Brazil 2008

I have already posted some pictures from our Christmas trip to Brazil, but I had a bunch more I thought I'd share. Basically, celebrating Christmas in Brazil was pretty much like celebrating Christmas in Idaho except that... Instead of hanging our stockings by the fireplace we hung them by the air conditioner...

Instead of going sledding, we went sand boarding...

Instead of having a poinsettia centerpiece, we had a fresh pineapple surrounded by acerola berries...

Instead of having to watch out for snow drifts in the road, we had to watch out for sand drifts...

And they even had donkeys...just like Mary and Joseph did. I would have ridden one on the beach but that would have just been asking for fleas!

Here's the city beach at night. My parents live four blocks away so it's nice to go walking there at night.

This is the Catholic church near a little beach town called Cumbuco. I guess they're trying to appeal to the local fishermen by making the front of the church look like a sailboat with Mary at the helm.

My mom at a local rest stop.

We went to a beach called Morro Branco and rode dune buggies. It was fun even though we all got sunburned.

One of the beaches at Morro Branco.

Mil just chilling after lunch.

We had lunch at Morro Branco. They served the fish like they do in most foreign countries...with the head and tail still attached and all the scales and bones still there. Most of us were eating from the center of the fish to stay away from the scary head and tail. As we finished up eating all the parts of the fish that any normal American would usually eat, Tyler looked over to where the fish plate was and said, "give me that head," in sort of a "you guys are pathetic Americans but I've lived in Africa so I'll eat the head" voice.

Thanks to Lee and Kim endlessly making fun of Tyler for saying "give me that head," the phrase has caught on with our family as what we say to anyone who doesn't finish eating something. For example, Kim might leave a couple of bites of cake or something after Sunday dinner on her plate...Lee will look over, point at the plate and say, "give me that head," and then he'll clean up her plate. So, if you hear members of my family say that phrase, now you'll know why.

Another view of Morro Branco

Ditto

Eating at Habib's, which is a Middle East meets Brazil fast food restaurant. It is very well known among missionaries who serve in Brazil and is a fun place to visit. And their kiddie play land puts McDonald's to shame...let's just say they have a Ferris Wheel.

A bright little cemetery out in the middle of nowhere on the way to Baturite. My camera didn't get a very good picture of it but it was so cool looking...like a miniature little Latino pueblo.

A Catholic stairway to heaven we passed on the way to Baturite.

Check out the size of these peppers! It is weird...all of their vegetables are HUGE except for the potatoes, which are super small.

Flip flops...the national shoe of Brazil. It is a good thing we've been training my dad over the past few years that these are flip flops and not thongs. Little did we know we were preparing him for life in Brazil.

They seriously have more colors, styles and types of flip flops in Brazil than in any other country in the world. My favorite brand are the Havaianas...they are so comfortable and are the cool flip flops to wear. And, thanks to the dollar being super strong right now, they are so cheap (ESPECIALLY compared to how much they cost at Nordstrom's). I only own four pairs so far but I'm sure I'll pick up a couple more each time I go to Brazil.

Until next time...

Spinsters in Costa Rica 2008

I'm just now getting caught up on posting trip pictures all the way back from October 2008. My Spinster friends Kate, Christa and I headed to Costa Rica for a week of what we thought would be fun in the sun but instead turned out to be a week of fun in the rain, with a little sunshine at the end. We were told not to worry about what time of year you visit Costa Rica because they don't get hurricanes down that far down supposedly. Well, we didn't get a hurricane but we did get three tropical storms which converged over Costa Rica just in time for our visit. Really it wasn't that bad though and we had plenty of fun.

The first place we went was to the Volcano called Arenal. It is still an active volcano and at night you can see the hot ash spouting out the top...pretty dang cool. It is the same type of volcano as Mt. Vesuvius which is sort of scary. And although it could blow up completely at any moment the odds of it not blowing its top while we were there were with us so we went ahead and slept a couple of nights in the little town at its base.

Here's me in front of Arenal, although it looks different when the top is covered in clouds and or smoke.

And in my defense, the hood of my jacket isn't on my head because I went all gangsta and joined some Central American gang or anything...it was just raining lightly at this point, but you can't tell it's raining in the picture so I just look like a weirdo with my hood on. But I wasn't just some weirdo with a hood on.

Around Arenal and in all of Costa Rica there are TONS of waterfalls. Everywhere you look there's another one. We went rappelling in the jungle and either climbed down or rappelled through several waterfalls. It was way fun even though due to lost luggage I was wearing levi shorts that were pretty heavy when wet and borrowed shoes.

