Chasing my Dreams!

#87. Write a message in the sand while Im walking on it, and watch the waves wash it away – TICK!

I LOVE my birthday – each year is another milestone….another year that I am ‘still here’! On my birthday (Sunday December 22nd 2013), I started the morning by walking down on Maroochydore Beach with my friends and Mum there to support me, writing a message in the sand (“Dare to Dream”), and watching the waves wash it out into the ocean! Such a special way to celebrate my birthday – a lot of hard work went into achieving this (walking on the sand is very hard work for me!), and I had to get help to get back up the beach by some awesome Maroochydore Beach lifeguards (I also got to ride in their vehicle!) – but I did it! Thank you to everyone who helped me make this happen! 🙂

New Fitness Goal added to the List..and its a biggie! :D

Recently I posted a list of the Fitness Goals I intend to smash…!

Last night..(and I think I might be a little bit mad…or over-ambitious! haha)…but I have just added

#209. Get up to the top of Mount Coolum

….to the list!  Last year when I was attempted to ‘climb my mountain’ (walk up to the top of the steep ocean boardwalk at Coolum, up out of my wheelchair, on my crutches), I had one of the trainers at my gym say “I want to get you to the top of Mt Coolum one day” – at the time, my eyes and inner spark lit up – after I achieved my ‘Climb’ I thought you know what, climbing ‘my mountain’ is ‘enough’ for me…I don’t need to get to the top of a mountain, to satisfy my want to climb one, now – I may still attempt it one day though!  It always stayed at the back of my mind, as a possibility….hmmm.

This past weekend, a friend commented completely out of the blue, just like the comment made to me last year “I want to get you to the top of Mount Coolum”….and that was it…I have to achieve it…it has now MADE the List!  OMG what am I thinking….this is HUGE! haha…but, theres no getting out of it now, no going back, Ive shared the idea with a few more people now….and we are going to MAKE it happen!  I don’t know how….I REALLY don’t know how haha…but, there will be a way!

I don’t know how…but I WILL reach the top of this beautiful mountain I love, one day…somehow! 🙂

Its a busy Bucketlist-fest!

My ‘Chasing my Dreams’ life has certainly been busy in the last month or so – and its been SO MUCH FUN! 🙂   With the busy-ness of Christmas, my upcoming birthday (and a very special birthday ‘tick’ off the list!), and gearing up for what is shaping up to be an awesome start to 2014, I haven’t had a chance to write full blogs on all these amazing experiences yet – but heres a snippet of what I’ve been up to!…..

#101- Milk a Cow
Kicking it off on November 12th, myself and a friend (and her little one, which made it so much more of a cute experience!) ventured up to Maleny Dairies in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, to experience milking a cow.  Such a simple activity, but something I have never had the opportunity to do. Through a recent promotion that Maleny Dairies held, I was very blessed to be able to not only meet ‘Millie’ – but to milk her, as well.  Normally on the Tour which is open to the public (at a very reasonable price), you don’t get to milk one of the farms’ cows – if the cows were being milked by many different people during each day on the Tour, it would just stress them out – so I felt very lucky to have this experience, at this farm!  Maleny Dairies is a fully functioning farm, which produces the most amazing, and yummy products available to the public, on sale throughout the country.  If you ever get the chance go on the Maleny Dairies tour, it is so much fun, and so interactive, for the kids, as well as for us ‘big kids! 🙂   Not only were we shown various parts of the farm, the land, told some of the history, and visited the milking and production areas for their various dairy products (which we were able to sample – yum!) – we were also able to hand-feed the chickens, and also the lambs and calfs – it was just like being a big kid again!

Thank you so much to Maleny Dairies for this fun experience…and thank you Millie, for allowing me to milk you – you are SO cute! 🙂

Meeting Millie – she’s so cute! 🙂

Next on the list was a very special experience, in supporting fellow bucketlister, Emma, on her very first tick off her list –
Free Hugs in the CBD!
Supporting, and watching someone else do something which they’ve always wanted to do, is such a special experience – I know how amazing it feels to experience something you’ve been wanting to do, for the very first time, and to tick it off your bucketlist – so to watch and observe someone else have these same feelings which I’ve had so many times now, through living out my own bucketlist – and to be there by their side as theyre ticking their own ‘want’ off their list – its just such an awesome feeling!

