My 40/40 list: Part II

Back in April I posted my 40/40 list: part 1 and I had no idea it was going to take this long to come up with 20 more items.  I wanted to make sure they were realistic goals and give myself enough time to think of things I really wanted in my life.  I finally finished the second half of it and am ready to post it.

21.  Go to the Oregon Coast: Its about an 8 hr drive from here and we almost went this past summer but decided to go to Wallowa Lake instead.
22.  Make my three youngest kids a quilt of their own
23.  Go on a back country trail ride:  Idaho has such beautiful back country, I would like to see it on horseback someday.
24.  Raise some meat chickens:  and process them myself.  This was something I was going to do last year but ran out of time with the busy summer.
25.  Go ice fishing:  My husband takes the kids each year and soon we will all be able to go.  They seem to have a good time and now that the kids are getting older I hope it can be a family event some of the time.

Taylor and her large trout

26.  Float the Boise River

27.  Ride the Zip Idaho zip line:  I remember riding a small zip line as a kid and it was a lot of fun.
28.  Go hunting:  I have no idea what for but I need to put my hunters ed to good use.
29.  Ride a jet boat in Hell's Canyon
30.  Stay at an all inclusive ranch:  It would be nice to go on vacation and not have to do anything.. just relax, ride horses, swim, hike..
31.  Run the Dirty Dash:  I was supposed to do this in 2012, but by the time August rolled around, I was not int he proper shape for it.
32.  Own some kind of livestock: which means......
33.  We will be living at our final destination:  I think we knew all along that this was not going to be our final home, but the stars need to do some major aligning in order for us to get to where we want to be with a little bit of land, where life is a lot slower.
34.  Become completely debt-free aside from the house.
35.  Complete my Idaho Master Naturalist training:  I never became fully certified so beginning in January I am going to pick up the pace with volunteering.
36.  Go cat-fishing: YUM

37.  Volunteer at the Idaho Bird Observatory banding birds

38.  Go to Yellowstone:  Its just too close to not include on here!

39.  Visit Silverwood Theme Park and the Northern Idaho Panhandle

40.  See either a Cirque du Soleil or ice skating performance

So there it is, my odd list of things I want to accomplish in the next 5 years.  I know some of them will happen next year.  I know others won't happen for another couple of years but I will do my best to get these marked off my list!

You Might be an Idahoan If....

....you go to a Hunters Education class with your two preteen daughters.  This, my friends, is what I am up to this weekend.

Many people from my life in Tennessee and beyond were hunters.  I knew my husband was a hunter before he was even my husband.  I had cousins that hunted deer, my dad shot a squirrel or rabbit from time to time, I even had a boyfriend once that hunted 'coons.  I actually went on a coon hunt once, and it was very.... different.  Bird hunting is popular in the Midwest and we saw a lot of that when we lived in Nebraska, but at that time my husband hadn't gotten into birds yet.  It wasn't until we got to Idaho that I saw what  real intense hunting was.

Brent had been itching to get back behind the gun for so long and when we moved to Idaho he was able to do it again.  He starts getting antsy every year before elk and deer season and the passion and desire is there.  He has taken the kids bird hunting for a few seasons now and takes them fishing all the time.  Their love for the outdoors is really starting to shine.  My youngest daughter gets to go on her first ice fishing trip on Monday and she is really excited about it.

I feel the kids have a really strong bond with their dad since they are able to do these things with him and I know they are building memories that will last them a lifetime and to me that is priceless.  This year is a new milestone.  My oldest will now be old enough to hunt deer.  She turns 12 in September and when she realized she was old enough to go this year she won't quit talking about it.   So it was decided, me and the two oldest girls were going to take hunters ed, because its what all the cool Idaho kids (and moms apparently) do.

I'll be honest, I have only shot a gun twice in my lifetime.   We went target and trap shooting in Wyoming once and I will admit it was fun!  Due to lack of equipment, it was also the last time I went.  After that and babies 1,2,3,4 and 5 popped out, I didn't do much of anything.  Brent took up bird hunting again and bought and trained a bird dog. He learned to fly fish and went big game hunting again with his dad.  As a new-ish mom I resented him taking off for a while to do these things but now, in retrospect, I am glad he was learning  new skills and and honing those from his own past so he can teach them to our kids.  Its tradition, legacy, and something they will have for the rest of their lives.

So now I think I am finally really converting to Idaho culture.  I love wild game meat; elk, deer, pheasant, chukar.  I think there is nothing that is more tasty.  So tomorrow bright and early, the girls and I will head off to the fish and game office once again to learn how to be hunters.  Even if I never get behind another gun in my life, at least they will know I am behind them 110% in becoming well-rounded individuals.