50 Things to Do: Host a Scrabble Tournament #34

Do you have a board game that is nostalgic to you? For me it would be Scrabble. My grandma Nelda (my dad’s mom) and I would spend a lot of time together, especially in the summer time. I loved going to visit them in Southey, Saskatchewan. My grandma always made me feel like she had the time for me and one of the ways we spent time together was playing card games and board games, Scrabble being my favourite.

One of the first things I wanted to do add to my 50 Things list is hosting a Scrabble Tournament.

I have a fancy swivel version of Scrabble but I did decide to go out and buy another one (we needed a few boards).

Christina also brought her board—there are so many different versions of this game which has been around since 1948!

I love board games and want to host a board game night in the next couple of months where we could be playing a few different games and just enjoy all being together. That is what it’s all about right? If you are interested, let me know—I think it is the best cooler weather activity.

I few of my co-workers from Lululemon and teaching joined me for this fun Saturday afternoon. We discovered a few things about Scrabble—people play with different rules (seems simple in Scrabble but you would be surprised—you know who you are!) and while using my vintage 1996 Scrabble Dictionary was initially frowned upon, it did end up coming in handy. And people like to WIN!

We played in teams and the team names were Scrabblicious, The Tile High Club, We forgot the Q and The Buzzwords. Christina set up a bracket (not sure if it worked in the end as we ended up adding in a final round) but it made it feel official, hahaha!

It was a really fun afternoon and Jac & Jen —aka team Scrabblicious, ended up being the winners in the end (at the end of the bracket, it was me & Christina—I had prizes and felt bad winning so we played one more round to make it legit and Jac & Jen defeated us).

I think they were pretty excited about the bragging rights and the Starbucks gift cards :) Got to combine all the things I love!

But the losers also deserved a photo too (I am questioning some of the scorekeeping—you know who you are! hahaha!).

And I will say it again—the best thing about this list is the people who are showing up to help me make it happen. You know who you are :)

50 Things to Do List--Biked the Legacy Trail #13

You what I love about this list? I am not doing anything in order—when I wrote this list in January, I wrote a list of the all the ideas I had for myself to try and accomplish this year. Things that had been on my mind, things that I had put off for 1000 reasons, things I wanted to experience again and for the first time.

Usually I am a pretty methodical person, but this list is an experience and I will take the opportunities as they arise!

So when Sarah, Kelsy & planned to ride our bikes on the Legacy Trail (from Banff to Canmore) we added in as much as we could including the Nordic Spa (take me baaaack!) and whitewater rafting to finish our trip off! The bike ride deserves its own post!

We rented E-Bikes from Banff Cycle which was incredible! We had our bikes from 9 am to 7 pm and we used almost every minute of our rental.

The start of the trail is right outside of Banff. These were E-assist bikes which meant we did have to pedal the whole time. I will admit, the first 10 minutes I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into as one way of the trail is 26.8 kilometres and its been a hot minute since I have been on a bike! Hahaha!

The trail was so picturesque with the trees and mountains and just really feeling like a part of nature. The trail was steady but not in a crowded way. I actually felt connected to all the other people riding by on their bikes too.

We had a good pace but none of us took any notice of the time to arrive in Canmore or return to Banff! We just enjoyed the scenery and making some photo pit stops along the way!

Banff is absolutely gorgeous and I don’t know what it is about mountain air and seeing the mountains, but it is so good for the soul.

Across Canada in our parks you can find over 400 red Adirondack chairs that are placed in peaceful and gorgeous locations. It is always fun to come across a set as they demand a photo! So we were excited to find this pair on our way to Canmore!

We were so excited when we say the ‘Welcome to Canmore’ sign! Haha! Half way was done. We decided to bike into town for lunch and got a recommendation from a local. Their Main Street was shut down to traffic so we also enjoyed doing a little shopping! The bikes had some storage on the back which was great for our purchases!

After lunch we headed back to the trail for some more amazing views! We even saw a bald eagle on top of a tree right along the trail!

On the way back, we took a little detour (with no idea where it went) and emerged at the most amazing place known as Cascade Pond! I cannot believe that I have been to Banff so many times and did not know this place existed! The view was so fantastic, there was a little waterfall and tons of picnic benches and another set of red chairs!

Like, come on! Look at this! The water was like glass!

We road around the pond and found this bridge, I don’t know what it is about a bridge but one must cross it!

I think this picture captures how I felt about this whole awesome day! My heart is so full to finally! FINALLY! After years of driving by people on this bike trail and looking out my window and thinking “I want to be like them” to actually doing it with my friends!

Finding another set of red chairs was awesome too and we spent some time sitting, relaxing and visiting.