Emma is a woman who, after a simple chat recently, was inspired (and most importantly motivated!) enough to sit down and create her own list – and within 24hrs of our chat – she had created a list that was 124 ‘items’ long – yes that’s ONE HUNDRED and twenty four items long-bucketlist!  AWESOME work Emma, it was an amazing moment when you showed your list to me, after our chat only the day before! November 18th was the day Emma was to make her first bucketlist item happen, and I was lucky enough to be able to join Emma on her very first ‘tick’.  We ventured into King George Square in Brisbanes CBD, with another couple of ‘Free Huggers’, with our signs, smiles, and open arms ready for anyone who would like a hug….it was brilliant to be in the middle of the city, in lunchhour (and afterwards) when people were going about their day, some of them having their ‘serious work-face’ on, but as soon as they spotted us, big smiles broke out….we had people virtually running towards us, for a hug – it was awesome!  I’d experienced gifting hugs through the ‘Hug Patrol’ a number of times….but to do a random ‘free hugs’ in the city – yep, so much fun – to bring smiles and joy to so many people – absolutely priceless!

“And the star of the show is…EMMA!” 😀

I could say more…but I think Emma has summed it up perfectly!…

“on the 18th of November I ticked the very first thing off my list officially, go to Brisbane city and give out free hugs, when i put this on my list the whole purpose of this was to give people something to smile about for the day and make them feel good, when i first put this on my list i thought i really want to do this but was not sure how it would go, but i went ahead and did it anyway with the doubts i had cause i was so passionate about it and to my surprise it was the best day!! the response and comments we go from people was just amazing!! i went there to make others feel good but instead it made me feel awesome! im always trying to find ways to help people and i went away from this event smiling for days and feeling i really made a difference to people today and that felt so good to help people like that.

it was great to cross something off my list but what i got out of this day will stay with me forever it was just magic!!”

Great work Emma…you’ve captured the essence already, of what magic can be experienced, when you simply get out there, and make it happen!

From Free Hugs – to Pistol Shooting!
Now what happened next, shows just how random this whole ‘bucketlist way of life’ is – we started off the week gifting Free Hugs – and ended the week Pistol Shooting!..haha – you simply cannot get two more different activities, from one extreme to the other   – something else off Emmas list which she decided to make happen!

November 24th, we arranged to meet up at the Sunshine Coast Shooting Club, out the back of Yandina on the Sunshine Coast, for what was certain to be another funfilled day – and it sure was! 🙂  I had been out to a shooting gallery before..but this was Emmas first time, so that made it exciting, knowing this was all new to her.

After filling in the security forms, and being briefed on the safety and mechanisms of the pistols and the Club, we were headed down to the Gallery, to join in with the other shooters already down there.  Donning our safety goggles, and lots of laughter and smiles being shared…it suddenly got serious – we had our weapons in our hands.  I don’t know about Emma, but the very first time I held a pistol in my hand (at the gallery I visited and shot at last year) I suddenly became very intimidated by what I had in my hand – I realised the absolute full power of what I was holding – it was awesome, and a little daunting at the very same time.  We ended up shooting 50 ’rounds’ of ammo – the moment when you get to go up to the target and check out how well you did…love it…!  I didn’t do as well as I shot last year (that day, I shot 3 bullseyes first up! haha)…but as for Emma…she did amazing – she’s a mean shot, is Emma! haha 😉

“Charlies (two) Angels”..haha…

Thank you once again Emma for allowing me to be a part of the magic of ticking things off your bucketlist – it was not only so much fun to be there joining in with you, but to see you experience the joy of making it happen through your own efforts – just brilliant!  Cant wait to see what you have lined up next!

Speaking of which..Next on my list is something which I have thoroughly enjoyed…and even though its taken a few months to complete, its something which I am so glad I found a way to make it happen!

99. Create something artistic for my home
This was something which, I had no idea what I was going to do, I had no idea which ‘artistic/creative medium’ I would end up using…but I knew that one day it would come to me – and quite by chance, one day it did – and its just around the corner from my home, which was amazing to discover! I was about to join in with a local pottery group – I had no idea what I was going to create – but I somehow just knew that I was going to enjoy every moment of it – and so far I have, for sure.  There is something very therapeutic about ‘playing’ with clay – I like to call it ‘playdoh for adults’ haha…

I had absolutely no idea of the long process it has to go through before you actually have your finished piece – theres the creating the actual piece (which can take a very long time, depending on how detailed your creation is), then you glaze/underglaze (paint with colour) it…then you fire it (and sometimes you have to fire it twice – Im not sure exactly why, but apparently that’s part of the process).  But, then theres the special day when your creation comes out of the kiln for the final time, and you can enjoy (and be proud!) of what you’ve created with your very own hands and imagination.

