Have You Experienced …

I saw this on Dave’s blog and decided to play along. If you opt to play along as well, please leave me a comment so I can check out your list.

The rules are pretty simple:

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to: leave in plain font

• Started your own blog – uhmmm…hello?!
• Slept under the stars – I used to go camping every summer when I lived in Nashville.
• Played in a band – I played the saxophone in the jazz band and orchestra in high school.
• Visited Hawaii – just went for the first time this past October
• Watched a meteor shower – with my Dad once when I was a kid
• Been to Disneyland/World – I live in Anaheim, so I’ll let you guess which park I’ve visited. ;)
• Climbed a mountain. – Only mental ones.
• Held a praying mantis – I grew up in the country, so I’ve held pretty much all variety of bugs.
• Sang a solo
• Bungee jumped – I might be willing to try this one.
• Visited Paris – I was supposed to go last year, but plans feel through. Some day ….
• Watched a lightning storm at sea
• Taught yourself an art from scratch – Cross stitching
• Adopted a child – No, but I’ve considered it.
• Had food poisoning – Twice, and it wasn’t pretty!
• Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty – I’ve been to the Statue, but there was a crazy ass blizzard going on that day, so we didn’t go to the top of it.
• Grown your own vegetables – Once again, the whole growing up in the country thing.
• Seen the Mona Lisa in France
• Slept on an overnight train – When I was a kid, my mom would take me and & sibs on the train to go visit our grandparents in Illinois. She would always book us on the overnight train in the hopes that we would all sleep and she wouldn’t have to deal with 3 kids on the train my herself.
• Had a pillow fight – Seriously, who hasn’t?!
• Hitch hiked – No, and never will. It’s far too dangerous.
• Taken a sick day when you’re not ill – I like to think of them as a mental health day. ;)
• Built a snow fort – I grew up in southern middle Tennessee. We didn’t get that much snow. Now that I live in the Los Angeles area, it’s pretty much a given I won’t be building one without some sort of travel being involved. ;)
• Held a lamb – Yet again, the whole grew up in the country thing.
• Gone skinny dipping – No comment.
• Run a Marathon – No, but I’m registered for a half marathon in June.
• Ridden in a gondola in Venice
• Seen a total eclipse – Both solar & lunar.
• Watched a sunrise or sunset – Many times, but some of the sunsets I saw during my trip to Hawai’i were the most spectacular I’ve ever seen.
• Hit a home run – In softball when I was in the 8th grade.
• Been on a cruise – I’ve been on one already and will be going on another in about a month.
• Seen Niagara Falls in person
• Visited the birthplace of your ancestors – I really hope to do this one day. Ireland is definitely on my list of places to visit before I die.
• Seen an Amish community – Many times and places – Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, Pennslyvania
• Taught yourself a new language – It didn’t specify a spoken language, so I’m giving myself credit for teaching myself the BASIC programming language when I was a kid. ;)
• Had enough money to be truly satisfied – I’m kind of at that place now. I may not have everything I want, but I make enough to supply everything I need. I just need to stop focusing on all the wants to get more money put into my savings.
• Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
• Gone rock climbing – We used to do quite a bit of rock climbing when I was younger and would go spelunking with friends.
• Seen Michelangelo’s David
• Sung karaoke
• Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
• Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
• Visited Africa
• Walked on a beach by moonlight – Many times
• Been transported in an ambulance – and hopefully never will!
• Had your portrait painted – Started the process once when I was a kid, but the artist (our next door neighbor) passed away suddenly right after we were getting started.
• Gone deep sea fishing
• Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
• Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
• Gone scuba diving or snorkeling – Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay in Hawaii
• Kissed in the rain – and in the snow, too!
• Played in the mud – When I was a kid.
• Gone to a drive-in theater – My first car date was to a drive-in theater.
