Living The Exciting, Charged Life in 2014

You don't need to be rich, beautiful or famous to live the exciting, charged life!
To prove this theory to myself I am conducting yearly experiments called
                                                 52 New Experiences!

For the third year running I made the conscious decision to say YES to anything I've never done before in my life! Even if it gave me shivers, cost more than I would normally spend or it drove me bananas (like finding a free parking spot in downtown Vancouver)!

After I started it was so easy to keep on going, seeking out small challenges on a -nearly- daily basis! Believe it or not, I ended up with over 100 new memories in my life!

Allow me to inspire you with these everyday adventures for bright, shiny, exciting, everyday living!

I loved my vibrant life full of new adventure in 2014 because

It made me sweat during

- SHBam dance -
- Body Flow -
- Yoga - classes.

- I had the opportunity to 'fight' with land developers.
- Listened to School board hearings,
- Fed The homeless on Hastings with Jackie Maclean

- Sold Kics lemonade with my friend Karen Butler Curtis.

- Power walked up the Coquitlam Crunch
- Went White water Rafting not just once, here with Daddy Blogger Ricky Shetty

but twice. This one was a weekend getaway (the Best ever)! Read about it here, it's funny!

- Cycled in sweltering heat to Swan-E Set Golf course
- Sweated more during our One month blogger challenge at Fitwell's

It tasted good:

During visits to
- Joey's Restaurant
East is East during my first ever YVR Foodie event
-  5-Guys
- I ate Snap pea Crisps
- Maple flavoured salmon
- Clams
- Drank rice milk
- Almond milk
- Ate a dragon fruit
- Baked blueberry muffins
- Ventured into a Gluten-free bakery and sampled gluten- and dairy free apple cake.
- Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream at La Casa Gelato, - the place with over 200 flavours!

Proved to myself it is a mind over matter affair during my

- 3- day cleanse in January and
- 21 day cleanse in July

I became more tech-savvy:
 Finally figured out

- How to tag individuals on Facebook.
- How to use Canva.com
- How to use Paint
- How to create a banner for You Tube
- How to create a video in only two takes
- How to become a You Tube partner
- How to use Airb'nB.

It took me places:

- Art gallery cafe in Vancouver
- Fan Expo at Exhibition center
- Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu

- Business Excellence Seminar
- Vogue Theatre to listen to Oliver Stone.
- Startled by the view of the Wishpond offices in downtown Vancity.
- Explored downtown Chilliwack

- Visited our local Chances Casino.
Check it out here please! Offered opportunities to shine:

- Contributed a chapter to my girl friends e-book!
- Presented Kiss your Excuses Goodbye twice at the YWCA in Vancouver.
- Spoke at the YWCA gala.
- Met my first real TV stars, the crew of " Republic of Doyl'' and had the honour to interview them!!!
- Dazzled during a live radio interview for radio North Carolina.
- Appeared on my 1. google hang-out.
- Got interviewed by Michael Clogs for his Business Expert Show!
- Wrote my first articles for Hello Vancity.
- Started my monthly column Kiss &Tell for Entrepreneurial Mind World (scroll down, you will see me)!
- Presented at the October YVR blogger event.
- Added some sparkle during the Video Mastery course (twice that is).

- Created a video for an audience of 5000 Brazilian parents.
- Shared life tid bits during three presentations at my former high school.

 - Made my parents and guests laugh during their 50 wedding anniversary party!

- Interviewed the mayor of Maple Ridge
- Our youngest son Cruz produced our Family movie.
- Officially launched my book "The Strawberry Lounge Story",

- Got interviewed by PR lady extraordinaire Alice Zhou.

It added adventure during

-  a snowmobile ride at Mt. Baker.
- a Meditation
- a Tide Rope walk at Loon Lake
- a visit to the Aviation museum in Langley
- Started the journey of becoming a kick-ass interviewer for Motherpreneur TV.
-  filming for our son's high school production of Spamalot.

- We skied at Big White and
- autsch, I face planted!
- Cleaned and gutted fish.
- Sat through a whole evening of School of Rock performers (Loud!!!).
- Interviewed my first World Champion record holder, Croix Sather for MP TV
- Visited Tuscan Island Horse Farm in Abbotsford (and went horse back riding for course)

- Watched a roller derby tournament in Cloverdale

- Explored the PNE in Vancouver!
- Filmed during Elaine Tan Comeau's (Mompreneur of the year 2014) calender launch
- Strolled alone along E-Hastings at night!
- Paid taxes for the sale of my coffee shop, Strawberry Lounge (Hurrah, finally free!)

- Cut my hair short!

- Got a new, high tech phone
- Added a different hair colour

- Met two of my virtual connections from LinkedIn in real life, Angie and Sim of the WIISE woman network:

- Bleached our oldest son's hair
- Swam at the Coquitlam Aquatic Center
- Walked the labyrinth in Fleetwood Gardens, Surrey, B.C.
- Participated in ALS Ice bucket challenge
- Splashed down at Splashdown Water Park

- Swam in a different part of Alouette lake
- Kayaked along Belcarra's shoreline
- Went monkeys at Wild Play

- Walked along a Dirt Bike Rd into the big unknown along 256 Street in Maple Ridge

Learnt during: 

- "Change your Habit, change your life"- event.
- Hosted and survived three teenage parties.
- Discovered Dynamic Women in Action - meet-up.
- Went to Valley Women Lunch network.
- Visited the Canadian Marketing Summit.
- Filmed during "Illuminate your Life Retreat".
- Visited the "Sizzling Sales show".
- Visited a Private Art show
- Created an abstract painting.

