When you’re here you’re family
My favorite food is pasta. So it makes sense that one of my favorite restaurants is the Olive Garden. Just the fact that the majority of their menu is pasta puts a smile on my face. But the absolute best part of the Olive Garden are the free bread sticks that you get at the start of the meal. They come to your table all warm and garlicky. So for today’s item: You are to eat bread sticks from the Olive Garden.
With your meal, these bread sticks just keep coming. When you finish your basket of bread sticks that waiter will come and give you a fresh basket full. So this is what you do. You wait until the end of your meal and then ask for a new basket of bread sticks and then take the bread sticks home with you to enjoy. Sometimes the waiter will give you a special bag to but the bread sticks in so that you can heat them up in your oven at home and enjoy the goodness there!
Get to Know the Family
So lately I’ve been thinking about the origins of where my family has come from. And in reality I don’t know much about it. I know that a lot of my family is from Saskatchewan, but for my distant relatives, I have no idea. I don’t know if we came from Scotland, Ireland or where. I don’t even know their names or anything about them. So for today’s item: You are to learn more about your family and where they came from.
Some great websites to try to find out where your ancestors are from include ancestry.ca (specializes in Canadian families), Ancestor Search, and Find your Family Tree. Some sites cost money, but if you look around there are free ones out there.
So do some digging and find out what your roots truly are.
Olympic Games
I always enjoy watching the Olympics. It doesn’t matter if it’s the summer or the winter ones, I always find something interesting. I also love how everyone seems to get so into watching these games. People around the world are all tuning into their TV’s cheering on the athletes from their country. I can remember when the Olympics were on during exam week in high school and my brother and I watched the games all day long. If events weren’t live on TV, we watched the commentaries to the games from that day and replays. But how cool would it be to actually go and watch the games live. So for today’s item: You are to attend the Olympic games.
If you’re wanting to attend the Olympic games make sure that you plan early. Plan to buy your tickets at least a year in advance as some of the events sell out quickly.
This year are the summer Olympics in Beijing. Only 133 days to go! I’m especially excited for the winter Olympics in 2010 as their in my home country, Canada!
Here is a video from the 1996 Olympics. It is Dominique Moceanu’s amazing beam routine.
Crave…
I love sweets. So when I came across this little store in Calgary I feel in love. The store is called Crave and they sell amazing cupcakes. All of their cupcakes are made right in the store and you can tell because the cupcakes are so fresh and delicious. Then they put amazing icing on top and it is just something to die for. So for today’s item of what you are to do before you die: You have to go to Crave and have a cupcake.
Where is Crave located? There are two located in Calgary. One in Kensington and the other on 17th Ave.
One thing that makes Crave so great are their amazing icing-cupcake combinations. Some include:
Lemon-Lime Twist: White lemon cake with green lime butter cream icing
Crave-O-licious: Chocolate cake with blue butter cream icing and chocolate sprinkles
The Princess: Chocolate or vanilla cake with vanilla butter cream icing flavored with strawberry puree.
Crave not only sells cupcakes, but also cookies and cakes.
Bringing Home the Bacon
University courses are almost done, which means that summer is just around the corner. With summer means the job hunt has begun. Yes I know, I should have started looking for a job earlier. But with how things have gone, I just haven’t gotten around to it. In looking for a job, I guess I’ve become very picky. I would like to have my evenings and weekends free, along with a job that I enjoy. So for today’s item: You are to find a job that you actually enjoy.
If you find a job that you actually enjoy the days seem to go by much faster and you actually look forward to going to work. I personally think that when you find the job that you enjoy, your life will also be better. You won’t feel grouchy about going to work and instead you feel joy in what you do everyday. I’ve yet to find my ideal job, and that’s my hope for this summer. To find a job that I really enjoy, but also pays well.
In my search for the dream job I’ve been searching workopolis.com and monster.ca I’m still looking, but I’ll let you know when I find that dream summer job. I know it’s out there, I just have to find it.
Crickey!
Ever since Steve Irwin stepped on the scene I loved watching him. Something about how he interacts with the animals was so interesting. He was the type of person who truly cared for the animals and wanted to inform viewers on these animals. When Steve died I was devastated. We lost an amazing person.
