25 in 25

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

#13 wing challenge fail

#13 was a very ambitious move. i decided all 5'3 of me was going to take on the pluckers "fire in the hole" wing challenge. that's 25 of plucker's hottest wings, eaten at your own pace. in my head, this didn't sound too terrible. it actually sounded feasible, but *spoiler alert* i failed.

i made an attempt to convince two others to join me on my quest to dominate 25 spicy wings but second *spoiler alert.* i failed at that too. (i got one, but not the other)

before making the trip to plucker's i did my research and searched for any kind of tips. everything i read was in regards to the spice. i like spice. i like spice a lot. but reading all the warnings made me fairly nervous. so taking a tip from a fellow wing challenger, i protected my lips. sorry guys, sometimes the perks of being a lady come in rather handy. i layered on lipstick trying to avoid the inevitable fire to take over my lips. it sounded like a great idea and truth be told, it worked like a charm

as jason, david and i entered plucker's, i gazed among the wall of glory. if you complete the challenge, your picture is taken and hung on the wall for all to see. that's where i wanted to be. feeling confident, i walked in and let the hostess know i would be taking on the fire in the hole challenge. the quizzical look followed by laughter shattered all confidence the great wall of wing eaters instilled in me. what little confidence i had left depleted after our waiter broke out in laughter, followed by another waiter's roaring laughter in the background. things weren't looking good.

at this point i was considering to back out. i was hungry. hadn't eaten a meal all day kind of hungry. all i wanted was a nice meal that i could enjoy. i knew that this was not going to be anything remotely close to enjoyable. but alas, backing out was not an option.

trying to get the madness over with, i ordered my 25 wings, jason ordered his 25 wings and david ordered delicious chicken tenders. thanks david.

the wings and the stache

let the games begin

i don't know if it was the hangriness in me coming out or what, but i was not a happy camper-- which is a rarity. the wings did not have an appetizing look. at all. i tried to imagine i was eating some delicious sesame chicken but that didn't work. so i took another approach-- the faster you eat the less you'll notice. it worked for the first 7 or so wings. i scarfed them down like it was nothing. one wing after the other. then my mojo left and it was all down hill from there. every wing after the 7th wing was torture. not because of the spiciness. to be honest the spiciness wasn't even that bad. it was definitely bearable. it was the wings. they tasted awful. (to be fair, they tasted awful in comparison to sesame chicken). and there were so many of them. my belly was calling it quits but my competitive mind wasn't allowing it.

i may never eat another wing

i looked over at jason and noticed he too, was struggling with this challenge. gotta be honest, this made me feel a heck of a lot better. as he called it quits, my goal quickly went from eating 25 wings to eat as many as jason did. he finished 12 wings then waved his white flag. i caught up shortly after.

this was when the mind battle began. i was contemplating ordering other food to get the awful wing taste out of my mouth then resuming my challenge. considering my belly could no longer hold any more food, adding anything extra to my 25 wings was out. then there was the idea of dousing my wings in ranch and enjoying the scrumptious taste of ranch dressing that every true texan can't deny. unfortunately the ranch masked little to none of the wing taste. that was out. then my mind got desperate. i realized if i combined my 12 wings with jason's 12 wings then there's 24 wings with only 1 wing to go. of course my guilty conscious would never let me actually proceed with the latter of my thoughts, but i went there and definitely considered it. my final and winning idea was to at least cross the half way point. the final bites, only half a wing, were brutal. every shred of chicken tasted worse and worse. my final number was 12 1/2 wings. 12 1/2 terrible wings. i tried to avoid looking at what once was the wall of glory on my way out knowing it was now my personal wall of shame. hangry + being a sore loser made a bumming combination. you win pluckers.

he put up a good fight

a bittersweet defeat

the finished product

"yuk"
my mature sore loser attitude really shining through

always be the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.

e. e. cummings

Monday, August 25, 2014

#12 befriend a sea otter

the ocean voyager

#12 took place while i was on my atlanta getaway vacay. while googling the area, the georgia aquarium continued to make the top of just about every list. so to the georgia aquarium i went! xan and i pre-purchased tickets online and went first thing in the morning. apparently it's a happening place and gets crowded quickly. the rumor proved to be true in no time. showing up early was definitely the way to go.