What I’ve also discovered about pottery is, what you may originally have in your mind that you want to create….isn’t necessarily what ends up being created.  Its interesting how it starts off as one thing…and all of a sudden you find that theres something completely different, in your hands!  My first creation is ‘meant to be’ a beach-themed vase – I had certain colours, shapes, textures in my mind for it….and I haven’t actually seen the finished product yet – but here is a photo that Ive seen of it…(its the bright blue tallish vase, in the middle of the picture).  So excited to see the finished product, for real…and I will be seeing it tomorrow! Yayz! haha 😀 I am so proud of my little creation! It took many months to create, from the original moulding of the clay, till the end of the process…but finally, its done!  My next creation is ‘meant to be’ a potplant holder….lets see what it actually turns into!

Some of the groups finished products – including my little blue vase in the middle….awww….so proud of my little vase! haha 🙂

So, that’s what has been happening the last month or so, in my ‘Chasing my Dreams’ world – and with only 13 days left in the year, I still have two more ‘ticks’ off the list, planned before the year is out!

What dreams are YOU Chasing? 🙂

Is taking part in “Free Hugs” on your bucketlist? Nows your chance! :)

This coming Monday, fellow bucketlister Emma is holding a “Free Hugs” day in Brisbane CBD, as her first ‘official tick’ off her bucketlist! 😀

Free Hugs days are SO much fun, and such a rewarding experience…heres a blog I wrote last year, after taking part in my first ‘Hug Patrol’ and giving (and receiving) the very special, and simple gift of HUGS!

https://chasingmydreamsbucketlist.com/2012/04/20/27-take-part-in-a-hug-patrol-tick/

If you would like to join in on Emmas Free Hugs…or even call past for a quick hug during your day, we will be near the Town Hall, King George Square, Brisbane CBD, from 11am on Monday 18th November.  Hope to see you there! – and hey, if you work in the CBD, a hug at lunchtime might be just what you need, to get through the rest of your day! 😀

Bring on the HUGS! 😀

Not only ‘Racing’ and reliving my #1 Life Dream..but ‘Racing with my family!’ :D

Its no secret that this whole journey of mine started with me bringing to life my most sentimental, and fulfilling Life Dream, of racing on a racetrack (racing like my family did…in my own way) in with Steve Johnson of Dick Johnson Racing/Jim Beam Racing – being raced around Qld Raceway! Wow!

(onboard camera of this amazing lifechanging moment)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU64PB3lFuc

(photo compilation of this magical day)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irfQ4FIyvg8

Since this day in August, 2011, my life and mindset have changed in ways I never, ever expected it to – it was far more than just ‘racing around a track’ because of the effects it has had on my life!

One thing I missed about this day was having my Mum with me on this special day which changed my life…she, along with my stepdad, were out in the middle of Australia somewhere, on their 4wd/caravanning adventure, living their own Dream, when I was fulfilling my own

But…on last Tuesday 29th October, I was able to fulfill the one thing what I missed on this day with DJR…to not only have my Mum watch me racing (like she would have watched my sister race, when we were growing up, and I was unable to join in because of my disability), but to also have my stepdad race with me…we were both gifted, through a competition, the amazing opportunity to sit alongside David Reynolds from The Bottle-O Racing Team/ Pepsi Max Crew FPR in his Bottle-O Ford Falcon, and race around the iconic Lakeside Park Raceway, Qld!  To not only be racing again, but to be on this iconic track full of inclines, curves, character…SO MUCH FUN! haha.  To have my Mum finally be able to ‘watch her other daughter race’, and to do this with my stepdad, so, in my way I was finally ‘racing with my family’ – just like when my original Dream came to life with DJR, this day with FPR was absolutely priceless!

Racing with my family – on such a FUN track, as Lakeside! EPIC!

I’ve always said that the racing/car community is an amazing community full of heart  – and this day, just like when I raced in with Steve from DJR, proved it, once again.  Thank you to both of these awesome race teams Dick Johnson Racing and Pepsi Max Crew FPR/Bottle-O Racing for making my dreams come true, in such an epic way – 240/250km/hr….yeeeewww!!