After Arenal we took a jeep-boat-jeep ride to the Monteverde Cloud Forrest. On the way there we drove through some gorgeous places like in the picture above. Everywhere in Costa Rica just seemed green and beautiful. While we were driving though those three tropical storms descended upon us and soon enough we found ourselves in the following predicament...

totally stuck in the mud.

They made us get out of the van so they could try and get it up the hill. Of course we were all wearing flip flops and they made us get out in the middle of it all so our feet and legs got completely covered in mud but it was fun. And the good news is I, as of yet, haven't found any weird parasites in my feet due to basically walking bare foot through the Costa Rican mud.

After our driver got our van up the hill he had to go and be a hero and drive the other 8 vans stuck behind us up the hill as well. He was the craziest and most brave driver so I guess that made him the best one for the job. I named him Evel Knievel and that's what we called him for the rest of the journey.

So while we're waiting for our driver to get EVERYONE unstuck, we could have been waiting in the dry, warm van with all the other sensible people, but of course we weren't. There were pictures to take and adventures to be had. Besides, we were already soaking wet and muddy anyway, so we figured we may as well enjoy this crazy storm we all of a sudden found ourselves in.

Here I am trying to keep at least some of the torrential rains off me. I don't know why I was even trying though...I was already completely soaked through. And yes, that is my completely wet, heavy jacket blowing in the wind and almost getting torn from my grip...that just shows how windy it really was.

And here's Kate...getting it all on film. She's so hardcore when it comes to pictures.

We luckily made it to Monteverde before the ground got saturated enough from all the rains to lead to mudslides. Once we got to Monteverde it really started coming down and then tree branches started falling and the mudslides began. This is a picture of one of the really small mudslides we saw after it was cleaned up. We didn't get any good pictures of the big ones but we saw multiple lane highways completely covered with mud with cars trapped in the mess. It was pretty crazy.

We basically got trapped in Monteverde for a few days as mudslides closed off all the roads leading into the town and there was no movement in or out. We weren't too disappointed though as we were planning on staying there for a few days already, and we couldn't have gotten out if we'd wanted to anyway.

And... you could get around within Monteverde...just not in or out. So we were still able to do most of what we'd planned. One rain forest tour we were supposed to go on got cancelled because the trees were so saturated with water and tree branches were crashing to the ground and stuff and I guess they didn't want us to get killed or something. But other than that we did everything we'd planned to do. And more...

because we met this awesome couple from Israel who just happened to have a rental car and who for some reason decided it would be fun to invite us to travel around Monteverde with them. They must have really either liked us right off or must have been completely bored with each other because they invited us to hang out with them after only talking to us for about 10 minutes. Score! They were super nice and we basically had free transportation the rest of the time we were in Monteverde. So I guess sometimes it pays to talk to strangers.

And because everyone was basically trapped in town, we got to know some of the other tourists too. It was pretty fun because they had a TV in the lobby (actually the only TV in the hotel) and so we were all glued to it finding out about the storm and where the most recent mudslides and devastation were and when we were ever going to be able to leave. I was secretly hoping to get stuck there for a month or something, to avoid going back to work, but that didn't happen. But it was fun to all be huddled around the TV and talking about the storm. It felt like when a huge snowstorm hits Idaho and everybody is almost excited about it because the weather is so crazy and there's always the potential of getting to miss work, school, and/or church.

While we were at Monteverde, the pouring rain (like I had never experienced before) let up slightly so we were able to go Zip-lining. Flying through and above those HUGE, TALL, trees was exhilarating. A couple of the zip-lines were so high up I really couldn't even see the ground at all.

And other then the fact that those orange suits we were wearing had that "wet kids in the winter right after recess" smell and the fact that it was raining a little it was SO MUCH FUN. I'd highly recommend it.

Finally the rains let up and we were able to get on our way to Manuel Antonio. Since we'd had to walk up a muddy hill in the rain on the way into Monteverde, we decided to wear our awesome rain boots we bought at the local grocery store on the way out of Monteverde just in case it was a treacherous journey. But, it wasn't...the sun shone the whole day and the only water we saw was in the puddles drying up.

So, we got some weird looks wearing our rain boots that day. Probably especially because we first of all were all wearing shorts with our boots, second of all we were all wearing big tall soccer socks under our boots, and to top it all off, Christa had accidentally purchased 2 RIGHT boots!

Here we are looking stylish in our boots. If you look closely you'll notice that Christa (on the far right) is looking all right.

We'd vowed to wear our boots all the way to Manuel Antonio even though the sun was shining, but then we got stuck in a four hour traffic jam due to the mudslide clean up, and I had to ditch the boots for the rest of the trip. But I do have to say that was probably our best purchase on the trip...we had a lot of fun with those boots, they were great conversation pieces, and they kept our feet dry.

