Okay, let’s start getting serious!I gotta mark off two things this year! So, start planning. Imagine two different things: A. The look on the ladies face at the Roseville Police Department when I ask her how I can VOLUNTEER for a police line-up and B. my immense disappointment when she tells me this is all done electronically in my town & that actual lineups are mostly just on T.V. BUMMER! What could I modify to? I needed to do some quick thinking.. OH! OH! A ride-a-long! This could either be really exciting or really boring. Especially considering I have moved to Citrus Heights, which has some pretty iffy parts. 2 murders in one day right around Christmas. Aren’t people supposed to be more kind around Christmas time. Apparently not in Sacramento County!
To tell you the truth I am kind of relieved that I am not going to do an actual police line up. I secretly have this fear that I would be picked from the line up and then I went through this delusional fear fantasy where I was arrested, spent a lengthy time in jail where I was befriended by a larger woman named Bertha who protected me until my trial date where I could explain all about my bucket list but this ended up like some really bad episode of CSI Miami and that red head looks at me from the witness stand and says “You’ll be using a bucket alright”, rips off his sunglasses, “when you kick it in PRISON!”
But, then again, I could get shot at by some crack head in which case I’d be using a bag not a bucket… a urine bag ’cause I am in a wheelchair and paralyzed from the neck down from a spinal bullet wound. Oh my God! What if I have to use one of those voice box things like Steven Hawking? I wouldn’t be able to do this blog anymore and I could kiss being in a bikini contest good bye, just scratch that right off the list…unless…do you think they have paraplegic bikini contests?
Maybe I really need to rethink this idea. Or, maybe I should go on a ride along somewhere a little more safe…like…Fargo, North Dakota.
I haven’t posted since August?! Crazy. Well, here I am back again and ready to keep you posted. There are a few things I will be blogging about this year.
1. My Bucket List – Oh no my friends, this is not over. I still have a passion for lists! So be expecting posts about my life list, small lists, personal to do lists! Everything with marking that small square box with a check!
2. In the life of Moi! (That’s French for me) – I will be posting about my daily life: happiness, struggles, random thoughts, trips, miles stones. whatever!
3. Weight Loss – DREAD! This has been a constant battle for me since 2006. I struggle with my relationship with food. Her I will document my journey to a healthier more self loving me.
4. Advise – I have spent a lot of time working on my emotional self the last few years and have learned much about relationships, healthy life choices, personal boundaries & self esteem. I am willing to share my thoughts an ideas with all of yo, if you are interested.
That’s what you can expect from me the next year. I am hoping to post at least twice a month, if not more. I will mark at least 3 items off my bucket list this year, provide details and photos of my food journey & just be me as much as possible. Some people may wonder why I am choosing to do this blog. Am I in need of attention? Do I want people to notice me? It’s not really about that. Writing is a huge creative outlet for me and I want people to know that there are other people out there going through similar situations as me. Inspiring, helping and entertaining make me feel good about myself and maybe help others feel good about themselves. So, I hope you will accept this blog as my little gift of entertainment to you.
I am kicking myself right now because I didn’t think to take photos! UGH! Well, I did take one picture and my son is going to kill me for posting it…but… OH WELL!
I have so much stuff! It is complete insanity how much crap I have that I don’t even use. I had 5 pyrex bowls that were the same size, plus other sizes. Who ever needs 5 of the same size pyrex bowls at once?! It was insane! Let me tell you how good it feels to get rid of all the crap. If you are feeling weighted down… have a garage sale. You can make some money and simplify your life. In this blog, since I don’t have photos, I am just going to give you a few tips and tricks to throwing a successful garage sale and of course… a LIST! Because what would be a post without a list.
Do’s & Don’ts
- Split your garage down the middle. On one side put everything you are going to sell and on the other, everything you want to keep.
- Try and keep like items together. Put all your kitchen items in one box & all your kids toys in another.
- Price everything! Or make tables based on price with a sign that says “Items on this table $1″ Some people are too shy to ask prices and you will lose customers.
- Price LOW! Remember, this is stuff you don’t want or need anymore. You are just trying to make SOMETHING off of it before you just give it away to charity for free. Don’t price something at $10 and think people will bargain down with you. Not everyone is out going. Price things low and quick to sell. You will sell more that way and in turn make more money.
- Put high quality items on the side walk & use tables to display items. A lot of people do drive bys to see if they even want to get out of the car. If your really nice stuff is predominantly displayed and all your dishes, knick knack etc are on tables for them to see, instead of the ground you will get more people getting out and you will sell more.