while purchasing our entry tickets we also purchased tickets for the sea otter experience. sea otter experience = hang out with a couple of sea otters. how cool is that?! you can also swim with the whale sharks (that one is now on my bucket list), hang out with penguins, dolphins or belugas. with our last minute planning, most of the the experiences were sold out. we got lucky and snagged two to meet the sea otters.

before befriending any sea otters, we visited a couple of the exhibits. you can read about them and see pictures below, but not before i introduce you to oz, the sea otter. the tour doesn't allow cameras, phones, or anything really. so i checked my bag at the door, then followed my trusty tour guide to oz's home. before entering you have to sanitize the bottom of your shoes. so we sanitized, had a lesson on sea otters and their habitat, then met oz. there were other sea otters that we met, but none like oz. he's the goofball in the picture with me on the left <--. oz loves ice pops made of frozen squid. he begged for them kind of like a needy puppy-- the cute kind that you always give into. so we happily fed him as many ice pops made of frozen squid as we could. then oz showed off some of his tricks and let us pet his soft and wet little nose. i had to restrain myself from just pulling him out of his little watering hole and giving him a big ole bear hug. the entire "sea otter experience" lasted about 45 minutes and was worth every second of it. oz stole my heart

sea monsters revealed

the aquarium is divided into multiple exhibits; sea monsters revealed, the ocean voyager, tropical diver, georgia explorer, cold water quest and river scout.

one of the coolest exhibits was sea monsters revealed. it was in a darkened and silent area which really added some spook to it. the exhibit was fascinating to say the least.

the exhibits that we were looking at are the real 'sea monsters'. through a process known as plastination the animals were preserved. so we get to admire the real deal. pretty incredible. there were over 18 sea monsters to look at, some with organs, one pregnant with baby sharks and one roughly 3,000 pounds. we spent a good amount of time going from room to room and just staring at what was in front of us. again, pretty incredible.

after exploring the sea monster exhibit we headed towards the georgia explorer which had a small pool of water with rays and little sharks. there you could stick two fingers in the water and pet them as they swam by. my minimal shark knowledge (all thanks to shark week) had me afraid of this tiny little shark and not so tiny ray, but i felt challenged by the 6 year old having the time of her life petting them next to me. so i accepted the unspoken challenge and reached in to pet the shark and ray. challenge complete.

the ocean voyager tunnel

from the georgia explorer we went to the ocean voyager. this was one of my favorites. there was a tunnel that went directly through a very large aquarium. there were whale sharks (the largest fish species in the world), manta rays and thousands of ocean life swimming all around us. the tunnel was so neat. i felt like i was underwater, walking right next to all the fish. after my amazing tunnel experience, we ventured on to the tropical diver which has one of the largest living reef exhibits in the whole world. that is where i found nemo. then i found dory. lots of nemo's and lots of dory's, actually. the tropical diver was filled with endless color and beauty.

cold water quest

the cold water quest is where you would find my buddy oz and some of his penguin buddies. it was also home to the most expensive fish in the entire aquarium, the tiny little sea dragon. (oz and his otter friends were a close second.) the sea dragon only eats imported live shrimp and must maintain a specific lighting schedule along with other habitat specifications which become very costly. regardless, he was pretty cute for a high-maintaince little fellow.

tropical diver

visiting the entire aquarium and soaking up all it has to offer takes a good chunk of time, but it is well worth it. there were so many sights to see and there really is something for everyone to enjoy. they have done a beautiful job of displaying such amazing creatures for us human-folk to awe at. the georgia aquarium is definitely the coolest aquarium i've ever been to. doesn't have too much competition being the only aquarium i've ever been to, but i'm walking away from this experience with some amazing memories.

the ocean voyager

squidward!

tropical diver

sea monsters revealed

the xanimal

to learn more about the georgia aquarium and purchase your tickets to meet oz, click here:

georgia aquarium

most people are perfectly afraid of silence.

