The Crossed Offs and Addtions to My Bucket List

	1. Alamo	San Antonio, Texas, USA
	2. Alhambra	Granada, Spain
	3. Andros Island	Bahamas
	4. Angel Falls	Venezuela
	5. Angkor Wat	Angkor, Cambodia
	6. Atlantic City Boardwalk	Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
	7. Ayers Rock	Australia
	8. Big Ben	London, England
	9. Bora Bora	Polynesia
	10. British Museum	London, England
	11. Canals of Amsterdam	Amsterdam, Netherlands
	12. Cathedral of Seville	Seville, Spain
	13. Cave of Crystals	Mexico
	14. Christ the Redeemer	Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
	15. Cinque Terre National Park	Italy
	16. Colloseum	Rome, Italy
	17. Crater Lake National Park	Oregon, USA
	18. Dead Sea	Israel/Jordan
	19. Death Valley National Park	California, USA
	20. Devil's Tower	Wyoming, USA
	21. Dome of the Rock	Jerusalem, Israel
	22. Easter Island Statues	Polynesia
	23. Edinburgh Castle	Edinburgh, Scotland
	24. Eiffel Tower	Paris, France
	25. Empire State Building	New York City, New York, USA
	26. Forbidden City	Beijing, China
	27. French Quarter	New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
	28. Galapagos Islands	Ecuador
	29. Gateway Arch	St. Louis, Missouri, USA
	30. Gettysburg Battlefield	Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA
	31. Glacier Bay Basin	Alaska, USA
	32. Glacier National Park	Montana, USA
	33. Glowworm Cave	New Zealand
	34. Golden Gate Bridge	San Francisco, California, USA
	35. Grand Canal	Venice, Italy
	36. Grand Canyon	Arizona, USA
	37. Grand Mosque in Mecca	Saudi Arabia
	38. Great Barrier Reef	Queensland, Australia
	39. Great Mosque of Córdoba	Córdoba, Spain
	40. Great Wall of China	China
	41. Hagia Sophia	Istanbul, Turkey
	42. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park	Hawaii, USA
	43. Hollywood Boulevard	Hollywood, Califonia, USA
	44. Iguazu Falls	Argentina and Brazil
	45. Kiyomizu-dera	Kyoto, Japan
	46. Kremlin	Moscow, Russia
	47. Lake Titicaca	Peru
	48. Las Ramblas	Barcelona, Spain
	49. Las Vegas Strip	Las Vegas, Nevada
	50. Leaning Tower of Pisa	Pisa, Italy
	51. Louvre Museum	Paris, France
	52. Macchu Picchu	Peru
	53. Matterhorn	Switzerland
	54. Mayan Pyramids of Chichen Itza	Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
	55. Metropolitan Museum of Art	New York City, New York, USA
	56. Mount Everest	Nepal
	57. Mount Fuji	Japan
	58. Mount Kilimanjaro	Tanzania
	59. Mount Rushmore	Keystone, South Dakota, USA
	60. Napa Valley	California, USA
	61. Ngorongoro Crater	Tanzania
	62. Niagara Falls	New York, USA
	63. Notre Dame Cathedral	Paris, France
	64. Pacific Rim National Park	British Columbia, Canada
	65. Pebble Beaches of Nice	Nice, France
	66. Petra	Jordan
	67. Petronas Twin Towers	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
	68. Portland Head Lighthouse	Portland, Maine, USA
	69. Puerta Del Sol	Madrid, Spain
	70. Pyramids of Giza	Egypt
	71. Redwood National Park	California, USA
	72. Rock of Gibraltar	Gibraltar
	73. Rocky Mountain National Park	Colorado
	74. Ruins of Athens	Athens, Greece
	75. Ruins of Pompeii	Pompei, Italy
	76. Sagrada Famila	Barcelona, Spain
	77. Sears Tower	Chicago, Illlinois, USA
	78. Sedlec Ossuary	Czech Republic
	79. Sistine Chapel	Vatican City, Italy
	80. Smithsonian Institution	Washington, D.C., USA
	81. Space Needle	Seattle, Washington, USA
	82. St. Peter's Basilica	Vatican City, Italy
	83. Statue of Liberty	New York City, New York, USA
	84. Stonehenge	Wiltshire County, England
	85. Sydney Opera House	Sydney, Australia
	86. Taj Mahal	Agra, India
	87. Temple of the Golden Pavilion	Kyoto, Japan
	88. Teotihuacan	Mexico
	89. Tian Tan Buddha	Hong Kong, China
	90. Times Square	New York City, New York, USA
	91. Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh, India
	92. Victoria Falls	Zimbabwe
	93. Wailing Wall	Jerusalem, Israel
	94. Walt Disney World Resort	Orlando, Florida
	95. Washington Monument	Washington, D.C., USA
	96. White Cliffs of Dover	Dover, England
	97. White House	Washington, D.C., USA
	98. Winchester Cathedral	Hampshire, England
	99. Yosemite National Park	California, USA

