Better late than never

Last May I created a bucket list of things I wanted to accomplish by the end of 2010. This was a semi-successful endeavor; I think I had completed about half of the items on the list before December came to a close. This year my list is a little shorter (and therefore hopefully will have a higher success rate), and I've carried over several goals from last year that I wasn't able to do. Some of these goals are silly and relatively unimportant (i.e. climb a tree) but others have the potential to be a tad more significant :) Also, since I'm only just now getting around to posting this year's list, a few of these items have already been completed, but they're staying on the list regardless...because I like crossing things off :)

So here's my 2011 Bucket List...let me know if you want to help me accomplish any of it! :)

1. Have an Anne of Avonlea party.

2. Be consistently mentored by a godly woman from church.

3. Attend Kevin and Danielle’s wedding.

4. Visit Aja in San Antonio.

5. Volunteer for something on a regular basis.

6. Volunteer at a Joni & Friends camp.

7. Camp at Cades Cove.

8. Read through the entire Bible.

9. Visit a state where I’ve never been.

10. Visit the North Carolina farm.

11. Go back to Haiti.

12. Visit Chicago and Warsaw.

13. Go to a concert.

14. Visit Paul and Sheila in Vermont.

15. Visit Sean, Jessica, and Isaiah in Virginia.

16. Go running with Jenn.

17. Climb a tree.

18. Take ice skating lessons.

19. Be certified as a foster care babysitter.

20. Have a Disney movie marathon.

21. Go horseback riding.

22. Learn/practice more French.

23. Attend Joe and Caitlin’s wedding.

24. Move out of Stephanie-the-apartment and live in a duplex or house.

25. Do the Run for Compassion 5k.

26. Go to the Bluebell Creamery.

27. Name the duplex.

28. Have a Jane Austen movie night.

29. Watch the Lord of the Rings movies.

30. Go on a picnic.

31. Have a tea party.

32. Go to a museum.

33. Go on a roadtrip with Rachael.

34. Ride on a train.

35. Plant flowers in my yard.

36. Build a sand castle.

37. Go to a musical.

38. Go camping with Ian and Stephanie.

39. Stand under a waterfall.

40. Go to Martha’s Bloomers Tea Room.

at Kevin and Danielle's wedding (#3)

And the results of this year's Bucket List are...

As 2010 winds to a close, I'm having to face the fact that I did not, in fact, accomplish all of the items on my bucket list for this year. Which is disappointing...but...not the end of the world. I certainly did more of these (sometimes silly and random) things than I would have done had I not bothered to write a list, so all in all, this was a successful endeavor. And, for many of the things I wasn't able to do this year, there's always 2011...which is approaching with incredible rapidity. So, I'll compose a new list...copy some 2010 tasks...come up with some new ideas as well...and we'll see how 2011 goes!

Here's what I did accomplish (or have begun working on, in some cases) from my 2010 list:

Have the Anne of Green Gables party part 2
Braid Birdie's hair on a fairly regularly basis
Learn about and put into practice what it means to be a godly/biblical woman

Go back to Florida [for a visit]
Finish watching the last episode of season 5 of LOST
Have the LOST season finale party

Babysit/hang out with little kids more
Have a summer Bible study with Sabrina and Everly
Visit a state where I’ve never been before (Arkansas, for Ian and Stephanie's wedding!)
Celebrate National Smores day on August 10th
Bake homemade bread
Get a library card
Update my blog more regularly
Go stargazing
Figure out how to register the van in TX and then do it
Get a TX driver’s license
Watch The Sound of Music
Acquire more children’s books
Memorize more of the Bible
Take a walk in a park
Write more
Volunteer for something
Go to a playground and play on the swings
Watch an episode of The Office, per Lee’s recommendation
Read The Mysterious Benedict Society books, per Teeko’s recommendation
Go on a boat ride of some sort
Go to Plato’s Closet
Go running in the rain.
Name the van. For reals. (Amanda the Spaceship)
Paint with watercolors
Go to a concert (Jack Johnson!!!)
Watch Lina sing at Carnegie Hall
Celebrate National Ice Cream day on July 18th
Watch the sunset with a friend
Go to a zoo
Get a hymnbook
Hang out with Kevin and Danielle

Overall, a good year (with still a few days left; perhaps I can still knock another item or two off this year's list)!

