Bucket list Updated!

I started my Bucket List back in 2010 and thought I'd update it a bit. A select few are specifically on my 30 things to complete before/during my 30th year. I'll highlight those in orange.


Note: The newly completed items on my list are marked with a date without being crossed off.

• Cycle across Canada for something I believe in
• Find a starfish in the Ocean (Completed in the Bahamas, April 2010)
• Take a father-daughter trip to soak in some European architecture :)
• Take a mother-daughter trip
• Travel to:
• Tokyo (to visit my brother and see his life over there) Planned for March 2012!
• Italy
• Ireland
• Switzerland (my mum's favourite European country)
• Newfoundland
• California (Completed Dec 2009)
• Romania (Completed Summer 2003)
• London (Completed August 2003)
• Austria
• Papua New Guinea (to see my cousin and get a glimpse of her life)
• BC (Completed when I was little, but revisited as an adult June 2009)
• NYC (Completed for the first time on a grade 12 drama trip)
• Texas
• Boston (Completed October 2010)
• Africa & go on a safari
• Arizona
• The Wave, Utah (and photograph it!)
• Greece
• The peak of Mount Sinai (Completed August 2010)
• Spain
• Tanzania
• Argentina
• Chile
• Nepal
• Bora Bora or Fiji
• Barcelona
• The Galapagos Islands
• Use nothing but a bike for transportation for an entire month (aside from cross-Canada tour)
• Become a published author
• Couch-surf (Completed May 2011, in Memramcook, New Brunswick)
• Have my artwork displayed in an art gallery
• Participate in a worship service at Westminster Abbey in London (Completed August 2003)
• Own a dog  (:
• Photograph the International AIDS conference
• Take a train trip! (Completed May & June 2011 from New Brunswick to Montreal, and then on to Toronto)
• Photograph a destination wedding (The Bahamas! Completed May 2010)
• Volunteer in Africa doing something related to the AIDS epidemic
• Fall in love
• Have some babies
• See a Shakespearean play in the Globe Theatre in London (Completed August 2003)
• Go an entire year without buying anything new (shoes, furniture, clothes, etc.)!
• Spend up to one month living on reserves learning about the history of Canada's Aboriginal peoples
• Publish a photography book (going to print Dec 2011!!)
• Sell my photography book in a book store
• Go SCUBA diving or snorkeling in tropical waters (Completed in Dahab, Egypt. August 2010)
• Live debt free
• Learn to speak/understand
• Arabic
• Hebrew
• Publish a coffee table book showing the similarities between Israelis and Palestinians
• Ride a camel in Egypt
• Grow a vegetable garden
• Pierce my nose :) (Completed February 2011)
• Read 30 books
• See Rod Stewart in concert
• See Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe Crhistmas show
• Launch a business branding company (I have my first clients. The official launch is planned for Dec 2011)
• Move & make my new place a creative and inspiring space (moving date Jan 1st, 2012!)
• Buy a really great piece of used furniture and re-furbish it
• Upgrade my photography equipment to Nikon's professional line
• Re-brand Red Umbrella & launch new website and business cards
• Host a potluck for local professional photographers
• Enter a photograph in one of the WPPI photography competitions
• Learn to read lips
• Go to bed before midnight every night for a month! (As I write this post at 1:30 a.m.)
• Join a choir (Completed December 2010)
• Take a train trip with Erin Leis!
• Tithe consistently
• Go on a hot air balloon ride (preferably in Petra but anywhere will do to complete this in my 30th year)
• Learn to surf (Completed May 2011 in Monterey Bay, California)
• Swim in 5+ oceans or seas (Completed: Pacific, Atlantic, Red Sea, Dead Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Sea of Galilee)
• Learn to cook a Thai dish and an Indian dish
• Open an Etsy store
• Visit the Toronto Zoo
• Present about Israel-Palestine in 100 Cities
1. Kitchener (Grandview Baptist Church, September 2009)
2. Puslinch (Crieff Hills, October 2009)
3. Waterloo (University of Waterloo, March 2010)
4. New Hamburg (Private event, 2010)
5. Jerusalem (August 2010)
6. Toronto (Morningside-High Park Presbyterian Church, February 2011)
• Present about Israel-Palestine in each Province in 2011
1. BC
2. Alberta
3. Saskatchewan
4. Manitoba
5. Ontario
6. Quebec
7. New Brunswick
8. Nova Scotia
9. PEI
10. Newfoundland and Labrador

What's on YOUR bucket list??  I'd love to hear it. Maybe I'll add some of your ideas to my list!  (:

Red Umbrella Photography - California Ranch

I had the pleasure of spending the first few weeks of May in California. If you've been reading, you'll know I was there to photograph *this event*. Whenever I travel somewhere and have a few days to kill I like to try to set up other shoots - fun shoots I wouldn't necessarily be able to do in my home area. One of those shoots this trip was out on a ranch. I adore horses (and farms in general) so when I met Claire and heard she rides, I immediately suggested we schedule a shoot of her with her horse. She loved the idea so we booked the next non-rainy afternoon and headed out! Here's a sneak peek!

Remember you can click on these to make them larger

I love how happy Claire is in this shot!

Smile with your eyes  .  See with your heart  .  Love with your life

Red Umbrella Photography - Morning Sunshine & Gardens

For the next three weeks I'm down here in California. I will be moving around a little bit, but for the time being I've settled in Berkeley - one of my favourite spots!

Shortly after I woke up this morning, I stepped out onto the back deck and found myself under a big blue sky filled with the warmest sunshine I've felt since...well, probably since I was here last November. I couldn't resist but to take some snapshots of the beautiful garden they keep here.