- Don’t lay clothes on a sheet on the driveway. I did this and it ended up a big messy pile and slowly stopped selling because people are lazy and don’t want to dig through shit. Use clothes racks if you have them or hang them around a pop up. Don’t hang them on your garage door. 1 People may not be comfortable coming that close to your house. 2. It weights your door down and won’t stay open. (Learned that the hard way)
- Post your garage sale on craigslist and post photos of some of your items. About half the people that came through came because of craigslist.
- Put signs out with directional arrows. My neighborhood had a ton of garage sales over the weekend. You will lode customers if you rely on your neighbors already posted signs or if they get lost!
- Finally, ask friends to join you! Get some of your friends involved and ask them if they’d like to sell some items at your garage sale. It makes your sale look bigger and more attractove, plus you have fun people to hang out with all day.
All in all my Garage Sale was very successful. And, actually, very fun. After I had my fill of selling on Sunday, I put a sign in my yard that said “Free Stuff – Take What You Want” Went to lunch and when I came back almost EVERYTHING was gone. No hauling to the donation center, no repacking…nothing. Nice and Easy!
My Garage Sale was Saturday & Sunday from 7am-1pm. My total profit was a little over $400.00!!!
Who says you have to have a large Bucket list. Here is a small little list just for the Fall. These are a few things I don’t want to let get by me this coming season. Here is a link to a printable version of this list.
Photo in a leaf pile: If you are going to take the time & money to turn this into a family portrait session I recommend Jessica Giblin. http://www.jessicagiblin.com/ If not, set up the tripod and get that timer ticking! SEND ME PHOTOS AND I WILL POST THEM IN MY BLOG!
The rest sounds all home based. Coffee & Bailey’s is my favorite winter time drink. But don’t forget to try a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks too! Yummy!
This was such an awesome experience. I modified #26 from “Go Bungee Jumping” to “Go Zip Lining” because I honestly have no interest in bungee jumping and this is my list so I can change whatever I want!
Anywho, lucky us it was one of the hottest weekends of the summer, hitting around 106 in our town and 96 where we were going zip lining. I didn’t have any long shorts to wear because I have packed pretty much everything away since I am moving in about 2-3 weeks. So, I had to wear jeans, holey jeans but 96 degrees and JEANS! We started the morning off with a big breakfast at Ginger’s Restaurant. YUMMY! Each having Benedict…DUH! He had the crab cake one and I had the Filet Mignon one. So yummy! After we were all fueled up we headed up the 80 to the 37 to the 101 to Occidental California! It was a fun drive and despite getting in traffic and being late to our departure time we still got in our original group.
2 Guides: Andrew & Brandon
2 Sisters & A Best Friend (All with cool Latina accents): Mari, Marcia & Araceli
1 Cute Couple: Rick & Debbie (I think it was Debbie)
1 Self Centered Rude flight attendant: Camille
2 of the most amazing people on this planet: Ethan & Christina
Ohhhhhh Camille… Never have I wanted to (in a sober state of mind) slap a woman more in my life! I honestly thought she had the possibility in her of ruining this entire trip. She rented a special helmet cam and because of this was so worried and paranoid that it wasn’t recording she would be constantly checking it and asking the guides about it, we had to wait on her to get her shit together like 5 times, she instructed Marcia on how to take a photo of her pretending to zip line AND she had to have everything explained and reexplained twice. This was all before we even got off the forest floor!
Now, when I went zip lining at the fair they had this crazy pulley system that they used to slow you down. Here… in the real world of Zip Lining, you slow yourself down! You wear these really thick construction gloves and with a FLAT hand apply pressure to the cable and allow friction to slow you down. 2 things… I can’t take pictures while zip lining with these gloves on…and 2 I HAVE TO SLOW MY OWN CHUNK ASS DOWN GOING 35 MILES AN HOUR 200 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND WITH ONE FUCKING HAND?! I’m a dead woman. But, I’m here now and there is no going back and if I’m gonna die I’m gonna do it looking super brave on a zip line. They load you up in all this crazy gear with gloves, a helmet, and tons of metal clips.
The first line was short and sweet and not too high up, just so we could get used to the feeling. And when that time came to break I just knew I was gonna slam into the tree on the other end of the zip line but low and behold the power of science prevailed and rolled in smoothly to the other post.
There are 11 stops on the trip. 7 zip lines, 1 spiral tree stair case, 2 suspension bridges and 1 repel line.
