Kicking The Bucket

I think a combination of things led me to this post. It may be the upcoming New Year's Resolution phase of the year wafting through the air and mingling in people's conversations. It may have also helped that my "Twitter Twin" recently posted her very own list of things she would like to accomplish. 


I am not saying that I want to do these things within the year, two years, or even five years. These are things that I would like for my lifetime. And, let's face it, how cool would it be to look back on this list and have the majority, if not all of the things crossed off?!


So, without further ado, in no particular order, my Bucket List (for now):

1. Travel to Paris
2. Go Hot Air Ballooning
3. Buy a decent camera
4. Take a cooking class
5. Take a cake decorating class
6. Be promoted in the workplace
7. Get another dog
8. Move into a single-family home
9. Alaskan Cruise
10. Travel to see more of the West and East coasts
11. Travel to Hawaii
12. Travel to Australia
13. Live on or near a lake
14. Host Thanksgiving Dinner at our home (must obtain home with larger kitchen first...)
15. Ride in a Limousine
16. Road Trip with Derick
17. Take a get-away vacation
18. Host a Holiday Cookie Baking Weekend at my home (must obtain home with larger kitchen first...)
19. Start a retirement account
20. Rebuild my hard-copy and electronic portfolios
21. See my work in print
22. Pay for the meal or dessert of a prom couple anonymously while at the same restaurant
23. Eat more fruits and vegetables
24. Serve food/meal at a charity during a major holiday
25. Re-read a book series
26. Read or review all of the design books I own
27. More seriously discuss if and when to have kids
28. Find an Endocrinologist whom I interact well with
29. Snowboard again
30. Go Scuba Diving
31. Skype with my Twitter Twin someday
32. Work more closely with or for the ADA
33. Organize my digital pictures
34. Obtain my education degree to teach art or design
35. Learn how to play acoustic guitar

And now for the breakdown of the items above to clarify my reasons for including these items in my life's to-do list:

1. Travel to Paris: Um, hello, do you guys know me at all? Have you seen my dining room/kitchen?! It has been a life long dream to get to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower. That honestly, is mainly it. I think I would be content to sit and look up at the Eiffel Tower, walk up into it, and photograph it for an entire day, or two, or three...

2. Go Hot Air Ballooning: I always thought this would be a really fun, but scary thing to do. I bet the pictures would be amazing! 

3. Buy a decent camera: I have yet to give in to one of my biggest desires - purchasing a new digital SLR camera and loving that thing TO DEATH. I might even take it to bed with me. Oh, who am I kidding, I WOULD TOTALLY take it to bed with me!

4. Take a cooking class: I want to expand my cooking horizons. Not a crazy amount, but I think it would be a really fun thing to do!

5. Take a cake decorating class: Another "gimme" list item. I really love being putsy with cupcake decorating and want to expand my decorating to a larger palette. I will keep with the cupcakes for sure, but just sayin.'

6. Be promoted in the workplace: You know, this is one thing that I have not accomplished. And people, knowing my age and the type of work that I do and have done, wouldn't really bat an eye at it. But really, it would be awesome to get that "stamp" on my resume - hey, you were hired on here as this and now, you are THIS!

7. Get another dog: I am sure if my parents read this one, they would be like, "No way did we ever think we would hear you say that!" I was never a dog person growing up. On the contrary really - they scared me. But, after being around friends' dogs and now owning one of them myself, I totally get it. ALL of it. I fall more in love with that little guy every day. That must be a little like what being a mother feels like. Oh wait, let's table those feelings for item #27.

8. Move into a single-family home: Currently, my husband, dog and I live in a 2-bedroom townhouse in the suburbs. I love our location, and love our townhouse and all of that, but a girl needs more room to bake (kitchen) and be artsy (office/creative space) and that all just cannot be confined to the current living situation, but somehow, we make it work. For now.

9. Alaskan Cruise: I have wanted to travel to Alaska for a long time. A tiny bit in part, due to Deadliest Catch more recently, but really, to take pictures and see all of the beautiful things that the area has to offer? On a huge boat?! Sign me up!!

