Bucket List

When I was a teenager I had never heard of the term, “Bucket List.” But now it’s a catch phrase. Russ and I never really made a bucket list for our lives together, but of course, there were things we wanted to do in our lifetime.  Now after 45+ years of marriage, we are finding things we’ve done that should have been on a bucket list.  So here’s our list after-the-fact. Those with *’s were actually things we planned to do at some point in our lives – they were actually on our bucket list. But the others are things that we just happen to get to do and had not consciously made a plan to do in the future. Looking back, we’re so grateful for all these adventures together and hope there are still a few more surprises for us in the future. 

 

 

*1) Toured Europe (we visited 9 countries)

 2)  Visited England

 3)  Traveled to all 50 states together

*4) Vacationed in Hawaii

*5) Took Alaskan Cruise

 6)  Attended a presidential National Convention

 7)  Spent two weeks in China

 8)  Spent 12 days in Israel

 9)  Attended the Rose Bowl and Rose Parade

10) Vacationed in Mexico

11) Visited many Civil War sights, including Gettysburg

12) Went to both Disneyland and Disneyworld

13) Attended a live taping of Live with Kelly and Michael show

*14) Visited Church History sights: Nauvoo, Palmyra, Kirtland  – several times

*15) Went back to Argentina, where Russ served his mission (trip given to us by our children)

 16) Had dinner with the president and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

 17) Had members of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles sleep in our guest room

 

 

I’m sure there are more I could add to this list, but this is what I’ve come up with today.  And we are actually quite content.  Perhaps there are a few more surprises in the future, and we have got one more official “bucket list” item: visit Australia/New Zealand. But already our bucket is full and has far surpassed what we ever imagined.  What’s on your bucket list?

Hawaii, September, 1981 - Sharlene by banana tree

Eiffel Tower in Paris, France - with our tour group - March 1987

July, 1997 - Sharlene and Russ at Carthage Jail

Jerusalem, October, 1997

Wailing Wall in Jerusalem

 

Dinner with a prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley and his wife, Marjorie - March, 1997

 

View of Margerie Glacier as seen from our Alaskan cruise ship - June, 2001

Sitting on the red couch with the newly-adopted granddaughter - Sept. 2004

September 20, 2004 - Gotcha Day - Julie, Claire, Sharlene, Russ - Chongqing China

Sharlene in front of the Pink House, Buenos Aires, Argentina - 2006, October

October, 2006 - Russ in center of Playa de Mayo in Buenos Aires
 



Sharlene & Russ on the set of Kelly and Michael in NYC - Oct. 2012

Republican Convention -- Part 1

It’s impossible to pack all the FUN we had at the Republican National Convention in just one blog post, so I’ll take two. This first one is dedicated to the things we did “away” from the convention center.  The RNC put us up in a beautiful hotel, Safety Harbor Resort and Spa. It’s located right on the Tampa Bay, about 20 minutes from downtown Tampa.  It was perfect in every way.  Most of our meals were provided and included guest speakers and “surprise” guest speakers.  We drove to Tampa—took us 10 hours.  We drove right towards Hurricane Isaac, but then it avoided impact with Tampa and headed west.  We just had strong winds and rain. Although we drove to Tampa, buses were provided to get us everywhere we needed to go. So we walked around the beautiful little city of Safety Harbor, enjoying cupcakes and ice cream, but then took the bus to attend outings away from the hotel and to attend the actual convention.  It was all good!  If we had a bucket list, which we don’t, attending the RNC would be on it. So here's some pictures of our time in Safety Harbor.  We honestly loved every minute of it.

It took us 10 hours to drive to Tampa - well worth the drive.

Registering - yes, that's an elephant ice sculpture - Russ is ready

Love our hotel room!

Russ with Rep. Ryan Haynes, who Russ was an alternate for

Registration Room

Hurricane Isaac blew on past us.

The city of Safety Harbor renamed their Main Street for the week we were there.

I'm so proud of my husband.  He deserved this special opportunity to attend the RNC!

Surprise speaker Frank Luntz of Fox News was one of my favorite speakers - he brought these two paintings with him.

Luntz gave this one of Pres. Reagan to Chris Devaney, TN Republican Party Chairman; the other was auctioned right there.

Ready for one of many wonderful meals that were provided for us. This was a breakfast on our first day.



Appetizer for dinner in the Barnoff Theater

I practice taking a pix of myself.  :)

Our dinner group at the Barnoff Theater

Desserts were oh so good.

TN Governor Haslam posed with me.



                

Craig Romney surprised us at brunch one morning.



Stay tune for Part 2 of the RNC -- coming soon!

