COINTEST: Realizing your dreams (for grown ups)

[+anne.and.eli]

Queenie-Boo-Bay is running a cointest for the kids that I thought was so cool, that I wanted to run another one simultaneously for the adults. I'm stealing her rules and writeup, too!

 

I want to hear your DREAMS and what you are doing to make them come true, out of all of the postings I will pick two stories and award them a Li'l Dreamer Geocoin.

 

Rules:

1. All Participants must be 18 or over. (If you are under 18, please see the other cointest!)

2. You must tell me what your dream is and what you are doing, or plan to do to make it come true.

3. This can be a dream you have achieved or one you are working to achieve.

4. You can enter once for each dream you have.

5. I love to see your pictures, so post if you can, not a requirement.

6. The cointest ends February 14th, 2010 @ 5:00 p.m..

 

Example:

I have always loved animals, and although I have three animals at home (2 cats and a rabbit) I never felt like I was doing ENOUGH.

In response, I have become a volunteer at the local animal shelter and have taken on extra shifts when I have free time. I volunteer with both the cats and the dogs.

I would like to have an environment suitable for fostering animals.

I am in the process of designing a Facebook game centered around animal adoption and awareness of the issues surrounding homeless animals.

 

So now your turn! I can't wait to hear what you all have to say. I know some of you are going through tough times right now, but I hope you all can remember to have dreams and to keep working towards them!

[Firefly03]

I dreamed of being a vet since I was 8 years old. I did well in college, and got into vet school. I was there for two years when I realized this was not where I wanted to be, so I dropped out. As a way to pay the bills I went to the local community college and began to tutor students in the sciences. Chemistry became my favorite subject. I loved helping students learn and appreciate chemistry. Watching that light bulb turn on was the best feeling in the world. I decided then that I should teach, but to do so I have to get my masters. I am currently working on some prerequisites and then plan on applying to the masters program for chemistry. It's been hard to get back into the school groove, but I am enjoying it.

 

(I have this beautiful coin already, so do not enter me into the cointest.)

[+GATOULIS]

huh... I had a lot of dreams, and I still have! since they are dreams... they never came real till now...but I am working in some of them!

 

Most of the times, our dreams have to do with what we wanted to be....

 

so I will not post the dreams we all (more or less) have, about true love, family etc...

 

From the time I was a little child, I wanted to be an Archeologist! I loved history, mythology etc, and I was dreaming to be an archeologist who will find a lost city, or something great, or to prove that something from mythology actually existed! do not forget that until they find Troy, even the Trojan was was a part of Mythology!!!

 

I didn't like to be an archeologist behind an office, but to be in excavations! I really wanted to be an numismatist too! to clean and identify ancient, medieval etc coins, search the story behind them.... you know... even if they are tiny pieces of metal, they have lots of things to tell us!!! coins that were made when a city was in siege, coins with messages on them about something in their time.... coins that were stamped again to change the value... tokens, love tokens, medals, commemorative coins, like the sestertius that was minted in Roman empire what Colosseum was builded (from that coin, archeologists saw how the building looked like what it was finished!!

In coins you could find forgotten names.... names of kings, names of countries that were lost in the history.... for some cities, we only have their coins to know their existance!! With coins we culd see the trade in the ancient times! It seemed such a great thing!!!

 

I have lotsof books about history and archeology, mythology etc! I just love this!!!

 

Unfortunatelly, things didn't come as I expected!

My wings were cut, and my drea stayed a dream!

 

Now what I do? Well, I am trying (but not always with success) to be as close as I can to my loves...the ancient things and coins! I am working as a guard of antiqueties in a museum! It is a seasonal job and they do not get you every year, but it is the closest I can go since I never became an archeologist! Of course, I wish I could participate in an excavation and bring an ancient in the sun light after a couple of thousand years! Can you imagine to be the first man to hold a terracota cup or an ancient oil lamp after 2000 years??? Can you imagine that you are the nest who is holding it except his maker or his owner?? In some of them, you cna even see the fingerprints of the maker!!! WOW!!

 

I am still learning, reading for them! I hope one day when the "open university" that we have here has a class for archeologists to be able to be there! Of course years are passing... more things come that you have to deal with them and I do not know! I just hope!

 

About coins???? Well.. I can see the ancient coins in books and I collect modern or old coins and banknotes! Of course, when someone need help in them and I can help... I am helping and I feel so great!!!!

I recently helped a friend and a youg boy, a student of my sister to start collecting too! I like that!!!

 

I only want to say to all of you and especially to the youg ones... Follow your dreams! Do not let go!!! I partly did and... when a dream stays a dream for too long, it becomes a wound in our heart! It brings sorrow to us! So follow your dreams my friends!!!

 

My dear friend Anne, send me this lovely coin and a sample of it too! I really thank her for that!!! This coins really mean a lot to me!!! So, I do not know if I am allowed or if it is ok to participate in the cointest!!

[+GATOULIS]

Ok... I have another dream and I am really working on it!

 

My dream is to break a Guiness world record! What record? n collecting banknotes from as many countries as I can! A guy told me that the record in 2002 was 217 countries! I have 209! If the record still stands... I am close! I do not know... 8 years have passed so... but I will try!

 

I wouldn't like posting all the time about coins etc and get you bored, so I will post this here!

 

an other dream I have is to have the smallest and the bigest coins in the world, the smallest and the biggest banknote (in denomination and in size!) and one of each different material that were used for making banknotes! Now that I am in geocaching... the oldest, the biggest and the smallest (and one made of Silver...) and the oldest pathtag!!

 

Things in real coins are not easy at all! I have the smallest coin ever existed! It is a tiny gold coin from India, the 1 bele! If anyone of you collects coins will probably know that the smallest coin is the Fanam from India, a coins that is about 6-7 mm and weights 0.30 - 0.40gr!

 

Well... the 1 bele is also known as 1/10th of the faman!!! You can lost it in your hands!!! I think 20 of them weight as a fanam!!! There is a story why these coins and fanams were so small... it was that so even poor can hold gold coins in their hand, and an other good reason was that they were easy to swallow!!!! YES!!! at that time there were many thiefs! the trademen didn't know that to do so the coins were too small so they can easily swalloed! the thiefs couldn't find them and the trade men were keeping their money... of course there was a problem.... how they were collecting them after.... Oh boy!!!!

 

The bigest coin is imposible to have it!!! I think there is only one in the world... it is a gold coin from India too a 1000 mohur that weights about 12 kilos!!! It was an imperial present! The India emperor during the mungal period made 7 coins like that and gave them to foreign empassadors as a royal gift! all the ohers were melted except one! So....

