Licking the bowl!

Looking over my blog it dawned on me, it's a lot like my life. Figures right? Well for me it took blogging it to unwind the knot. My life needs a change. It's me who is holding me back from what I want. You hear, "you only live once" all the time, but really... YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE! With this big move my family is about to take to Washington there is also going to be a BIG move in ME and my enthusiasm is nearly uncontrollable. I've never been ordinary so it confuses the heck out of me as to why I have settled for ordinary. Cortney Black, welcome to earth third rock from the sun! I'm alive. I breath. I am going to live life to the fullest because, like you, I don't know what tomorrow brings.

I will check them off as I complete them and add more as I continually grow and change. So brought to you by yours truly, here is my newly started life's bucket list and I will add photo's for your pleasure as I go through all these wild adventures. I feel everything on this list is 100% attainable for me, some being easier than others, but each a puzzle piece in who I am. It's not a spur of the moment list either. It's been well thought out and will, as I achieve them, present the real me. It's always been a part of me... It's who I am.

I strongly encourage you to make one for yourself. Aside from family, which is a huge piece don’t get me wrong, it's something to live for and reason to get up in the morning. You only live once, but if you live right... ONCE IS ENOUGH!

BUCKET LIST!!!

1. Swim with dolphins

2. Skydive

3. Go to a Broadway show

4. See the northern lights

5. Get a tattoo

6. Run a 1/2 Marathon in every continent

7. Ride an elephant / camel

8. Take a class on making sushi

9. Visit the 7 wonders of the world original and modern

10. Try surfing

11. Ride a gondola in Venice

12. Go para-sailing

13. Get a picture with the Eiffel tower

14. Hold a calling in my ward

15. Stand on the Great Wall of China

16. Learn another language

17. Go to an airport and take the next random flight anywhere

18. Go on a safari

19. Travel Europe

20. See Niagara Falls

21. Compete in a body competition

22. Get boudoir pictures

23. Hike Angels Landing

24. Get my Master's degree

25. Be part of a flash mob

26. Take a photo a day for a year

27. Volunteer in a 3rd world country

28. Serve a mission

29. Go hang gliding

30. Take a ballroom dancing class / pole dancing class

31. Take a class in pottery

32. Go to a masquerade ball

33. Go kayaking

34. See the Taj Mahal

35. Own a house---CHECK

36. Stand on both sides of the equator

37. Ride a Segway

38. Witness the miracle of life

39. Visit the Great Barrier Reef

40. Pick a place on a map blindly and go there.

41. Ride a dog sled

42. Attend a murder mystery dinner---CHECK

43. Visit Alcatraz / Stand in a light-house

44. Ride in a limo

45. Fly in a hot air balloon

46. Go to the super bowl

47. Take yoga lessons---CHECK

48. Watch turtles hatch and crawl to the ocean

49. Throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome

50. Learn a strategic game and play in Vegas

51. Volunteer at a soup kitchen

52. Have my palm read

53. Sit in the audience of a TV show

54. Whale watching tour vs. Sea world (my interpretation) 

55. Climb / swim in a Volcano

56. Swim in a cave

57. Go zip lining

58. Visit a castle

59. See the Statue of Liberty

60. Eat at an underwater restaurant

61. Ride a cable car in San Fran and visit the "Full house" house

62. Donate $1000 to a deserving cause

63. Swim with sharks

64. Fish in Alaska

65. Grow my hair to my butt

66. Ride a train from one state to another

67. Get a pearl from an oyster

68. See the sun rise from a high location. (Ex: Mountain / roof-top) 

69. Get married in every state that we live in

70. Have a six pack

71. Build my dream home

72. Read the Book of Morman cover to cover

73. Pee in all 5 oceans

74. Be an organ donor

75. Eat grenouille

76. Eat a meal from a world class chef

77. Donate my hair to cancer

78. Stand in four corners

79. Visit the Grand Canyon

80. Climb behind a waterfall

90. Raise a successful garden

91. Buy food from a flea market

92. Taste a dish unique to its geographical location

93. Publish a scholarly article

94. Walk on a suspension bridge

95. Pay for the person's gas behind me

96. No fast food for a full year

97. Hold a foreign animal (ex: koala bear / large snake)

98. Be an instructor for a fitness class

99. Give a heartfelt surprise to someone

My last 1 is going to change monthly. Starting September 2014

100. Thirty day plank challenge

Tugs I Love...

I have one tiny human relying on me at all times. Clinging to me, pulling on my pants or shorts "wanting up", begging for attention, or food, or loves and snuggles, or toys.  She needs me so much that the first thing I hear in the morning is her coo's or cries from her crib, depending on the morning it's a, "Momma I awake" or a "dang-it come get me, Momma," and the last thing before I go to sleep is her open mouth kisses, a Hi-5, and the sound of her breathing as it settles as she lays in my arms falling asleep. She needs me. So, I pour everything I have into her. I mother her until every bone aches, every heart string pulls tight-- until every fiber of my being has been used and wrung out and re-used again. I scoop her up to kiss her owe'es, cuddle her to sleep, listen to her coo's as she tells me stories at bath-time and supper time. Play peek-a-boo with her, read stories with her, play in water with her, go on walks, and make messes with her. And sometimes, sometimes I feel lost in it all. Like I disappeared into a vast expanse of soo's and ranch flavored snacks; that I might never find my way back. "Ah! Never a day off" I'll say to my husband as he walks in the door from work. I cry. My on week at work, I work and then Mother my baby; my off week from work, I mother my baby and play catch up from previous work week. So he'll hold me and calm me down because he's wonderful and supportive and knows me like no-one else does. The next day he will make time in his busy schedule to show me he cares by taking our baby and letting me breath. Alone. By myself. Just to breath. I saunter around my little house picking up here and there, but mostly just walking. I wander aisles of Walmart or Target picking up some toilet paper and cereal; the essentials. But again, mostly just walking. Thinking. Slowly. Not chasing and grabbing and saying "No!" or "Don't pull everything off the shelf, baby!" or "Don't put that in your mouth!" ... and it is glorious. But then, after a little while of hearing my own coherent thoughts in a weird state of quiet bliss, something happens to me: I start to miss her. Suddenly, I feel like I don't remember what her coo's sound like. I can't remember the weight of her warm body in my arms as she drifts to sleep. I can't quite remember the smell of her freshly washed hair smothered in baby magic, or see her overly dimpled smile spread as she runs and plays and giggles. I quickly open my phone in a state of panic to look through pictures of her because I can't get home fast enough to peek into her room. To see her sleeping face. To kiss her rosy cheeks. So when I start to feel like these moments/ days of chaos with my baby will never end, I suddenly realize that I may not want them to. My baby will not always be a baby. And someday she won't want me like she wants me now and the thought is heart wrenching. So I can't afford to be annoyed or bothered by her cries for my arms and tugs at my pants, or by her need to play with me, or by her urgency to sit on my lap and play with my face, or by her tiny arms around my ankles as I attempt to make supper, or by her pulling out everything from my cupboards and spilling out every box. Because as much as she need me, I need her one million times more. When I remember this, I'm not lost anymore. In fact, I am the most found that I've ever been. And it's wonderful. She is my wonderful. My blessing. My gift of love. I have been called a lot of names, but "momma" is my favorite!
*Come what may & love it!*