KAYLA'S TOP 30 before I turn 30 - Celebrate 14 more amazing memories!

Today is the last day that I am 29 years old. Goodbye 20's. Hello 30's. A little scary to say. A little hard to swallow. But in the true essence of how my father raised me, there's not time for tears. Just time for moving on.
So, in the spirit of enjoying the last day before I turn 30, I still have 14 more memories to count down! Wow, what a slacker! I am going to be a true slacker and put all of them in the same post.

14. San Antonio Trip - I made this trip on a whim back in 2007 and had an absolute blast! There isn't time for all of the details, but it's an amazing city with some great memories!

15. Charleston, SC Trip - This trip was planned. Between Rainbow Row, the Angel Oak, swimming in the ocean, eating amazing southern food and southern hospitality, it's still one of my fav cities!

16. Anytime fishing, hunting, camping or trapping with my dad - I am a daddy's girl (sorry mom - it's true) and have been since I was very little. I have very fond memories of spending time with my dad. He taught me how to fish from the shore and from the boat and we event went ice fishing once. I don't know if I'll ever go ice fishing again, but it was a good time. The first time I went duck hunting with him, I didn't tie my boots up to my belt loops and ended up in a serious mud hole with water covering every inch of my body, including my gun. I don't particularly like duck hunting so much either, but I did enjoy sitting in the reeds as quiet as could be, doing duck calls with my dad. Then there were the other hunting trips. The first year I drew a deer tag it was for area 10. We were up at like 3 a.m. every day to get to the mountains and into our spot before the sun came up. Have you ever climbed up one side of the Ruby mountains and looked down onto the other? I have - and all before the sun came up. It was probably the most beautiful site ever. The sun coming up over the valley as we're sitting there, with our binoculars and guns, trying not to get forst bite! Anyway, we didn't get anything that year, but we did have a lot of fun listening to the quakies, driving all over those mountains and just sitting and watching. I learned how to read tracks, listen to nature and hold still (which as Ryan will attest to any movie watching adventures, is very difficult for me to do for long periods of time). Then of course there was the time we got shot - literally, with a shotgun. Luckily it was long range and it wasn't too serious, but we were both hit. He was hurt, but he checked on me before anything else. We certainly have a complicated relationship, but I have enjoyed all of my time with him.

17. Horseback riding - anytime.

18. Caribbean Cruise.

19. Cruise to Mexico.

20. Summertime - So many summers were spent with my dad and many with my mom growing up. I have fond memories with both of them. With my mom, I made friends in Carlin where she lived and we would do al kinds of crazy things like trestle jumping into the Humbolt River, camping out and shooting hoops at the park. My mom loved to help us do crafts and I learned some great recipes from her during our summers together. The summers with my dad were spent working in the fields chopping cockle burs, swimming in the irrigation ditches, swimming at ash, fishing, doing yard work or working on the drill rig. There were times when we were building forts and adventuring all over our little hiko valley in the mountains. Those were all great times!

21. High School Graduation and after party.

22 - 25. All of the service projects and great work we did with our Civitan Clubs. The first, Civitan Accelerated, Chartered January 19, 2006. Then Lovely Ladies Bruncheon Club chartered in August 2008. Then Civitan on the Greens in 2009 and Diverse City Civitan Club in 2010. Some of my bestest friends in the world have come from my volunteer work with Civitan!

26. Civitan Conventions to Detroit, Orlando and  NYC to Nova Scotia on a cruise. Civitans ROCK!

27. My first road trip with Ryan to Tempe for Halloween last year. This is one of my favorite memories for many reasons - and they include fun, friends and relaxation!

28. The Novel Completion party in Atlanta with Julie and the gang after we completed the NANOWRIMO Competition in 2007. My novel was lost - all 10,000 words of it - when my usb drive went kaput - but the memory of working, going to school, taking care of a family and still writing a novel in 30 days reminds me that I can do anything I set my mind to, have good friends to support me, and take baby steps to get there.

29. Spending time with my grandparents. A lot of people had a hand in raising my siblings and me. I have some great memories of trips to Hurricane, UT from Fredonia with Grandma Carolyn and Grandpa Johnny for apples and then the memory of canning homemade apple sauce, of playing in grandpa's yard, learning to sew from grandma and watching Transformers (the cartoons) and He-Man with my cousin Josh at their house. My grandma Alice and Grandpa Davis also carry some special memories in my heart. Grandma always took us shopping, let us read to her and play beauty shop with her. She also had an endless supply of grapes and other fruit at her house, which I loved. Grandpa had great stories, staunch opinions (about everything) and always seemed to have a pot of beans on the stove.

30. Last but not least. I hope my birthday celebration this weekend with my friends and family counts as one of my top 30 memories of the past 30 years.

Here's to 30 great ones and to 30 more!