Wednesday, December 31, 2008

One hundred things to do before I die:

In lieu of the New Year and my recent resolution to LIVE life with purpose, conviction, and without regrets, I have made a "bucket list" of sorts; things I want to accomplish, see, do, change, be, enjoy (not necessarily in this order)...

Some are long-term, some are short-term, some are ongoing lifestyle changes, and some may never happen in this lifetime. But you have to have goals or you'll become stagnant. So these are mine. I'm sure as I get older this will change and expand. And, Lord willing, I'll be able to cross most of them off.

So, without further adieu... (See key below for color coding.)

  1. Go to bed each night with a clear conscience knowing I have no regrets
  2. Kiss my husband and son every day and tell them how much I love them
  3. Read more books to Elijah
  4. Teach Elijah Spanish
  5. Have at least one date night per month with Manny
  6. Be more faithful in my devotion/prayer time
  7. Lose 20 pounds
  8. Keep my toenails painted and my legs shaved - because it matters to Manny
  9. Be more forgiving and tenderhearted
  10. Cook a new recipe at least once a month
  11. Get in shape
  12. Keep a clean house
  13. Study... and I mean really study the Bible consistently
  14. Be a better listener
  15. Be less critical in general, but mostly to my husband
  16. Get more involved in church
  17. Volunteer my time
  18. Potty-train Elijah
  19. Live debt-free!!
  20. Make Baklava from scratch
  21. Make 10 good long-lasting friendships - old or new
  22. Get replacement windows for downstairs
  23. Watch less television.
  24. Get rid of TV altogether for that matter (drastic I know)
  25. Own a nice grown-up camera
  26. Take a photography class
  27. Take some refresher Spanish classes
  28. Finish all my scrapbooks
  29. Excavate our back yard for gardens, play area, and sitting area
  30. Landscape the hill with a path and lots of plants
  31. Plant 1000 tulips, lily, hyacinth, daffodil, and crocus bulbs all around my house
  32. Grow all my own vegetables
  33. Learn to can produce
  34. Make home-made ketchup
  35. Make home-made wine
  36. Get an hour-long massage
  37. Get a facial
  38. Read the entire Bible
  39. Have more babies
  40. Try sushi
  41. Take a hot-air balloon ride
  42. Go to Mexico - preferably the Yucatan
  43. Go camping in Yosemite National Park
  44. Try water skiing
  45. See the play Our Town
  46. See Josh Groban in concert
  47. Drive through the Redwood Forrest
  48. Visit Moxi in Costa Rica
  49. Read The Sun Also Rises
  50. See a Broadway show
  51. Put together a scrapbook of my family's old photographs
  52. Go on another short-term mission trip
  53. Remodel our kitchen
  54. Remodel our downstairs bathroom
  55. Pay off our house
  56. Own a Honda Pilot
  57. Go on a Mediterranean cruise
  58. Find my childhood friend Laurie Hanning
  59. Make a video documentary of my Grandparent's lives
  60. Tour the California wine country
  61. Learn to crochet
  62. Paint a mural
  63. Learn to surf
  64. Swim with dolphins
  65. Stay at a Bed and Breakfast in New England in the fall
  66. Attend an opera
  67. Compile my genealogy and Family Tree
  68. See a baseball game at Wrigley Field
  69. Meet Kay Arthur
  70. Backpack across western Europe
  71. See Niagara falls
  72. Repel down a cliff
  73. Hike down (and back up) the Grand Canyon
  74. Spend 4th of July in Boston
  75. See Machu Picchu first hand
  76. Drive a race car (at regular speeds of course)
  77. Go to an Olympic event
  78. Swim in the Dead Sea
  79. Go up in the Statue of Liberty
  80. Walk on the Great Wall of China
  81. See at NASCAR race in Bristol, Tennessee
  82. Swim in a natural hot spring
  83. Ride a ZIP line through a rain forest
  84. Sing the Hallelujah Chorus (with full orchestra) in Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy
  85. Spend Christmas in a village in the Alps Mountains
  86. Listen to live Celtic Music in concert at a castle in Scotland
  87. Visit the Holy Land at Passover
  88. Become a wedding planner
  89. Recite the poem Cordoba: Lejana y Sola in (of course) Cordoba, Spain
  90. Spend Mardi Gras in New Orleans
  91. Spend St. Patrick's Day in Ireland
  92. Go to Culinary school
  93. Learn Midwifery and deliver babies
  94. Stand on top of a mesa in Sedona, AZ and watch the sun set
  95. Be a volunteer "baby rocker" at the hospital
  96. See Aswish Germany
  97. Take every Precept class available
  98. Build our dream house/cottage in the woods
  99. Attend Elijah's college graduation - magna cum laude, of course (and all our other kids' for that matter)
  100. Have my children "rise up and call me blessed"

Immediate **

1 year **

5 years **

10 years **

Hopefully someday **

4 comments:

C said...

What an absolutely wonderful list! I, too, have been working on something similar, but haven't finished it yet...maybe that will be my post for the new year. You have some awesome goals.

I, for one, would love to be a part of #21:-)

Happy New Year!

Jilli said...

I wish I could just copy and paste your list into my own bucket list. It is truly inspiring! I have loved reading about the woman you have become - you are an AMAZING one girl!! I love #100 - Proverbs 31 right?

Little mama Rossi said...

Great list! It is inspiring! Good luck with it!

Sue Wilkey said...

OOhhhh I made a bucket list when those mad scientists built the Big Bang machine in Switzerland. But mine was more about Joe Jonas so that's embarrassing.

Glad you de-lurked!