Should have posted this one in August...

It's a little late, but it finally made it out of my draft box!

(08/11) I've actually been impressed with my efforts to work on my "bucket" list. Although there are a few that I am no where near starting, such as the month as a vegetarian, I have been making a conscious effort to complete at least some of the items on my list. I have also been working on some of the biggies. I have watched a few man movies which I will describe in the future and I carry a classic novel with me, in hope that if it is in my bag I will actually open it. However, don't hold your breath on that one being marked off soon. Instead, let me walk you through the list items I have recently completed!

Number one on my list was to go paddle boating. Thanks to Caitlyn, Kelly, and Natalie, this one is now complete! The girls and I decided to hit Campus Lake at SIU after church last week. Much to my surprise, renting paddle boats and canoes is free. How I have been at SIU for three years and have been unaware of this, I will never know. But, now that I do know this, I am completely down for any sporadic lake adventures that any of my friends want to go on. We rented the paddle boats and began our adventure around the lake. Contrary to any misconstrued ideas, paddle boats do not move quickly with four people on them. My goal of going around the entire lake was quickly cut short after we paddled our way back to shore after an hour of sweat, sun, and stinky-ness.

Me, Nat, Kell, and Caitlyn

Showing you that I really am in a lake

This exciting adventure, however, got me super excited about Campus Lake, so the next day Caitlyn, Matt, Skylar, and I hit the water. This time: A canoe! I found this one to be much, MUCH more terrifying than the first. Let me set it up for you. I was in front of Canoe A, in the non-steering seat. Skylar was in the rear being lead direction/paddler. Caitlyn had my seat in Canoe B while Matt took the strong seat. All was well until Matt and Skylar decided it would be AWESOME to switch canoes. If you recall from my previous blog, I can't really swim in a body of water in which I can't touch ground. So here we are, middle of the lake, and the two nimrods in the rear are switching canoes. Add my inability to swim with the panic that comes from watching my Droid wiggle around in the bottom of the canoe and I am pretty sure it resulted in what would be called "hyperventilation." The rest of the trip was filled with Matt shaking the boat, running it into the other canoe, Sklyar and Matt switching back, Caitlyn and Skylar switching, and Stephanie in an all around tizzy. However, once the canoe was safely ashore I was confident that I had a most splendid time and would certainly like to go again.

Needless to say, I am mega thankful for Caitlyn who has been an instigator in my trying of new things. <3

Adventure #2: Canoeing!

There were many moments I wished I was closer to that dock.

Gumper. He followed us around most of the day.