My favorites were the 800 foot line and the last zip line. The 800 foot line was my favorite because it was the longest ride and you did something called a cannon ball zip. That’s where you lay back with your back as parallel to the ground as possible and pull your knees into your chest like you’re doing a cannon ball. This makes you haul ass! We got up to like 35 miles an hour. The last one was great also because I was so relaxed and no longer had any fears, I just laid back and enjoyed the view of the red woods.
Now, I didn’t get any photos of me zip lining because I was holding the camera. But here are some of Ethan!
The spiral stair case was so beautiful. I kept telling Ethan, “Look down! Look Down” There was a gorgeous creek running below us and the ground was covered in big beautiful ferns.
Ethan’s least favorite part had to be the suspension bridges. He was holding on for dear life as the guide was jumping up and down to make it wiggle. I heard him say to himself “It’s just a giant version of those bridges at the play ground” I told him “Look Ethan! It’s like Indianna Jones…except no Alligators under us…and this bridge isn’t 1,000 years old with missing pieces and no one is chasing us and… never mind”
My least favorite part of the trip was the repel. For some reason it was WAY more scary then zip lining. Stand on the edge he says, hang one foot over the edge he says, step off leaving your other foot on the platform and then spin your body around to face me…WHAT?! I’m not hooked onto a line, I am on a piece of nylon rope and the only thing keeping me from plummeting to the ground is my own strength and that 90 pound girl holding the rope at the bottom?! For some reason my body would NOT let me step off that damned platform. Everything in my body was telling me NO NO NO! I tried several times and couldn’t do it. Here’s the kicker. It is the ONLY way down…sooooo I had no choice. After 3 attempts, and my son calling me a pussy IN PUBLIC Brandon finally pretty much tricked me into lifting my foot and then hip checked me off the edge. He said “I knew you weren’t going to do it” Here is a video of this wonderful experience.
The guides were hysterical and very friendly. If you get a chance to go make sure you get Andrew & Brandon. They were a great team. They kept things light and entertaining.
***TIP*** Bring your belongings with you! I left my wallet and purse in my car because I thought I wouldn’t have anywhere to store them at base camp. They have a little locker for each group. Ethan and I missed out on getting souvenirs and being able to tip our guides! Which they really deserved. So, if you go BRING YOUR STUFF!
The group we went with was so much fun. By the end of the experience the sisters, best friends, Ethan & I were all laughing and planning on where we wanted to go for lunch afterwards. We settled on an Italian place called The Union Hotel. Sounds super Italian right? This place was SO cool! When we walked in there were tables with checkered table clothes, long white candles in old Chianti bottles. No joke it looked like Lady & The Tramp should have been eating spaghetti at one of the tables. The food was just OK. But, the atmosphere was so cool I would give the food a second chance. Here is a photo of all of us at lunch. Of course we all added each other on facebook. So, not only did I get to mark something off the list, I made 3 new friends.
By the end of the day we were both beat and covered in sweat. I battled the 5 o’clock traffic from the bay back to Sacramento & Ethan did this. It was a great experience, Ethan talked about it the entire next day. Can’t wait to do it again. Maybe over the rain forest next time!
DUH! I am a child of the 1990′s! Crowd Surfing, Stage Diving, Plaid shirts, combat boots. GRUNGE! Though I don’t have any actual photos or video of me crowd surfing I thought I would take this opportunity to educate you youngin’s on what real crowd surfing and stage diving was like. Before all the bull shit and law suits and people suing musicians for experiencing hearing loss because of a concert. PUH-LEASE!
Crowd surfing is the process in which a person is passed overhead from person to person (often during a concert), transferring the person from one part of the venue to another. The “crowd surfer” is passed above everyone’s heads, with everyone’s hands supporting the person’s weight.
Here is the best music video ever, with the best example ever of crowd surfing and stage diving. This is a little band called PEARL JAM! It starts at about 3:37
Now that you know what crowd surfing is… let’s examine what type of person crowd surfs… namely, ME. Here are a few quotes from people who knew me in my crowd surfing days.
Patrick Sweeney WHS: “The first time I met Christina Lochmiller, she was wearing this green dress in my freshman English class she was clowning around with someone and she fell into my lap so, being as cool and hot as she was (she knew it) she played it off by putting her arms around me and announcing to the class that I was her new boyfriend”
Manndie Tingler WHS: ” She was creative, wild, rebellious and mature all at the same time. She was a person who was not afraid to speak up for what was right and never bound to rigid societal rules. She was and still is passionate about getting the most out of life!!”
Cassandra Stephens WHS: “As a young, shy and very judgemental high school peer then I’d say I thought she was weird & loud. Now I can say she is still weird and so am I and that’s why I like her and still loud and that’s why I think she’s hilarious. And now I also know that she’s an amazing person with a kind, kind heart who doesn’t have a bad bone in her body and one of the most honest people I know”
Jami Hart WHS: “Fun, true friend, made me laugh my ass off!!!”