 

In banknotes... the bigest in size was a medieval chinese banknotes so I can not find one! the smallest in size I think it is a romanian 10 bani of the 1917? and in face value a 1 penny note from Fiji in the 1940's? the biggest in face value... Is probably from Hungary when they had the huge inflation! It was much bigger than the German one of the 1923's and of course from the Zimbabwe one! One day... One day....

 

About materials.. well.. in hard times except paper, other things was in use too! Leather, linen, cardboard, silk, even aluminion foil!!! Of course I am talking about emergency notes of Germany (notgelds)! Till now I have one made of Cardboard!

 

Just imagine that at that time they were making coins from (except the metal ones), porcelan, terracota, coal.... !!!! Ihave none of them!

 

In geocoins.... the oldest (moun10bike V1) is imposible... I also do not think it is easy to find the first pathtag too!

 

The smallest geocoin.. I have no idea which one is it! The biggest... I think it is a huge generic coin.... I have the mappa mundi huge geocoin but I think it comes second! As for a silver... one day I will have one!

 

anyway... I am trying to work out with them but always according to my wallet limit, wich is low!

 

Sorry for my huge and borring posts!!!

[+gardengorilla]

Ok... I have another dream and I am really working on it!

 

My dream is to break a Guiness world record! What record? n collecting banknotes from as many countries as I can! A guy told me that the record in 2002 was 217 countries! I have 209! If the record still stands... I am close! I do not know... 8 years have passed so... but I will try!

 

I wouldn't like posting all the time about coins etc and get you bored, so I will post this here!

 

an other dream I have is to have the smallest and the bigest coins in the world, the smallest and the biggest banknote (in denomination and in size!) and one of each different material that were used for making banknotes! Now that I am in geocaching... the oldest, the biggest and the smallest (and one made of Silver...) and the oldest pathtag!!

 

Things in real coins are not easy at all! I have the smallest coin ever existed! It is a tiny gold coin from India, the 1 bele! If anyone of you collects coins will probably know that the smallest coin is the Fanam from India, a coins that is about 6-7 mm and weights 0.30 - 0.40gr!

 

Well... the 1 bele is also known as 1/10th of the faman!!! You can lost it in your hands!!! I think 20 of them weight as a fanam!!! There is a story why these coins and fanams were so small... it was that so even poor can hold gold coins in their hand, and an other good reason was that they were easy to swallow!!!! YES!!! at that time there were many thiefs! the trademen didn't know that to do so the coins were too small so they can easily swalloed! the thiefs couldn't find them and the trade men were keeping their money... of course there was a problem.... how they were collecting them after.... Oh boy!!!!

 

The bigest coin is imposible to have it!!! I think there is only one in the world... it is a gold coin from India too a 1000 mohur that weights about 12 kilos!!! It was an imperial present! The India emperor during the mungal period made 7 coins like that and gave them to foreign empassadors as a royal gift! all the ohers were melted except one! So....

 

In banknotes... the bigest in size was a medieval chinese banknotes so I can not find one! the smallest in size I think it is a romanian 10 bani of the 1917? and in face value a 1 penny note from Fiji in the 1940's? the biggest in face value... Is probably from Hungary when they had the huge inflation! It was much bigger than the German one of the 1923's and of course from the Zimbabwe one! One day... One day....

 

About materials.. well.. in hard times except paper, other things was in use too! Leather, linen, cardboard, silk, even aluminion foil!!! Of course I am talking about emergency notes of Germany (notgelds)! Till now I have one made of Cardboard!

 

Just imagine that at that time they were making coins from (except the metal ones), porcelan, terracota, coal.... !!!! Ihave none of them!

 

In geocoins.... the oldest (moun10bike V1) is imposible... I also do not think it is easy to find the first pathtag too!

 

The smallest geocoin.. I have no idea which one is it! The biggest... I think it is a huge generic coin.... I have the mappa mundi huge geocoin but I think it comes second! As for a silver... one day I will have one!

 

anyway... I am trying to work out with them but always according to my wallet limit, wich is low!

 

Sorry for my huge and borring posts!!!

 

Hey Nikos, do you have any money from Malaysia, Australia, Brunei? I may even have some from Singapore...

[+anne.and.eli]

Nikos, of course you are welcome to enter this cointest. Anyone who has won or gotten a coin from me already is more than welcome to enter this one.

[mud4x4]

I have always loved animals myself all my life. Growing up I always had lots of animals. People starting seeing and hearing about my love for animals, particularly dogs and horses. So they would come to me if they had an a dog that they could not care for. (This was when I was a teenager.) I would always take them in for as long as needed and find them good homes.

I have always went to the animal shelter to adopt my dogs when I had one pass.

Even today, my 3 dogs have came from the animal shelter or were on their way there.

And the horses I've had here recently were rescues.

It's always been a dream and will forever be a dream to rescue any of the animals that own me now and in the future.

I enjoy giving a loving home to an animal that might not otherwise have one.

 

Here's a picture of 2 of the mini horses I have rescued. Booger and Dakota.

Booger (the blue one) passed away last July peacefully of old age , I had him for only 3 years. He was estimated to be around 28 y/o.

Dakota (the brown one) is still with me and enjoying life.

Here's Molly (a rescue) - my geodog enjoying the views at a local cache. This is how Molly and me spent New Year's day...we had a blast!

Molly waiting to get to the next cache . She always tries to look away from the camera guess she's a little shy!

My dream is to continue doing this for as many animals that I can, for as long as I can.

 

I love your Li'L Dreamer geocoin, it is beautiful. I hope to have one in my personal collection sometime.

Thank You for this dreamy cointest

Edited January 27, 2010 by mud4x4

[+aka Momster]

Our dream is to own our own home. My husband and I had to make many tough choices along the way during our marriage. While they ended up being the best paths and I have no regrets, home ownership ended up being deferred over and over again. This is the rough market of southern California; our every gain was more than met with ever higher housing costs. So owning a home always remained elusively out of reach. With the market down, 2010 looks as if it will finally shine with a rainbow that has taken 33 years to form!

 

After seven months of getting a feel for the local market, we contacted a realtor last week to begin the search for the house that will become our home. Honestly, the final steps are more than a little terrifying. So many things can still go wrong... I would love to be able to show you photographs of your Li’l Dreamer geocoin with us as we finally achieve our dream.

 

Because that would mean it has finally become true.

