My list of 52 New Experiences is a yearly compilation of all things new: Everyday or weekly acts or ‘never done before’ that brightened up my year. Over the years it became a conscious decision to go for the unknown; in all aspects of my life.
I’ll share this list with you not to impress you, but to impress upon you that daily life can be as exciting as we want it to be. It’s my (your) life, my (your)rules! Of course it’s the big stuff that leaves us dazzled and creates lasting memories. However, I personally don’t want my life to be highlighted by hard earned, long-saved for, eagerly waited trips or purchases. I want everyday to be some sort of magical.
With this said, let me share with you my list of 52 New Experiences for the year 2019:
It has been quite entertaining. I watched or took part in
- God is a Scottish Drag Queen
- The Three Musketeers (in Port Moody)
- The African Children’s Choir
- Senior’s Variety Show: Camping at Golden Years
- Comedy of Errors
- Bruce James Orchestra at Haney Wharf
- Mama Mia at Stanley Park/Vancouver
- The Wailers live in concert
- The Whiz (Garibaldi Secondary School)
- Annual General Meeting of The Haney Farmer’s Market Society
It was delicious! I ate myself through
- A can of crunchy Korean Silk Worms (or at least that’s what I think I ate…)
- Butter Honey flavoured chips
- Pig Intestines during a Dim Sum lunch
- Choco Macha Rice Crisps
- A burger at Vera’s Burger Shack (so-so)
- The most boring ice cream flavour at a Port Moody ice cream store (honestly, why produce ice cream if you don’t want to leave a taste splash in your customer’s mouth?)
- Baked cornbread from scratch
- Created veggie burgers from scratch
- Made my own maple lolly, rolled up on a blanket of snow
- Indian hazelnut spread/sweets/short bread (not quite sure what to call this kind of dessert)
- Raw oysters
- Lemon popsical cake
- Nitrogen ice cream
- Sweet’n Salty Crunch Bar
- The shrimp section of my first Red Lobster Restaurant
- Accai Bowl
- A&W’s Beyond Burger (All I could think of was: “Why?”
- Drank the delicious non alcoholic Grape Brew Lemonade at Silver Valley Brewing
- A tasty waffle egg dish at Eggs’nThings (Honolulu)
- Vegan Chocolate Bar
- Original Nanaimo Bar in Nanaimo (or so they said).
- Cooked a potatoe/leek soup (OMG, delsh).
- Made Salty Chocolate Candycane brittle (Thank you almart for the recipe).
- Made batches of DIY Bailey’s (way better than the ‘real’ stuff).
- Full on, 3 course dinner at Chameleon Restaurant.
Physical Adventures:
- Swam 1x in the Pacific (at Jericho beach/Vancouver. It’s shocking, I know. After 8 years of living in BC and countless swims in our local rivers and lakes this was my first time ever).
- Cycled 12 km’s from Waterfront Station/Vancouver, to UBC (University of British Columbia) along the seawall and beaches.
- Swam in the MacEwan University Pool
- Visited Turtle Bay Resort (North end of Oahu, Hawaii)
- Snowshoed at Cypress Mountain
- Took a 6 am XFit class (not really my jam)
- Received an in-house massage (heaven).
- Swam at the Walnut Grove pool (fabulous design).
- Pretzeled myself during Family Yoga
- Ran a Travel Agency for six days.
- Became a member of our local Tourism Committee
- Discovered a new bike route along our dikes
- Road trip to Kelowna, Vernom, Cold Water
- Wine Fest in Maple Ridge
- Discovered Rocky Point in Port Moody (very cool).
