Life’s been good to me…

Looking back, way back and a little further… I realize, life has really been good to me in all shapes and forms. I realize that I’ve been lucky, I’ve pretty much reached every single goal I’ve set, I’ve loved and been loved, I’ve lived and traveled. The best moments are still yet to come.

I’ve…….

Walked Washington DC from beginning to end, twice.
Walked the Museum of Modern Art in New York for five hours
Visited Niagara Falls and CN Tower in many occasions
Swam at the hidden waterfalls at the peak of Rincon de la Vieja Volcano in Costa Rica
Did a fishing trip through Nebraska and down through Wyoming
Watched the Sea Lions play and rest on the shores of California
Walked Chinatown in New York, Toronto and San Francisco
Ate a platter of yummy crab legs on a dock in Baltimore, Maryland
Walked in and back out of the crater at the Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica
Got lost in the fog on Georgian Bay at night walking in the lake
Drove across Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
Walked downtown of Salt Lake City, Utah
Visited the tomb of an ancient Indian chief and antique shops in the countryside of Delaware
Drove down the windy road of Lombard Street in San Francisco
Did geocashing in New Jersey and found the largest icicle ever
Walked the Barra Honda caves in Nicoya, Costa Rica
Walked at sunset with my feet in the water at Laguna Beach, California
Slow danced on the deck of the Detroit Princess at sunset over the Detroit River
Rode a dirt bike inside the Mojave Desert, Red Rock Canyon and Sequoya National Forest in California
Walked the streets of Las Vegas 4 times, attractions and parties included
Rode the California coastline from San Francisco to Los Angeles down through Big Sur
Snowboarded Breckenridge, Vail and Keystone in Colorado
Rode through fields of cacti in search of snow in Arizona
Walked the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Stood at the famous Loveland Pass in Colorado
Walked the whitest beaches and the colorful streets of the Art Deco District in Florida
Did a long weekend drive down from Toronto to Maryland
Kayaked the lake at the Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica
Visited every single Aztec pyramid from Guatemala to Mexico
Did a family road trip with my parents around Central America, from Costa Rica to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras
Walked the beautiful hills of Park City, Utah
Climbed the pyramid of the Sun and of the Moon in Mexico
Visited the oldest cowboy bar in Prescott, Arizona
Snowmobiled the Rocky Mountains in Colorado
Had relaxing drinks at the top of the GM tower in Detroit, Michigan
Walked every single dock in downtown San Francisco, California
Walked the streets of London and Manchester in the UK with a short illegal stop at a local pub
Visited the German town of Frankenmuth in Detroit

But best of all, I’ve had the love and the company of 2 great people in my life: my kids… absolutely nothing beats that!

A few pics of some of my travels:

Laundry

“It’s better to have loved and lost than to have to do forty pounds of laundry a week.”
~Dr. Laurence J. Peter

Photos taken by Ann Brampton | Washboard Laundromat | Kern River, California | May 2010

It’s up to me…

It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to write here, you know, not counting videos and lyrics and other people’s writings. The past couple of months have been of change in my life and I thought it was a great time to jot it down and remind myself about it for the future… It’s been about a month that I’ve been running my own business at home and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Life is full of choices I believe and sometimes we get stuck in situations that make us grieve, but we’re so scared to step out of the ordinary that we just become a settling coward. It’s a decision, it’s a choice and it’s a chance, but it’s up to me, or anybody else, to make things work for themselves. I made the decision to step away from a very hostile work environment and make the change for myself. Today, I’m happy to say that I’m relaxed, spending my time with my kids and re-learning to enjoy my family, my friends and home again, taking care of it, taking care of me. Life is good to me, I can complain every now and then, but… life is good to me, that’s all I can say. What’s next? I’ll soon be flying up to California for a couple weeks to take a nice long road trip, no plan and no known destination. From L.A. to San Francisco, maybe Vegas and even maybe Utah… I love it, life has to be spontaneous sometimes, brings back the fun into the routine. I’m happy, once again I’ve made a big decision and come clean out of it… and it feels great. Soon I’ll be posting pics from my California trip, can’t wait!!

Ah… my song of the month, lovin’ Kings of Convenience