because I do not feel worthy or I feel people cannot afford it, it is because I honestly feel blessed enough and would rather give than receive. I also feel that my family has given me so much already that I could want/need for anything. However, my dad saw my bucket list and he decided to scratch one of the items off of it for me and I even more grateful.

My dad bought me my go pro. I can take it with me on my adventures now. I am ecstatic. My mom said he was really looking for it. I’m proud of him because he really went above and beyond. Usually he defects to my moms for what all of us want for different events and this time he knew. Handy detecting dad, lol. I shall call it my PRECIOUS. Can’t wait til our trip overseas!

images.jpg

Annual Bucket List: 2016

Do a local bike race
get yoga mat/basic training
Visit wizarding world of Harry Potter
Read 50 books — at 22 books almost halfway
Buy a Go Pro
Go Sky Diving
Go to a State I have not been to before
Go to 5th Cirque Du Soliel Performance
Paint Pottery
Throw Pottery (as in make my on pottery)
Decorate my house for fall
Decorate my house for Christmas
Take a romantic trip with my husband
Volunteer with a charity monthly
Take a culinary class
Go swimming (you would be amazed that since being diagnosed with MG I have not swam once because I have started to have fear that it would become over exterted and not be able to get out of the water….says the former lifeguard and scuba certified person)
Be sling shot (it a weird bungee course thing that looks like a giant sling shot)
Go to Canada


Master Bucket List

Write a book
Have a baby/ adopt a child
Create a Charity
Run a business
Travel overseas like a nomad (England, France, Italy, etc)
Go to Disneyland
Go to a bioluminscent bay
Have my music music produced and perform it
Help Find a Cure for MG
Go to Alaska- see the Northern Lights
Pose for a sexy calendar

 

Bucket List

So I believe that it is time that I take my bucket lists serious. I have seen so many of them over time and it does mean that you are dying but things that you would regret doing if you could no longer DO them. I have come to a point in my life that there are times that having MG can definitely give you bouts of days where you absolutely cannot move. I do not want wake up and find that this become a state that I am stuck with regrets wishing that I had gone on this trip or done that adventure while I had that chance all because I thought I still had time. I need to take advantage of the vacation time I have and the abilities and faculties I still have while they are still there. Though many people with MG who had a really healthy lifestyle before MG like me can continue to have a full and healthy life for many decades to come with MG I still do not want to be limited in any way if I can help it. So I have decided to created a short bucket list that I would like to try and accomplish each year and if it does not get accomplished then oh well. I would also like to make one Master Bucket list if you will that will have big things on them that take a bit longer to accomplish.

I feel that doing this will help reduce my anxiety and give me something to look forward to. It will also give me a chance to explore and explained my creative mind by creating a new list every year as I complete the list. If I happen to get a jump on some of the 2016 items early in 2015 that would be great though!

Annual Bucket List: 2016

Do a local bike race
get yoga mat/basic training
Visit wizarding world of Harry Potter
Read 50 books
Buy a Go Pro
Go Sky Diving
Go to a State I have not been to before
Go to 5th Cirque Du Soliel Performance
Paint Pottery
Throw Pottery (as in make my on pottery)
Decorate my house for fall
Decorate my house for Christmas
Take a romantic trip with my husband
Volunteer with a charity monthly
Take a culinary class
Go swimming (you would be amazed that since being diagnosed with MG I have not swam once because I have started to have fear that it would become over exterted and not be able to get out of the water….says the former lifeguard and scuba certified person)
Be sling shot (it a weird bungee course thing that looks like a giant sling shot)
Go to Canada


Master Bucket List

Write a book
Have a baby/ adopt a child
Create a Charity
Run a business
Travel overseas like a nomad
Go to Disneyland
Go to a bioluminscent bay
Have my music music produced and perform it
Help Find a Cure for MG
Go to Alaska- see the Northern Lights
Pose for a sexy calendar


Long Time, Let’s Catch Up

download.png download (1).png

I cannot believe I have been so busy I have actually gone weeks without talking to you guys. Now that is amazing! It’s like me going 2 days without talking. I say 2 because somehow in life I actually made 1 whole day in my life without talking once, I was completely and utterly distraught. Anyways, in this time frame I have finalized personal decisions that will change my life forever, gone to Europe to and had a ball, and managed to come home to feel strangely foreign.