Here I am at Manuel Antonio wearing jeans because my shorts by that time smelled like mildew from getting wet and sort of dry so many times. We had such a hard time getting anything dry while we were in Monteverde. In fact, Kate melted her hairdryer into her gym shoe trying to dry them. It was pretty dang funny.

Manuel Antonio was gorgeous and we actually got a couple of days of sunshine just in time for the beach. We saw lots of animals in the jungle there too...from sloths to snakes to bats.

The trip was so much fun. Christa and Kate are great Spinsters to travel with and Costa Rica is a beautiful country and all the people we met were great.

The end.

Catching up...(thankful times 8)

So WAY back over the holidays I was supposed to be doing a thing a day that I was grateful for until January 1st. And although that is way passed now and I never finished it, my obsessive compulsive self just won't let me go on in posting anymore blogs until I catch up and finish my gratitude journal and until I post the pictures from the past few trips that I've missed posting. So, here you go...(in no particular order)

1-3) Good Brothers (most of the time)...Lee, Ty, and Russell

I'm thankful for Russell, Lee, and Ty. They are good brothers because they do things like: help me move a million times and lift all my heavy stuff, make fun of me (to keep me humble), beat me up a little (to keep me tough), give me advice about life, keep me entertained, offer to beat up people that are mean to me, let me back into the Rock Band band even though I'm horrible, etc.

Let me be really honest in saying that having your parents far away for three years (even when you are 29) isn't the easiest thing in the world. But I will say it has made me more appreciative of my brothers because they are always here for me and we have to stick together a little more than we used to. Let me tell you a little something about each of them so you'll know how funny/awesome they are. I'm sure I'll hear it for telling all about them on my blog, but since they are all pretty big blog leeches (other than Lee who does comment occasionally) they don't really have a say in it.

Tyler (Tywoah as I like to call him) is a good little brother. He's been my little buddy ever since the days when he wore matching shorts, shirts and hats sets all summer long and constantly had a little Troll toy in his hand, and couldn't even pronounce his own name (due to the L). Now days he's our family technology expert (whether he likes it or not). He and I love to go get Ethiopian food together and I have to have him there since the Ethiopian lady that owns the restaurant never understands me when I order but for some reason she always understands him as long as he throws in a few Amharic words and clicking sounds. He just turned 22 this week. I can't believe he's that old! I remember the day he was born because I was mad that he wasn't a girl. I've since gotten over it. Tyler has already helped me move twice just in 2009...what a good little bro. Even when he says smart-A things like the following...

On the way to Belize back in January I told my brothers that just in case something happened to me when I was swimming in the ocean (because it is one of my greatest fears) that I have quite a bit of life insurance and to make sure that it gets collected. (It isn't at all abnormal for my family to have weird conversations like that.)

So Tyler says to me, "How much insurance do you have?"

I replied, "Enough that you'd probably each get around $60,000."

Tyler to me, "WOW."

My reply, "Well don't go killing me or anything to get it."

Tyler back to me, "I won't kill you but I don't have to save you either."

What a little poop!

Now onto Lee. Despite the occasional hair pulling, spitting, and fighting in our past, Lee and I have always been close. Ever since the days of jumping on the trampoline while making up rap songs and thinking we were SO funny to the years of opening and re-wrapping our Christmas presents and swearing not to tell anyone, we've been friends. Lee is a great cook. He likes to experiment and try new things when cooking. He's been into the culinary arts ever since he was a child and even one time tried to make cinnamon suckers as like an 8 year old while my mom was gone. And even though it resulted in him spilling red food coloring down my mom's new white cabinets and getting banned from the kitchen for several years he never gave up. Lee is the brother that I can just talk to...about anything. He's the brother that got mad, started shaking, and said "I want to beat them up" as he paced around the kitchen beating his fist into his palm after I told him about some of the jerky guys I used to work with. Lee will try anything new...from skydiving to building furniture to making a shower curtain. However, sometimes he may be a little too confident in some of his abilities.

Here's a recent conversation with Lee.

We were packing to go to Brazil for Christmas and as we were packing we were trying to make sure that we didn't put any liquids, aerosols, or gels in our carry-ons and we were talking about how much we hate terrorists and how all the rules and security things you have to go through now are so dumb.

Lee pauses during the conversation, gets a serious look on his face and says, "I know, I mean all these security measures are pointless...I could take over THE ENTIRE plane with just a roll of duct tape and a hammer."

I think before he even finished the sentence he knew how ridiculous he was, but I still haven't let him live it down.