A Shocking Day of January 2011 Winter Golf?!?

...and for the record, it was FREEZING! but such a great family day! :)

Pay It Forward or At Least TRY

Over the past month, I've heard numerous references to individuals who have endured something traumatic or extremely hard, deciding to hold their own funeral. Understanding that their life as they knew it, has now ended and a new one has begun. 

I completely get it.

August of 2002 was the date of my "funeral". Not in the negative, my life is over sense but more in the sense of a new adventure had just been given to me.  Having been an athlete my whole life, both in High School and at a University level, the word "paralyzed" was not one that I could even comprehend.  But here it was.  My new life had just begun.  I was at a crossroads. I could either be the bitter, angry, pissed off person or hit this challenge head on.  My athletic mentality kicked in and I was determined that this was not going to determine who I would become or what I would do with my life.

As I learned and experienced more, I realized that this thing that most would call a tragedy was instead a blessing.  I had a great and fulfilling life then and I would have a great and fulfilling life now!  I also began to realize that I could make a difference and help others who were going through similar experiences.  Not all who experience hard times are able to bounce back as easily as I was able to but if I could possibly help them to see the light at the end of the tunnel just a little bit sooner, then I would.

We've all heard the saying "Pay It Forward" and we've all been challenged to do so.  So once again, I'll challenge you to truly "Pay It Forward".  The lessons that you'll learn, the joy that you'll see, the influence you'll have, and the difference that you'll make will only spread the happiness and the love that this world needs.  The way you'll feel at the end of the day will become addicting and you'll want to do more.  I promise.

A few months ago, a young woman was in my state visiting her sister.  She is from a small town outside of Mexico City and she was here looking at University options.  A group of Young Adults were playing a game similar to "The Hunger Games" and while she was climbing/hiding in a tree, the branch broke and she fell, breaking her back, leaving her paralyzed at T12.  I saw her story on the news and knew that I wanted to do something to help.  She is from another county. No insurance. Rehab was an issue. A wheelchair was an issue.  A solid support group was an issue.  I wanted to give her that feeling of hope and knowledge that her life was NOT over and that there were those, perfect strangers, who were rooting for her to endure!

We met, I shared with her my story, I encouraged her, and at the end her tears had changed to a smile.  Those are the moments that help make it all worth it.  But my personal challenge was not over.  I wanted to help her in the ways that I could, raise money for her rehab or more importantly, find her a wheelchair.

Little by little, the dollars came in and the wheelchair was found.  Let's be honest. Most people want to help but they're not sure of where to go.  I truly believe that in instances where we can make a difference, that it's our duty to help, to educate, to let people know of how they can help.

Here are the links of the stories that was written about the experience---

HERE

HERE 


It was awesome to see it all come together. To achieve our goal. To help her realize that there is help and that she can endure this hard time.  Now was it all me? NO.  It was many individuals and companies who came together as one to make a difference.  Can we help everyone?  NO.  But can we try?  YES.  And can we help some? YES.

There is a quote that I absolutely LOVE by Marian Wright Edelman.  In it she said...

"We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee."

So again, I'll throw out the challenge. PAY IT FORWARD.  Whether it's in a HUGE or a SMALL way, it doesn't matter.  What matters is that you made the attempt.  And I promise you that it WILL make a HUGE or a SMALL difference to someone somewhere!

Challenge Accepted. GAME ON! ;)