Bucket List Adventure 1-Snow Tubing

Today is the day I have been waiting on since November 2013. I am going to climb the mountain, covered in snow and sweat. I am going to lay on a tube produced in Korea that weighs as much as a truck. I am going to propel down a hill with nothing to protect me but my scarf (it's And Could  quite that dramatic but every story needs a dramatic flair). I am going snow tubing.

I know that it sounds random-snow tubing on a bucket list but there's just something about it that appealed to me when looking up winter outdoor activities. I've been snow boarding before and while I liked it I was terrible! I mean couldn't stand up, couldn't move the next day, and could barely breathe. I love being outside and staying active as a way to stay healthy.

I was fortunate enough to spend my parents 24th wedding anniversary at Stone Mountain, http://www.stonemountainpark.com/activities.aspx?cid=ppc_007875, with my nieces, nephew, and parents. Luckily the weather cooperated and the sun was shining. All us Georgians were excited to feel the sweet rays of the sun.

All of us were bundled up at the beginning of the day

This was my first experience at Stone Mountain and it seemed like a great place. The offered individual tubing or you could go as a family of six. The family ride was awesome! You drop off a six foot drop and go down a slope of about 300 feet. Trust me, you catch some speed! There is a slight "oh, sh*t" moment at the drop off but then it gets thrilling. I honestly wish it would have went down longer. We were able to spin around and sway all over the lane.

Family tubing

After two hours of playing in the snow and tubing down Snow Mountain we took the cable cars to the top of the mountain. If you've never been to Stone Mountain it's about a mile up and 1686 feet above sea level. The hike down was pretty steep and not for the faint of heart but it was beautiful. My mom and I walked down it and around the park to meet up with my dad and the kids-those bums took the cable car down. The only down side was that we didn't have a lot of time to spend there. My nephew made the all-star basketball team (yayyy) so he had practice. 

It was a great experience and one activity marked off on the bucket list. 

Here's the perfect start to the year of life!

Pinterest Trial and Error

Most American's are obsessed with Pinterest. I am one of these people. I find the greatest ideas, outfits, and general health information. The problem is I pin it and then nothing ever happens with it. It sits in the virtual world of the internet waiting for someone to like it or repin it.

It is the ultimate display of laziness. I said it. Laziness! I have 44 pins in my DIY folder. I have done 1 of them. This year I am determined to go out and try new things. I want to meet people and experience things that I can tell my nieces, nephew, and future Katie babies about. I want to have fun. I truly believe that Pinterest is a way that we can enrich our lives. Yes, there are tons of beauty tips and vain ideas but there are also ideas about home building and traveling to new places. There are tips for traveling on a budget or organizing the home/office space for maximum efficiency.

I have mumbled about all this to say that I have started doing one pin a week. It doesn't matter what the pin falls under-DIY, health, beauty, or cooking. I am determined to basically live. One great idea at a time.

I honestly believe that there is more to life than checking Facebook or Pinterest and wasting our minds away. We need to get active! We need to work with our hands. Use a flipping glue gun or a hammer once it awhile. We might actually exercise our brain for more than scrolling through a webpage or watching television.

This week I will be doing two of my pins-a face mask for black heads and something off my bucket list, snow tubing. This particular blog is about my honey/salt/baking soda mask. I know most people suffer from black heads. I have used EVERYTHING. The stupid expensive strips that rip half of my face off and are so painful that I am able to color the walls of my bathroom with horrible words that should probably never leave my mouth. Creams. Gosh I love the creams that dry my face out or leave my feeling sticky. Oh and I just love squeezing the life out of my face to get a tiny little black dot to go away. The best part is that none of them work. I loose skin and go to bed with a dry face to wake up in the morning and have no results.

I saw this pin a couple of days ago and I thought I should try it. I have everything in my cabinets. I mixed it up just like the pin calls for. 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of salt. You stir it until it becomes a cream color. Then the fun begins. You smear it across the infected areas (mine is my nose) and rub in gentle circles. The directions call to leave it on for five minutes but I left it on while I was finishing up some homework. It was about twenty minutes. After this I used a loofah to exfoliate my skin a little more. This task isn't easy since it was on the side of my nose but I was determined. As of right now I do  not see a huge difference BUT some of the black heads are gone. I am not going to lie. I took a moment to dance around. It did not harm my skin. It is not dry-it's actually softer now than before. And, I didn't rip dead skin cells off my face. It was great. I plan on trying it a few more times this week to see if I can see more results.

I plan on doing more pins next week to see what I can learn or who I can meet. Next post will be about our epic family snow tubing adventure!


-Katie