e. e. cummings

Friday, August 15, 2014

#11 escape to stone mountain

#11 happened on a spontaneous trip to atlanta, georgia to visit a dear college friend. i had been wanting to pay xan a visit for quite sometime. so two days out i thought, why not? yolo, right? kidding. but really... yolo.

for a trip with zero preparation, everything was going smoothly. i even made it to the airport early. that never happens. with time to kill, i pulled out my lap top, found an open outlet and parked it on the floor. after about 15 minutes i felt a pair of beady little eyes on me. they followed me as i lined up to board the plane. every step i made, they made too. i made my way to an open row and had a seat. my shadow sat right next to me. i immediately knew what was going on. i was katniss everdeen and she was my rue. after chatting i found out 'rue' was traveling alone for the first time. for whatever reason, she clung to me. she was timid at first but judging by the way she was sound asleep and snoring on my shoulder mid-flight, she felt comfortable in no time. once we landed, in true katniss fashion, i made sure 'rue' found her aunt who was waiting for her at the gate. then, my mini vacay began!

after a quick google search for activities in atlanta, i stumbled upon stone mountain. i had heard about stone mountain for some time. i thought it would be just another mountain to climb, but nope. it's an entire theme park. there are festivals, special events, a golf course, sky rides, zip lines, camp grounds, laser shows and so much more. it is pretty incredible. upon entering the park, you are charged a minimal fee (about ten bucks for the day) and handed a map. i may be directionally challenged, but xan is not. with map in hand, we got lost. we ended up taking the scenic roundabout route to find the mountain. can't complain-- i got to see plenty of park!

once we found the mountain, we hopped out of the car and started the trek! the first stop was at the goodie goodie gum drop tree. it's not really called that, but it should be. i'm not sure how this became a thing, but apparently sticking your chewed gum to this tree is a georgia tradition. so i got a stick of gum from a fellow hiker, popped it in my mouth and started chewing. when in georgia...

as i got closer to the tree i realized that this tree was a giant germfest. think about it... the goodie goodie gum drop tree
is the tree o' saliva. but on with tradition! once i chewed up my gum i stuck it to the tree. as you can see, i did well hiding my disgust.

after my gum adventure i decided to start jogging the trail. the first half of the mountain is pretty rocky and it is more of a hop, skip and a jump than a walk. the second half goes at a steady incline and turned out to be a fun run. at a particular point on the mountain there are guardrails to hold onto because the mountain becomes very steep. running up that part of the mountain was a workout. (using the guardrails are a definite necessity on the way down)

feelin' the love

the sweet lovebirds

the view from the mountain top is beautiful. you can see all of atlanta. it makes the hike up there well worth it. aside from the breathtaking view, the first thing i noticed once at the top was this adorable couple sitting side by side just soaking up the scenery. i creepily took some pictures of them then got the courage to ask them if they would like me to take some of their own. the woman, beaming with joy, smiled at me and proudly said, "we've been married for 29 years now. we would love that." i took a number of pictures for them, even egged her husband on to give his lady a smooch on the lips for a picture then headed back over to join my hiking buddies. we took some pictures of our own, i was pretty proud of my l.o.v.e. (above) and from the corner of my eye i could see that sweet couple hugging, smiling and pointing at their new pictures. that right there was the highlight of my climb. seeing two people so happily in love and just living in that moment. it was so refreshing. truly, a beautiful sight.

can't climb a mountain without a photo-op

i jogged most of the way down and stopped every now and then to play on or admire the rocks. many of the stones have carvings on them. family names, so-and-so loves so-and-so, symbols, etc. some of them are actually pretty intricate and impressive. definitely adds lots of character. the mountain as a whole is not a tough climb. i'm fairly confident that any level climber, beginner to expert, could conquer this one. the park itself would take an entire weekend to explore. i'll be back one day for the light show, that's for sure. we had some lovely cool georgia weather the whole day and our hike was very enjoyable. turns out the odds were ever in my favor.

to learn more about stone mountain click here:
stone mountain park

the earth laughs in flowers.

e. e. cummings

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

#9

#9 this post is confidential.

you read that correctly. this post will not be publicly posted, but ask me and i'll tell ya all about it!