Crystal Rodine Jr. HS: “Christina has been my friend since 6th grade and some of the best memories I have is all the shows we went to in the 90’s. We saw such a spectrum of different artist from Old School Aerosmith to new up and coming No Doubt. Best Crowd surfing EVER was White Zombie and Pantera concert July 5 1996!! We spent the whole concert up front and even in the pit. We were surrounded by HUGE men who at a glance you would think to be nasty and rude and crude but actually took very good care of us lifting us up and we fell, pushing us up to the front when we needed air, and whenever we had enough they would throw us up and we would crowd surf out!!!! The burst of adrenaline and excitement from crowd surfing is unexplainable EVERYONE MUST TRY THIS AT LEAT ONCE!!! I don’t remember how many time we crowd surfed this night but it was not enough..lol.. Thanks Christina for the memories and thanks to our parents for letting us run wild!! I would not trade those times for anything in the world!”
I wore costumes to school, I got sent home for refusing to wear shoes, I staged a walk out in protest of a teacher being fired, I was in the school paper for having my tongue pierced, I was pregnant my Junior year, I was captain of the Drill Team, I won awards for acting, I didn’t go to high school parties, I never snuck out, I never got an F on my report card, I was never asked out on one date AND I was the first teen Mom to graduate from WHS.
And last but not least… old photos of me in school…
Junior Year – Working Hard in Chemistry. When I am sleeping or concentrating my lips purse.
That’s me on the left and my best friend Lisa. Who I am still friends with today. She was with me when I accomplished #16
I am a theater geek. And Yes, that’s me chocking the guy in the front row. P.S. My son and the teachers oldest play soccer on the same team which means his wife and I were pregnant at the same time. WEIRD!
Hi everyone! My name is Christina Lochmiller. It was January 2010. I couldn’t breath I couldn’t move. I was struck with fear, doubt, grief & humiliation as I realized that I was so far off track of who I thought I was going to be, who I wanted to be and who I knew myself to be. I had made so many compromises in my life and given up on myself and so, so many of my dreams.
I had to make a big change in my life if I was ever going to live the life I had dreamed of as a little girl. I knew that going through this life changing and heart wrenching experience was going to be one of the hardest times of my life and I would need to keep my mind busy so I didn’t dwell in my fear and sadness. I remembered a book I had a bought a girlfriend for her 3oth Birthday; 101 Things To Do Before You Die. What a better way to keep my mind occupied then focusing on other things, exciting things, silly things, wild things… Things I never thought I could do, achieve or accomplish. I went through the book and began to mark off the items that I had already achieved. I was surprised at how many there actually were. But, still I need something more, something bigger…and there it was staring back at my item #16 Break A Guinness World Record. That’s it there! If I’m gonna do this let’s start out BIG! This is a blog about my adventures and achievements of my 101 things I want to do before I die.
Here is my list: (Some have been modified slightly from the book)
Write a Book (modified from Best-seller)
Swim With…
Sharks
Whales
Dolphins – Completed May 2009
Tropical Fish – Completed May 2009
Win an Award, Trophy or Prize
Go Deep Sea Fishing & Catch a Fish (Modified from Catch a Fish With Your Bare Hands)
Brew My Own Line of Beer (Modified from Make a Discovery)
Throw an Annual Party that No One Wants to Miss (modified from House Party While Your Parents Are Out)
Learn to Golf (Modified from Be Part of a Threesome)
Realize Your Childhood Dream
Learn That Instrument
Leave Your Mark In Graffiti
Storm Chase a Tornado
Get a Piece of Art into an Exhibition
Meet Someone with your Own Name
Ride the World’s Biggest Rollercoasters
Top Thrill Dragster, Cedar Point, Ohio
Steel Dragon 2000, Nagashima Spa Land, Japan
Colossus, Thorpe Park, England
Superman the Escape, Six Flags Magic Mountain, California
Incredible Hulk, Universal Studios Island of Adventure, Florida
Son of the Beast, Paramount’s Kings Island, Ohio
Stage Dive or Crowd Surf – Completed all through high school =)
Get Into the Guinness Book of World Records – Completed July 24th 2012
Own a Pointless Collection
