This list is something I've wanted to post for a long time now. Inspired by Mighty Girl, I've been slowly creating my own "life list" over the past few months. A life list (to me anyway) is something to strive for... to ensure that I spend my days and years working toward fulfillment rather than a paycheck. I have a job, but like most people that job isn't my passion. My passion is pretty much everything but my job... my family, friends, sewing, creating, music, blogging, food, traveling. All the good stuff that makes life worth living. Another post on life lists mentioned this quote by Thoreau: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with their song still in them." How's that for a nice, depressing thought? Well, this list is the song in my heart - some parts are silly, some are grand, some make me cry happy tears just thinking about them...
- Have another baby
- And another
- Go back to Thala to renew our vows on our 10 year anniversary
- Own more than 20 acres of land and a cabin
- Take Jared to see the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon
- Have the nice, peaceful waterbirth I'd hoped to have with the first birth
- Run the 1/2 marathon in sub 2 hours (current PR is 2:07)
- Attend the birth of a grandchild
- Learn free-motion quilting
- Surprise the kid(s) with a trip to Disney
- Go on safari in Africa
- Sew a full size quilt
- Teach Emma to sew
- See Bruce Springsteen in concert
- Hike the PCT in its entirety
- Ring in the new year in a foreign city
- Go to a rodeo
- Go horseback riding on the beach
- Take my sister and our families for a trip to Ocean Creek in Myrtle Beach to relive the vacations of our youth
- Go sea kayaking in Alaska
- See a sea otter in its natural habitat
- Go on vacation at a dude ranch
- Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
- Make my long promised pilgrimage to the Minnesota State Fair
- Stay at a hotel with overwater bungalows (such as in Bora Bora)
- Keep a daily gratitude journal every day for a year
- Sleep in a tree house
- Visit all 50 states (38 down, 12 to go!)
- Make mozzarella from scratch
- Sponsor a woman through Women for Women International
- Have an entirely handmade Christmas
- Visit Crater Lake
Keep a plant alive for more than 3 months(DONE!)- Get professional pictures taken of our family
- Have an entirely "shop local" Christmas
- Take a girls-only vacation with my BFF - no kids, no partners, just us and lots of wine and fatty food
Watch Emma eat her first ice cream cone(DONE!)- Host a movie night in our backyard
- Dine with a local family in a foreign city
- Teach my children how to properly merge when getting on a highway
- Write a letter to my 12th grade AP English teacher, thanking her for being one of the best teachers I've ever had
- Go to Opening Day at Citizens Bank Park (Go Phillies!)
- Have a huge yard sale to purge all the stuff we don't actually use or need
- Record the songs we've made up for Emma so she knows how silly we once were
- Perfect a homemade ice cream recipe
- Make sure my nephew grows up knowing how brave and strong his mama is
- Have a truly defined sense of style, both for my self and my home
- Grow my hair long again (and NOT chop it off after the birth of baby #2)
Rock my natural hair color (or have it be mostly my natural color)(DONE!)- Rehab a piece of thrift store furniture
- Give Rocco one last perfect day before we have to say goodbye
- Dance like no one's watching (sober)
- Take a photography class (DONE!)
- Find my perfect shade of lipstick
- Have a never-want-to-leave family room (complete with one of those super deep sectionals)
- Anonymously pay the check for a single mom out to eat with her kids
- Attend a bloggers conference (BlogHer, AltSummit, etc.)
- Get a (very) small tattoo for each of my children
- Meet a blogging friend in real life
- Tour Amsterdam by bike
- Pass my grandmother's diamond on to Emma when she graduates college
- Read the Harry Potter books with Emma
- Get a photo shoot done with my mom and sister
- Be a much better thank you note writer
- Go line dancing in Nashville
- Do something to be more social in real life, not just online (dinner club, mom's group, etc.)
- Sew Emma a Christmas dress every year of her childhood
- Make an effort to stop saying "I mean" at the beginning of sentences
- Have something handmade in every room of our house
- Go to a tree farm to cut down our own Christmas tree
- Take the time to give myself regular at-home pedicures
- Start once a month "offline Saturdays"
- Host my mom for the holidays and give her a break from doing any cooking
- Have a girls weekend with my sister filled with all our favorite movies and foods from our childhood
- Sit on the front porch with Jared watching our grandkids play in the front yard
- Watch all 100 of the AFI 100 best films (IN PROGRESS)
That's it!... for now. As my life changes, I'm sure this list will, too. I'll keep you posted as I start crossing things off!
PS... I highly recommend going through the exercise of writing down a life list. It's been both a joy and a challenge, and I'm so glad I did it.