19. Develop my own speciality dish

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of this one and I should go back and find out what date it was exactly. Just a sec....
Okay, a little digging into my planner and I found the date. This was on Sunday, March 18th when I made my very own delicious version of Honey Balsamic Baked Chicken. I included steamed broccoli and rice and have to say it was quite lovely. Supe came over for dinner and enjoyed it with Jon and I since the family was out of town in Argentina picking up my brother Ben from his mission. Chicken is such a staple around my house it was nice to find another way to make it!

3. Snow shoeing to and stay the night at a yurt

Thursday night (1.19.12) I got this one done. It turned out to be a little more dramatic than I would have liked. I had 11 people interested in joining us in a yurt that sleeps 12 but on the day before all but 4 dropped out! Then on the day of, another girl joined us so in the end there were 5 of us up there. The first mile of the trail up Green Canyon in Cache Valley we had rain and we were hiking on ice. But we were glad to be out! Finally we got to some snow and strapped out snow shoes on for the rest of the hike. Needless to say, when we finally got to the yurt we were kinda wet. The yurt was fully equipped with cooking supplies and a wood stove that quickly heated the space and begin to dry our wet clothes. The rest of our party (Will and Supe) joined us a little later and we enjoyed dinner and played games before hitting the sack. We each had our pick of several mattresses so we all were pretty comfortable despite the unexpected noise of the snow sliding off the yurt roof all night. Ear plugs fixed that about 2am and we slept better. We got about 6 inches in the night and made the first snowman of the season in the morning before packing up and hiking back down.

So the weather could have been better and it would have been nice to have snow for the whole trail so we could x-country ski in but it was a good experience all the same. Thank you to Josie, Kathy, Supe, and Will who were willing to roll with the punches and make it fun despite it all! I'm excited I have done it so now I know what to expect next time. And there definitely will be a next time, just with more snow!!!

Supe all warm and toasty!

Kathy

Josie

The infamous snowman! The snow was perfect for snowmen!

The yurt is well equipped with kitchen stuff and sleeping pads. Means you don't have to pack quite as much. Pretty nice!

Thanks for another awesome adventure!

20. Redo personal filing system

This was a big one! I had a stack of papers on my desk about 10 inches high and it was time to finally clean this all up. So, last weekend I spent Friday night well into the night, watching movies and going through all my files and throwing out what was old or no longer needed. I created files for new stuff and got rid of old bank statements, etc. Now, there still is a box of papers in my room waiting to be shredded but we are going to call this done! It is so nice to have a space for everything and now be able to find the things I need. Plus it helps to have a desk top again! In addition to this I cleaned my room to get ready for a new semester and then bought myself flowers to reward myself. The lilies are still blooming on my bed stand and I love it! Yeah for bucket lists!

21. Write and illustrate a children's book

I'm going to have to post pictures for this one! Back in October when my best friend was in town, we went and spent some time with my sister and her cute girls. While there, we got them to tell us a story! Naturally it was about cowboys and indians and my friend carefully typed up their creative narrative. Well, for Christmas this year I did just a little bit of editing and then illustrated their story for Christmas gifts for all the girls! It turned out to be a zinger when they all opened their books and we sat down and read the story together. I left the pictures un-colored so they can have some fun with that adding their own imagination to the pictures of "The Indian Princesses." I'll have to post some of the pics.

18. Go GEO caching-DONE

Here I am playing catch up again! Well this is just to let you know that I am making progress on my bucket list. Back in November I told a good friend, Supe, about wanting to go GEO caching. So, one late night (11.10.11) with a full moon we went to try our hand at it. We tried for two difference caches. The first we found okay. It was carefully hidden up in a street sign! The second was a little more tricky. We actually never found it and it snowed the following week. We'll have to try again in the Spring. Anyway, as soon as I get an iPhone I think I'll have to try it again. The GPS ap for GEO caching is pretty cool!

13. Bake a French cake DONE

Well since my brother Jon has moved back home, we have had the chance to experience some wonderful cuisine. Jon is quite the cook from Julia Childs French cooking to the sushi of the orient. Today we worked together to make my first French cake! It was a Gâteau a L'orange (Orange Spongecake) and surprisingly easier to make than I suspected. We make a Glaçage a la Créme (Butter-cream Icing) that was really good too! So now I can say I have made a French cake! Check!

12. Hold a mystery dinner party DONE!

Okay, I am slowly working through these bucket list items. I have just under 9 months to work on this list so I need to get going! But I have a lot of them that are in the works or half way done so I'm still hoping to get 'em done before my 30th birthday.

So, I finally had a mystery dinner! It was so much fun! Finally got the photos uploaded!

Josie Jenson as the simple dressmaker, Belinda Screete

Dave Cook as the impeccably dressed Khover T. Ageante

Shannon Harris as Princess Idelle Chattre/Fiona

Supe Lillywhite as Wayland Awfcorce a skill-less pilot

Jeanette Wallentine as the extravagant Barbra Z. Enhussie

Jenn Weiss as world famous reporter Mary K. Trairie

The whole crew, including amazing chef and assistant!