[+mcrt]

I did a good job of realizing a dream starting in 2001. I have always had a love of travel so in 2000 I started planning the trip of a lifetime. In May 2001 I quit my job, and packed up or got rid of everything I owned. Then I loaded up my backpack and in June caught a plane to Kenya. I spent six weeks there working in the slums of Nairobi. After that I caught a truck and spent the next seven weeks getting to Cape Town. Next 3 months in Europe, two months in India and Nepal, two months in SE Asia, Australia and New Zealand and another two months in South America and the Caribbean.

 

After the first year I came back to the US and took a few classes and helped a friend develop her ideas from Nairobi. In June 2003 we went back to Kenya and started the East African Center for Empowerment of Women and Children. (www.eastafricancenter.org) Six month of that and it was time to come back to reality.

 

All told I was "unemployed" and "homeless" for 2.5 years. I visited 42 countries and each time I move I marked my location on my eTrex and noted it in my journal. Certainly a dream of a lifetime.

 

I keep dreaming and would love to eventually join the Traveler's Century Club. I'm at 62 by their count, 38 to go.

[+GATOULIS]

I did a good job of realizing a dream starting in 2001. I have always had a love of travel so in 2000 I started planning the trip of a lifetime. In May 2001 I quit my job, and packed up or got rid of everything I owned. Then I loaded up my backpack and in June caught a plane to Kenya. I spent six weeks there working in the slums of Nairobi. After that I caught a truck and spent the next seven weeks getting to Cape Town. Next 3 months in Europe, two months in India and Nepal, two months in SE Asia, Australia and New Zealand and another two months in South America and the Caribbean.

 

After the first year I came back to the US and took a few classes and helped a friend develop her ideas from Nairobi. In June 2003 we went back to Kenya and started the East African Center for Empowerment of Women and Children. (www.eastafricancenter.org) Six month of that and it was time to come back to reality.

 

All told I was "unemployed" and "homeless" for 2.5 years. I visited 42 countries and each time I move I marked my location on my eTrex and noted it in my journal. Certainly a dream of a lifetime.

 

I keep dreaming and would love to eventually join the Traveler's Century Club. I'm at 62 by their count, 38 to go.

 

WOW!!!! 42 countries!!!! Nepal!!! Have you been to Greece?

[+GATOULIS]

Ok... I have another dream and I am really working on it!

 

My dream is to break a Guiness world record! What record? n collecting banknotes from as many countries as I can! A guy told me that the record in 2002 was 217 countries! I have 209! If the record still stands... I am close! I do not know... 8 years have passed so... but I will try!

 

I wouldn't like posting all the time about coins etc and get you bored, so I will post this here!

 

an other dream I have is to have the smallest and the bigest coins in the world, the smallest and the biggest banknote (in denomination and in size!) and one of each different material that were used for making banknotes! Now that I am in geocaching... the oldest, the biggest and the smallest (and one made of Silver...) and the oldest pathtag!!

 

Things in real coins are not easy at all! I have the smallest coin ever existed! It is a tiny gold coin from India, the 1 bele! If anyone of you collects coins will probably know that the smallest coin is the Fanam from India, a coins that is about 6-7 mm and weights 0.30 - 0.40gr!

 

Well... the 1 bele is also known as 1/10th of the faman!!! You can lost it in your hands!!! I think 20 of them weight as a fanam!!! There is a story why these coins and fanams were so small... it was that so even poor can hold gold coins in their hand, and an other good reason was that they were easy to swallow!!!! YES!!! at that time there were many thiefs! the trademen didn't know that to do so the coins were too small so they can easily swalloed! the thiefs couldn't find them and the trade men were keeping their money... of course there was a problem.... how they were collecting them after.... Oh boy!!!!

 

The bigest coin is imposible to have it!!! I think there is only one in the world... it is a gold coin from India too a 1000 mohur that weights about 12 kilos!!! It was an imperial present! The India emperor during the mungal period made 7 coins like that and gave them to foreign empassadors as a royal gift! all the ohers were melted except one! So....

 

In banknotes... the bigest in size was a medieval chinese banknotes so I can not find one! the smallest in size I think it is a romanian 10 bani of the 1917? and in face value a 1 penny note from Fiji in the 1940's? the biggest in face value... Is probably from Hungary when they had the huge inflation! It was much bigger than the German one of the 1923's and of course from the Zimbabwe one! One day... One day....

 

About materials.. well.. in hard times except paper, other things was in use too! Leather, linen, cardboard, silk, even aluminion foil!!! Of course I am talking about emergency notes of Germany (notgelds)! Till now I have one made of Cardboard!

 

Just imagine that at that time they were making coins from (except the metal ones), porcelan, terracota, coal.... !!!! Ihave none of them!

 

In geocoins.... the oldest (moun10bike V1) is imposible... I also do not think it is easy to find the first pathtag too!

 

The smallest geocoin.. I have no idea which one is it! The biggest... I think it is a huge generic coin.... I have the mappa mundi huge geocoin but I think it comes second! As for a silver... one day I will have one!

 

anyway... I am trying to work out with them but always according to my wallet limit, wich is low!

 

Sorry for my huge and borring posts!!!

 

Hey Nikos, do you have any money from Malaysia, Australia, Brunei? I may even have some from Singapore...

 

You have money from these countries????? WOW!

 

I have some Australian polymer banknotes, and some paper ones! One has the inscription "Commonwealth of Australia"! the others have only the "Australia"! ...and I have some coins too! !

The polymer notes are fantastic!!!

I have 1 banknote from Malaysia a 1 ringit and 2 coins, (1 sen & 5 sen of 1997).

From Singapore I have a 1 dollar banknote with a bird on it, and 3 coins (1 cent 1989, 5 cents 1995, 20cents 2007).

From Brunei I only have a 1 dollar banknote from 1972.

Edited January 28, 2010 by GATOULIS

[daveindeal]

My Dream has always been to own my own limo company.

 

ever since i was little and saw that big car with all the blacked out windows ......... how cool.

 

and from there it grew:

 

i have already got a name and a logo and got the website address protected:

 

 

Named after my Son Logan who is 3 1/2 and sometimes goes caching with me.

 

i plan on having a few limos, one pink, one, black, one white for weddings funerals etc: but i also hope to have a few of these:

 

 

and with an interia like this who wouldn't

 

 

i have recently applyed for a PCV minibus driving licence (16 passangers) and am waiting for the recession to ease a little before i approch the bank for a buisness loan.

 

One day... it might will happen?

Edited January 28, 2010 by daveindeal

[+mcrt]

WOW!!!! 42 countries!!!! Nepal!!! Have you been to Greece?

 

My total count is 54 different countries. Greece is still on my to do list. I love history so love seeing all of the places I have heard about. Too many places and not enough time.