Heartland Film Festival

To the best of my memory we have never attended a real Film Festival until this month. We were free and the festival was within reasonable driving distance from Knoxville, so we took advantage of being able to see our son Brad in action at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis. We were only there two days, but it was a great, educational experience, and we got to see some wonderful films---feature length and shorts. Brad’s film that made it into the festival was “Drum Beats.”

OK, Brad is our son, but hey! He is one fantastic film guy, and he very aptly fielded questions during Q&A as well as participated in the Q&A discussion of the film-makers panel of three which was held Monday evening. Thanks for the memory, Brad. Here’s to all film-makers. Thanks for enriching our lives.

Feature Films we saw:
1) Much Ado About Nothing, by Brandon Arnold (friend of Brad’s)
2) Mulberry Child by Susan Morgan Cooper

Shorts we saw:
1) The Country Club, by Jace Freeman
2) Drum Beats, by Brad Barber (our hero)
3) Gild, by David Yarovesky
4) The Girls and the Fox, by Tyler Kupferer
5) Dreamgiver, by Tyler Carter
6) Two Life, by Paul Symons
7) Le Jeu Des Soldats, by Lorne Hitser

Ready to go see some good films!

Brad and fellow panel members receive their instructions.

Q&A after "Drum Beats" was shown.

Time for one more film

Hospitality Center for filmmakers (and their parents) at the Canterbury Hotel

Check out other films Brad has made and shown at film festivals here.

Visiting the City by the Bay

“I left my heart in San Francisco…………..” I really did leave a part of my heart and soul in the Bay area. We lived in the Bay area for 14 years---5 in Sunnyvale, and 9 in Walnut Creek, while Russ worked in downtown San Francisco. We’ve been gone for 29 years now, but all those wonderful feelings came flooding back as we returned to “the City by the Bay.”

Golden Gate Bridge

Troy and Dan are the best hosts ever and really outdid themselves on this trip. I wonder if Troy logged how many miles he put on his car from driving us to see everything. Here’s a small sampling:

A Giants baseball game against the LA Dodgers

Touring homes for consideration for a 2012 family reunion – The Broderick House is my favorite
Trip down the coast to Monterey, Carmel, Costanoa, dinner at La Costanera at Half Moon Bay

Exploring Cavallo Point at Fort Baker, across the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito

Viewing Sutro Baths and Sutro Heights (and Cliff House) and walking along Land’s End—always viewing the ocean from wherever we were.

Drove us past every famous and important landmark in San Francisco

 
Entering the AT&T Baseball Stadium ------------- Dodgers win 1-0

Troy, Dan, Russ, & Sharlene - Giants fans

And while driving in Troy’s Prius was the best, we did take advantage of the great public transportation in SF. We also walked, and walked, and walked so as to see things up close and personal and to reach the most wonderful little ice cream shops. Bi-Rite Creamery and Smitten—two favorites. Also enjoyed a wonderful pie bought at a little stand at the back of an alley and around the corner. Too many wonderful eateries to list them all. Dinner at Dan's parents', Jill and Dan Sr., proved as delicious as any time we ate out.

Lombard Street---Troy, Sharlene & Dan at Monterey---View from Sutro Heights

Dan, Troy, Brad, & Russ view City from Alto Plaza --Troy & Sharlene walk at Land's End

But the trip would not have been complete without a visit to the old homestead - 1523 Wicklow Court in Walnut Creek. We also drove by the Bancroft Elementary School (where most of our kids attended), the shopping center across Treat Blvd., Heather’s Farm (favorite park/swimming pool), and attended church at our old ward. We were thrilled to see so many friends from the ward that were still there. Saturday night, we went out to dinner with Carol and Burt Pett, Janna (Pett) DeLange, and her daughter, Kiley and husband, Jeff. We were treated by Burt and Carol to a wonderful Chinese dinner at Jade Garden. Good company, good food, forever friendships.

1523 Wicklow Court, Walnut Creek

Dinner with good friends, the Petts-------Dinner with Dan Sr., Jill, Noe, & Siobhan


Bi-Rite Creamery -----------Blackberry White Nectarine Pie

La Costanera at Half Moon Bay--------Plant Organic at Pier 3

So much I could say about this ideal vacation. Perfect weather: 72 degrees and clear blue skies and did I mention the SURPRISE?! While standing in line for yet another ice cream, we heard someone from behind us ask if he could crowd in line with us. As we turned around to see who made this request, we were totally surprised to see Brad standing there with a big ole grin on his face!! Brad had arrived in town (unbeknownst to us) to attend a business meeting, so he and Troy arranged to have him surprise us—literally walking up to us from hiding behind a bush. From there it was talking non-stop, eating our ice cream and more walks around the “City by the Bay.”

Russ, Brad, Troy, & Sharlene

Once again, I “left my heart in San Francisco.”