Live It Like Improv 2023

The lily is a beautiful flower. Life is beautiful also. 

This year's theme is Live It Like Improv, or as I like to refer to it... Lili.  Lili is such a beautiful name and flower, no matter how it is spelled. When I say Live It Like Improv, the "it" is life. I have always tried to live my life like Improv, and I encourage everyone out there to do the same. Honestly, life is all Improv anyway. It is the ultimate Improv skit don't you think? But allow me to further explain what I mean. 

The first rule of Improv is to say "Yes" to everything, followed by "and...". In other words, if someone suggests something to you in a skit, you should say yes and add your own input to it. An example in Improv would be... your partner in the scene will say something like "You should donate all your clothes to charity"... and you respond with "Yes! And I should buy a whole new snazzy wardrobe for myself". That can set a hilarious scene of you and your partner going shopping together and trying on a bunch of fun clothes. In life, an example might be... your partner says, "You should change careers"... and you say "Yes, I will become a professional shopper!" Or whatever else you come up with. 

Of course, those are fun and silly examples. Some suggestions may be bad ones, and by no means do I suggest you do something illegal or mean in life. What I do believe is that if someone suggests something, your first reaction or thought should be a positive one. That does not mean saying Yes to everything, just have a positive thought or reaction to whatever is suggested.  Saying Yes is positive, and a good start a lot of the time I believe. Then put your own spin on it. This can lead to a lot of great, fun, and interesting opportunities in your life that you may not have had if you said no. Here are some examples from my life, just to give you more of an idea of what I mean.

At 22 I was living with my mom. I worked in a bowling alley and at Taco Bell to pay my way in life. I had no thoughts of going to college or changing my life. At the time, I felt happy and was OK with all of my choices. Then a friend said, "I am going to go to nursing school, do you want to go with me?". I honestly didn't give it much thought, and I said sure. I gave very little thought to what it truly meant or how it would change my life. Rest assured; it totally changed my life for the good in so many ways! My first response was positive, and as I got into my career, I kept adding more to it with my own input. First, I decided to do travel nursing. This positive response led me to working at summer camps for Easter Seals. Easter Seals led me to clowning, which led me to Russia and Maria's Children, and so on. All of these experiences in my life are invaluable to me, and I truly can't imagine what my life would be like if I had said "No" to nursing school. I certainly don't want to go back in time to try and find out either. I love my life, and that is mostly due to the fact that a LONG LONG time ago, my first response to a suggestion was "Yes"... "And"... just like in Improv. 

I am not so naïve to think my life is perfect, or any life would be perfect. However, my life is a great and happy life with the positive choices I have made to the suggestions that were presented to me.  Even camp and Russia were not my idea, but suggestions from people I know. I said yes and ran with it. I am so much happier because of it. 

I am also not so naïve to think "Yes" is the right answer to everything. Of course, we should say "No" to a lot of things... Say No to drugs, Say No to violence, Say No to karaoke... OK, maybe we can say yes to karaoke, Ha. The point of this is to think positively about whatever is ahead of you and whatever you decide to do. This will involve listening to others closely and listening to yourself and your heart. It will lead you on the right path, and I believe it should be a path of positivity! Do you agree?

So, that is the meaning of LILI in a nutshell. If you agree, I would love to hear about it. If you disagree, I would love to hear about it. And if you have examples from your own life, I would love to hear about them! Comment below if you can, or email me at

                                cheepski@gmail.com 

As for other news in my life. The bed and breakfast is going well. We work hard, long hours in the summer, with a reprieve of sorts in the winter. We enjoy the people, projects, work, and benefits that come our way from all of it. By the way, owning a bed and breakfast is another example of LILI in my life. It wasn't my idea, but I said "Yes"... "and"... And it is leading me to some amazing, fun experiences along the way. Coincidentally, I will say "Yes" to almost any suggestion Connie or Katie make. 

In March, Connie and I went to Costa Rica with Connie's sister and brother-in-law. We had so much fun and learned quite a bit along the way as well. We ate delicious food, met some fun and interesting people, and saw some great birds, wildlife, and topography! Connie really wanted to see toucans, and we did! I really wanted to see a sloth, and we did! We both love birds, and we saw so many fascinating, beautiful birds along the way as well. Plus we saw monkeys, a Jesus Christ lizard (named so because it can run on water), and more. We highly recommend Costa Rica for a vacation destination... or even a retirement destination! 

A sloth we saw climbing through the trees

Toucans we saw in the tree at one of our resorts. They also flew over us! 

My favorite surprise bird in Costa Rica. The Blue-Crowned Motmot

Unbelievably, Costa Rica is an example of LILI. Connie's sister told us they were going and asked if we wanted to join them. Our initial response was not necessarily positive, but not negative either. We weren't sure we could both get off work at the same time to go. Eventually, we figured out it would work and so we said "Yes" and... I am so glad we did! 