Study the Kama Sutra and Put Theory into Practice
Master Poker and Win Big in a Casino
Get Backstage and meet a rock star (Modified from Get Off with a Rock God) - Completed July 27th 2012
Be a Human Guinea Pig
Go Up in a Hot Air Balloon
Get Arrested – Unfortunately Completed September 7th 2007
See a Space Shuttle Launch
Capture the Moment in an Award-winning Photograph
Go Zip Lining (modified from Go Bungee Jumping)
See an Erupting Volcano
Sky Dive
Meet Your Idol
Stay in the Best Suite in a Five Star Hotel
Experience Weightlessness
See the Aurora Borealis
Get to Score a Hole in One
Design Your Own Cocktail
Play a Part in Your Favorite TV Show
Visit Every Continent
Asia
Antarctica
North America
Europe
Australia
South America
Africa
Make Fire Without Matches
See These Animals in the Wild…
Panda
Rhino
Hippo
Grizzly Bear
Elephant
Hummingbird
Giraffe
Koala
Manatee
Gorilla
Lion
Monkey
Penguin
Kangaroo
Tiger
Crocodile
Orangutan
Eagle
Polar Bear
Coelacanth
A Day at the Races
Get a Free Upgrade on a Plane
Be Friends With an Ex – Completed 1999
Hit Your Targets
Throw a Dart into a Map and Travel to Where it Lands
Attend a Film Premiere
Be in a Fitness/Bikini Contest
Scuba Dive
Milk A Cow – Completed CA State Fair 2006
Be Present When Your Country Wins the World Cup
See Both Solar and Lunar Eclipses – Completed May 20, 2012
Write Your Name Over a Star on the Walk of Fame
Learn Another Language
Read The Greatest Books Ever Written
Complete a Coast to Coast Road Trip Across America
Make at Least One Huge Purchase You Can’t Afford – Completed August 2011
Score the Winning Goal/Try/Basket
Crash a Fancy Party
See the All Time Greatest Films
Live in the Place You Love
Leave a Job You Hate – Completed 2000
Take Part in a Police Line-up
Get Away with the Perfect Practical Joke or Hoax
Join the Mile High Club
Make it into the News – Completed July 24th 2012
Drive a Car at Top Speed
Shout ‘Drinks Are on Me!’ in a Pub or Bar
Be Part of a Flash Mob - Completed April 20, 2012
Visit…
Colosseum, Rome, Italy
Uluru, Australia
Machu Picchu, Peru
The Pyramids at Giza, Egypt
Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sydney Harbour, Australia
Taj Mahal, Delhi, India
Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
Grand Canyon, Arizona
Angor Wat, Cambodia
The Great Wall of China
Save Someone’s Life
In Various Languages, Learn to…
Invent a Word That Makes it into the Dictionary
Have Adventurous Sex - Completed- None of your business!
Have Enough Money to Do All the Things on This List
Stand on the International Date Line
Learn to Fly a Plane
Get a Tattoo or Piercing – Completed 1997 & continuing
Invent Something
Learn Astronomy and Read the Night Sky
Drink a Vintage Wine
Answer a Personal Ad - Completed May 2011 – I LOVE YOU TOMMY!
Spend Christmas on the Beach
Have a White Christmas
Build Your Own House
Skinny Dip at Midnight – Completed July 2005
Sell All Your Junk at a huge garage sale (modified from eBay and Make a Profit)Completed August 2012
Visit the World’s Tallest Buildings
Burj Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirate
Russia Tower, Moscow, Russia
Freedom Tower, New York
Taipei 101, Taiwan
Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai, China
International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong
Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sears Tower, Chicago
Jin Mao Building, Shanghai, China
Two International Finance Centre, Hoong Kong
Citic Plaza, Guangzhou, China
Shun Hing Square, Shenzhen, China
Empire State Building, New York
Central Plaza, Hong Kong
Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong
Run a Marathon
Conquer Your Fear
Get Married Unusually
Become a Level 1 sommelier
Join the 16-Mile High Club
Publish a Cult Website
Own an Original Work of Art – Completed August 2011 “Finger painting of Christina” by Hans Anderson
Complete the Monopoly Board Pub Crawl
Get Something Named After You
Get Revenge – Completed 1994 – Accomplice Lisa Smith & Hans Anderson
Be an Extra in a Film
Live Out of a Van
Go on a Demonstration
Confess
Reach 100 Years of Age
Continue Your Gene Pool – Completed December 23 1997
DUH! I am a child of the 1990′s! Crowd Surfing, Stage Diving, Plaid shirts, combat boots. GRUNGE! Though I don’t have any actual photos or video of me crowd surfing I thought I would take this opportunity to educate you youngin’s on what real crowd surfing and stage diving was like. Before all the bull shit and law suits and people suing musicians for experiencing hearing loss because of a concert. PUH-LEASE!