 

One real bummer is that I did my first find before I took of in 2001, but there were so few caches and internet time was expensive so I did not keep caching during the travels. I didn't find my second cache until 2006 so I only have finds in eight countries.

[+anne.and.eli]

mcrt, that is an amazing trip!! I would love to do that!!

 

Thanks everyone for sharing your dreams and for being brave enough to work towards them. You're all amazing.

[+Jackalgirl]

Thanks for the cointest!

 

My dream is to serve aboard a submarine in the US Navy. When I was in High School, I got bitten by the Navy bug after watching The Hunt for Red October*. I didn't join the Navy then because of the Navy's policy against women serving on subs.

 

Fast-forward to 2000, when a fairly prescient recruiter convinced me that even though women still couldn't serve on subs, that I should join and work to make myself an excellent candidate so as to be one of the first women chosen (they'll start with officers, then add women, but will need a leadership corps, so it'd be good to be a First Class or Chief Petty Officer when the change comes, he said).

 

So here I am, a First Class Sonar Technician in the US Navy. I'm planning to follow up this tour (in Yokosuka) with a sea tour and I hope to make it onto one of the SSGNs (e.g., the Ohio, which would be amazing since I grew up in Ohio). I might even be a Chief by then, and have worked hard at a pretty diverse series of assignments so as to make myself more useful (for example, it is not common for a Sonar Tech to become qualified to operate the Tomahawk fire control system. I got qualified in the destroyer version of that system, and I have served duty on an Admiral's staff). And, if I do say so myself, I've had a pretty distinguished career so far (one Navy Commendation medal so far, and eight Navy/Marine Corps Achievement medals). And, most importantly, I'm not a bad Sonar Tech.

 

So it looks like things are lining up to get me on a sub -- HOORAY!

 

*...and now you have a rough idea of how old I am. ; )

[+GATOULIS]

Thanks for the cointest!

 

My dream is to serve aboard a submarine in the US Navy. When I was in High School, I got bitten by the Navy bug after watching The Hunt for Red October*. I didn't join the Navy then because of the Navy's policy against women serving on subs.

 

Fast-forward to 2000, when a fairly prescient recruiter convinced me that even though women still couldn't serve on subs, that I should join and work to make myself an excellent candidate so as to be one of the first women chosen (they'll start with officers, then add women, but will need a leadership corps, so it'd be good to be a First Class or Chief Petty Officer when the change comes, he said).

 

So here I am, a First Class Sonar Technician in the US Navy. I'm planning to follow up this tour (in Yokosuka) with a sea tour and I hope to make it onto one of the SSGNs (e.g., the Ohio, which would be amazing since I grew up in Ohio). I might even be a Chief by then, and have worked hard at a pretty diverse series of assignments so as to make myself more useful (for example, it is not common for a Sonar Tech to become qualified to operate the Tomahawk fire control system. I got qualified in the destroyer version of that system, and I have served duty on an Admiral's staff). And, if I do say so myself, I've had a pretty distinguished career so far (one Navy Commendation medal so far, and eight Navy/Marine Corps Achievement medals). And, most importantly, I'm not a bad Sonar Tech.

 

So it looks like things are lining up to get me on a sub -- HOORAY!

 

*...and now you have a rough idea of how old I am. ; )

 

Hey.... I was at school too when the hunt of Red October was in the cinema!!! So we are very close in age! I still remember the mad Ivan turning of the Sub!

 

WOW!!! so you have a great medal collection and you earned them so BRAVO!!!!

[+Jackalgirl]

 

Hey.... I was at school too when the hunt of Red October was in the cinema!!! So we are very close in age! I still remember the mad Ivan turning of the Sub!

 

WOW!!! so you have a great medal collection and you earned them so BRAVO!!!!

 

Thank you! That movie and Down Periscope* are my two favorite sub movies ever. : ) I was completely head over heels in love with Scott Glenn. ; ) I'm delighted to find out you're a contemporary!

 

-=-=-=-=-

 

*"It's the Houston, sir. Someone just dropped forty-five cents."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir. A quarter and two dimes."

 

Just to clarify, though, I'm not that good of a Sonar Tech. ; )

[+anne.and.eli]

I always had a dream that I'd make a coin and be able to give them away!

 

And so then I DID!

 

I loved everyone's stories and what you're doing to get towards your dreams. You're all very motivating!

 

And I couldn't decide, and random seemed so cruel. SO.

 

Everyone is a winner!!

 

If you entered, message me your information and I will mail a coin to you. I am leaving for Reno tomorrow morning early, so they won't go out until Monday.

 

Thanks again everyone for posting!

Edited January 30, 2010 by anne.and.eli

[Firefly03]

Wow! How very generous of you!! You rock!

[+Jackalgirl]

To reiterate what I said in my email: you are the awesomest!!! : )

 

Thanks bunches!

[+aka Momster]

Whoa! Thank you! What a wonderful surprise. Such a surprise, in fact, I scrolled back up the thread to double check that I was reading the new posts from the topic I thought I was and reread your words at least twice, sure my brain wasn't functioning properly after 1:00am. I'd better e-mail you just in case, because it keeps processing as we all have won a Li'l Dreamer coin... ... with interminglings of "Really?"

 

Edit: Will e-mail & PM , because the PM doesn't always go through properly for me.

Edited January 30, 2010 by aka Momster

[+GATOULIS]

 

Hey.... I was at school too when the hunt of Red October was in the cinema!!! So we are very close in age! I still remember the mad Ivan turning of the Sub!

 

WOW!!! so you have a great medal collection and you earned them so BRAVO!!!!

 

Thank you! That movie and Down Periscope* are my two favorite sub movies ever. : ) I was completely head over heels in love with Scott Glenn. ; ) I'm delighted to find out you're a contemporary!

 

-=-=-=-=-

 

*"It's the Houston, sir. Someone just dropped forty-five cents."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir. A quarter and two dimes."

 

Just to clarify, though, I'm not that good of a Sonar Tech. ; )

 

I am 1000% sure I heard this converation in a movie.... Now the Down periscope, probably came in Greece with different title! This happens and... I hate it!

 

sometimes I can understand if a coin is droping, what coin is it!! Of course this has to do with euros and drachmas.... Every coin has its own sound when it falls! the 10cents have different from the 20....

 

On Monday, I was out with my father and while we were on the bike, a guy was getting his keays out of his pocket! A coin fell with them and I was sure it was a 10c! I didn't see it but I was sure! I told to the man that some money fell from his pocket and then I asked him if the coin that fell was a 10 cent! It was! He was looking at me strangely and he said... good eyes!!! Well... the correct was good ears!

That happens when you are so addicted in collecting money! Of course this is not happening all the time!!!

