40 Things to do Before 40!

     On December 25th 2019 I will turn 40! Huzzah! I am stoked to turn 40 and to move into a new phase of life. I have a feeling that the 40s will be such sweet years for me and mine. There are so many exciting things that will occur over the next 10 years! My hubby and I will pay off all our debts, travel abroad for our 20th and 25th Anniversaries, continue to nourish and strengthen our marriage along with celebrating all of our children's many achievements. My oldest daughter will graduate from college with a BA in Art History, serve an 18 month mission, travel abroad with me, intern in an Art Museum, obtain her MA in History or Art History, work as a docent in an Art Museum, get married and have children. (I am so excited to be a GrandJenny! Yes that's the name my grandbabies will call me.) My son will graduate from high school, start community college at 15, start dating, serve a two year mission, travel abroad with me, graduate from college, start his own video game company, obtain a MA, maybe get married and start a family too. My youngest daughter will become a teenager, start to date, graduate from high school, start community college at 16, serve an 18 month mission, travel abroad with me and graduate from college. All of that and so much more should occur in the next 10 years. So many highs and triumphs ahead! I am so excited to see how our lives turn out. (My family makes fun of me for having planned out our lives for the next 15 years. I don't mind their teasing because they benefit from my organization and focus!)

     Since I am turning 40 years old, I decided that I wanted to accomplish 40 things of importance to me before I turn 40. We are focusing on paying off debt and living well below our means so most of the things I choose to do are free or inexpensive. I have lots of lofty, exciting adventures I would love to go out and do, but at this time financial stability is more important in our lives. Here is my list below. I've included some further explanation to remind myself why I have chosen each task. Each one of these accomplishments means so much to me! Some are fairly simple. Some are life long dreams. Some are necessities. All of them will create such beautiful memories. 

40 Things to do Before 40

1. Behold the grandeur of the Grand Canyon. 

(I have never been to the Grand Canyon and now that I live in AZ I must behold it.)

2. Adventure out alone on a solo road trip.

(I love to drive while singing at the top of my lungs and exploring this beautiful Earth.)

3. Take Delaney on a Mother/Daughter overnight excursion.

(My youngest and I want to bond over laughter, nature, conversation and time together.)

4. Take Alyssa away for an exciting art filled adventure.

(I want to soak up her company while looking at art created by the masters.)

5. Take Braxton and Delaney to do baptisms in the San Diego California Temple.

(These two sweet babes want to go inside the temple where Hotch and I were married.)

6. Sit with Hotch in our “spot” in the Celestial Room at the San Diego California Temple.

(It has been far too long since we last sat in our spot in our beloved temple.)

7. Do the temple sealings for my beloved ancestors.

( I love my ancestors and want them to be linked to one another for eternity.)

8. Visit all four operating Arizona temples in the same weekend.

(Someone mentioned doing this and I thought it would be really fun.)

9. Stand upon the quadripoint of the United States.

(I love oddities and traveling to all the states in this nation. The Four Corners is a must!)

10. Pay off half of our credit card debt.

(Financial freedom is really important to me since we are moving into our 40s.)

11. Ride a motorcycle on a back-country road.

(I love motorcycles and have always dreamt of riding one.)

12. Fit into and wear my sexy wine-colored dress on a romantic date with Hotchy.

(I already have the dress, but keep talking myself out of wearing it. It is time!)

13. Enjoy being close to nature while camping over a weekend.

(We all need nature therapy. Plus campfires smell divine!)

14. Grow vegetables and flowers in pots on the porch.

(To say I love gardening is a major understatement. It speaks to my soul!)

15. Lose another 30 lbs and weigh-in at 200 lbs or less.

(Weight loss has not been easy because of my health issues. So far I've lost 110+ lbs!)

16. Paint a masterpiece and hang it on the family room wall.

(I know the painting I want to copy and I hope it turns out okay. I am not an artist yet.)

17. Bask in the glory of my sexy beast for an entire weekend away.

(Hotch and I have not had a night away from the kids since 2011. It is long overdue.)

18a. Attend the Spanish branch sacrament meeting at least once a month.

(Spanish is so good for my soul! Hymns in Spanish are my favorite to sing.) 

18b. Learn to speak Spanish well enough to converse with native speakers.

(I have lost the little Spanish I learned and I feel the need to learn to speak with fluency.)

19. Read all the Book Club books along with another book of choice each month.

(My Book Club ladies rock! I feel so fulfilled when I read each month's book.)

20. Read the Book of Mormon again and complete the Book of Mormon journal.

(I have read the Book of Mormon many times. It is time to do it again.)

21. Bake bread to be used for the sacrament at least four times.

(Baking bread for sacrament has always been a goal of mine. Time to get baking!)

22. Enjoy FREE admission to the Phoenix Art Museum and Heard Museum.

(We have lived in AZ for almost two years and have yet to go to these Art museums.)