We officially closed a facility I worked at for nearly a decade with was emotionally draining to me. It really was hard for me as I was the only original staff member left. With that said there are other opportunities arising internally and externally that may change the dynamics forever. I already do not feel I fit in with the newer staff at the new facility but with the internal opportunity I am not sure how this will work. I feel as if we are sort of bonding some days and other not. Maybe I just really needed my vacation and to loosen up.

However, the external one has me leaving my comfort zone all together. We shall see.

Then there was Europe! —a brief synopsis as there will be a whole few blogs dedicated with pictures to just Europe!

london-bigben-1500x850.jpg

I was like a Cheshire cat. We all were. Though I did not get to see all the things in France I wanted to I guess it just means I have to go back one day. I did get to see everything in London I wanted too. I literally LOST my smile in London. My MG kicked in and after smiling so much I literally thought I was smiling in one of my pictures and there was not even a hint. I laughed so hard later when I could smile I cried. I actually have the evidence as it was when I went the Warner Brother Studios and saw the ‘Making of Harry Potter’ and you go to see the Set where it was all done. Yes I am such a geek and it’s another thing off my bucket list!

Diagon_Alley_hero.jpg

However, with all the change and the timing of it almost being the end of September, I have to create a new annual bucket list and there were things I obviously did not finish on the last one that I may try to see if I can squeeze in before the end of the week! It may indeed be a busy week for me. I see at least 4 more things I can do before the end of this month and 3 that I can do without being reprimanded by someone that loves me (saying that I am doing too much as I am in a bit of a weakened state right now).

Annual Bucket List: 2016

Do a local bike race
get yoga mat/basic training
Visit wizarding world of Harry Potter
Read 50 books 
Buy a Go Pro
Go Sky Diving
Go to a State I have not been to before
Go to 5th Cirque Du Soliel Performance
Paint Pottery
Throw Pottery (as in make my on pottery)
Decorate my house for fall
Decorate my house for Christmas
Take a romantic trip with my husband
Volunteer with a charity monthly
Take a culinary class
Go swimming (you would be amazed that since being diagnosed with MG I have not swam once because I have started to have fear that it would become over exterted and not be able to get out of the water….says the former lifeguard and scuba certified person)
Be sling shot (it a weird bungee course thing that looks like a giant sling shot)
Go to Canada


Master Bucket List

Write a book- I have started
Have a baby/ adopt a child
Create a Charity
Run a business
Travel overseas like a nomad (England, France, Italy, etc) 
Go to Disneyland
Go to a bioluminscent bay
Have my music music produced and perform it
Help Find a Cure for MG
Go to Alaska- see the Northern Lights
Pose for a sexy calendar

Tomorrow there will be loads of my pics to share! Get ready, touching them up now as we speak!

Goals Goals Goals- So Excited

images.jpg

I am so excited today! I won’t say everything is going my way but I will say that today is definitely an amazing day! I’m reaching goals and working toward new goals everyday.Moreover, as I reach old goals I make new ones and push toward those. Right now I just hit 12 weeks without plasma exchange treatment for myasthenia gravis again and that is my second time doing that but this time I do not feel like last time. I do not feel like I need treatment right now. Last time at this point I wanted treatment 2 weeks before this but I was just hanging on. Right now I feel like I can go another 2-4 weeks no problem. So I will. If I feel like I can go further I will, but make no mistake, I will not sacrifice NUMBERS for my health.

My next goal was to get in more exercise and I am doing this daily. I started walking more, bought a spin bike, and a fit bit. I am all over this challenge. I even started tracking my food again. Not really eating as a DIET because I still eat what I want just making sure that I do not put more in than I expend and that I get enough for what I am doing. You have to eat calories to burn them. I tend to be in starvation mode quite often, especially because I skip breakfast A LOT.

My final goals are making sure that I continue to keep my bucket list STRONG! I am still working on checking things off that list. I have travel dates set for going to Europe and I am almost to my 50 book reading goal for the year and I will be checking off a few more things as well. I am totally psyched!