#10 leap off a cliff

what goes up must come down

#10 was taking a leap of faith off a cliff into a large bottomless (at least that's what i kept telling myself) body of water. a friend recently told me about a little spot along lake whitney in whitney, tx where you can cliff jump. i've been wanting to go ever since. unfortunately, not everyone is too keen on jumping off of cliffs.

lucky for me, my eager wait didn't go on for too long. 4th of july weekend rolled around and my fearless boyfriend -finally- came back to the good ole US of A after spending 9 very long months in afghanistan. i could not be more proud of him nor more elated to have him back safe and sound. with very little convincing, after enjoying a nice sunday afternoon, we headed to lake whitney.

the drive from dallas to whitney took about an hour. we listened to some great music the whole way and time flew right by ;). we first stopped at lake whitney state park. we quickly realized this is not where the cliffs are. they do have some great opportunities for camping, hiking and picnicking but that was not on the day's agenda. we asked for directions and were guided to soldier's bluff right around the corner.

my trail guide

the not-so-dinky cliff

after seeing a large body of water, we knew we were in the right place. once you first walk up to the water there are a number of cliffs. i'll be honest-- they're a little dinky and i was a little disheartened. in all fairness, we have been getting lots of rain lately. a local told us the water has raised significantly and the cliff used to be a much bigger jump. instead of settling for this cliff, we walked along a path to see what was up ahead. and there it was. this was the cliff i had heard about. as excitement rolled in, so did fear. there was nothing dinky about this cliff.

there were already a number of people at the top of the cliff jumping, cheering friends on or just watching others jump. there was a younger guy still in his converse trying everything to psych himself out to make the jump. he told me he had been trying to jump for about 4 hours. everyone at the top of the cliff was cheering him on-- that's what i love about texas. strangers or not, a friendly personality makes every situation that much better. everyone excitedly gave him an encouraging countdown. as we all thought his moment to jump was finally here, he stopped. and so did my heart. he stopped right at the edge of the cliff.

i was near heart failure

he did this again a few more times until he finally mustered the courage to go off the cliff. i didn't say jump, because he didn't jump. he looked like he was contemplating between jumping and stopping and instead just walked right off. again, my heart stopped as did everyone else's at the top of the cliff. i gained a pulse again as i saw him resurface with a mile long smile and a face beaming with pride. i then knew, if he could it.. i could too.

away he went

david's turn was next. without any hesitation he just went. he ran and jumped off the cliff. if you blinked you would have missed it. a part of me was in awe at his fearlessness while the other part of me was panicking because that meant i was up next.

after jumping you have to swim to a corner, climb up some rocks, then walk back to the cliff. it isn't too far away but it bought me some time to hide my nerves, well make an attempt to hide them, and talk myself into jumping.

once he who has no fear came back up to the top it all became real. it was my turn. i was jumping off of a cliff. i was terrified. when i get scared i get the giggles. so there i was at the top of a cliff, surrounded by people i had just met, giggling.

i attempted to stall in every way i could think of. once i ran out of ideas, they gave me the countdown just as they did the scared guy before me. i knew i couldn't chicken out. i just couldn't. as the numbers neared 1, i said my prayers, sucked up my fear, ran to the edge and did it. i just jumped.

it wasn't until about mid-air with no ground beneath my feet that i realized i had actually jumped. then i remembered "pencil, they said do the pencil!" so i penciled away and hit the water. after swimming to the surface, i paddled around for a moment just letting it all sink it. it was a thrilling experience.

stalling with pictures

busted for stalling

we both jumped off one more time then swam around in the water just admiring the calming scenery and enjoying the day. it was a gorgeous sunny day, the lake water was surprisingly beautiful and spending quality time with one my favorite people made my cliff jumping experience unforgettable.

unfortunately there was a lot of trash around the cliff. beer bottles, soda cans, water bottles, broken glass, the works. which is sad. we live in texas, y'all. haven't you heard? don't mess with texas. other than the garbage found around the lake, lake whitney is wonderful. the day was perfect and a fear i never knew i even had was conquered.