• Been in a movie – No, but I was in a commercial when I was a kid for STP gasoline treatment with Richard Petty and Johnny Cash.
• Visited the Great Wall of China
• Started a business – my own web design firm several years ago
• Taken a martial arts class – I took Tai Chi classes for a while.
• Visited Russia
• Served at a soup kitchen – I volunteer pretty much every Thanksgiving for a few hours before going off to have dinner with friends/family.
• Sold Girl Scout Cookies – Not something I would ever care to do again either!
• Gone whale watching – This is on my 101 Things list.
• Gotten flowers for no reason – a couple of times, in fact.
• Donated blood, platelets, or plasma – I’ve donated blood enough times that I’m working toward my 3rd gallon pin.
• Gone sky diving
• Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp – I’m not sure I could handle this emotionally knowing what happened to so many innocent people there.
• Bounced a check – Only by accident and I was mortified!
• Flown in a helicopter – I got to a few times when I worked at the University of Tennessee Space Institute.
• Saved a favorite childhood toy – I held on to Mr. Stubbs (a stuffed monkey) until I was about 30 and then finally gave him up.
• Visited the Lincoln Memorial – On a couple of different occasions.
• Eaten Caviar – It’s not a personal favorite.
• Pieced a quilt – Once, with my grandmother before she passed away.
• Stood in Times Square – A few times, but never on New Year’s Eve which is something I would really like to do.
• Toured the Everglades – I’ve never been to south Florida, but would love to go sometime.
• Been fired from a job – Not sure if you would call it fired, per se, but I was told once during a 3-month probationary period that “it wasn’t working out”.
• Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
• Broken a bone – I’ve had a broken arm, nose, and 2 toes.
• Been on a speeding motorcycle – I hated it because I was a passenger on the back and had absolutely no control over the situation.
• Seen the Grand Canyon in person
• Published a book – A fund-raising cookbook about 13-14 years ago.
• Visited the Vatican – Only for the historical significance and not any religious reasons.
• Bought a brand new car – A couple of times
• Walked in Jerusalem – Only for the historical significance and not any religious reasons.
• Had your picture in the newspaper – A few times, but never on the crime page thankfully!
• Read the entire Bible – A few times actually.
• Visited the White House
• Killed and prepared an animal for eating – Again, the whole growing up in the country thing. It’s definitely not an experience I ever care to repeat either!
• Had chickenpox – I had the pox when I was just a wee child after my brother & sister brought it home from school.
• Saved someone’s life – If I have, I am not aware of it.
• Sat on a jury – No, but I’ve been called for jury duty more than my fair share it seems!
• Met someone famous – Waaaay more times than I can count. I worked in the music industry for the better part of 10 years in Nashville.
• Joined a book club – A few times in the past and have been considering joining the one at work.
• Lost a loved one – All of my grandparents.
• Had a baby – No, but I’ve been pregnant 3 times and miscarried each time.
• Seen the Alamo in person
• Swam in the Great Salt Lake – Hmmm…never even thought about the fact that someone would swim in the Great Salt Lake.
• Been involved in a lawsuit – And it totally sucked!
• Owned a cell phone – I can barely remember I time I didn’t have a cell phone at this point. I got my first one back when they were the size of a brick. The iPhone I now have is by far the coolest and most fun phone I’ve ever had though!
• Been stung by a bee – I try to avoid it at all costs now after discovering from the first time I was stung that I’m allergic.
• Fallen in LOVE – I’d rather not talk about it.
• Decorated a Birthday Cake – My mom was a caterer for several years and I learned to decorate cakes from her.

Well, I ended up with 62 out of 100. That’s not to bad, I suppose. After seeing how many travel-related ones I haven’t done, I definitely want to get out and starting traveling more!

Oh, and on a side note, this happens to be my 900th post on this blog. I kind of wish now I knew how many posts I had made on my old blog between 2001 and 2004 that don’t appear here. I was posting pretty much every day, so it would probably be in that same range of 800-1000 posts. I guess I should start thinking about some sort of cool blog candy to offer later this year when I hit post 1000.