Annual Bucket List: 2016

Do a local bike race- spin bike is getting me ready
get yoga mat/basic training
Visit wizarding world of Harry Potter- I will do this in London
Read 50 books — at 43 books almost done but I won’t stop there
Buy a Go Pro
Go Sky Diving
Go to a State I have not been to before
Go to 5th Cirque Du Soliel Performance- have to go out of state thanks to HB2 chaos
Paint Pottery
Throw Pottery (as in make my on pottery)
Decorate my house for fall
Decorate my house for Christmas
Take a romantic trip with my husband
Volunteer with a charity monthly
Take a culinary class
Go swimming (you would be amazed that since being diagnosed with MG I have not swam once because I have started to have fear that it would become over exterted and not be able to get out of the water….says the former lifeguard and scuba certified person)
Be sling shot (it a weird bungee course thing that looks like a giant sling shot)
Go to Canada


Master Bucket List

Write a book- In the process
Have a baby/ adopt a child
Create a Charity
Run a business
Travel overseas like a nomad (England, France, Italy, etc)- Scheduled for Sept.2016
Go to Disneyland
Go to a bioluminscent bay
Have my music music produced and perform it
Help Find a Cure for MG
Go to Alaska- see the Northern Lights
Pose for a sexy calendar

Excitement…Where is it?

download.jpg <–Hopefully we will never get here

I have lost my excitement and I do not know where it has gone. I usually can look at my bucket list and be renewed, art supplies, or new books…but that has not helped lately. I need a swift kick in the pants. I need a change of environment as well as a some serious R&R. I need a therapeutic escape with no thought to bills, work, housework/ chores, or the doctor’s appointment.

I just need to be in peace. It does not take much for me. It could be a simple beach trip, meditation trip, or spa trip. I do not require much. I just know that a few days away with a friend or 2 would do me some good! I need this in my life right now. Heck I may not even go with a friend. I may just go by myself and skype and call friends while on the trip and just be by myself. Sometimes you just need to go and coordinating time with others can be too hard and stressful within itself. I do not need to try and go out everywhere and plan dinners, lunches, and adventures, just go with the flow, and rest. I owe this to myself and sometimes going with friends can make this difficult because the need different things and I do not want to slow them down or stop them when they may need the ADVENTURE right now. I just want to relax. Maybe go to a pottery class or do something very low key and fun.

download (1).jpg

If they are on the same agenda, then float on with me, if not, there will definitely be other times and other trips. This is not a husband and wife trip, lol. This is a self-discovery and relaxation trip. An all by myself or girls only trip. I need to find my sense of wonder and excitement and men make you WANDER and worry sometimes because they tend to become a bit disorienting with their, where is my?…did you see my? are we going to? Is this the? What are we going to do? What’s next? When? I’m Hungry! LOL Nope, I plan on catering to myself only on this trip! I’ll be leaving him at home to fend for himself. Hopefully it won’t become the total dark ages in the time I’m gone.

images.jpg

I Will Not Make a Resolution for New Years!

download.jpg

As everyone else states how they will make this year so different from the last and make it better than the last, it should be a given! But is should not be something that you state at the beginning of the New Year. I feel that it should be a statement at the beginning of each new day. That each day should be better than the last and not to make some ridiculous statement of how the WHOLE next year will be better than the last because you are going to try some trendy new thing or some idea that you are not likely to follow through with.

Now if you manage to follow through with it, kudos, but the idea is that if it took you a NEW YEAR to do it, well, I’ll bet it was several bad days just before that end of that last year that drove you over board and careful planning before hand. You did not just decide like many resolutioners that you were just going to do something with a blind lust and walah (or should I say BUST) it was thought up and did not happen.

I created a nice bucket list in 3rd quarter of last year and plan to do one every year from hear on out to do more activities and such each year. I have become to stagnant in both my thinking and life. This is not a person I ever thought myself to be and not a person I will be. So I changed it. So far I conquering this list pretty well. I even have had help from others.

My point, planning is key. If you want to make a true new years resolution, fine, but you likely did not make the resolution at new years. You said that was when it would start and planned it long before then. If you did, then you still need to plan and organize it to make it successful. For example, people who are quitting something addictive or trying to lose weight. These are linked to behavioral things and you need to change both your behavior/ lifestyle but also get a support system. This involves who you hang around, and what to do if you slip (relapse) so that you are able to get back on the horse and keep going because these things happen. A plan needs to be made in advance. You may say how do you plan for what you cannot foresee, but you know you may get sick, or could be pressured by a friend, or go on vacation, or plain lose willpower, forget, etc…what is your plan to get back into the swing of your resolution before it is too late? Before it is next year and you are saying those same words again?

I do not make resolutions I make plans, what will you be doing! Make S.M.A.R.T. goals instead!