welcome home, david!

i guess the moral of the story is yes, if you jumped off a cliff, i would too. if there was a deep body of water underneath and you swam safely to shore without a scratch on your pretty little head. see you again soon lake whitney and a big thank you for all you do to this incredible guy!

to read more about lake whitney state park, click here:

lake whitney state park

i thank God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.

e. e. cummings

Saturday, June 14, 2014

#8 roughin' it

#8 was spent over a very memorable memorial weekend. i decided to rough it with the boys on an overnight canoe and camping trip along the colorado river.

lately i have been hearing a lot about glamping trips. (glamping = glamorous camping) so naturally, i envisioned i was going on a glamping extravaganza fully equipped with electricity, cell service and coffee. i was very wrong.

about a week out from the trip, we all received a finalized e-mail with weekend details along with a suggested packing list. i skimmed the e-mail and even though the only thing i had on the packing list was a bathing suit and some double a batteries, i wasn't too concerned. i figured i had nothing to be worried about.

it was the follow up e-mail that got me. the e-mail encouraging questions and trying to ease any nerves. it was sent to me and me alone. so of course, i went back over the packing list and re-read every detail then came to the nerve wrecking realization that i was going camping. there was no glamping involved. princess jasmine was out and pocahontas was in.

me and the boys

leaving my nerves behind me, i headed to austin for the trip. aside from the pouring rain, the morning started out smoothly. we met up and rented our canoes from cook's canoes and then were shuttled over from the end point to the starting point- no turning back from here. from there, we packed everything into the canoes and began paddling. good camping rule of thumb, less is more. and by more, i mean less... that you have to carry. you get it.

my only paddling experience comes from my church camp days back in grade school. needless to say, i wasn't very good. nick, a nature enthusiast and my canoe buddy, kindly gave me "pointers" throughout. i'm pretty sure his "pointers" were his polite way of asking me to stop running into things. message received. with my new paddling tips, the day was rather easy. the rain never let up, but was a nice cool down from the texas sun.

camp

we were instructed to make camp on any island. so before night fell, we found the perfect little island, pitched our tents--- yes i actually helped pitch a tent--- made our beds and started a fire. by the way, the fire part is way easier than the movies make it look.

i thought i was going to go into this way over prepared because of my nerves. so naturally, i brought all necessary essentials, sleeping bag, change of clothes, hand sanitizer, protein bars, cereal (captain crunch if you were wondering), apples and went a little overboard on bug spray. bugs love me and with the rain i knew they would be out in full force. so i brought 3 different kinds of spray and a "bug off" bracelet that never left my wrist. i sprayed bug spray all over everything, myself and my belongings. i did not want any critter surprises. what did the boys pack? food. lots of it. i'm talking about fajitas, three different kinds of sausages, pre-made sandwiches, costco sized snacks, the works. one thing was for sure- no one was going hungry or getting bit by bugs.

as dinner rolled around we feasted on the boys smorgasbord, caught up on one-another's lives, laughed at old memories, listened to music and sang some kumbayah's. as it got pretty late(and dark) everyone started to head off to their tents to fall asleep. before zipping myself into my tent, i sprayed it with bug spray. i was serious about not getting bit. i had a long day the day before so i didn't have any troubles falling asleep. i did however wake up in a terrible dream. in that dream-- more like a nightmare, i was being swarmed by bugs. they were everywhere. i woke up in a panic and used my headlamp to assure myself that i was zipped away in a bug free zone. all was clear.

my canoe :)

we all got up bright and early (sleeping in isn't an option when the bright sun is shining right on you), cooked breakfast and packed up. during our paddling day 2 adventures, we hit a number of rapids. they were probably the most enjoyable part of the canoeing experience. they're fast and fun.

we also saw some beautiful wildlife. we passed a young deer grazing only a few feet away from us. the deer and the sometimes calm river made everything seem so peaceful. it was a lovely experience only to be ruined in a few short minutes by a water moccasin. i love animals, all animals. but snakes, i love just a little less. okay, a whole lot less. i nearly panicked as we passed the slithering creature (i'm quivering just thinking about the word slithering). i threw my paddle in the canoe to avoid disturbing the snake and found myself slowly trying to hide within the canoe. let's be real. there's nowhere to hide in a canoe. either way, the little monster didn't bite me. all was good.