[+GATOULIS]

WOW!!!! 42 countries!!!! Nepal!!! Have you been to Greece?

 

My total count is 54 different countries. Greece is still on my to do list. I love history so love seeing all of the places I have heard about. Too many places and not enough time.

 

One real bummer is that I did my first find before I took of in 2001, but there were so few caches and internet time was expensive so I did not keep caching during the travels. I didn't find my second cache until 2006 so I only have finds in eight countries.

 

54 different countries!!!! Oh, I wish I could do that too!!! Hmm... of course they wouldn't like my visit... if the countries had low value banknotes (some countries have banknotes that are beautiful but they cost almost nothing!! you can take many different (dates, signatures, different values) with 1 euro or 1 $)..... they would be taken out from circulation! I would had kept them for my collection!

 

I hope one day you will visit my country my friend!

[+GATOULIS]

I always had a dream that I'd make a coin and be able to give them away!

 

And so then I DID!

 

I loved everyone's stories and what you're doing to get towards your dreams. You're all very motivating!

 

And I couldn't decide, and random seemed so cruel. SO.

 

Everyone is a winner!!

 

If you entered, message me your information and I will mail a coin to you. I am leaving for Reno tomorrow morning early, so they won't go out until Monday.

 

Thanks again everyone for posting!

 

WOW! Anne!!! you are so generous!!!

So the cointest ended? Isn't it until February 14th?

[+The Finding Irish 4]

Funny Queenie-Boo-Bay’s Cointest and yours…

 

In this day and age it seems everyone is telling everyone to be more practical to get their head out of the clouds buckle down, get serious, etc…..

 

Funny I remember my parents telling me to go outside pretend, use my imagination, HAVE FUN.

We did not have the means to foster many of the dreams of my Brother and myself but do not get me wrong we had a great childhood same as many other kids just not all of the new stuff etc… we played with hand-me downs, used items, etc.. we were fine and had fun no problems

 

So I try to do the same for my kids I encourage them in whatever they do maybe I will have the next great Author, Scientist, Artist, Dancer or Hockey Player.

 

I try and tell them it is not the gear that makes you great it is the desire, the gear just makes you look good, ok maybe it does a bit more than that…

 

My dream has changed over time but now it is to make sure that my kids are raised polite, and courteous, that they get the education they need to continue to on in life into whatever career they choose, and to make sure they dream and dream BIG.

Cool I seem to be succeeding;

I have a Dancer who continues to train and strive to be a professional, and now is training others; she is quite accomplished and is not typical in her field all before the age of 16.

I have a Son that has many goals as well that he is working towards and looks to be quite promising as well.

 

mcrt, THANK YOU so much for your inspiration story, you just reminded me of my Great –Grandmother would always tell me you are never too old to follow your dreams, she died at 99 living life to the fullest.

 

International Man of Mystery here I come…..

 

P.S. When she told me she wanted to do her cointest I liked the idea and thought it would be fun cointest for the kids, never thought she would inspire the adults…….

 

anne.and.eli thank you for the coin which started Queenie thinking, thank you for gifting her the coins for her cointest, and thank you so much for inspiring her to get the kids to share their dreams or at least the parents to ask about their kids dreams.

Edited January 30, 2010 by The Finding Irish 4

[+vw_k]

Is the contest over? I'll post my dream anyway.

 

Ever since I left school I went from one boring job to another, never knowing what I really wanted to do. When I met my girlfriend (who is also a geocacher now!) I knew I wanted to find a job I enjoyed that would enable me to move to into the country to be with her.

 

Last year I started training as a chimney sweep, now I'm qualified and am starting out in business, in a fun, varied job that I enjoy! It will take me some time to earn the money I need to move but I'm looking forward to the time when I can.

[+GATOULIS]

I always had a dream that I'd make a coin and be able to give them away!

 

And so then I DID!

 

I loved everyone's stories and what you're doing to get towards your dreams. You're all very motivating!

 

And I couldn't decide, and random seemed so cruel. SO.

 

Everyone is a winner!!

 

If you entered, message me your information and I will mail a coin to you. I am leaving for Reno tomorrow morning early, so they won't go out until Monday.

 

Thanks again everyone for posting!

 

WOW! Anne!!! you are so generous!!!

So the cointest ended? Isn't it until February 14th?

 

Anne, do you have my address? I didn't send you email for 2 reasons... One was that you might already had my address and the other... becasue I already have your lovely coin and an amazing sample, so I do not know if I can be one of the winners!

[+aka Momster]

I hope your trip to Reno worked out and you were able to pick up that special, cool... whatever it was.

[+anne.and.eli]

I am back from Reno! And Oh my gosh you guys, the cointest WAS supposed to go til the 14th!

 

Ummm so okay, I will fulfill what I said, and people are welcome to answer until the 14th, but there will only be one winner from those who posted after I announced everyone was a winner.

 

Gato: I will send you something.

 

As for my trip to Reno, it was a success!!! I am so excited!! I will post another cointest or something so everyone can hear the story, but here is a picture!

 

 

This is Mishka. She's a 4.5 year old St. Bernard. We went to Reno to visit the rescue there and she just stole our hearts!

 

P.S. Stuff didn't get out today, it was spent getting the house set up for Mishka. I am hoping to get it all in the mail tomorrow!

Edited February 2, 2010 by anne.and.eli

[+GATOULIS]

I am back from Reno! And Oh my gosh you guys, the cointest WAS supposed to go til the 14th!

 

Ummm so okay, I will fulfill what I said, and people are welcome to answer until the 14th, but there will only be one winner from those who posted after I announced everyone was a winner.

 

Gato: I will send you something.

 

As for my trip to Reno, it was a success!!! I am so excited!! I will post another cointest or something so everyone can hear the story, but here is a picture!

 

 

This is Mishka. She's a 4.5 year old St. Bernard. We went to Reno to visit the rescue there and she just stole our hearts!

 

P.S. Stuff didn't get out today, it was spent getting the house set up for Mishka. I am hoping to get it all in the mail tomorrow!

 

You are amazing my friend!!!

 

Hey that's Bethoven!!! Do you remember the movie? She is so beautiful!!! When I was a child, I used to call these dogs... bear dogs!

 

Send me something??? You are amazing! Oh, just in case.... I was writing that since I already had the amazing coin gifted from you, I was probably not qualified as a winner! so... it is not that I do not want your coin etc, right?

Edited February 2, 2010 by GATOULIS

[+anne.and.eli]

Hahaha Gato, do not worry, I know your intentions are always pure!

 

Mishka was at the rescue for 9 months, poor thing! They are a great rescue, but she is very happy to have a home now.