However, his legacy lives on through his daughter Bindi and his zoo in Brisbane, Australia. I went to Steve’s zoo in Australia and it was like no other zoo I’ve ever been to. It was so much fun and I think a place that everyone needs to visit before they die. For today’s item: You are to go to the Australia Zoo in Brisbane, Australia.
Why is this zoo so amazing? Well for one, the animals all seem to enjoy it there. They have big homes and everything is so open. They even have this place called Kangaroo Haven where the kangaroos are all jumping around and you can go into this area and pet the kangaroos. The zoo also has shows throughout the day where visitors can learn about the animals at the zoo.
It’s a great place to visit for the whole family!
Here is a video of Steve Irwin in action at the Australia Zoo
Wet ‘n Wild
Keeping with the water theme from yesterday I thought that for today’s item you have to go on one of the best water parks in the world. There’s just something about water parks that draws in huge numbers. Maybe it’s the thrilling water slides or just the chance to lay around in the sun.
What are the best water parks? Here is a list of the Top 5 in the U.S.A.
1. Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, Texas
2. Wet ‘n Wild in Orlando, Florida
3. Noah’s Ark in Wisconsin Dell, Wisconsin
4. Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana
5. Water World in Denver, Colorado
Some other highly recognized water parks include Blizzard Beach in Florida, Typhoon Lagoon in Florida, Aqualandia in Spain and Ocean Dome in Japan which is the largest indoor water park in the world.
Ride the Rapids
Spring is just around the corner which means that it’s finally getting warm enough to do things outside. You can ride your bike, walk the dog or play at the park. But if you ask me, those things are a little too boring. I need something more exciting. One thing that I’ve always wanted to do, and can do now that the weather is starting to warm up is go white water rafting. For today’s item: you are to go white water rafting before you die.
Now in order to go white water rafting you need a river and a company to go with, especially if you’ve never done this before. When choosing which kind of trip you want to go on, you need to think about what kind of experience you want to get out of this. Are you wanting to go just for a ride and not really get wet? Then you want to find a river that has a low difficulty, such as a one or two. But if you ask me, that’s boring. Instead you should go for a more thrilling ride and try a river with a difficulty around 3 or 4.
Rafting season starts in May, but during the summer is their busy season so if you do decide to go during this time, book ahead of time. Also many places offer deals for large groups. So take a bunch of friends with you and experience the river like never before.
Some places that offer rafting trips are the Ottawa River, Jasper National Park, Kicking Horse River in B.C., and Cairns, Australia
March Madness is where it’s at
March Madness starts tomorrow and I’m so excited! For those of you who don’t know what March Madness is, it’s an university basketball tournament. It includes many USA university basketball teams all competing to be the NCAA champion. Now I don’t like basketball, but something about this tournament just intrigues me.
I guess the main interest for me is the fact that with March Madness is a pool that you can join. My older brother has set up a pool that a bunch of people that I know are part of. With the pool you need to pick who you think will win each game until ultimately you chose who will win the entire tournament. Maybe due to the fact that I’m a competitive person, I love the thrill of trying to win this tournament and beat the other people in the pool.
For today’s item, you are to be part of a March Madness pool. You can either set one up yourself and invite your friends or else join an already made pool.
Who do you think is going to win this year? North Carolina? UCLA?
Tame the Savage Beast
Music is all around us. We listen to it in our cars, at work, as we work out, it’s on T.V., etc. It’s everywhere. Have you ever thought that you could do that? That you could create music like the people on the radio and get paid the big bucks? Even if you haven’t felt like you could become all rich and famous like the rock stars, maybe instead you’ve felt envious of their talents, and wish that you could be like them. For today’s item you are to learn how to play a musical instrument so that you can create your own music.
I’ve found that learning how to play an instrument at an early age is easier than when you’re older. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t learn when you’re older. Any one can learn how to play an instrument. First you have to pick which instrument you want to play. Piano? Guitar? Flute? Then you need to figure out how you’re going to learn. There are tons of music teachers around, you just need to find one that you like. Or maybe try going online, there are many free lessons available online that you can try out.
You never know, if you work hard enough you may be able to play the piano as great as Bach, Billy Joel, Jimi Hendrix.
Check out this video and hopefully it will inspire you to take up an instrument.
If playing a musical instrument isn’t your cup of tea maybe try singing. Get vocal lessons to improve that voice that you have. You may have a voice like Colbie Caillat and not even know it until someone else discovers you.
