Visit Angkor Wat - Completed 1/4/08

My parents and I planned a trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat and several of the other temples in the area. It was an amazing and inspiring experience. These temples were built close to 1000 years ago...out of lava stone, sand stone, and lime stone. The carvings are intricate and amazingly clear...and the structures have withstood the elements all these years. For more information: Angkor Wat










My dad and I standing in front of the famous Angkor Wat, built in the early 12th century, the temple complex covers 200 hectares and is the world's largest religious monument.











Bayon temple was built in the 12th to 13th centuries and is known for the 54 towers, each with the 4 faces of Buddha on them.











That's me peaking out a window in the Bayon temple.











Banteay Samre was built in the early 12th century and is known for it's pink-colored sand-stone and detailed carvings.











Neak Pean was built in the late 12th century and was an island temple, that you could only get to by boat. The entire temple centered around water and people would bathe themselves at the fountains at certain parts of the temple for good fortune and blessings. Here I'm standing under the "human head" fountain pretending to bathe.











This last temple is called "Ta Prohm," built around 1186 and was made famous by Angelina Jolie in "Tomb Raider." They actually filmed some scenes on site. It's been left as close to it's discovered state (by the French) with trees growing over it. That's my mom under one of the giant trees covering a wall of the temple.

Learn to Scuba Dive - Completed 12/28/07

I completed my PADI Open Water SCUBA certification through Mermaid's Dive Center in Pattaya, Thailand. The course was 4 days, one in a classroom, one in a pool, and 2 days in the open water in the gulf of Thailand. My primary instructor, Russ, was from New Zealand and had been diving for years and was quite the pro around the dive school. I also worked with Rich, a British diving instructor doing an internship at the school, and Frank, a Belgian diving instructor. Everyone at the school was friendly, helpful, and encouraging. It was a very international group of people. We sailed out to some islands about 1-2 hours from Pattaya beach, where we could do some coral diving. The boat provided lunch between dives and gave us a chance to relax. The most exciting part of my dive was when I stepped on a spiny sea urchin. Luckily none of the spines were embedded in my foot, but it sure did hurt!











Our tanks lined up on the boat.











Fish (probably Sergeant Majors) playing off the side of the boat.












Getting ready to go with my BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) vest on and lifting the tank from the rack.











Getting encouragement from my instructor, Russ (from New Zealand).











Giving the "OK" sign after jumping in the water.











Post dive celebrations with my other instructor, Frank (Belgian), and some Scottish instructor who jumped in our photo.

Get on Stage with a Band - Completed 12/18/07

Okay, so this is not exactly what I had in mind, but I did it...and maybe I can revisit this one again sometime. My parents rent a condo at the beach that has a marina and a seafood restaurant downstairs. The restaurant has a 3 piece band that performs each evening. They play and sing all sorts of songs and often will invite the few people dining in the restaurant to come up and sing a sort of live-karaoke with them. So my mom and I got up and sang Christmas carols.

Attend at least 2 showings at the Atlanta Celebrates Photography Festival- Completed 11/28/07

Click here for more info about the festival: ACP

On 11/18/07, I went to Après Diem with Marty and Steve Remis to see an exhibit of work by Juliet Marateck, called "What If Jack Kerouac Had A Camera?" Inspired by the writings of Jack Kerouac, she documented through her photographs, a road trip across America. Here you can see Marty and I carefully contemplating the photographs.













On 11/28/07, Marty Remis, Ben Park and I went to check out an exhibit at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global Health Odyssey. It was especially convenient since we all work at CDC! The exhibit, called "The End of Polio: Photographs of Sebastião Salgado" documents the global effort to eradicate polio.



For more information, visit End of Polio






It's all about finding solutions...

Try Kayaking- Completed 10/20/07

I finally got to try out Kayaking. I went to Charleston, South Carolina with Heather, Theresa, and Michele for a girls' weekend. We booked a kayak tour with Coastal Expeditions, a company that organizes kayaking, canoeing and other types of explorations of the coastal waterways.

The four hour tour was a lot of fun, but also a lot of hard work. My arms, shoulders and back were exhausted at the end of the day. Heather and I shared a kayak and had to learn how to coordinate our paddling and steering. We took a break from all the paddling to stop on a little island and search for shark's teeth.

The tour was very interesting and we got lucky with perfect weather for our trek. I think I'd still like to try white-water kayaking, but next time I'll get my arms in better shape and do a little training first.

Ski the Rockies in Colorado - Completed 11/24-11/25/2006

My friend, Wendy Lemke, recently moved to Colorado Springs for work. She invited me to come join her for a ski/snowboard week at Breckenridge, CO over Thanksgiving. Instead of skiing, we decided to take snowboarding lessons.

Matt was our cool snowboard instructor.

For a day and a half we struggled with the snowboards...but were finally making some progress, especially because of Jared's (a friend of Wendy and Jeff) tutoring and patience. Then I fell! The short story is that at the lift line, someone cut in front of me, and I fell flat on my back. I managed to fracture my T12 vertebrae...so could not move my back. Luckily, my friends were there to document this new adventure via photo and video.

The ski patrol came to my rescue and took me down the mountain.

I'm only smiling because I know how cool the head-gear makes me look on the backboard and sled.

After some xrays and discussion with doctors there, I was sent to a hospital in Denver (2.5 hours away) by ambulance.

I was there for 2 days to get fitted with a back brace, to manage my pain, and to learn how to live my life without moving my spine.