 

And she IS a bear, so beardog seems really appropriate! And I never saw Beethoven, but it is the same breed of dog!

[+GATOULIS]

Can I ask something??? Mishka was in the rescue... what is that? A selter for stray animals??? This dog was a stray???

[+wolfslady]

I always wanted to have children. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t dream about the day I’d hear someone call me mama. All my friends wanted to grow up to be something, but not me I wanted to be someone.

 

So many years passed waiting for the right man to come along. I got married once and after 10 years of telling me to wait he told me. “I’ve decided we aren’t going to have children.” I left him and vowed to make my dream come true alone.

 

Before I could do that I met my current husband and we started trying right away. It wasn’t long before I learned what infertility is. I come from a super fertile family and sadly I learned that they (and others) have little sympathy for those who are not so lucky. They couldn’t comprehend why someone would go to extreme lengths to have what they take for granted. They didn’t get to sorrow and despair that comes from years of trying to conceive. The loss of heart. How much it takes to keep trying to achieve your dream when everyone else thinks you should give up. That anyone would spend the amount of money and energy it sometimes takes just to have a baby.

 

Even as I got older and my chances waned I refused to give up. I’ve never counted the dollars (Over $50,000) or the days (over 6 years) but I’m counting my blessings that I was one of the lucky ones. That my 5% chance on my last IVF (in vetro fertilization) actually worked when truthfully even I didn’t believe that it would. So I accomplished that dream. But it gave birth to others.

 

My new dreams are to raise awareness of infertility. I plan to launch some TB’s that hopefully will do that. I’m just deciding how I want them to work. Maybe a series, with some talking about the things fertile people say that can really hurt. (Such as “relax and you’ll get pregnant” my husband had no sperm when we started so relaxing would have worked about as well as being celibate.) I am also working on a book of poetry about my Battle with infertility. I hope to publish it someday. It’s been really hard for me to actually edit the poems I wrote and put them into order. Reading them brings the feelings back so clearly. But I’ve been working on it a lot lately. I’m sure there many dreams here that are just as worthy and I almost didn’t post. But then I realized that here is a chance to maybe raise someone’s awareness of infertility and how devastating it can be. That it’s made even worse because most insurance co’s don’t cover the cost of treatment. Mine at least covered some of my drugs or I’d never have been able to afford it. (I was a poor responder and my drugs cost as much as the treatments.)

 

Of course I also dream of having a second child, but we can't afford to go thru all the treatments again. I’m too old anyway. (say’s the woman with a 2 ½ year old.) Spending all our money on infertility treatments and then DH ending up on disability is part of what led us to Geocaching. It’s a great way to have family fun without spending a lot of money. There was a discussion about it on the IVF board I belong to and we checked it out.

 

Thank you for having this contest. Good luck to all the dreamers.

 

I should have read the entire thread before I posted. I see everyone who already posted is a winner. I think that is wonderful. I don't mind at all that I posted too late.

Edited February 2, 2010 by wolfslady

[+aka Momster]

I am back from Reno! And Oh my gosh you guys, the cointest WAS supposed to go til the 14th! :D

 

Ummm so okay, I will fulfill what I said, and people are welcome to answer until the 14th, but there will only be one winner from those who posted after I announced everyone was a winner.

 

Gato: I will send you something.

 

As for my trip to Reno, it was a success!!! I am so excited!! I will post another cointest or something so everyone can hear the story, but here is a picture!

 

 

This is Mishka. She's a 4.5 year old St. Bernard. We went to Reno to visit the rescue there and she just stole our hearts!

 

P.S. Stuff didn't get out today, it was spent getting the house set up for Mishka. I am hoping to get it all in the mail tomorrow!

 

Congratulations on your new addition of an automatic slobber spreader! (I mean that affectionately, of course!) She looks like a real sweetheart.

[+anne.and.eli]

Can I ask something??? Mishka was in the rescue... what is that? A selter for stray animals??? This dog was a stray???

 

A dog rescue is like a shelter, but they generally take in a specific type of dog, and will hold them for as long as necessary to find homes. So in this case, the rescue has Saint Bernards that have shown up in animal shelters or left by their owners. Mishka was at her rescue for 9 months, but some of the other dogs there have been there for years! I wish I could have brought them all home!

[+anne.and.eli]

I always wanted to have children. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t dream about the day I’d hear someone call me mama. All my friends wanted to grow up to be something, but not me I wanted to be someone.

 

So many years passed waiting for the right man to come along. I got married once and after 10 years of telling me to wait he told me. “I’ve decided we aren’t going to have children.” I left him and vowed to make my dream come true alone.

 

Before I could do that I met my current husband and we started trying right away. It wasn’t long before I learned what infertility is. I come from a super fertile family and sadly I learned that they (and others) have little sympathy for those who are not so lucky. They couldn’t comprehend why someone would go to extreme lengths to have what they take for granted. They didn’t get to sorrow and despair that comes from years of trying to conceive. The loss of heart. How much it takes to keep trying to achieve your dream when everyone else thinks you should give up. That anyone would spend the amount of money and energy it sometimes takes just to have a baby.

 

Even as I got older and my chances waned I refused to give up. I’ve never counted the dollars (Over $50,000) or the days (over 6 years) but I’m counting my blessings that I was one of the lucky ones. That my 5% chance on my last IVF (in vetro fertilization) actually worked when truthfully even I didn’t believe that it would. So I accomplished that dream. But it gave birth to others.

 

My new dreams are to raise awareness of infertility. I plan to launch some TB’s that hopefully will do that. I’m just deciding how I want them to work. Maybe a series, with some talking about the things fertile people say that can really hurt. (Such as “relax and you’ll get pregnant” my husband had no sperm when we started so relaxing would have worked about as well as being celibate.) I am also working on a book of poetry about my Battle with infertility. I hope to publish it someday. It’s been really hard for me to actually edit the poems I wrote and put them into order. Reading them brings the feelings back so clearly. But I’ve been working on it a lot lately. I’m sure there many dreams here that are just as worthy and I almost didn’t post. But then I realized that here is a chance to maybe raise someone’s awareness of infertility and how devastating it can be. That it’s made even worse because most insurance co’s don’t cover the cost of treatment. Mine at least covered some of my drugs or I’d never have been able to afford it. (I was a poor responder and my drugs cost as much as the treatments.)

 

Of course I also dream of having a second child, but we can't afford to go thru all the treatments again. I’m too old anyway. (say’s the woman with a 2 ½ year old.) Spending all our money on infertility treatments and then DH ending up on disability is part of what led us to Geocaching. It’s a great way to have family fun without spending a lot of money. There was a discussion about it on the IVF board I belong to and we checked it out.

