32 Today - 32 Things I Have Done

From this 100 things to have done in your life list, I noted 32 that I have done in my 32 years of life...

1. Started your own blog. (You're reading it!)
2. Slept under the stars. (Stephen & I did this on the roof of a houseboat at Lake Shasta)
3. Visited Hawaii. (Whose kidding who, I'm a Hawaiian at heart)
4. Been to Disneyland. (Lived 20 minutes away growing up, went too many times to count)
5. Visited Paris. (With my parents the summer before my junior year of H.S.)
6. Watched a thunder & lightning storm. (Hello!? We live in Texas now)
7. Taught yourself an art from scratch. (Stephen got me my 1st sewing machine Christmas 2004)
8. Had food poisoning. (When we first moved here to Austin and lived out of a hotel/restaurants for 2 weeks I got so sick one night, never vomited that much before)
9. Grown your own vegetables. (In Oregon I planted zucchini, the plant grew humongous only to provide me with 1 zucchini)
10. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. (Went to the Louvre on that Paris trip)
11. Taken a sick day when you're not ill. (Frankly Americans don't get enough personal or vacation time off)
12. Watched a sunrise or sunset. (The best were seen in Hawaii and Fiji)
13. Seen Niagara Falls in person. (A couple of times, the last was in 95 after my cousin's wedding in PA)
14. Sung karaoke. (Back in H.S. we'd do this on the weekends)
15. Seen Old Faithful Geyser erupt. (On a camping trip my family took in the early 90's)
16. Walked on a beach by moonlight. (Many times, Stephen proposed to me this way)
17. Had your portrait painted. (Well a cousin in Holland, Marco, did a pencil sketch of my portrait)
18. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling. (Many times, my dad used to scuba dive - last time we did snorkeling in Fiji on our honeymoon)
19. Gone to a drive-in theater. (When Stephen and I first started dating we saw a movie at one - I think it's closed down now with a Walmart in it's place)
20. Gone Whale Watching. (Last time was with my best friend Robyn off the Long Beach coast)
21. Got flowers for no reason. (Stephen brought me a bouquet last week for no reason)
22. Flown in a helicopter. (I was super young but my parents got us a ride to Catalina island I think)
23. Saved a favorite childhood toy. (A few stuffed animals now in Madeline's closet)
24. Seen the changing of the guards in London. (Last time was with Stephen on our 2000 trip)
25. Seen the Grand Canyon in person. (Camping trips with my family growing up)
26. Bought a brand new car. (With the help of my parents, my college car 1997 Nissan Sentra, still have it!)
27. Met someone famous. (Robyn and I sat behind Robert Downey Jr. on a flight to Hawaii, and we've also met some pro surfers)
28. Had a baby. (By God's blessing, 2 beautiful babies)
29. Seen the Alamo in person. (It's 50 minutes from our home - we take a lot of guests to see it)
30. Owned a cell phone. (Several, and Stephen even worked for a wireless company)
31. Understand a different language. (Thanks to my parents speaking Dutch to me growing up, yes I can!)
32. Seen the World Famous Budweiser Clydesdales. (Did that today for my birthday!)

The horses are visiting Austin from St. Louis, this is their ride.

I think Madeline and James could walk under these horses!

The dalmation that accompanies these horses!

My favorite part about them.

James checking out their ride.

Madeline checking out their ride.

After we drove through downtown Austin to get some lunch. My view from the sunroof. We wanted to eat at Frank Hot Dogs but it was a 45 minute wait - probably because SXSW is going on. So instead we made our way to the Radisson Hotel to eat at their T.G.I.Fridays that overlooks Lady Bird Lake.

We had a nice table next to the hotel pool with views of Lady Bird Lake. My silly boy making funny poses.

Love this kid.

It was a great day of celebrating my 32nd birthday!