Mitch and Sandy signed up for a guided tour, which we had never done. They had done one in Europe, so we trusted their suggestion and said "Yes" and... This was another example of LILI. We went with it and we had more fun than we probably would have on our own. Our tour guide was incredible, and so smart. We learned so much about the history of Costa Rica, and the history Costa Rica has with the United States. He taught us about a lot of the plants, the ecosystems, and the wildlife of the area.  We also did things we might not have done without the guided tour. We went to a local brewery, a coffee plantation, zip lining with a Tarzan Swing at the end, Hot Springs near the volcano, a riverboat tour, and much more. On the riverboat trip, we saw monkeys and our guide spotted a Great Potoo! This is a fascinating bird that we probably wouldn't have seen without the guide. Plus all of our transportation was provided, which was a nice perk that also allowed us to gawk at the scenery without having to navigate it. These perks were all a result of Living It Like Improv! 

The Great Potoo is nestled in the "fork" of the tree. We NEVER would have seen it on our own. 

In May, Connie and I took a weekend off and drove up north. We took both dogs and rented a small place to have to ourselves. We got to really relax and enjoy the outdoors with the dogs with no thoughts of the business. It was a much-needed getaway before the busy summer season. Northern Wisconsin has some beautiful spots to walk around.

In June, I went to Ohio to watch my nephew graduate from high school. This is the beauty of having a set work schedule at the hospital. He walked on a Wednesday, so I was able to drive down on Tuesday, stay a couple of days, and drive back on Thursday. Just in time to help with the B&B some and work my weekend schedule. It was such a lovely trip, as I got to spend a little time with some great friends. I also go to spend a lot of quality time with Nathan. We spent a whole day just hanging out, walking through Carillon Historical Park and Gardens, and taking photos together. It was truly a highlight of my year. 

I upgraded my camera after that trip, to a Nikon D7500. It takes some great photos! The first week I got some incredible bird photos, along with some scenery. I am looking forward to using it in Iceland for the Northern Lights, among other things. 

One of my favorite non-bird photos with my new camera.

My absolute best photo of the summer with my new camera.

A "smiling" dragonfly. Or it could be a damselfly? I never know which is which. 

The summer was filled with the usual B&B stuff with a few days here and there to rest. As much as I enjoyed the summer, September was definitely my best and favorite month this year. That is the month Connie and I got married! It was a wonderfully, perfect day for us. It was a casual day of spending time with Judy, Sandy, Katie, and each other. We had a nice lunch, a quick ceremony at the courthouse, and then a quiet evening at home. We did go see an awful movie before relaxing at home for the evening. We saw "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3". We both loved the first one, didn't see the second one, but were interested to see the 3rd. Even though it was not funny at all, it still seemed fitting to go see a movie about a wedding on our wedding day. And we laughed a lot! Not at the movie, but at the absurdity of it. So, in a way, it was a funny movie, I guess.

Mr. and Mrs. on our front porch

Cheers! Isn't Connie beautiful? I just love how her eyes sparkle when she smiles!

I do miss my friends in Russia, but I was blessed with a visit from Asya this past October! It was so wonderful to see her and play for a few days. We hiked around Devil's Lake to see the beautiful Fall colors, juggled, and ate some delicious food. It was at least a small taste of what I am missing in Russia, and now I dream even more about going there to see Maria and her other daughters! 

Asya and I taking a rest. 

Asya enjoying the Fall colors

Just this past week we had a couple of free days, so we went to a secluded spot on the Wisconsin River to watch the Sandhill Cranes fly in. Sandhills migrate through Wisconsin in November/December as they head south for a few months. We see thousands of Sandhills all over the fields in our area, but I have never seen them fly to the river. They fly to the river every night and rest on sandbars and islands. This keeps them safe from predators, especially coyotes. To see thousands of cranes fly to the river over a 45-minute period at sunset is something everyone should witness in their lifetime. That is my humble opinion anyway. AND, the noise is so cool! It was extremely loud and fascinating! I was surprised by the noise actually, and that made the experience that much better. If that wasn't enough, we also saw a gold eagle, 2 bald eagles, and a pileated woodpecker fly directly over our heads! It was such a lovely evening shared with Connie, Katie, and Judy! 

Thousands of Sandhill Cranes fly in at sunset. 

A couple of flyovers.

The Holidays will be filled with family time and walking the dogs, etc. Connie and I are going to Iceland in December to chase northern lights for our Honeymoon! That is if the volcano doesn't blow! So far, it seems like we will be able to travel there! If not, we will say yes to a different opportunity and see where that leads us, so stay tuned. 

Funny enough, Iceland was another LILI moment for me. I wanted to go south and somewhere warm. We were talking about and planning to go to South Texas for a birding trip. It probably would have been fun, and we may do that in the future? Connie had suggested Iceland early in the year before we got married. My first reaction was not a big positive one, to say the least. Yes, seeing northern lights would be fun, but being cold didn't sound like fun. After a little research and finding out that flights were not as bad as I had envisioned; I said yes! It will be our first international trip alone together! That seemed more fitting for a Honeymoon. So, in true (albeit delayed) LILI fashion, I got on board with it.  I couldn't be more excited! This also brings up a good point, that not all LILI moments are immediate. You can have a delayed positive response to make it a LILI moment! I will be posting this blog before we go to Iceland, so if you want to know how the trip was, you will have to email me and ask :0). Or perhaps read a future blog post? 

That is about it from this end for 2023. I would love to hear how your year was and if you have ever had any LILI moments in your life?! So, send me messages to let me know. 

Now Go Out and Hug Your Wife, Husband, or Other Loved One!