10. Travel to see more of the West and East coasts: A note to parents everywhere: YOUR KIDS WILL NOT APPRECIATE ROAD TRIPS YOU TAKE WITH THEM UNTIL THEY ARE OLDER. You have been warned. Not only did I not appreciate any of the trips we took, but most of them I hardly remember because I tried to block out the "fighting with the little sister in the backseat" moments. I want to take the opportunity to take more pictures - hopefully with an awesome camera, and make new stories and memories.

11. Travel to Hawaii: I have wanted to visit this state since I was little. Not sure why the life-long draw, but I could appreciate the beauty of the landscape while sipping a nice cool beverage, just sayin'.

12. Travel to Australia: This item has a couple reasons for me wanting to go. First of all, this item is a lot like item #11 - I have wanted to go there since I was little - because they have Koalas. yep, I know, awesome reason. And secondly, it is the last place that a dear friend of mine spent his last days on earth. I want to be able to see the beauty and say goodbye to him there. I think my soul needs that.

13. Live on or near a lake: It was a pre-requisite for our wedding site, and it is also one thing that my hubby and I both really want some day. We always talk about growing old together and sitting on 'our dock' at the end of a long day. Just thinking about that sounds like bliss.

14. Host Thanksgiving Dinner at our home (must obtain home with larger kitchen first...): Now, this really cannot be done until #8 comes into play, but you get the idea. Thanksgiving is my absolute, hands-down favorite holiday. Ever. I love the smell of food cooking early in the morning and all through the day, I love how the kitchen gets warm and the whole house gets cozy. I love that family and friends come together to celebrate just that - good food, family, friends, and of course, the other "F," Football!

15. Ride in a Limousine: Okay, this one is pretty elementary, but I honestly have never, no, not ever, ridden in a limo before. I think it would satisfy the nerd in me. 

16. Road Trip with Derick: I could really see this one and #10 working quite nicely together. I just think that road trips always lend themselves to crazy stories that follow you through time, and the memories made, can last a lifetime.

17. Take a get-away vacation: Since one spring break in college, and one more recently, I have not gone on many get-away vacations. I mean like, fly and stay at an all-inclusive place where you can come and go as you like, and not have to worry bout a thing. I think I would reserve this trip to someplace warm.

18. Host a Holiday Cookie Baking Weekend at my home (must obtain home with larger kitchen first...): Again, this item cannot efficiently happen until item #8 happens. I am talking a nice house, with maybe a double-oven, and of course, a HUGE center island for spreading out the goods. I have been ripping out pages of magazines for years for what my "dream" kitchen could look like people!

19. Start a retirement account: Probably one of the most embarrassing things on the list. I have not yet started my retirement account. After 6 months of being at my current job, you can bet your penny-pinching fingers that I am going to hop to it, talk with my insurance guy, and pick a plan, Stan. Well, actually, his name's John.

20. Rebuild my hard-copy and electronic portfolios: If you are my former college professor, please, for the love of teaching, stop reading this item right now! I am ashamed to admit that I have not updated my hard-copy of my portfolio since graduating college (insert gasps of horror here). I don't even have my own domain name, but use a free public site to just get my work out there. I really want to take the time and get my work to the level I feel it deserves, but let's face it, with work, friends, volunteer committees, there is little time left at the end of the day for portfolio renewal. Some day, old friends.

21. See my work in print: Other than a couple of poems I wrote in high school a couple paintings and a scratch-board art piece, there is none of my real design work that has made it to a public arena.

22. Pay for the meal or dessert of a prom couple anonymously while at the same restaurant: Good story: when my friend Amanda and I were eating dinner at The Cattle Company before our 9th Grade Formal dance, another table paid for any dessert of our choosing. We were ALL dressed up, our hair done, etc. We were just out, the two of us friends together, since no boys had asked us, and we hadn't asked anyone either. I want to pay this forward. It left such a mark on me, and made me feel really good, that I want to pass that along to someone else.

