BIG thanks to everybody who entered our Great Canadian Get Out & Stay Out Event photo contest. We received thousands of entries and heard amazing great stories. We are so happy to be a part of so many people's summertime adventures and celebration of Canada's natural wonders. After judging and evaluating all the entries, we are happy to announce the grand prize winner of a $4000 travel gift card and $1000 in Chopped Leaf gift cards!

Congratulations to our grand prize winner, Tom Eaton! Below is his winning entry (lightly edited for clarity):

Ten years ago I wrote a "Good Life List" to myself. It was a collection of everything I wanted to experience and accomplish in my life time. Over the years I have slowly crossed some wonderful experiences off of this list: standing at the trunk of a Northern California Redwood; catching a sturgeon in the Fraser river; and drinking wine all morning at a Tuscan vineyard with my best friend in the world, my wife. However, one experience has proved to be somewhat elusive, perhaps I was letting fear obstruct with my notion of a life well lived. I cast my excuses aside and booked the experience months ago only to come to the realization that there was a weight limit, and unfortunately I wouldn't be able to take part. I hadn't seen those numbers on a scale for two decades.

When life puts an obstacle in your path, you can choose to allow it to stop you, or you can find a way to overcome it. I committed myself to daily exercise and a healthy diet which included many lunches at the North Langley Chopped Leaf. Over the course of the last four months I've lost 35 pounds and today I crossed #9 off my Good-Life List - Skydiving! I accomplished both goals - lost some un-needed weight and jumped out of a perfectly good plane!

As I floated through the air today taking in a breathtaking scene and the vastness of nature, it became abundantly clear, as Canadians, we have already won the lottery of life. This is my favorite nature spot, because I can see all of it: the North Shore mountains; the mighty Fraser River; and the peaks of all the hikes that I have put under my feet or will.

My healthy diet from the Chopped Leaf put me here.

Here are Tom's additional thoughts and comments, as well as his Good Life List. We hope that his story inspires you to Get Out & Stay Out!

I have been so fortunate to experience some terrific and exhilarating experiences in my life, however without the Chopped Leaf, I would not have been able to cross #10 – Skydiving off my list.  I am blessed with a wonderful wife who supports me in whatever I want to achieve, and four amazing children who I want to be an inspiration to.  A life full of memory's is a life well lived, here are some of my memory's (seven photo's attached).

As life unfolds, I add new challenges and experiences to my list, I now am intent on running a Marathon (23), experiencing a swimming (52) and a biking competition (44) and attempting a Triathlon (6), lunches at the Chopped Leaf will play an important role in helping me achieve these newly discovered ambitions.  In addition, I love to travel and winning the Get Out and Stay Out Contest is going to help me achieve number 7 – visit all 13 provinces and territories by crossing off the last two territories I have yet to visit (NWT and Nunavut), 59 – see Gros Morne National Park, and 70 - seeing the polar bears in Churchill.

I think we live in the most spectacular country in the world, I hope I can encourage a few Canadians to get out and stay out.

TOM EATON PERSONAL BLUEPRINT - ‘THE GOOD LIFE LIST’

1. Be a great Dad and Husband
2. See the Super Bowl – Chiefs – if they make it in my lifetime
3. Publish a Book
4. See the Coliseum
5. Run with the Bulls in Pamplona
6. Finish a Triathlon
7. Visit all thirteen provinces and territories in Canada
8. The Masters on Sunday
9. Watch the Sunrise over the Pyramids
10. Go Skydiving
11. Take my Kids to Disneyland
12. Walk on the Great Wall of China
13. Hike the Machu Picchu Trail
14. Stand on top of the Effile Tower
15. Kentucky Derby with $20 on the Long-Shot
16. Play 50 of the top 100 Canadian Golf Courses
17. Chiefs vs. Broncos @ Arrowhead
18. Final Four Saturday Night Semi-Final
19. Spend a Summer attending a baseball game at every Stadium in MLB
20. Summer Olympics 100 Meter Dash
21. Break 80
22. Experience Pure Wilderness on an African Safari
23. Run a Marathon
24. Experience a Concentration Camp
25. Scuba Dive in the Great Barrier Reef
26. Wimbledon Tennis Match
27. Formula 1 Race
28. Stanley Cup Playoffs
29. Swim with the Dolphins
30. Drink Wine all morning in a Tuscan vineyard
31. White Water Raft
32. Stand at the Trunk of a Northern California Redwood
33. Own a Harley Davidson
34. Bungee Jump
35. Prize Fight in Vegas with all the stars
36. UFC Championship Fight
37. World Junior Hockey Tournament
38. Climb a Mountain – Mt. Cheam
39. Learn how to Surf in Hawaii
40. Fly a Fighter Jet
41. Marvel at Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel
42. Winter Olympics Canadian Hockey Game
43. See Mount Fuji
44. Finish a 100 km Bike Race
45. Dive with the Sharks
46. See the Scandinavian Countries – Denmark, Sweden & Finland
47. Walk the streets of Amsterdam
48. Notre Dame Football Game
49. See the ‘Granddaddy of them all’
50. Attend a World Series Game
51. See The Emerald Isle - Ireland
52. Complete a 5 km swimming race
53. Learn how to meditate
54. Play the Old Course @ St. Andrews
55. Cruise on a Sailboat through the Greek Islands
56. See the Oregon Coast
57. Become Fluent in another Language
58. Indianapolis 500
59. See Gross Mourne National Park in Newfoundland
60. Season Opener NHL Hockey Game
61. US Open Golf
62. NBA Finals
63. Take up Yoga
64. Go to Moscow
65. Attend a British Open Golf Tournament
66. Catch a Sockeye in Haida Gwaii
67. US Open Tennis in Flushing Meadows
68. Duke vs. North Carolina in Cameron
69. Canadians vs. Leafs in Montreal on a Saturday Night
70. Go see the Polar Bears in Churchill, MN
71. See an All Blacks Game in Auckland
72. Spend a Night in the Ice Hotel in Finland
73. Swim with the Sharks
74. Take a Helicopter over the Grand Canyon
75. Get soaked in the Amazon Rainforest
76. Experience the Northern Lights
77. Drink too much Beer at October Fest
78. Hand out Beads at Mardi Gras
79. BCS Championship Game
80. Welcome in the New Year in Rio @ Carnival
81. Baseball’s Churches – Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and Wrigley Field
82. Catch Sturgeon on the Fraser River
83. Learn how to Scuba Dive
84. Learn How to Play the Guitar
85. Learn How to Fly Fish
86. Travel to Vietnam
87. Stay in an over the water cabin in Bora Bora
88. Go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef