Thursday, August 02, 2007

Experiences I Am Grateful For

  • Standing on The Great Wall of China with my mom
  • Having my name listed in the acknowledgments at the front of a novel
  • Viewing NYC from the top of the World Trade Center towers
  • Buying a house all on my own
  • Taking pictures of Paris from up in the Eiffel Tower
  • Growing up getting to play frequently at the Happiest Place On Earth (Disneyland)
  • Sitting and looking at the Mona Lisa
  • Sunbathing topless on a beach of the French Riviera
  • Being gifted with a love song written and recorded for me
  • Lettering in varsity
  • Riding in a horse drawn carriage through Central Park
  • Rubbing onto paper a soldier's name off the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC
  • Watching the changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace
  • Seeing the Grand Canyon
  • Standing on The Grassy Knoll in Dallas, TX
  • Being proposed to
  • Standing in awe at Stonehenge
  • Seeing a movie at Mann's (Grauman's) Chinese Theater
  • Touching Jon Bon Jovi!!
  • Taking the Chunnel under the English Channel
  • Standing at Shakespeare's grave
  • Walking hand-in-hand along the Champs Elysees
  • Being thanked in the acknowledgment section on a cd
  • Browsing the shops along Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills
  • Skydiving
  • Strolling Les Rambles in Barcelona, Spain
  • Being in 4 states at one time (4 Corners)
  • Gazing up in amazement at the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel
  • Cruising down the Yangtze River
  • Riding a gondola in Venice, Italy with the man I loved
  • Exploring the Kennedy Space Center
  • Watching Old Faithful erupt
  • Leaning with the Leaning Tower of Pisa
  • Being an extra in a movie
  • Attending an Olympic event (1984 in Los Angeles)
  • Riding the train from NYC to Los Angeles
  • Shopping Harrods in London
  • Hiking to the top of Multnomah Falls in Oregon
  • Spending time wandering and photographing Claude Monet's gardens in Giverny
  • Snorkeling alongside sea turtles in Maui
  • Being tipped by another player for rolling such a great round of dice at a craps table
  • Visiting the house of Anne Franke in Amsterdam
  • Seeing the Hollywood Sign
  • Having my fortune told by Madame Marie in Asbury Park, NJ (a'la Bruce Springsteen)
  • Sitting in the bleachers for a ballgame at Yankee Stadium
  • Making strangers laugh so hard they've cried
  • Touching the Berlin Wall
  • Walking on the London Bridge in Lake Havasu, AZ
  • Touring Hearst Castle
  • Receiving tossed strings of beads in New Orleans
  • Getting kicked off the train in Spain due to a sudden rail strike
  • Looking over the harbor from inside the crown of the Statue of Liberty
  • Hiking in the Swiss Alps
  • Piloting a boat on Lake Tahoe, NV
  • Gazing around in awe inside the Library of Congress
  • Visiting Pearl Harbor
  • Escaping Alcatraz Island
  • Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
  • Seeing movie stars out and about in the wilds of Hollywood (and NYC)
  • Watching the sun set on Waikiki Beach
  • Graduating college with honors
  • Climbing to the top of Red Rock Amphitheater in Denver, CO
  • Riding the bus from all the way across country (California to Massachusetts)
  • Seeing the Liberty Bell when it was touring the United States by train
  • Eating Belgium Waffles in Belgium
  • White water rafting
  • Watching a Space Shuttle land
  • Having my picture taken with a donkey in Tijuana, Mexico
  • Surviving a take-over bank robbery
  • Figuring out that over time and various road trips that I have driven the entire length of I5 freeway from the Mexican border to the Canadian border
  • Performing on the field of Dodger Stadium
  • Being chauffeured around in a Ferrari
  • Seeing Michelangelo's statue of "David" in Florence, Italy
  • Taking a weedy patch of dead grass and creating a beautiful cottage-style flower garden.
  • Gambling in Las Vegas
  • Touring a Scotch Distillery in Scotland
  • Helping to sail a sailboat
  • Exploring the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
  • Sipping beer in Germany
  • Watching the live taping of one of the final episodes of the tv sitcom "Cheers"
  • Celebrating the striking of midnight twice the same night on New Year's Eve (two time zones)
  • Boogie and body boarding the Southern California beaches
  • Seeing a bridge lift for Tower Bridge in London
  • Visiting the Colosseum in Rome
  • Accidentally stumbling across the most perfect white sandy beach in Oahu
  • Eating a Nathan's hot dog in Coney Island, NY with my dad
  • Sleeping overnight on the sidewalk in order to save a spot to watch the Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA
  • Shaking hands with Rob and Carl Reiner, Jonathan Winters, Leslie Nielsen
  • Going to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago
  • Successfully knitting a pair of socks (which fit!)
  • Spelunking
  • Getting my kicks driving on Route 66
  • Conversing in a mix of English, Spanish and French with a Spaniard in Barcelona in an attempt to find the post office
  • Having a wonderful dinner and watching amazing magic at the Magic Castle in Hollywood
  • Being in a parade
  • Browsing the fabulous Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
  • Taking pictures atop Victoria Peak in Hong Kong
  • Ringing in a new year making love at midnight to the man I loved
  • Flying in a little Cessna plane (and briefly piloting) on a jaunt from Los Angeles to Catalina Island
  • Gaining insight into prison life by touring a not-yet-opened (at the time) women's prison in Wilsonville, Oregon
  • Touring the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland
  • Driving to Canada just to watch a hockey game
  • Falling asleep to a show of twinkling lights across Lake Como in Italy
  • Midnight forays with my sisters to surreptitiously shake presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.
  • Bruce Springsteen concerts!
  • Seeing the Terracotta Warriors in Xian, China
  • Being first place champions of my entire league for high school doubles tennis
  • Sipping a beer in the original "Cheers" bar in Boston, Massachusetts
  • Being in 17 countries (so far) (US, Canada, Mexico, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea, China, Hong Kong)
(to be continued! :))

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW!! I would say you have had quite the exciting and interesting life! And you are still so young and have all that living still to do! Keep up the excitement enjoy all that life has to offer!!!! : )

Anonymous said...

Wow Aunt Linda... Your list is very inspiring. You are so lucky (I'm a lil jealous lol). I hope to hear more about your best experiences in the years to come.

Anonymous said...

Awesome! The Christmas presents is one of my highlights too!

Kat said...

Teresa- you shouldn't be jealous. You've done more by age 20 then I ever did! Most of these items took place after I became an adult. And you've already written your list of things you want to do ... which puts you ahead of the game! ;)