- Got invited to official launch of new BMW’s at BMW dealership in Langley (the best ever, event)
- Discovered various breweries along BC’s Akle Trails in Port Moody
- Took part in Car Free days in Maple Ridge and Port Moody
- Watched the Aloha Parade in Honolulu
- Visited Lopez – and Whidby Islands (WA), Oak Harbour and Coucksville
- Kayaked on Silver Lake (WA)
- Gave a public presentation on How to shoot videos on your phone during Women’s AM meeting
- Gave private workshops on Imovie
- Became an executive member of omen’s AM network group
- Painted and redesigned our guest room
- Visited Capilano Suspension Bridge
- Signed up for photography courses on Lynda.com
- Photographed 8th Anniversary of Latin Flavours in Maple Ridge
- Received a private lesson at SusaFit
- Discovered POUND (The best fitness class, ever)
- Twisted my right ankle
- Created a cute DIY glass snow cube
- Took portrait shots of my friends and theirs
- Played Music-Drag-Bingo at The Stage in Mission
- Received a lovely write-up in our local paper
Some more Activities:
- Drove in a Tesla
- Hosted the VIP tent during our annual Caribbean Festival event
- Swam in Lake Eleanor/Blue River (on the way from Edmonton to Vancouver)
- Wrote my biggest and most comprehensive (so far) video proposal (and was pleasantly ignored)
- Made my own washing-up liquid
- Starred in our official Ale Trail video
- Made new German friends
- Allowed a BOA constrictor be wrapped around my neck
- Enjoyed 2 catamaran cruises along Waikiki Beach
- Loved my first ever Luau
- Swam with turtles
- Climbed through the whole course of Wild Play- including the FTF jump!
- Visited Nanaimo
- Visited Timberline Ranch during Christmas time
The Movies I watched:
- Rocky I
- Girl in the Spider’s Web
- Night School
- The Bleaker Uppers
- Black Earth Rising (Amazon Prime series)
- Green Book
- Black Klukluxklanman
- Three Musketeers from 1993
- Swimming with Men
- All seasons of Nashville
- Aladdin
- 3. Season of Designated Survivor
- Cold Pursuit (stupid)
- Yesterday
- Sky Fall
- One Small Favour
- Rocket Man (not a fan- a bit tacky)
- Jackie Brown
- Aqua Man (not my kind of sci-fi)
- Second Act
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
- 1 episode of The President (so not my jam)
- Fat Boy, Run
- Domino
- The Widow (Amazon Primetime series)
- 2. Season of The Komansky Method (Great)
- The Greatest Showman
- On the Basis of Sex
- The Big Lie
- Blue Planet
- Don’t you want to be my neighbour
- Late Night (fun)
The Books I read:
- The Imposter Bride (disappointingly lame)
- Becoming (Michelle Obama, Great stuff)
- Less
- Assigai (audio book)
- Stranger Diaries
- Vanishing Season
- The Maroccan Girl
- Golden Lion (Wilbur Smith)
- The Bucket List
- The Cast (OMG, the worst book written, ever! Is that what makes Danielle Steel so famous, her writing style?)
- Madame President
- The Revenant
- Sex & The City & Us
- Unleash the Idea Virus
- He’s just not that into you
- I feel bad about my neck (Norah Ephron)
- Creativity Calling
- Triumph of the Sun
And on the video creation front?
- Filmed a whole bunch of videos in front of a green screen
- Watched my “A year at the Market” premier during the AGM of The Haney Farmers Market Society
- Rented state-of-the-art- camera gear for a filming gig
- Filmed local doctors at work and play
- Traveled to Kelowna for my second paid travel gig!
- Filmed a whole event in the rain (Earth Day 2019)
- Filmed twice at Whistler Olympic Park (OMG, the absolute best)
- Filmed a 4 hour long hair dye process
- Filmed 4 local brewers at play for our local “Official brew of the Ale Trail launch- video”
- Presented 2 commissioned videos during a private retirement party
- My highlight video of Christmas Haven 2018 played during this years event in the foyer TV screen
2019 has been a fun filled, creative, healthy year for all my family and myself. As you can read, I’m a champion of the everyday, small staff I love to celebrate.
Wishing you the courage to say YES more often- if you’re so inclined. There’s nothing to lose and everything to win. You got this. Yes, you do!
2020! Bring. It. On.