23. Stroll along the Desert Botanical Garden when it is FREE.

(Arizona provides so much more beauty than I gave the desert credit.)

24. Learn the major constellations and use a telescope.

(Ever since I was a little girl the heavens have fascinated me.)

25. Traverse a ropes course and go ziplining.

(I need to utilize this body I have been blessed with and be more physically active.)

26. Write letters to the five people who impacted my life the most.

(There are things that need to be said and it is time to express my feelings of love.)

27. Reconnect with your closest friends from the past.

(I have been blessed throughout my life with incredible friends. It is time to reconnect.)

28. Learn to play a few hymns and songs on the piano/keyboard.

(Music soothes my soul and I have always wanted to learn to play the piano.)

29. Dive back into photography and look into taking a photography class.

(My nice camera broke which limits my opportunities to photograph. I really miss it!)

30. Volunteer at the food bank twice a month.

(Service rendered blesses both you and the recipient. I want a service-oriented life!)

31. Place my favorite pieces of artwork in the bathrooms.

(Irises by Van Gogh, Apple Tree by Klimt & various floral still life are my favorites!)

32. Complete the temple ordinances for at least 36 female ancestors.

(Temple worship helps to ground myself and serve my beloved ancestors.)

33. Create 70000 total Find A Grave memorials from grave transcriptions/death records.

(For the last 8+ years I have been adding to Find A Grave. Almost there!)

34. Finish the Personal Progress and the Honor Bee programs with Delaney.

(Delaney and I are going to finish this together in only one year! Huzzah!)

35. Study the lives and artwork of 24 great artists.

(Art plays such a valuable part in my life. I want to learn more about my favorite artists.)

36. Study 24 fascinating women and learn about their influence on this world.

(Women rock! I want to be more knowledgeable about the influence of my heroines!)

37. Create photo books for each of the children.

(It needs to be done and I have been procrastinating for far too long.)

38. Update our family blog Hoorahoopti Away and keep it current.

(Hooray! I am actively working on this one. I have missed this little family blog.)

39. Study the life of Christ while reading Jesus the Christ.

(What an incomparable study in the life of Christ. Get out the dictionary and read!)

40. Enjoy a lovely meal with my family in a nice restaurant on my 40^th Birthday!

(Since my birthday is on Christmas I have never experienced having dinner at a restaurant on my birthday. It feels like a right of passage to me and I have always been curious what it would be like to celebrate your birthday that way. It is a lifelong dream of mine!)

     I have already started working on these 40 things to do before 40. I will try to update what I have accomplished each month as I grow closer to turning 40. I love getting older and becoming more comfortable in my skin. Life has been so good to me even through all the trials I have experienced. The Lord's hand is ever apparent in my life. I look forward to more growth and more wisdom. It is time to start to pursue my own passions and dreams. I cannot wait to look back on this year!

Time to resume blogging!

     It has been years since I last blogged and I have truly missed it. It was a lovely way to journal our life adventures, tender mercies, joys, trials and lessons learned. I have resolved to update this simple blog of mine. There are five years worth of adventures that we enjoyed, but I failed to include here. I love looking back on the years when our children were little and all our darling adventures together. Those memories are so precious to me and as a family we treasure reading these blog posts. I have felt prompted to update and resume my blog journaling because it provides our relatives and close friends a view into our lives even though we live so far from them. It also provides our family memories of the past and lots of laughs. So here goes the first of many more posts to come. Hope it brings you the enjoyment it brings me and mine!

Fireflies Are Nature's Glitter

A major perk of living in NC are the fireflies in summer. Alyssa described fireflies perfectly as nature's glitter. As the sunsets each evening the fireflies start their little romantic light show most often in taller grass. Fireflies make driving through the countryside magical. It is tragically awesome when they splat their eerie green, yellow or orange color on our windshield. 

Here are some closeups of the fireflies in our yard.

They are really docile and according to my children really dumb.  It is super easy to catch them even after they take off from your hand.

Here's my favorite photo! Fireflies sure are pretty little beetles!

Here's a video just for my dad. He's never seen any fireflies in person.
Hope you like it dad! Love and miss you so much!

The kids love catching fireflies as the evenings start to cool a bit.
We sure are grateful for nature's glitter this summer.

Our kittens have finally discovered fireflies. It's adorable!
(We have four kittens. I am not a pet person at all, but the kids are totally attached. The kittens were born under our home and a post about them is coming later this week.)

Elton John Concert

On Saturday we went to an Elton John concert at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, NC. It was such a blast and the perfect 1st concert experience for the kids. Back in March I was so thrilled to see that Elton was coming to NC. Once I bought the tickets the count down to the concert began. The kids have been rocking out to his songs for months now and trying to learn his biggest hits. It turned out to be one of the best nights of my life.

This beauty was ready to rock out!