1000 gifts

So, I've decided to join in on Multitude Mondays and start posting every week about things for which I'm thankful. Here's this week's 10:

1. New books (well, new to me, anyway) from Half-Price Books

2. Late-night kitchen adventures with Sabrina, Everly, and Birdie

3. Lovely sunsets

4. Seeing Jack Johnson in concert last week

5. Psalm 139, and good sermons preached on it

6. New friends

7. An "old" friend moving to town soon

8. Several opportunities to cross things off my Bucket List

9. A long letter from a friend

10. An entire weekend off of work

me and Birdie at the Jack Johnson concert

Bucket List for 2010

I realized recently that though I have lots of hopes and dreams and plans etc floating around in my brain, if I don't start writing them down and becoming intentional about achieving them, I probably won't end up getting around to a lot of them. So, for that reason, I decided to create a bucket list, per Caroline's example, of things that I hope to accomplish (or, as in the case of the things I want to learn, begin working on) by the end of 2010. Here is the list I've come up with; it'll be fun to see how many I can check off over the next 6 1/2 months!

1. Start keeping a prayer journal again

2. Have the Anne of Green Gables party part 2

3. Go on a picnic

4. Go back to Haiti

5. Have a Jane Austen movie night

6. Braid Jeweliet’s hair on a fairly regularly basis

7. Go camping at [at least] one Texas state park

8. Go to the True Woman 2010 conference in Fort Worth

9. Learn about and put into practice what it means to be a godly/biblical woman

10. Go back to Florida [for a visit]

11. Finish watching the last episode of season 5 of LOST

12. Have the LOST season finale party

13. Babysit/hang out with little kids more

14. Visit Anna in Humble

15. Learn how to play an instrument of some sort

16. Learn more French

17. Make a gingerbread house

18. Have a summer Bible study with Caitlin and Caroline

19. Learn sign language

20. Study child development

21. Visit a state where I’ve never been before

22. Re-learn how to drive manual

23. Memorize a poem

24. See Mary Poppins on Broadway

25. Go to Rachel and Bobby’s wedding

26. Go on a hike, preferably in the mountains

27. Visit the North Carolina farm

28. Celebrate National Smores day on August 10^th

29. Buy a tent

30. Bake a cheesecake with Jeweliet

31. Visit the Blue Bell Creamery

32. Bake homemade bread

33. Successfully have a plant of some sort (i.e. keep it alive for more than 1 week)

34. Get a College Station library card

35. Update my blog more regularly

36. [Find a boy to help me] put up my hammock swing

37. Watch Aladdin

38. Go stargazing

39. Watch The Twilight Zone, per Will’s recommendation

40. Visit Joelle at the YMCA of the Rockies this summer

41. Figure out how to register the van in TX and then do it

42. Get a TX driver’s license

43. Hang out in Austin with Caitlin and Joe and other such fantastic people

44. Watch The Sound of Music

45. Acquire a book of Martha Snell Nicholson’s poems

46. Acquire more children’s books

47. Memorize more of the Bible

48. Take a walk in a park

49. Write more

50. Volunteer for something

51. Go to a playground and play on the swings

52. Have a tea party

53. Learn how to sew and/or knit

54. Watch an episode of The Office, per Lee’s recommendation

55. Read The Mysterious Benedict Society books, per Teeko’s recommendation

56. Go ice skating more often

57. Go on a boat ride of some sort

58. Go to Plato’s Closet

59. Write a short story based on a childhood memory

60. Make toffee almond crunch candy

61. Go running in the rain.

62. Name the van. For reals.

63. Paint with watercolors

64. Go to a concert

65. Go on a bike ride

66. Watch Lina sing at Carnegie Hall

67. Celebrate National Ice Cream day on July 18^th

68. Watch the sunset with a friend

69. Visit the lovely Ms. Jenny Jenkins at some point in whatever city/state/country she happens to be

70. Find a neurosurgeon for Christina and get a medical visa for her

71. Go to a zoo

72. Go to a museum

73. Climb a tree

74. Get a hymnbook

75. Hang out with Kevin and Danielle