In with Steve Johnson and David Reynolds – two guys out there following their passion..living their racing dreams! 🙂

Chase your Dreams, no matter what they are – you may be surprised as to where they lead you!!

One year since one of the most proudest days/nights of my life – my “I Believe I can Climb” Fundraiser Event!

**Sadly, SBH Qld had to close their doors a number of years later, after this incredible experience, putting this Event together and then living it, on the day/night – this news of the closure makes this experience all the more meaningful for me.  I am SO glad I took the vision that was swirling around in my head, and made it happen! 

It is one year ago today, since my SBH QLD (Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Queensland)    “I Believe I can Climb” Fundraiser Event on November 2, 2012. Wow, I cannot believe an entire year has passed, since this magic day/night in my life!Climbing my Mountain, Walking down the Beach on Sunset, and having my Slowdance, not to mention raising funds for, and ‘giving back’ to the charity (SBH Qld) which has provided me with so much support over the years – one of the proudest times of my life! One of the absolute hardest times of my life too, with the 9 months of putting absolutely EVERYTHING I had into my physical training, as well as organising my very first Fundraiser Event at the same time – but the rewards of this day/night was SO worth it!

Giving it absolutely EVERYTHING I had, for 9 hard, long months – SO worth it for the rewards waiting for me!

Thank you to absolutely EVERYONE who helped make this possible for me!

Oh..and another reason to celebrate – Marayke Jonkers, who was my main Guest Speaker at my Event – Maraykes Fund,  “Sporting Dreams: The Marayke Jonkers Sporting Dreams Fund” was also a recipient of (a smaller amount) of funds raised from my Event – her Fund held their annual Awards night last night, where up and coming athletes are awarded grants, to help them towards chasing their own sporting dreams…awesome!  Congratulations to Marayke for a successful Awards night, and congratulations to the 2013 Award recipients! 🙂

ANYTHING is Possible, if you not only have belief in yourself…but you have people around you who also believe in you, too!

Fitness Goals – Im coming to get you! :D

Here we go…Im ramping up my training again, in preparation for smashing my Fitness Goals in 2014!

*2 x 15min (with two crutches) walks at the gym
*1 x 30min ‘water-walking’ in the pool
*1 x 5min ‘one crutch’ walk at the gym (a bit of an epic fail at this point to even do it…I feel/look like a drunk trying to balance lol, but Im working on it!)

= over 1 hour of walking, in the past week

..plus my weights/other elements of my gym workouts thrown in, and boxing/mini-tramp at home

If I can keep this pace up, my Fitness Goals I have planned for 2014 will be SMASHED before I know it!

#31. Ride the Tilt Train – Tick!

Last Tuesday 15th October, I excitedly boarded the Bundaberg Tilt Train (a more ‘luxury’ type train) – Business Class, not knowing what lay in front of me – feeling like a child at Christmas I wandered to my seat, looking around and exploring with my eyes, not knowing what surprises lay in store, in the next two hours for my trip.  With my only experience of trains being the City/suburban trains, I was in for a very pleasant surprise!

• Complimentary cuppa/juice and morning paper,
• snacks available for purchase off the menu *I had only had breakfast about an hour before, but I just HAD to order something! haha*,
• reclining seats and footrest, (the seats were SO comfortable with loads of legroom),
• curtains on the windows,
• headphones with access to music (and sound for the movies on the internal tv screens – but they weren’t playing one at the time of my trip),
• hostess coming to my seat to cater for my every need

…SO relaxing!  No it wasn’t a longhaul trip, only two hours to Brisbane…but it was just like being on a commercial aircraft (but more legroom than Economy on a flight, and much more quiet and smooth than flying), it was awesome!

When I originally put this Dream on my List, my original thought/want, was to travel up to North Qld on the Tilt Train…mainly as I was completely unaware that there was a more local service/route available –  I had no idea that it travelled shorter distances as well.  As soon as I found out that there was a service from my own home town, to the city I visit fairly regularly (Brisbane, Qld) – that was it, the idea was planted into my mind, to do this shorter trip on the Tilt Train, as a way of experiencing it without having to plan, and save up for a longhaul trip for it – awesome! 😀

I suppose the only *disappointment*, if you can even call it that haha..is that here in Qld, we have narrower train tracks, so apparently the faster trains like these, are unable to go up to their full speed here, like other highspeed trains can travel up to, eg. in Europe.  I was told that it could be capable of speeds in excess of 300km/hr, if the tracks could handle it.  This train travels at around 160km/hr, which is relatively slow compared to what its really capable of!  Anyone who knows me, knows that I love a bit of speed, so that is one of the first questions I asked at the station, while waiting for the train to arrive – “How fast are they capable of running?”