 

Thank you for having this contest. Good luck to all the dreamers.

 

I should have read the entire thread before I posted. I see everyone who already posted is a winner. I think that is wonderful. I don't mind at all that I posted too late.

 

Wow, congratulations on your 2.5 year old! To work so long, that must have been a magical moment!

 

I'll be drawing another winner on the 14th. I totally oopsed on the end time of the contest, so I'll continue it until the correct time!

[mud4x4]

Thank You! This was an awesome cointest. I enjoyed reading everyone's entries. Though I didn't see the post that everyone won until today due to snow and ice knocking out the internet.

Mishka is adorable ....I love that name too. Though I am fond of Russian names

I PM'd my info your way.

Thanks again so much!

[daveindeal]

I always had a dream that I'd make a coin and be able to give them away!

 

And so then I DID!

 

I loved everyone's stories and what you're doing to get towards your dreams. You're all very motivating!

 

And I couldn't decide, and random seemed so cruel. SO.

 

Everyone is a winner!!

 

If you entered, message me your information and I will mail a coin to you. I am leaving for Reno tomorrow morning early, so they won't go out until Monday.

 

Thanks again everyone for posting!

 

OMG!! ive been away for a while and missed all the action!!

 

thank you so much for letting us all be winners<

 

pm is o the way with address>

 

thankyou!!

[+mcrt]

54 different countries!!!! Oh, I wish I could do that too!!! Hmm... of course they wouldn't like my visit... if the countries had low value banknotes (some countries have banknotes that are beautiful but they cost almost nothing!! you can take many different (dates, signatures, different values) with 1 euro or 1 $)..... they would be taken out from circulation! I would had kept them for my collection!

 

I hope one day you will visit my country my friend!

 

Bank notes are usually a great thing to bring home. The artistry of them is often amazing. The least valuable notes I have are from Zimbabwe. When I was there in 2001 the official exchange was $32 Zim/US$, but the black market exchange was closer to 500. Now they Zim$ has pretty much vanished from use there, but those 2001 notes were worth a billionth of a cent or less.

 

mcrt, THANK YOU so much for your inspiration story, you just reminded me of my Great –Grandmother would always tell me you are never too old to follow your dreams, she died at 99 living life to the fullest.

 

International Man of Mystery here I come…..

 

I got one of the best quotes ever from a friend of my Mom's. She was once told to live the story you want to tell. After she pondered that she quit her job and signed up as the cook on a ship heading from New Olreans to the West Coast via the Panama Canal.

 

These stories have been great. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

[+K9 Royale]

I've always wanted to work with animals so the dream I achieved is owning my own dog walking and pet sitting business for the last 11 years. We have 8 sitters that work for us now as well.

 

My dream would be to open an animal shelter, high end boarding or doggie day care.

[+goosefraba1]

My dream has always been to become somebody... somebody important to others. It has really taken me awhile to get my bearings as to which direction to head towards (much like geocaching)... but I think that I always wanted to do something in the healthcare field. My mom is an Occupational Therapy Assistant... so after hanging out with her at work, I decided that I would like to take the same route. I finished up my bachelor's of arts in psychology this passed november and I will start my masters in occupational therapy next fall (after I take neuroanatomy and advanced anatomy). I would really like to work at Children's Hospital when I grow up... maybe if I get a PhD I could eventually become director of therapy there. I love kids... they always have the best outlook on life. They know that the little things are what are important.

 

Also... I would like to own my own restaurant... kind of like PLanet Hollywood (except better food). I would call it Wok This Way. It would be asian/mexican/american food and lots of rock memorabilia. I'm not sure if this will ever happen... but it would be awesome.

 

Finally... I would love to be a daddy... one of these days : D ... after I am finished with school.

[+GATOULIS]

54 different countries!!!! Oh, I wish I could do that too!!! Hmm... of course they wouldn't like my visit... if the countries had low value banknotes (some countries have banknotes that are beautiful but they cost almost nothing!! you can take many different (dates, signatures, different values) with 1 euro or 1 $)..... they would be taken out from circulation! I would had kept them for my collection!

 

I hope one day you will visit my country my friend!

 

Bank notes are usually a great thing to bring home. The artistry of them is often amazing. The least valuable notes I have are from Zimbabwe. When I was there in 2001 the official exchange was $32 Zim/US$, but the black market exchange was closer to 500. Now they Zim$ has pretty much vanished from use there, but those 2001 notes were worth a billionth of a cent or less.

 

mcrt, THANK YOU so much for your inspiration story, you just reminded me of my Great –Grandmother would always tell me you are never too old to follow your dreams, she died at 99 living life to the fullest.

 

International Man of Mystery here I come…..

 

I got one of the best quotes ever from a friend of my Mom's. She was once told to live the story you want to tell. After she pondered that she quit her job and signed up as the cook on a ship heading from New Olreans to the West Coast via the Panama Canal.

 

These stories have been great. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

 

WOW!!! In Zimbabwe in 2001 the official exchange was 32 :1US$ but the black market was 500 : 1US$????

That's huge!!!! Oh!!!!

 

I think in 2008 they had notes in billions and trillions! The bigest note was a 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars!!! Now they do not have money and I think they are accepting foreign currency as legal noney so they can stop this huge inflation!!! Well... notes didn't even worth the paper and the inks they were used for them!!!

 

Well... if there were geocachers there.. a good thing would be to use geocoins as money!!! Better in look, and nobody will say that they lose their value! More or less.. they cost 10 USA$ each!

Edited February 9, 2010 by GATOULIS

[+gardengorilla]

Ok... I have another dream and I am really working on it!

 

My dream is to break a Guiness world record! What record? n collecting banknotes from as many countries as I can! A guy told me that the record in 2002 was 217 countries! I have 209! If the record still stands... I am close! I do not know... 8 years have passed so... but I will try!

 

I wouldn't like posting all the time about coins etc and get you bored, so I will post this here!

 

an other dream I have is to have the smallest and the bigest coins in the world, the smallest and the biggest banknote (in denomination and in size!) and one of each different material that were used for making banknotes! Now that I am in geocaching... the oldest, the biggest and the smallest (and one made of Silver...) and the oldest pathtag!!

 

Things in real coins are not easy at all! I have the smallest coin ever existed! It is a tiny gold coin from India, the 1 bele! If anyone of you collects coins will probably know that the smallest coin is the Fanam from India, a coins that is about 6-7 mm and weights 0.30 - 0.40gr!

