#29 FOR REAL

Indoor Rock Climbing

Ever since I attended orientation with my dad at Baylor, I knew I wanted to climb The Rock before I graduated. I talked about it with my friend Kristen, but never did it. We had made a list of things we wanted to do in Waco/at college before we graduated. *Hahaha, Are you seeing a trend in my personality?* At any rate time passed and the list was forgotten, maybe tossed aside to make room for parties & other college activities. Graduation came & went without a single attempt to climb. I knew if I was going to do it, I had to put it on my 30 Under 30 list. Ryan & I went down for the Baylor vs OU game (which we WON!!!!) and I took the opportunity to tackle The Rock!! Ryan was an excellent photographer since he had no desire to actually climb.

They lent me shoes. I always wondered about that!

"Kurt" from Glee was explaining what to do...

...I was making sure I understood.

I was reassured that this knot could hold an elephant. What was he implying?!?!

Here I go!

I was done at this point. The older I get the more I like being on the ground. I made it pretty far for my first time climbing!

Coming down was my favorite part!

So I finally conquered The Rock! I'm glad I was able to accomplish this.

The Rock

Here are some facts about The Rock, that I pulled off of Baylor's website

The Rock


- 52 feet

- Tallest free-standing climbing structure in Texas

- Bouldering, top-rope, and lead-climbing

- Instructional courses from beginner to advanced

This is before they added the grips & tape

#28

Take at least 1 picture of Ryan & I every month


Mark this as complete! My main goal was to have different pictures to chose from when I went to pick our Christmas Card pics and to document what we did throughout the year. I did it, now to print & organize them.... ha! I've printed all my pictures up to April 2011. That's not bad, considering prior to that I hadn't printed pictures since our wedding 5 years ago. My goal is really to print them every month so I don't get behind...maybe next year!

#25 For Real!

Find a facility & start volunteering for the Delta Society with Nickel


So this one has 2 parts. I can't volunteer without finding a facility & I couldn't find a facility without becoming a member of the Delta Hearts of Gold chapter of the Delta Society. Maybe I should explain how we got involved with this in the first place. When Nickel was in obedience school, he did such a great job that the instructor recommended we get certified in the Delta Society so we can go to nursing homes, schools or hospitals to visit with people. Studies have shown that pet partners have such a positive impact on the people they visit, that I wanted to share sweet Nickel with everyone! Here's where you can get more information http://www.deltasociety.org/ about what it is & how to become a Pet Partner. So...Nickel & I went and tested in 2009. He passed & was cleared to visit one on one or small groups. He doesn't like large or loud groups, so this was perfect for him! We never did anything with the certification and it expires in March 2013, so I thought this is the year to get it together!! I joined the local chapter & was mentored on where to go and how it works on a visit. I went to Luella Marrett Elementary School without Nickel to watch another Pet Partner read with 3rd graders. The kids were so cute & it was neat to see hear stories of how they had improved.

Our first visit as a Pet Partners team was to James L West Alzheimer's Center . The normal visit is about 30-45 minutes. Mike, one of the employees, gave us a tour & walked us around introducing Nickel & I to some of the residents. Mike said Nickel did so well that we stayed for an hour and a half visiting each wing. Nickel was exhausted, but loved getting so much attention & treats from everyone! We are scheduled to go every Wednesday afternoon after Thanksgiving! Yay! Also, I went ahead & scheduled Nickel's evaluation in December so we can go ahead with our new certification.

#19...appealed

Go Camping

While I thought I could go ahead & mark this one complete, Terri & Paige appealed it! What?!! Terri has travel trailer and thinks that would count as a more reasonable camping trip. So, the 3 of us are camping in her driveway in the travel trailer sometime soon. HA!! More details to come!

#16 FINISHED!

Read the One Year Bible

Ok, so I thought I could breeze through this since I'm a somewhat fast reader. NOPE!! I did read it fast considering when I started, but I forgot how long the Bible is. We read Daniel, Collosians & Job in church this year, so I didn't reread those. I know we did more, but that's what I actually remembered. I will admit, some of the Old Testament books did get skimmed over but I think that's ok.

I consider myself very lucky that I went to a Christian school growing up and we had a Bible class every year. In 7th grade I had Patti Weaver as my Bible teacher (I think it was 7th grade) and as I was reading through the Old Testament several of her lessons came back to me. My favorite was when the Israelites had to wonder through the desert & rely on God for everything. In class we hiked around campus and were so tired (Well I think Allison & I were exaggerating how far it really was, since it was the same path we had to run in cheerleading...I guess we were trying to feel like the Israelites! We even made up a song, but that's for another time). Mrs. Weaver had place some chips randomly on the path to represent the manna that God faithfully provided. I remember thinking what a fun surprise that was & how God continued to "surprise" the Israelites by providing for them. It's easy for me to read about their journey and say, "Well of course God is going to provide for them. How can they trust him one minute but not the next?" when this is something that I do on a regular basis. Being in real estate, I've learned that I cannot control what or how people react and their responses. If I could, man I'd be rich! I have learned and am continually learning that God has a plan & whatever is meant to be will happen despite what hurdles we are faced with.

#6...again

Take a Cooking Class

Our church offers a cooking class series for women. I'm in Betty Kilpatrick's class and Cathy is one of her helpers in the kitchen. It's so much fun! Betty is a phenomenal chef and I love getting ideas and recipes from her. Cathy got to share her acorn squash recipe, which is my birthday favorite! I love thinking that by sharing these recipes with each other that other families will have traditions and memories made around our class. We only meet 3 times per 6 months, so we're already finished. I think I'll sign up again. The recipe that I'm most excited about is the turkey! I can't wait to try it out .