Have you ever looked back on any given New Years Day and thought, I never really did anything last year? Not so with Noreen. On any given year, she can not only tell you, but show you all her amazing adventures, from her book. And not any old book.

Noreen worked as a nurse practitioner for 40 years, and she loved it. Her patients, her work, her co workers. She felt like it was a family. Until the downsizing and layoffs began.

She saw how easily older people could be dismissed, and it woke her up to her life. Her husband had died when their son was five, and Noreen learned self reliance. Now she took it even further.

She heard about a group called Urban Sketchers, and remembering that she used to sketch, she reclaimed her inner artist and joined the group. They would meet in different areas of Cleveland with their sketchbooks and draw what they loved about what was there.

The Plain Dealer ran an article in it’s Saturday magazine, 100 Things to Do in Cleveland, and Noreen took it on as a personal quest, to rediscover what made her truly happy From the top of the Terminal Tower to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, to the Arcade, she experiences and sketches the incredible details of Cleveland.

Eating alfresco on 4th Street, taking walking tours of Cleveland, there is always something new to discover. She set a personal goal to try 25 new things every year, and document them in her annual sketchbooks. There is a whole world to discover, and Noreen included the natural world.

She discovered the bird watching community, and her quest to see and photograph (and later sketch) different birds included recently just getting in her car and heading to Canada on a solo trip to see one of the birds on her list.

She finds and sketches flowers, gargoyles, carousels, birds and details in famous paints, not just in Cleveland, but all around the world.

Her travels have taken her from Vegas, to Europe to Egypt and home again, over and over. And all documented in her yearly sketch books. She continues to explore the world, and tell the stories, and encourage others to do the same.

Her advice to others is simple. You only go around life one time. One time. Eat the sandwich. Get in the car. Chase life!