Just Jot January - 2020 - Experience

Our prompt today from Dan to Linda to us is "Experience."   I've been trying to get more experiences in our lives, especially since the kids are grown. 




Experiencing concerts has become a passion.  Of course I like to get as up close and personal as I can but even being in the back and seeing the cellphone lights around the stadium is magical.

When I turned 60, I wanted to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.  Even though I've lived in the Bay Area all my life, I hadn't had that experience before.  

We took a helicopter ride for our anniversary.  Going through the Grand Canyon and having a picnic on one of the ledges was a terrific experience.   

I've been trying to experience more sunsets at the beach lately.  I live so close it seems a shame to miss them and they are free!

                                                              Getting our picture on the jumbo screen at AT&T Park was a pretty neat experience too!

In 2017 we had a really great time in Reno with a  Let's Roam Scavenger Hunt.  At that time it was called Big City Hunts but even though they have changed their name, they still offer great experiences in many different cities.  My Word of the year that year was Believe and you can imagine how moved I was when I saw it in the middle of the city in huge metal letters.  I actually cried.  

Valentine's Day is coming and I think a great experience you can give to yourself and your significant other is a Date Night Scavenger Hunt.  It doesn't matter if you have been together a short time and are just learning about each other or if you have been together forever as we have, the scavenger hunt can be such fun.  Even though we had been to Reno many times before, we found some new and very interesting spots while on the hunt for clues to the next stop. 

I particularly liked this experience because while you are using your phone to get the clues and answer the questions, it is pretty much self-guided and you can take your time to enjoy the scenery.  We found some spots that were not part of the hunt that we would not necessarily have seen if we weren't strolling through the city.  We got some really great pictures too.

It is also reasonably priced.  I think they are having a sale now and with the Date Night Scavenger Hunt you can add an option for a proposal!  How cool would that be? 

I do need to disclose that I am an affiliate for Let's Roam and may get some compensation if you use my link, but I was writing about the great experience we had even before I was an affiliate.  They also have regular hunts if you want to do it with friends or family.  They have Ghost Tours, Bar Hopping Tours, Bachelorette Party Tours and Birthday Party Tours as well.  Definitely worth it to check out the site and see if a city near you is included, or to add to a vacation you have planned somewhere else.

Also, special offer for anyone who does use my link and decides to go on a Let's Roam Scavenger Hunt, I'll be happy to make a mini-album of your adventure at a discounted price!

Have you been enjoying the Just Jot January experience so far? 

August Break - 2019 - 5 Things About Me

I've done posts about myself before so I'm trying to think of new things, or at least a new way of looking at them.  Working from the top left down: 

1) I am a hopeless romantic and believe in knights in shining armor, BUT, I also believe that I can be Queen and not just a princess waiting for rescue.

2)  I've had the "Bill Loves Jan" sign for over 30 years and it sticks on the dashboard of all my cars.

3) We went on a helicopter ride and had a picnic overlooking the Grand Canyon for our anniversary a few years ago.  We stayed in the Excalibur Hotel which looks like a castle (see #1).

4)  I am a creator and absolutely love working in my new backyard studio.

5) I am a Pisces and I love the ocean.  I don't get there as much as I'd like and that has to change. 

For last year's list you can look here.   Lots of links in this one to keep you entertained.  I'd love to hear 5 things about you!  

Awe-Inspiring August - 2018 #AugustBreak Five things about me

Well, I'm not really sure that these five things are truly Awe-Inspiring but that's the theme I've got going on this month so we'll just have to pretend.

August Break prompt for yesterday was 5 things about me.  I started the post but then got busy working and had to take the hubs to the doctors so I never got to finish it.  (He is fine btw).  In any event, I'm sure you'd like to know five things about me so here goes:


1.  I love scarves/shawls and have a bunch of them!

Maybe I use them to hide behind?  (See #5).  I love the colors and they really come in handy when we go places and I can use them to cover my shoulders when it gets cold or my head if it starts to rain (I hate umbrellas).  After taking these pictures I can see I really need to sort through them again.  I used to have them all neatly arranged in color scheme. 


2.  I've ridden a helicopter into the Grand Canyon and had a picnic lunch on the ledge.

Spur of the moment decision to do this and I am SO glad we did.  It was a wonderful experience.  We have read about crashes during this tour but our pilot was great and I was never afraid.  

3.  I've lived in the San Francisco Bay Area my entire life and have driven over the Golden Gate Bridge a lot but I never walked across until my 60th birthday.  Then my family and some friends helped me celebrate and walked with me.  

It was a great day, not too cold but not too hot.  Even my 90-year-old mom came with us.  I'd like to do it again sometime for sure.  It reminded me that there are other sites around San Francisco that I'd like to see, like taking a tour of Alcatraz.  Such fun things so close to home!

4.  In 2006 we started going to concerts on a regular basis and since then we have been to 96 shows.  Some were comedians like Ron White and Jeff Dunham or plays like Jersey Boys, Rock of Ages and Rain but I'm counting them anyway.  Counting the 3 we went to in the beginning of our relationship, that makes 99!  I am making scrapbooks about them.  I showed some of the pages two years ago when I did the A to Z challenge about that subject.   

Last year we went to 13 events! We saw 18 different bands and 1 comedian (Michael Carbanaro - heard of the Carbanaro effect?  He's a magician).  This year we are cutting way back and only have 7 shows.  Tonight is our first one at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga where we will see Rick Springfield, Greg Kihn, Loverboy and Tommy Tutone. 

5.  I am an INFJ but didn't know what that was or that I was one until a few years ago.  I just thought I was shy.  I was in one of the groups like the August Break and everyone was talking about the Myers-Briggs personality test so I took it to see what all the hoopla was about.  

Our daughter (the one who just got the Psych Degree) says that this test really doesn't mean anything since it is all in the way you answer the questions and that you can manipulate the answers any way you want.  I took the test three different times over a period of several months and got the same answer all three times.

Interestingly, we got a new car and the license plate starts with 7NFJ!  It must be true if the DMV knows it :)    

That's 5 things about me.  Learn anything new?  Share something about you!  Play along with #Theaugustbreak2018  

December Reflections - 2016

December 3 - Favorite photo of 2016

I have to pick two:

The first one is from our trip to Las Vegas this year.  I think this is a great shot of Bill and I (mostly because my sweater hides a lot of my body and I look kinda thinner) but also because it shows that we are not too old to do fun and exciting things together. 

This one is from Thanksgiving when the kids were able to capture our whole family in one picture, even though we were in two different states in three different places (kind of because Rachel is represented by a picture, although we did FaceTime with her later).  

How about you?  Got a favorite photo from 2016?