23. Eat more fruits and vegetables: I know, I know, just about everyone and their mother says this. But, I really want and need to start making more of an effort on this front. The past couple of days I have been doing really well at this! Whoo hoo! Here's to continued self-improvement!

24. Serve food/meal at a charity during a major holiday: I heard someone talking about this on the bus the other day, and I said to myself, hey! Now that is something to add to your list! And here it is! I think it would really do a soul some good to get a little dose of reality, and really make a person thankful for what they have.

25. Re-read a book series: You know how it goes, I NEED to buy this book, I will TOTALLY re-read the series over and over again. um yeah, about that one...I don't think I have re-read a single book on my shelf to be honest, other than one by Nicholas Sparks that I started re-reading again by accident, thinking I hadn't read it yet. It turns out I had, but it's so hard to tell, he writes pretty much the same exact book over and over and over again, just calling it something different.

26. Read or review all of the design books I own: This one is the same as #26 in many ways. The only difference is, I think I have just about as many design-related books as I do other leisurely reading books in my possession. I want to be able to go through them all and really absorb the information and be able to apply it to my design arsenal. 

27. More seriously discuss if and when to have kids: Originally my hubby and I said that we would wait and be married for 5 years before talking kidlets. It is getting closer to that 5 years and I am still not so sure I am ready yet. Part of this will depend on items 8, 28 and all of the numbers with travel in them.

28. Find an Endocrinologist whom I interact well with: Mandatory. I feel like I am being so picky because I don't like the doctor I have now. Ever since switching over to the big, bad adult endo's, I am just not happy. And no, it's not the missing mini-chalkboards and crayons from the exam rooms. I want someone who appears to be on the same team as me - cheering me on for my good decisions and working with me on my areas of improvement. Why does that prove to be so much harder than it appears?!

29. Snowboard again: It has been years since my snowboard has seen snow. I'm serious, and as a native Minnesotan, I am ashamed. Part of me feels like, well, if you haven't used it in years, get rid of the thing. If only it were just that simple. I want to get back out there and hit the slopes again. I am sure that a class would only help the situation.

30. Go Scuba Diving: This would pair nicely with item 11 or 12. I think it would be great to see all of the corals, fish and other sea life. Nothing too crazy, but still, it sounds pretty awesome.

31. Skype with my Twitter Twin someday: HA! She made the list - and I will bet you she didn't think she would make the list. But for real, I think we were made from the same mold. At times, it is scary how alike our thoughts, experiences, and tweets become. Here's to someday saying a real , "Hello!"  

32. Work more closely with or for the ADA: I would love the opportunity to go to work every day knowing that you make a difference for something that affects people. It helps when there is a personal tie there, but I have had the opportunity of communing with many of these folks on the various volunteer committees that I sit in on, but I would love to be a bigger part of this someday.

33. Organize my digital pictures: Oh boy - this needs to be done ASAP. But what a huge undertaking. Each time that Derick goes to re-do the computer and needs to back up the files, he rolls his eyes at two things: 1. How much music I have stored on the computer and 2. How many photos I have stored on the computer. I confess, I love photography. No, love is an understatement. So, therefore, I have a TON of photos. They are all "sorted" to some varying degree, but some more than others, inside folders, inside of other folders. I just need to streamline and start again with the infrastructure.

34. Obtain my education degree to teach art or design: *Ugh, okay, I'll say it, "Everyone was right. I should probably have become an art/design teacher." I find that I really like teaching people things. I also have a passion for the arts and of course, graphic design. If I could marry the two ideas together, voila! Teaching art/design. Too bad those jobs are in short supply as of late, but that doesn't mean that I can't put it on the ol' list! And so I shall.


35. Learn how to play acoustic guitar: I have wanted to learn how to do this since I was young and saw someone a few years older than me playing in church. It is just a great thing to be able to know how to do and take out at a moment's notice and have a little jam session.

So, there you have it - in black and white - my current life to-do list. What's on your list?

-L