A little bit of luxury brought into my day…so much fun! 🙂

This is definitely something I want to experience again….maybe on a longer trip up to North Qld next time!

Thank you Queensland Rail Travel – I WILL be back! 🙂

ANYTHING is Possible…even if its not in the way you originally planned it to be!

Grasp an opportunity – and as if by magic, other opportunities appear!

Along this journey of mine, when sharing it with others I often mention the fact that, once you take an opportunity – you just never know where that opportunity will lead you…or what other opportunities will come, from that first one – it is very surprising at times what other ‘doors’ in life it will open – today was a classic example of this!  Back in March 2012, I decided to join in with the Disabled Surfers Association Sunshine Coast and tick off #77 on my bucketlist – ‘Give Disabled Surfing a go’.  https://chasingmydreamsbucketlist.com/2012/04/20/77-give-disabled-surfing-a-gopeople-helping-peopletick/  It was an amazing, fun, experience, one I will never forget – I faced a fear that day, and I DID it!  (As the DSA season is only a few times a year, my 2012 Event (and the recovery) meant that I wasn’t able to participate in ‘Summer 2012’ with DSA..but I hope to join back in with the fun this season again!)

Anyway…back to today – and this new opportunity!   A local helicopter Flight Training School, Chopperline decided to very generously put on a ‘joyflight morning’ for Sunshine Coast DSA participants and our families/carers – and when I heard about it, I jumped at the chance – what an incredible morning it was!

Up, up….and away! 🙂

To see the Sunshine Coast coastline/land from above was amazing…to watch the other participants go on their flights, some facing ‘the complete unknown’ and doing it anyway, with a lot of encouragement, cheers and support from everyone…what a humbling experience.  To have my Mum come on the flight with me was so special too…Mum had never been up in a helicopter before (I had been up a few years back, on Tangalooma Island Resort, as something on my bucketlist I’d always wanted to do) – I am so proud of my Mum for braving it, as she was a little hesitant at first – but she ended up loving it! She faced her fear…and she DID it! SO proud! 🙂

SO proud of my Mum for doing the flight for the first time. Awesome to share this experience with her! ❤

Thank you SO much to Chopperline for putting on this amazing morning for us all – to see the ocean which we have so much fun in with DSA, from above was just awesome!

Take opportunities in life wherever, and whenever, you can…you just never know what other fun may be had, or what other doors may open in life, from them!

Anything is Possible…when you grasp at opportunities life brings to you!

#86. Snorkelling

One of the magical parts of this whole adventure of mine, is discovering that I can do far more than I ever thought possible – especially when I receive the support from people (and businesses) who want to help me achieve these things, no matter what – this support is absolutely invaluable to me, and something I will always be very grateful for.  One such, VERY inclusive place which does this in such an amazing, encouraging way, is Tangalooma Island Resort, (on Moreton Island, just off Brisbane on Qld’s east coast).  Their staff, and the facilities are just so inclusive – whenever I have approached staff with a want to do one of their many activities available on the Island – they go out of their way to find a way to make it happen – which is awesome!

When the timetable of the Program (the reason I was over at Tangalooma in the first place) came out….and then realised that we were allocated a little ‘free time’ to do as we pleased – my mind went straight to ‘RIGHT – I’m going to tick something off the bucketlist!’.  After checking out the Island activities and finding out that a snorkeling trip was during one of our free times, I raced straight over to the Tour desk to book it in – I had NO idea how I was going to achieve it – Ive never been swimming out of my depth before, out in the deep ocean, and I had no idea of how we were going to make this happen…all I knew was, I was going to book it in, no matter how nervous I was! Once I said ‘Yes, I AM going to do it!’ to myself…of course there was no going back, despite my nerves..haha..  After having an excited chat with the friendly, and very encouraging Kristen at the Tour desk – and going through my fears/issues I could see we might cross when Im achieving it – and working out strategies to make this happen – I BOOKED it in!!