- Visited a Conscious Divas - event.
- Sorted bottles during a Bottle drive for our soccer team.
- Listened to the presenters at Public Salon

- Witnessed the arrival of the Christmas train.
- Finally figured out how the game of Darts is being played!
- Kim Louise Easterbrook  introduced me to numerology!  WooHoo, what a revelation!

Yes, here is the proof: 
One doesn't need to be rich, famous or beautiful to live the exciting, vibrant, fully charged life!
My new experiences have started for 2015. Will you join me for this fantastic, fun-filled ride? All you need to do and say is YES whenever something new comes along!
Did I hear you say YES? Welcome to the family! 
I look forward to hearing your stories...don't be shy! 

CLIMBING HIGH, GOING MONKEYS AT WILD PLAY

"Fun seeking, active adventurists (aka urban Tarzan's and Jane's), not afraid of heights, zip lines, swinging bridges, scrambling walls or trees are looking for playground (aka Dschungle). Able and willing to drive."

I receive requests similar to this one on a daily basis. I am a match maker! This is what I do for a living, I match individuals with their deepest desires.

This request came from the YVR Blogger group in Vancouver; like minded men and women saying yes to more fun and adventure in their life - and blog about it in the most creative, fun, heart warming, honest way imaginable.
After I put on my thinking cap, spun the "Wheel of Activity" I found their perfect match:

WildPlay Element Parks Maple Ridge

                       Address: 23485 Fern Crescent, Maple Ridge, BC V4R 2S6  Phone:(604) 477-1197

Lucky me, Wild Play is just a hop, skip and jump from my house on top of our rock, literally 500 meters above the activity park! Why am I lucky? As of last week I passed the park 2044 times already during the last 2,8 years; without ever visiting it. It turned out some things are worth waiting for; just like Wild Play. Together with 17 other Maple Ridger's and Vancouverite's I joined in the fun for sweaty palms, racing hearts, wobbly knees, screaming voices!  
The motto here is: Joined adventure is better adventure! 

 This is all of us before the height freight set in...just kidding!




Welcome to the park:

Sign your waiver form:




Mingle, 

from left: Ms Alice, I, Ms Leslie, Master Isaac, our instructor.

Strike a pose,

from left: Ms Melody, Ms Leslie, Ms Grace and beautiful unknown beauty.

Make sure you meet the height requirements, (actually, do this first before you do the rest).

Put on your harness (visit the washroom before you strap yourself in. Once you are strapped and on the course you need to hold it).

(Oops, my natural reaction when I see a man strapped in...)

Listen to instructions!



Everybody who participates in the wild Wild Play activities must listen to and perform a practice run, 50 cm above the ground.

You wanna play? Then you need to listen, learn and follow the golden rule for Wild Players:

GRAB + SNAP

You need to grab hold of one of the lines or be snapped in the whole time you are on the course- otherwise you are out. Fair enough. The trees are mighty high, the course becomes higher, steeper and steeper and you can fall...

Wild Play is divided into the adult- and kiddy section. As I participated in the 'I am tall enough" group I can't tell you anything about the young ones. Whatever I've seen of it they looked they were having fun though!

The path we followed is called Monkido (the art of monkying around rediscovered), a tree top obstacle course. You get on the lowest tree, 'obstacle' your way around a few challenges and move up to the next level and so on and so forth. The grading follows the ski run system. It starts with the green course, the easiest; moves on to the blue, red and finishes with the highest, the black level. The idea is to finish the whole course within 1-3 hours. Once you have started the course there are only two zip lines that will zip you down, otherwise you are committed for the whole course.

One of the newest activities in Maple Ridge Wild Play is called WTF  @##@@#, (What's to Fear) a clever name for a free fall from a 12 meter platform. WTF- I couldn't do it do it. And not because I was afraid, no, I needed to go back home. Back to the top of the rock to start my next adventure. This one gets a High Five with a double back flip, cream and cherry on top!

As far as I could tell we all had a great time. Some of us took it slow and steady, others did it fast and steady. All in all, it was another match made in heaven!

 Don't just take my word for it, I am a huge sucker for outdoor activities- you need to zip it for yourself! Even if climbing high into the sky is not your thing...sometimes it's worth it to say yes to something new to add unexpected fun and adventure to your life.

 Modern Tarzan and Jane's can find Wild Play at six locations, here in Maple Ridge, Kelowna, Nanaimo, Victoria, Mt. Sina, YT and Wood Buffalo, AB.

 And to set the record straight, this trip was organized by Vancouvers Ueber blogger, Mr. Ricky Shetty!

Furthermore, I am not a match-maker!

The rest is all factual!

OPEN DAILY
MONKIDO AERIAL ADVENTURE check-ins from 10:00AM to 4:00PM. 

Book online or call Guest Services at 1-855-595-2251 [9:00AM to 5:00PM Sunday - Wednesday; 9:00AM to 6:00PM Thursday - Saturday] for upcoming check-ins.

FULL 2014 SEASON SCHEDULE 

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Hours & Schedule

OPEN DAILY
MONKIDO AERIAL ADVENTURE check-ins from 10:00AM to 4:00PM. 

Book online or call Guest Services at 1-855-595-2251 [9:00AM to 5:00PM Sunday - Wednesday; 9:00AM to 6:00PM Thursday - Saturday] for upcoming check-ins.

FULL 2014 SEASON SCHEDULE 

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Rules of Play
Read our Monkido^® Aerial Adventure description for important Element access information, including age, height, and waiver requirements.

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Pricing

MONKIDO AERIAL ADVENTURE

Classic	Ages 12+	$42.99

Buddy	Ages 7-11 with an adult in the trees	$35.99 per guest

Kids	Ages 7-13	$22.99

WHAT'S TO FEAR JUMP

Single WTF Jump	Ages 7+	$19.99
Monkido add-on	Ages 7+	$14.99
Season Passholders