we paddled on the river for about 3 hours each day. it wasn't anything strenuous, anyone could really do it. catching up with old friends was one of my favorite parts about the trip. it's an experience i am thankful for, but probably not one that i will be repeating frequently :)

once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

e. e. cummings

Thursday, May 1, 2014

#7 feed the zebras

billy the billy goat #1

#7's adventure took place at fossil rim wildlife center. a close friend, kelsey, and i took a spontaneous day trip to glen rose, tx. i have always wanted to play with the long necked giraffes and meet the mascot of my favorite childhood gum, fruit stripe. (the sugar-filled, striped gum that came with a tattoo on every wrapper. what kid wouldn't love zebras after that?! good work fruit stripes!) before we left, i took a look outside and unfortunately it wasn't the nicest of days. dark clouds were rolling in and the humidity levels weren't playing around. being a fossil rim newbie, i called ahead to make sure the park would still be open. the woman who answered informed me that the park is open rain or shine, which was great news! i then asked if we would still be able to see all of the animals. she responded with "well of course you will still see and be able to feed them... they live there. where else would they go?" feeling like i asked the wrong question, i ended the conversation by thanking her for her time then packed up the car and headed to glen rose!

life-size!

once we got close, we saw a sign that read "dinosaur world next exit". without any hesitation, we took the next exit. being the only two unaccompanied by a parent didn't stop us. however, the time it would take to walk around the park did. so instead, we settled on exploring the gift shop and playing with the giraffes and t-rex they had out front. then, back into the car and onward to fossil rim!

the ostriches were the first animals we saw. they came right up to our car. i mean walked right up like they owned the place. it was actually a little frightening. i turned around and had one staring right at me. he was only inches away from my face and clearly invading my personal space. these guys were fearless. hungry and fearless. they gobbled up every bite of food we fed them and just continually stuck their heads through the window demanding more. while the tiny ostrich heads bobbed around trying to find the bag of food hidden in my car, i did my best to conceal any and all fear of these jurassic-like birds. slowly more and more ostriches started coming to the window. afraid we were about to start an ostrich riot, kelsey and i threw a handful of food on the ground to distract them as we made our swift getaway.

next we passed a number of goats, fed them and kept going. as we drove a little further, we ran into (ran into figuratively not literally) some more goats. then as we turned another corner, even more goats! i was starting to think we were touring a goat farm.

little foots cousin

billy the billy goat #100

wanting to stretch our legs and take a break from our goat sight-seeing tour, we made the stop at a petting zoo found along the trail. there we saw dinosaur tracks- looks like fossil rim had a little dinosaur world in it too. then, surprise surprise, we saw more goats! these goats were a little more fun than the others. kelsey and i instinctively reverted to our childhood petting zoo days and chased every animal until they gave up and allowed us to pet them.

it's a rhino!

the animals that excited me most were towards the end of the trail. we saw the giraffes locked up in a pen (because of the weather-- my question wasn't so silly after all). So we could only drive by and admire them from a distance. that was a bummer but what can ya do. then finally, the zebras! these guys were awesome. probably where we spent the most time and one of the only times we encountered other cars on the trail. they were such beautiful animals and looked just like the fruit stripe guy! and to end our trip, a rhinoceros! you weren't allowed to pet or feed the rhinoceros. i imagine he wouldn't have been too friendly. being as close as we were was good enough for me. the tour was long, but well worth it. it takes about 2 hours to go through everything. i learned i can be quite the chicken. i may have screamed a time or two. some of the animals popped up out of nowhere!! the company you have can make or break a trip like this. lucky for me, i was in great company! being that close to so many different animals (and so many goats) was pretty awesome. i could only imagine how beautiful everything looks on a nice sunny day and how cool it would be to feed a giraffe! perhaps i'll plan ahead next time for my fossil rim round #2 adventure.