To Infinity and Beyond…

So I have a million updates to give YAY! So as I promised I would do, I am keeping you all abreast of my bucket list as I get close or complete them. I feel pretty accomplished so far as many time when they say you make these list you should or will only accomplish 3 things right away and may not do more than that or look at it anymore…BUT I AM DETERMINED after failing so many times in the past. I have put more realistic goals and a time on these as well as become more specific with them. Yes I have made more S.M.A.R.T. goals. BUT before I give you all the bucket list updates I also wanted to let you all know I am 9 weeks without plasma exchange treatment…WHOO HOOO. We have 3 more weeks to go to prove I am strong enough to try something NEW. Keep me in your prayers! Now, drum roll please……..The bucket list has started with 3 completed items and one nearly halfway completed! And I still have a whole year left to do the rest But I wanted to give myself some time to start and I couldn’t just make this list and not start, LOL. So since Sept, 18 I have been planning and chipping away at it. I know when some of the other things will happen but I will not check them off until they officially happen! I am uber excited though! More updates to come!

Annual Bucket List: 2016

  • Do a local bike race
  • get yoga mat/basic training
  • Visit wizarding world of Harry Potter
  • Read 50 books– I am on book 17 ( will provide a list in case anyone in interested in perusing what I like to read I have a record on my library website as well as on my bookshelf, lol- quite nerdy I know)
  • Buy a Go Pro
  • Go Sky Diving
  • Go to a State I have not been to before   Just came back from Pennsylvania
  • Go to 5th Cirque Du Soleil Performance
  • Paint Pottery
  • Throw Pottery (as in make my on pottery)
  • Decorate my house for fall
  • Decorate my house for Christmas  happening slowly over a 2 day period as we speak/ type Christmas music blaring
  • Take a romantic trip with my husband  Enjoyed a vacation w/ my husband
  • Volunteer with a charity monthly
  • Take a culinary class
  • Go swimming (you would be amazed that since being diagnosed with MG I have not swam once because I have started to have fear that it would become over exterted and not be able to get out of the water….says the former lifeguard and scuba certified person)
  • Be sling shot (it a weird bungee course thing that looks like a giant sling shot)
  • Go to Canada

 

Across the Pond I Go!

download (1) images (5)

In the summer of 2016 I am planning a trip to London and France. I am going with my parents, my sister, and my aunt. Right now we have not set a definitive date, but I am hoping for May as it will be cooler but not super cold and not super hot according to normal trends. People with MG do not do well in extreme conditions.

Right now I am looking into all the blogs and tips I can get about both locations. I am not new to traveling but I am new to traveling overseas. I have been out of the country but only on cruises so it will be new to fly out and stay in another country for a week.

I will actually have to master jet lag for once, really pay attention to laws and rules, and though I know French people know English I want to really be away from the Touristy areas so I need to brush up on my French. I am nowhere near as great as I use to be as I cannot ‘hear’ it as fast as I can write it and speak it but I will try to get back to it. You never know when you will need to ask a local something because they pretend NOT to know English yet you know from your high school French classes it is a requirement of learn the language of the neighboring countries (in school) around them and they bordered by 6 countries, LOL.

I also want to take a flight that will take a stop in another country for about 8 hours or so, this way I can see another country for a few hours and eat foreign food, see some sights, and take some pictures. Of course I would plan this beforehand so that it would only be 4-5 hours of playtime, giving me plenty of time to get in and out of the airport so that I do not miss my connecting flight.

I am already creating a list of all the sights I want to see! Some of them are cheesy and touristy and some of them are off the beaten path such as the restaurants. That’s the only way to get the most authentic foods and shops! I am super excited. I’m crossing off so many things off my bucket list this year coming up! I’m going to make it happen! I have to start lining up some guides…any takers? LOL!

Hot Cocoa, Delicious Books, Crisp Fall Weather, And Beautiful Music

download images

I am in love with this time of year! I love everything about it! I love the clothes, wearing long sleeves, boots, and hoodies. I loves my scarves. I also loves the rain, and the pretty fall colors, and the crisp air. It’s not freezing cold but not burning hot either. You have to dress in layers, lol.

It’s just cold enough some days for me to get into work and put on some hot water and make some hot cocoa. Then I sink into my chair in my office and start my work for the day. I also seem to do the same thing when I get home, lol. I figure why not indulge. Sometimes, if I’m really feeling froggy I add some marshmallow fluff.

I have also have found as late that reading has been reignited for me. I have been checking this off my bucket list left and right. I have read more than 10 books in the last few weeks. I have to read 50 before the end of 2016 so I will well surpass my goal. Moreover, I need to travel to a state I have never been in before and I will get to do that in a few weeks. Visiting in Pennsylvania. I will also be decorating my house for Christmas which is another check on my bucket list. Finally if they have a pool at the hotel I am trying to book I will be in bucket list paradise. So lets see how much of this annual list I can accomplish. Whoo Hoo! 🙂 However, though I enjoy my books and boy do I as I have to drag myself out of their magical fantasy world after looking at the clock and realizing I just spend hours engulfed in an exotic land I have to get better about planning more fun for myself in the real world.

But what really does it for me is pulling out my iPod and picking out my favorite holiday music. I start that a bit early (right after Halloween). I don’t mean Christmas music per se but a bit of my favorite classics. These would include all the wonderful musicals they play during this time of the year like the Sounds of Music, The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and so on. I also enjoy the Christmas ones too of course but try to save them for a bit closer to Christmas because I do not want to get to tired of them before Christmas time. I enjoy mixing in these songs on my iPod as well and enjoying them and singing them as well and blasting them through the car. It reminds me of ‘coming home’ it seems as I leave work each day. It calms me, especially when I am sitting in traffic. It makes the holidays way more bearable, when it seems that people are not as nice and filled with holiday spirit as they should be.

I enjoy this time of year and it seems the older I get and the older my family gets, the more I actually enjoy spending it with my family which I did not ever think would be the case when I was younger. I guess I took it for granted before I was diagnosed with MG. But after missing some holidays and not feeling I had anything to ‘offer’ the family or that they would really notice if I did not show I had a change of heart. I realized that I after having MG we are not all promised the next day or and though that may sound cheesy we must enjoy each day as if it is our last. So I try to spend as much time as possible with my family. I also try to wait until I am invited sometimes too hehehe.

Though I was born in the winter and always use to say I was a winter baby because I loved the cold and still kind of do (though it no longer likes me with MG) I have to say I think I really am a fall (autumn) gal! I love the warm cozy feeling it gives me now. It makes me think of family, love, life, and fun. I’m still have not become a cuddler again but I enjoy the ‘feeling’ of being cuddly at heart. We’ll call it COZY!

The Little Big Trip!

images (1)

Hehehe the title just makes me laugh! Yes I’m a dork and I’m okay with that! So I am excited because my husband and I have not been on a good trip in quite some time. We will be going on a good 5 day 4 night trip up north to visit family and friends. The main goal was centered around my little brother whom I only get to see every few years. He is incarcerated. This is quite hard for me to say because people look at you sometimes as if it is a disease you can catch when you say someone close to you in in prison and for a long period of time. They always want to know why, how , and so on. If you do not tell the and they find out for themselves they draw their own conclusions. However, I never care much either way because unless you speak to him yourself and you are God you do not know enough to make such a call to Judge that man.

He is doing his time and he is my brother. I love him and I always will. I get excited to see him and It’s been about 4 years since the last time I saw him. He is the only one that knows my life leading up middle school. And outside one year in middle school and a few months here or there due to trips and special camps we attended independent of each other we were always together until I went to college.

I always feel bad that more of his family does not get up there to see him more often or even try but hey to each their own. They have their reasons and I will not beg them or ask them. They will not mar my trip with their neutral or negative feelings.

I love planning and organizing so not only are we going there since we can only visit on Tuesday and Thursdays but we will also visit some people my husband have not seen since he was very young. Some family members he has not seen since he was a teen or younger. We will go and enjoy them. I have never been to Pennsylvania so this will be fun and I get to cross it off my bucket list (a state I have never been to). I also think we may try to go to a play or something in NY while we are near the area but we will see. It depends on how I feel. I don’t want to overdo it. I want to make sure there are plenty of things to do but also plenty of time for us to feel relaxed and enjoy each other! That is always important for both of us! We have learned that on our little trips lately. I guess that’s all a part of getting older! I don’t care I love it! Sitting on porches of cabins in the mountains sipping hot cocoa in rocking chairs. Or finding hidden treats that I saw on on the travel channel or heard about from a local that makes some place really romantic and secret.

download (1)

I can hardly wait!