After a couple of false starts with the weather…the time came for me to experience snorkelling….Wow!  Another Program attendee Gillian decided to come with me too, which was even more awesome, we could be excited, and experience it all, together!  After our Program ended for the day, we raced over to the Hut where we were meeting with the group to head out to the Tangalooma Wrecks, got changed into our wetsuits (what a mission that was, those wetsuits sure are skintight! haha) and I met my guide.  Staff had come up with an awesome way of making it happen for me…I was to hold onto a round lifebelt for balance/bouyancy and look straight down the middle of it into the water, and my guide was going to pull the lifebelt from the front…so all I had to do was take the whole experience in and not worry about my balance/propelling through the water etc, as my guide was right there with me, guiding me around the Wrecks, and watching me, making sure I was OK.  The other awesome part of this experience was, I was out there included with a group of about 10 or so other ablebodied snorkellers – this wasnt a ‘special access trip’ to make this happen for me, I was just in with the group of ablebodied snorkelers, which made me feel ‘just like everyone else in this world’ – for someone with a disability, this is such a great feeling.

We headed out onto the boat (again, staff were absolute legends – to get myself and the beach wheelchair onto the boat was a mission in itself…but they were amazing, all the effort they went to, to get me boarded).  I felt like a little kid…this was better than Christmas – I was about to head out into that beautiful ocean that I love so much…I was going to be WAY out there in this enormous mass of ocean which Ive always admired and felt connected to, from land…wow! 🙂  Next thing, we were off!  It was about a 10 minute boat ride out to the Wrecks – and the next thing I knew, we were ready to dive off the side of the boat.  The nerves kicked in bigtime then…this was more than ‘nervous excitement’ this was actual nerves…fear of the unknown – but that’s what drives me, to get through that fear.  With assistance from staff all around me, I jumped off the deck of the boat….and instantly I was calm – I was OUT in that beautiful ocean, something I had always dreamed of doing – but the best was yet to come!

We did it! SO MUCH FUN sharing this with a friend 😀

I donned my mask and snorkel, looked face down into the water…and was COMPLETELY blown away – it really is a whole other magical world under there – at first we didn’t see too many fish, but the closer we got to the Wrecks (we were so close we could have touched it!), we not only got to see this absolutely incredible structure of the wrecks which has so much history built into it – but all of a sudden all these black-and-white fish started swimming straight past us, almost as if they were coming to say ‘hello’…it was beyond breath-taking!   From that moment, more fish started appearing as if by magic, as if they were curiously checking us all out.  It was so surreal being there, seeing the wrecks right up close, all the beautiful coloured fish, the pretty coral, the amazing structure of the wrecks themselves..and I came SO close to seeing the resident wobbygong – but only managed to see the tail end of him, and the scattering of the sand when he scurried away…I will have to go back again, so I can find him again! haha.  We live our day-to-day lives up on land…and at the very same time, this magical world is happening out in the depths of the ocean – that’s even more amazing to think about, now that Ive seen it with my very own eyes.

Before we knew it, our time out at the Wrecks was over, and it was time to head back onto the boat.  A feeling of complete fulfillment and peace swam over me…not only had I experienced something I had no idea how I was going to achieve it – but I had been out there, in that beautiful, mysterious ocean I love to look out at – and be completely mesmerized by, from land. I could have stayed out there all day, it was such an amazing experience!

Tangalooma Wrecks – such an amazing structure, and magical underwater world to discover around it!

I am so glad that even though I was very nervous at first,  I went through with booking it in, and the actual experience itself. Tangalooma staff did, as they always do, whatever they could, and went well over the extra mile, to help me make it happen.  Thank you so much to Kristen at the Tour desk, and to my guide for being right there beside me, literally every step (or should I say, swim!) of the way….and thank you also to other staff who helped me on and off the boat.  You were all AMAZING!

(One of the aspects of having hydrocephalus is that I am unable to go deep under water because of my shunt that drains my cerebral spinal fluid away from my brain – this takes ‘deep sea diving/scuba diving’ away from me…BUT, with the way my mind works now – when this opportunity came up to experience snorkeling, out in the ocean – that to me, was ‘my way of deep sea diving’ – because we were actually out in the deep ocean, even if not right under, I was looking deep down into it!)

Anything really is Possible…When you have people who want you to make it happen, as much as you do! 🙂