Wendy, Jeff, and Jared came to visit and help me get back on my feet again in time for my return flight to Atlanta.

See at Least 5 Local Plays - Completed 11/3/06

With the help of a subscription to Horizon Theatre (thanks to my friends in TB) and in the company of friends and family, I got to see:

• Santaland Diaries (Jon Benenson, Aileen Monahan, Mom, Dad)
• Bad Dates (Stacey Hoffman)
• Far Away (Ben Eugrin, ReLiang Tsang, Ari Levine)
• The Perfect Prayer (Marian Bonner)
• Underpants (Steve and Marty Remis)
• The Thing About Men (Katrina Anthony)

Although not local productions, I also saw Wicked and Mama Mia at the Fox Theater.

Go to an Exhibit at the New High Museum of Art - Completed 11/2/06

My cool cousin, Katrina, came to visit me in Atlanta and we went to see the Louvre exhibit at the High Museum. The High recently added new buildings and acquired the first ever Louvre/US museum collaborative exhibit.

Go Hang Gliding - Completed 10/22/06

You don't know what it feels like to fly until you try hang gliding!

Stacey Hoffman joined me for this adventure on the top of Lookout Mountain in Tenessee. We drove up to the Lookout Mountain Hang Gliding School and signed up for an introductory tandem flight. For the introductory flight, you wear a harness that supports you and the pilot under the wings of the hang glider. The hang glider is hooked up to an ultra-light that tows you up above the mountain. then you unhook and glide back down.

The image below is of my landing approach.

Take a Tap Class - Completed 10/7/06

Althogh I took a tap class as a little kid, I had always been jealous of the cool high-heeled tap shoes that the grown-ups got to wear. So my goal was to tap in high heels. The heels did not last long, as I found them a bit difficult to dance in. However, as it turns out my class was producing a tap "show, " so my new challenge was to perform in the show. After 3 months of classes, I managed to pull off 2 dances with the other beginners. It was a lot of fun and I had a lot of support from my friends who came out to cheer at the show.

The first dance is called "Draggin' the Line." We dressed in our best hippie outfits.

The second dance is called "Well I lied" and we were supposed to look like hobos.

Finish Knitting a Scarf - Completed 8/25/06

With help from Michele Huitric and ReLiang Tsang I managed to learn how to knit. I completed my first knitting project and sent it to a friend as a gift for the cold English winter.

Try Tree-Climbing - Completed 6/7/06

Tree Climbers International is an organization of tree-climbers headquartered in Atlanta, not far from where I live. Nick DeLuca (former team leader in TB) and I had talked about trying it out for years...and we finally did.

They do a weekend beginner's climb, where you learn the basics and get to climb up into Nimrod or Diana, the giant trees on site. Ropes are slung up into the branches and you wear a harness to climb the ropes.

You do not actually touch the tree to climb it.

I made it up to the first branch to sit there and admire the view.

Visit the British Virgin Islands - Completed 4/15/06

My dad coordinated a family trip to BVI to sail on "Dream Boat," his 33' Beneteau which is used most of the year as a rental by the Moorings yacht chartering company.

The sailing crew (Dad, Jon, Aileen, & Mom), exploring the beach of Beef Island.

Mom and I explore the rock coves on Treasure Island.

Dad and Aileen...captain and 1st mate.

Sleep Out Under the Stars - Completed 4/13/06

I slept out under the stars on the deck of "Dream Boat" while sailing with my family in the British Virgin Islands. Besides, it was pretty close quarters inside the boat.

Unfortunately, the night I chose to sleep outside was the only night that we had a rain storm! I got 2 hours of sleep before getting soaked!

Volunteer at Cafe 458 - Completed 3/11/06

Cafe 458 is a weekend brunch place that runs completely on donations and the work of volunteers. The proceeds go to support the programs of the Samaritan House of Atlanta which help feed, clothe, and provide opportunities off the street for homeless men and women. The food is great...and after several visits as a customer, I got up the courage to volunteer, despite my lack of any previous wait-staff experience.

I got there early in the morning and was a given a 15 minute orientation. I helped set up the tables in preparation for our first customers of the day. We were assigned shifts doing dishes and on the floor taking orders and serving customers. My first shift was on dish duty. We loaded trays with dirty dishes and ran them through a high-powered dish washer...then towel-dried and restacked the clean dishes. It was hard work, but fun...and I only managed to break one mug. The hardest part was staying out of the way of the cooking team...as they were busily cooking, filling orders, and lining up plates of hot food at the serving station. There was a lot of chaos in the kitchen.

My next shift was to serve a row of 3 tables. I was so excited to finally get out and serve. I refilled drinks, cleared the tables quickly, and put on a big smile for each customer. There was a slow moment when I was asked to restock the syrup containers at the wait-station with newly filled containers coming out of the kitchen. That's when it happened...I grabbed 2 syrup jars and turned to take them to the station, when the glass bottle fell right out from the lid in my hand. It shattered on the floor spraying gooey, sticky syrup all over my new jeans, the floor, a table AND 2 customers (sitting at a large table with 4 other people)! They tried to dive out of the way, but it was too late. I was horrified. I ran to the back room to grab a mop and came out to clean up...but syrup does not clean up very easily. I tried to comfort one of the customers by suggesting that she would smell sweet all day, but I don't think it really helped. I think I am one of those people meant for dish duty.

I have not been back, but would definitely volunteer again. I was hoping my reputation as "syrup-girl" would be forgotten. Let me know if you'd like to volunteer with me. I promise not to spill syrup on you!