I am so grateful for the kind woman sitting next to us who took these photos. I love them! I am almost never in any good photos with the family. 
It is so nice to have all of us in the photos together.

The little ones were so thrilled that we found guitar glasses, feather boas and beads to wear. They wanted to dress up fancy like Elton.

Hotch is such a great dad! He totally played along.

We had awesome seats on the lawn. It was so nice being able to bring lawn chairs, blankets and even food to munch on. They kids chowed down on chips, guacamole, tomatoes and popcorn.

The opening act 2CELLOS (Luka Silic & Stjepan Hauser) were amazing!
It was awesome when they played "Smooth Criminal". 

The kids were so thrilled when Elton John finally stepped out. They loved the fact that he was wearing a sequined jacket and pants.

Alyssa kept telling me that it was totally awesome!

The second song he sang was "Bennie and the Jets" which is our family favorite! It started the night off well. My kids were so excited to hear him sing it live and that they knew most of the words.

Alyssa only captured a small bit of the chorus. 

We were definitely entertained by who we fondly called "Drunk Hippie Girl" and her interesting outfit. Let's just say she left absolutely nothing up for the imagination. At the end of the night we were entertained by her further when she got into some drama in the parking lot.

We were grateful for the jumbotrons!

Delaney and I love the song "Tiny Dancer"! We were so happy that we got to dance and song along to it. Alyssa captured the whole song on video.

These girls were having a wonderful time!

The photos below aren't the best, but we cherish them. (It was bummer that we couldn't bring in my nice camera and had to settle for using the lame 35mm.) Elton John sure did make our night! He is such an incredible singer.

Braxton was so happy when he sang "I Guess That's Why They Call Them the Blues" because he had just learned the whole chorus. He was so sweet when he cuddled into me as we sang and danced to his song.

I absolutely love this next photo of Alyssa! Her favorite Elton John song is "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)". As the concert was coming to an end (the second to last song) Elton John finally sang her favorite song. She started screaming and jumping all around. The joy on her face in this photo is priceless! She danced, sang and hugged me tons. It was a perfect moment!

Elton John signed some autographs and then walked off stage. The kids were wondering why we weren't leaving until we explained encores. 
They LOVED that he came back out to sing "Your Song".

We had an outstanding, incredible night!

No idea what these tired babies are doing, but they crack me up.

I am so grateful for these four treasures! They make my life complete! 
Going to an Elton John concert was such a blast and a blessing!

World Cup Is Serious Business

In our home we don't usually follow sports religiously. (The exception is the University of Utah football. I love the Utes!) Hotch loves sports especially baseball and football and he always seems to know what is going on. To this day I have never watched the World Series or Super Bowl. Since I've made it this long I'm sure I can go the rest of my life without ever watching them. BUT...

Everything changes when it comes to the World Cup!

We live for World Cup! I watch every single game unless something really important comes up. Otherwise I am glued to the screen for about a month every four years. Hotch and I get so stoked to get our World Cup on. This is serious business in our home. We always make up brackets and root for our favorite teams.  Personally I believe I out did myself with our huge wall bracket. We are mapping out the entire World Cup outcomes! Wish my photos did it more justice. It's okay to be jealous you don't have a huge World Cup bracket on your wall. Not everyone can be so awesome!

Here's the bracket we used to map our World Cup predictions. We might make a second bracket after the Group Stage to better predict what the outcome may be. Who knows we might have great brackets right now.

In order to get my kids pumped up for all the World Cup games I have printed out flags from each nation and we will research all of their locations, cultures, etc. We also have some fun activity sheets on the history of the World Cup and on the countries competing this year. Braxton is really interested in the past World Cup winners  and has his own little system set up to record World Cup stats. We have been talking about the past host countries and will be spending quite some time learning about Brazil. 
Here is a great link to some amazing World Cup printables.

My kids are so into watching soccer (football) this year which makes this World Cup that much more exciting! I love hearing them cheer and the explosions of joy or anger when a goal is made. Makes it such a blast!

Braxton and Delaney created their own game of soccer using Brax's Super Mario Bros. chess pieces. It was adorable and very competitive.

 Not sure what the outcome of the World Cup will be this year, but here in the Hotchkiss home we are stoked to find out! If you want to find us over the next month just check the World Cup schedule. We'll be avoiding the world and glued to each match for the duration of the World Cup! 

If your interested in getting your World Cup on too then check out the official FIFA website or print this PDF World Cup Schedule to find out when your favorite countries compete. (NOTE: Brazil is one hour ahead of EST.)

You can watch every match live streaming for free on Univision. Look for the video link with the countries playing along with the word gratis (free) or find the match link that says ver partidos en vivo (watch matches live). 
(NOTE: Everything will be in Spanish. We don't mind hearing the announcers speak Spanish the entire time because we are here to watch the games. Hotch just pointed out that the only important word is GOALLLLL and that's the same in English and Spanish.)