Now to Russell. Most of you might not know a lot about Russell since he maybe isn't as loud, tell-all, and crazy as the rest of us are. All you have to do is watch our home videos from when we were kids...I had no problem stealing the show and he usually had no problem letting me. So I'll tell you a little bit about him. Russell is SUPER smart...especially when it comes to random little facts. He's our own little Cliff Clavin, although he's careful usually to not "inform people against their wills." Just play the game ETC with him and you'll know what I mean. Lee and I have even tried to cheat and memorize the answers and Russell still beats us. We usually play Russell versus the whole rest of the family just to try and make it even half competitive. Russell is super good at target shooting. He has won all sorts of competitions. So if you're ever in a hostage situation, give Russell a call and he'll save you. He's also very good at building things, laying tile, framing houses, doing stonework, etc. He's a big time perfectionist though so sometimes things take him awhile but the finished product is always great. He did a lot of the work himself on his new house. Russell is a really generous and kind person although he likes to pretend that he's not for some weird reason.

Okay, I'm getting really wordy, and although this is my blog and I can do whatever I want I need to get doing other things so I'm not going to be as wordy with the last 5 things I'm grateful for. That doesn't mean I'm any less grateful or that I don't have good things to say but that I'm tired of typing and I want to keep the complaints about the length of this post down to a minimum.

4) I'm grateful that I have the most RAD sister-in-law ever. Seriously, I couldn't have asked for better. She puts up with so much crap from all of us and when she can get a word in with all of us around, she's freaking hilarious. This is a picture of Kim in Brazil over Christmas with her visor on getting ready to play YAHTZEE.

5-6) I'm grateful that I have Al and Mil for parents. A girl couldn't ask for better parents. Here's a picture of them at Morro Branco this December when we were all visiting. Too bad my dad took off his hat right before the picture because he totally looked like Gilligan, but then he might have complained about me posting this picture.

7) I'm grateful for my Gma Fern and all my extended family. I feel incredibly lucky that I got to grow up with both sets of grandparents living under 4 miles away and with pretty much all my aunts,uncles and cousins living less then an hour away. Some of my best friends are my relatives and I'm grateful that we grew up close to each other geographically so we had lots of opportunities to spend time together and develop close relationships. 8) And last but not least I'm grateful for the gospel in my life. We truly are blessed to have temples, a living prophet, scriptures, a clear understanding of the Atonement, the Priesthood, and the saving ordinances. I'm glad for the eternal perspective we can have on life and the world because of our understanding of God's plan. And also just for the friendships and opportunities that being members of The Church brings. And I'm grateful for this awesome picture of the temple that I found on the Internet.

The end of my gratitude for now.

I'm confused...

So I'm confused...first of all what constitutes "fabric" and why does it have quotation marks around it...is it not real fabric but rather some impostor imported "fabric" made of non-fabric materials? Secondly, does this mean that I CAN return the "fabric" if I have a reason but just not if I have no reason?

I need a good read...

Okay blog fans and leeches...I need your help. This summer I'll be spending five weeks in Africa working on a project for my graduate program and I need a couple of good books to read...especially because sometimes in foreign countries things run a little slower than they do in the U.S. and I might be WAITING around a lot.

So what do you suggest? I need a book or two that are really really super duper good so I won't drag the book all the way to Africa, read half of it, and then end up hating it and be like, "why the heck did I bring this all the way to Africa?"

So leave me a comment and let me know of a book or two that you LOVE and would highly recommend. Then if I chose your book and end up liking it maybe I'll bring you back something from Africa or something.

Oh, and leeches, this is a great way to come forth, leave an easy comment, and clear your good name for a month or two. Think about it.

Oh, and let's just get a few things clear right now...

Scriptures don't count...I'll already be bringing them.

I already read the Count of Monte Cristo and it was too long and the movie was better anyway.

"The Audacity of Hope" isn't an option.

BUT other than that I'm open to any suggestions and I can't wait for yours.

7 Glitches in the System...

A tag I received from Geri forever ago.

So I guess I'm supposed to list 7 things that are glitches in my system...things that are wrong with me, different about me, or just little things that make me me. So here we go...