We when headed back into town we stopped by the ‘Welcome to Banff’ sign (you can see it across the road) and then decided to ride around town and find the big BANFF letters that have been relocated by the train station (they are a huge tourist attraction and the original location was causing traffic jams and parking issues). It’s definitely a must do photo opportunity when you visit!

After we dropped off our bikes a drink on a rooftop patio was required! It was a great way to end an awesome day!

I am so proud of myself for making this happen. It was one of my most desired experiences to check off my 50 Things List and my heart is so full knowing I have had the experience and the 600 photos to prove it. I will not be running out of scrapbooking content any time soon!

Thanks for being a part of my journey as I will be sharing another hike and white water rafting next (#41 ) soon!

50 Things to Do when I am 50--#46 Try a new Craft!

As you know, I have been pretty committed to my craft of card making and scrapbooking for the last 20 years, literally saying the phrase “I cannot take on a new hobby”…has we know, hobbies & crafts are expensive, hahaha! However, when some of my lemons asked if I wanted to go try painting pottery with them as part of my 50 Things list, I could not say no! As saying ‘Yes’ to things is also on my list! My friend Karrie suggested this to my list and I so happy I added it on. I have a few other new crafts to try before the year is out!

So off we went to a really cute local place in Edmonton called Clay & Cupcakes. You can pick a variety of pottery items to paint, have access to all of their paint and supplies and then they fire and finish it for you.

I decided on a rainbow item—a container of sorts and I thought it would be fun to store my Stampin’ Water Painters in my craft room.

I decided on colors that felt like Stampin’ Up! to me—Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight and Pool Party. It was not a complicated item to paint, but it was relaxing and fun to socialize while we applied our multiple coats of paint. I even painted the whole inside!

Got to have a starbies on hand!

Aren’t our projects the cutest? The worst part was waiting to get our projects back as it took about a month. But well worth the wait when the girls delivered it to me at work! We typically are ‘ladies of the night’ as we really got to know each other working after closing shifts together. Hahaha!

Now my rainbow container is at home in my crafting studio, holding all of my water painters and adding a little pop of color to my craft room table!

Can’t wait to have the girls over for a crafting night and to share a technique using water painters!

Thanks friends for helping me check this one off of my list!

Make sure to check back as I recently went to Banff and checked a whole shwack load of things off of my list!

50 Things to Do List--#19 check and check!

Hi friends,

I am happy to report that I was able to check off #19 off my list. #19 was to go on a girls trip—which I did and it also doubled as a 40th birthday trip for one of my besties! Maybe the key to looking and feeling young is hanging around the young…hahaha!

We rented a really cool house/cabin in Nordegg, Alberta which has some really gorgeous mountain views and is just a short drive from Abraham Lake.

We had absolutely amazing weather that was a combination of light beautiful snow, warm sunshine and barely a breeze! We took advantage of it by spending some time on the lake and taking a hike up to see the Cline River Falls. I love a frozen waterfall!

The hike was fun and such a great way to spend an afternoon! Our rental had a cedar sauna which was perfect (once we figured it out) and we had delicious meals all weekend, played some games and enjoyed just being ‘ourselves’ and not moms, wives or anything else.

The best part of the weekend was celebrating my wonderful friend Bailey who was celebrating a milestone birthday! She is funny, generous, a good listener and has a unique and inspiring perspective on the world. She is a top shelf mom and I am so lucky to have the benefit of being her friend. I am looking forward to many more adventures together!

Happy birthday my friend :) You are loved.

Best Month EVER--and #50 off my list is checked!

I can officially say that Jan 2026 was probably one of the BEST months of my entire life. This whole month was a celebration of embracing turning 50 and focusing on my relationships, being grateful for all the gifts in my life and all the fun and adventure I have in my future. I am so grateful for the amazing friends I have in my life. They truly made this month special in so many ways.

And I am so unbelievably happy for everyone who has contributed to my list, reached out to make plans with me to partner with me on things—it was an unexpected ripple effect of my 50 Things List!

Today I checked another item off my list—I went skating! It has been YEARS since I have laced up my skates and while my ankles feel like they were beaten with a baseball bat, I had literally the BEST time!

My amazing friend Amanda came up to spend the day with me and skating at the Victoria Oval was on my list of things to do. It has been so long since I went skating. Today was the perfect day, warm with the sun shining on our faces as we skated a ton of laps, enjoyed the path and caught up on life.

The best part is that neither of us wiped out, hahaha! And I can say that skating falls into the same category as riding a bike. I am hoping to be able to go out at least once more this winter—so if anyone wants a skating date—hit me up!

I am so excited for February and to keep working on fulfilling items on my list—some are year long projects that will update you on from time to time and some are one and done! Thanks for following along on my journey :)