 

Well... the 1 bele is also known as 1/10th of the faman!!! You can lost it in your hands!!! I think 20 of them weight as a fanam!!! There is a story why these coins and fanams were so small... it was that so even poor can hold gold coins in their hand, and an other good reason was that they were easy to swallow!!!! YES!!! at that time there were many thiefs! the trademen didn't know that to do so the coins were too small so they can easily swalloed! the thiefs couldn't find them and the trade men were keeping their money... of course there was a problem.... how they were collecting them after.... Oh boy!!!!

 

The bigest coin is imposible to have it!!! I think there is only one in the world... it is a gold coin from India too a 1000 mohur that weights about 12 kilos!!! It was an imperial present! The India emperor during the mungal period made 7 coins like that and gave them to foreign empassadors as a royal gift! all the ohers were melted except one! So....

 

In banknotes... the bigest in size was a medieval chinese banknotes so I can not find one! the smallest in size I think it is a romanian 10 bani of the 1917? and in face value a 1 penny note from Fiji in the 1940's? the biggest in face value... Is probably from Hungary when they had the huge inflation! It was much bigger than the German one of the 1923's and of course from the Zimbabwe one! One day... One day....

 

About materials.. well.. in hard times except paper, other things was in use too! Leather, linen, cardboard, silk, even aluminion foil!!! Of course I am talking about emergency notes of Germany (notgelds)! Till now I have one made of Cardboard!

 

Just imagine that at that time they were making coins from (except the metal ones), porcelan, terracota, coal.... !!!! Ihave none of them!

 

In geocoins.... the oldest (moun10bike V1) is imposible... I also do not think it is easy to find the first pathtag too!

 

The smallest geocoin.. I have no idea which one is it! The biggest... I think it is a huge generic coin.... I have the mappa mundi huge geocoin but I think it comes second! As for a silver... one day I will have one!

 

anyway... I am trying to work out with them but always according to my wallet limit, wich is low!

 

Sorry for my huge and borring posts!!!

 

Hey Nikos, do you have any money from Malaysia, Australia, Brunei? I may even have some from Singapore...

 

You have money from these countries????? WOW!

 

I have some Australian polymer banknotes, and some paper ones! One has the inscription "Commonwealth of Australia"! the others have only the "Australia"! ...and I have some coins too! !

The polymer notes are fantastic!!!

I have 1 banknote from Malaysia a 1 ringit and 2 coins, (1 sen & 5 sen of 1997).

From Singapore I have a 1 dollar banknote with a bird on it, and 3 coins (1 cent 1989, 5 cents 1995, 20cents 2007).

From Brunei I only have a 1 dollar banknote from 1972.

 

I'll see what I can do Nikos

[+aka Momster]

Guess what came in the mail? Thank you so very much, anne! Every time I look at your coin I just break out---with a smile and fresh optimism. It is hard to believe they were able to make the rainbow with all those tiny bands of colors! Thank you for your generosity.

[+mcrt]

Thanks again for the great coin. It showed up in todays mail. I'm really glad I ordered a couple extra from you while I was at it. My friends will love them.

[+anne.and.eli]

I'm glad to hear they are arriving at their destinations!

 

Jackalgirl, please let me know if there's an issue with yours. I've never sent to an APO before, and it already got sent back once because I didn't put a customs form on it. Now I'm worried there wasn't enough postage? Let me know and I will paypal you the difference.

[TDCompton]

My life long dream has to become a Police K9 Handler..

 

I'm not sure where my passion for Law Enforcement came from, I don't come from a family of Police Officers like many do, but I have never had another career in mind for myself for as long as I can remember.

 

As a young girl I would constantly be scolded for "bothering" any Police Officers that I came across with countless questions about their career.. This continued into High School and more than once I was in trouble for hanging around the Officers doing security at my High School Football games when I was supposed to be warming up with the Marching Band.. I didn't care though, hearing them talk about the job was something much more important.

 

After High School I was obviously too young to begin trying to apply for a position as a road Officer, but when I saw an ad telling of openings for Police/Fire/EMS 911 Dispatchers I jumped at the chance to "get my feet wet" with a local department, make some contacts within the field, and see the reality of working in Law Enforcement first hand.. I applied and somehow managed to test out as the #1 applicant out of approx 70 who started the process, I was 18 at the time.

 

I spent 4 1/2 years behind the console as a full-time Dispatcher.. In that time I took calls on everything from lockouts, neighbor issues, cold & flu patients to suicides, hostage situations, pursuits, large structure fires, and hazmat situations.. I was handling the worst moments of the callers' lives and watching over those who served on both the Police and Fire side of Public Safety, and loved every minute. I was proud of what I did and can thankfully say that while a few Officers and Fire fighters were injured in those 4 1/2 years - Everyone went home at the end of the shift.

 

I am currently serving my community as a Correctional Officer in a State Men's Prison, at this time I have served the State of Indiana for 16 months. I am one of the very few Females that have made it past 6 months behind the fence, let alone make it past a year.. I deal with name calling, disrespect, threats of physical abuse, and yet I go into work every night knowing that this is just one more step toward the life goal of making it out onto the streets as a Police Officer.

 

I have also intertwined my love for animals into my life goal and have been training Police K9s for approximately 3 years now.. I have had one female Belgian Malinois that has gone on to work for the Indianapolis Metro Police Department and currently own and am training a male Belgian Malinois who is a finished Level3 Personal Protection K9, as well as being NAPWDA certification ready as a Dual Purpose Police K9. I have trained with many different K9 Units from across the state, gathering valuable experience which I hope will someday be put to use protecting the public.

 

Something I keep posted in my home is this quote... A little something to remind me that even in the tough times I must keep pushing myself.

 

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. They will tell you no, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. And you will tell them yes."

 

[mud4x4]

Guess what I got in the mail Friday before my work weekend started

I took it to work with me to show everyone - I work with mentally challenged adults and they love to see these cute coins. It is even more beautiful up close. Thank You again.

 

TDCompton - I want to thank you for what you do. I know it has to be hard at times but keep your chin up and I hope you get to realize your dream soon. My mother is a corrections officer too and she enjoys it alot.

[daveindeal]

waiting patiently for mine.

 

current status

 

tracked last: February 08, 2010 5:21 am SANTA CRUZ, CA 95060

 

not sure if it has left the country on its way to the UK yet??

[+anne.and.eli]

I did the drawing this morning for the final cointest winner!

 

1. vw_keychain

2. wolfslady

3. K9 Royale

4. goosefraba1

5. TDCompton

 

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 5 Result: 5

 

So congratulations to TDCompton!! Please send me your address and I will get your coin out to you.

 

Thanks everyone!