First of all, I am racking my brain trying to think of anything wrong with me and since I cannot I am just going with things that are different about me. In no particular order...

numero uno: I have always prided myself in not being a picky eater but in recent years I'm discovering that maybe I am a picky eater even if I don't want to admit it. I think that the reason it has taken me so long to figure this out about myself is that I will try ANYTHING to eat...if for no other reason than to add it to my "Disgusting things I've eaten" list. I've eaten cow intestines, cow liver, chicken feet, squid, snails, blood sausage, guinea pig, caviar, whole fried fish (including the head), various raw meats, and recently even a live termite. However, although I'll try pretty much anything one time, once I decide I don't like something I just don't eat it anymore. Here are some foods I don't like too much: mushrooms, raw onions, cheddar cheese, bacon (unless you can pick out all the fat), sausage, pastrami, salami, pepperoni, oysters, clams, squid, any part of an animal other than the actual meat, American yogurt, cheap junk food, most fast food, etc. Oh, and I only like fruit and string cheese if it is room temperature....I don't like food to be too cold.

numero dos: I spend/waste COUNTLESS hours on the Internet researching travel. I plan trips I never go on. I look up airfare for flights I won't really be flying just so I can know how much it costs to get from point A to point B. I research hotels I never stay in. I have a crazy fascination with traveling, whether or not it really happens. BUT I guess that's how I find good deals...like 150 dollars round trip to Belize for example and I guess that's how sometimes some trips do work out.

numero tres: And speaking of good deals, I love to get one and I love to tell people that I got one so that they can try to get a good deal too or at least tell me I'm awesome for having gotten my good deal. I especially love getting good deals on things I was already planning on buying (like 70% off the new luggage I wanted) and not just impulse purchases due to a very good deal (like the two tickets to Belize I bought for myself).

numero cuatro: I have grocery bags full of random junk everywhere. Overall I pride myself on being a very clean and organized person but my bedroom is usually messy and even when it is clean I usually have boxes or bags full of random stuff somewhere. These little piles, bags, and boxes of randomness usually come about from cleaning my car or a purse (and putting the random stuff I'm not sure what to do with in a bag for later sorting). Or they come from making moves in a hurry and instead of sorting and throwing out stuff at the time I just put it in a box, label it "RANDOM" or "MISC" and forget about it.

numero cinco: Even though I am 29, I still don't make my bed...hardly ever anyway. I really only make my bed either right after I wash my sheets, if someone is coming over and will see my bedroom, or before I go on a trip (just in case I die on the trip I don't want anyone to think or know I was a slob).

numero seis: I say and do stupid stuff all the time...I guess just to get attention or to get a good laugh. I don't think I need to go into much detail about this. All who know me or who are regular blog readers/leeches know that I didn't come installed with pop-up blocker or filter. What comes to mind comes out. Sometimes for a good laugh and sometimes to make me look stupid or to get me in trouble. I mean really, who tells their married male co-worker, "let's gang bang this work and get off early"??? But just for the record I SWEAR I didn't know what it meant at the time.

numero siete: I have a major thing for Idaho...to a fault. I love Idaho and want to live there forever and ever. This is mostly due to the fact that all my family lives in Idaho, that if I live there I can have a nice house built by my dad, and that it is just a good place to live. When I meet single guys from SE Idaho (excluding Pocatello and Roberts of course) I automatically give them a subconscious plus 1000 points in my subconscious dating point system. This causes a lot of problems for me as it makes me fall for guys that are really wrong for me and makes me miss out on potentially dating guys that are way right for me (if they don't happen to be from, want to live in, and love Idaho). I'm trying to get past this little glitch and give guys from other places a chance, since I'll have to if I ever want to get married (since there are, at my last count, only 2 Idaho guys left single and there are tons of Utah guys) but it is so subconscious that I can hardly help it.

So there you go...there are 7 of the glitches in my system. May I echo Geri's words in saying, "in spite of all these things you guys still like me, right?"

I tag anyone who hasn't done a blog post in the past two weeks.

Been There, Done That!

I know I haven't blogged in forever so I figured I'd catch up on a couple of tag posts. This one my Aunt Lucy tagged me on and I guess everyone in my family (at least my mom and Aunt Lucy) is adding one thing to the list at the end (and so far they seem to be animal themed things). I guess we just can't leave anything as it is.

Oh, and I tag all my blog leeches. If you have read my blog once or more in the last month but haven't ever left a comment I tag YOU...Leech.

Been there, done that...

Bold the items you have done:

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity...more than I thought I could afford

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a Praying Mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Been to the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre

20. Slept on a train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Ran a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (Is there anyone that hasn't?)

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (yeah right!)

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Cooked over a open fire

47. Had your portrait painted (sketched actually)

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (No, but I've been there twice...I was too cheap and too impatient to stand in line)

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Tied a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a Bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper (front page even)

85. Read the entire Bible (and let's be honest...it was pretty BORING! Especially the OT.)

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person (and Pee-wee Herman was right...there is no basement)

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (No, it stinks...but I have swam in the Dead Sea which is WAY saltier)

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Visited Italy

101. Fed chickens

102. Attended a sheep show

103. Eaten cow intestines