A few months ago I was talking to a friend about making a list of things to accomplish during our lives. And last week, I read
this post on a wonderful blog about the list of things she wants to do before she "goes".
I was inspired. I call my list "the life list" because in between responsibilities and routines I love to live life.
This is a list of 100 things I'd love to experience in my life. Some can be done simply, with little planning. Some require me to get in good physical shape to perform. Some will take planning and lots of money to accomplish.
The main thing about my list, there isn't any pressure. If I do 10, 20, or 82 of the things on my list it'll help make me a more rounded person. Doing things on my list will help make me... well, me.
Here it is, my life list:
1. Take dancing lessons.
2. Road trip: Yellowstone > Grand Canyon > Death Valley > Sequoias.
3. Teach my kids to braid.
4. Scuba dive. (again)
5. Go to Machu Picctu.
6. Visit EACH and every one of the 50 States.
7. See the aurora borealis.
8.
Graduate college with a BS degree. Dec 2011
9. Rent a house boat.
10. Sell something I’ve created.
11. Eat cuisine from small (non-chain) restaurants: Italian, Indian, Ethiopian, French, Moroccan, Greek, Mongolian, Russian, Cuban, Hungarian, Afghan, African, Thai.
12. Complete a marathon, the full 26.2.
13. Run Bay to Breakers in San Francisco.
14. Swim in the Dead Sea. (don’t even know if it’s possible for me to go there)
15. Do a multi-day bike trip.
16. Visit Mount Rushmore.
17. Go to New York City.
18. Go to Washington D.C.
19. Become conversational in Spanish.
20. Eat only locally grown food for one week straight.
21. Go to three countries I haven’t been to before. (rules out Canada and Mexico)
22. Take a gourmet cooking class.
23. Photograph all of the California Missions.
24. Photograph 25 Northern California wildflowers in nature and learn their names.
25. Write favorite memories in a book for my children and their children.
26. Ride in a hot air balloon.
27. Hike a 14’er.
28.
Take my kids to Yosemite. June 2011
29.
Go to the Redwoods in Humboldt County. (or wherever these are) Aug 2011
30.
Make homemade ravioli.
31. Go a full day without uttering a word.
32. Enter a photograph at a local fair.
33. Have a family picture professionally taken. (not by a "photographer in a box")
34. Host an grown-up-only dinner party.
35. Try 50 different cocktails and decide on my 5 favorites.
36. Witness the birth of a child.
37. Raise chickens.
38. Make and can a batch of tomato sauce from my own tomatoes.
39. See a show on Broadway.
40. Have a huge anniversary party.
41. Learn to make a terrific Latte.
42. Take my kids to Canada.
43. See Niagara Falls.
44. Go to the Sistine Chapel.
45. Grow flowers from seed to bloom.
46. Own and wear a ‘little black dress’.
47. Buy and wear often shoes that cost more than $200.
48. Make a time capsule.
49. Try caviar.
50.
Share a bottle of expensive champagne with someone special. (most likely Walt) Dom Perignon,
Jan 2013
51. Teach my kids how to sew by hand.
52. Teach my kids to sew on a machine.
53. Paint something I’d hang on my wall.
54. Make a family tree spanning 5 generations.
55. Learn how several ancestors came to the U.S.
56.
Ride a horse on an ocean beach. Aug 2010
(view here)
57.
Make cinnamon rolls from scratch.
Jan 2012
58.
Go on a cruise. February 2013
59.
Swim in the Atlantic Ocean. February 2013
60. Learn to play guitar.
61. Own property larger than an acre.
62. Have fruit trees.
63. Attend the Olympics.
64. Swim with a dolphin.
65. Watch the launch of a spacecraft.
66. See the pyramids.
67. Go to Malta.
68. Play golf.
69. Buy a round of drinks for the bar.
70. Have a food fight.
71. Walk on the Great Wall of China.
72. Photograph my sisters with their children.
73. Visit 50 waterfalls.
74. Sew an outfit I’ll wear in public.
75. Volunteer for a non-profit organization that I truly believe in.
76. Attend an orchestra concert.
77. Soak in a natural hot spring.
78. Do a polar bear plunge.
79. Plant a tree.
80. Learn to crochet.
81. See the opera.
82.
See a ballet. The Nutcracker Dec 2012
83. Watch the sunrise with someone special.
84. Send flowers for no reason.
85. Sleep under the stars with my kids.
86. See a play at the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR.
87. Make a kite and fly it.
88. Spend Christmas in Lapland.
89. Bet on a live horse race.
90. Go whitewater rafting with Josh.
91.
Learn and practice meditation.(Learn a couple techniques 2011)
92. Ride a camel.
93. Experience a Japanese tea ceremony.
94. Learn to juggle. (better than I do now)
95. Explore Mesa Verde.
96. Milk a cow.
97. Learn to make sushi.
98. Own a vacation home.
99.
100.
As you can see, I still have two more to add. I'll figure those out soon. I don't expect that this list will be finalized. Ever. It's not set in stone either. But it gives me something to look forward to and strive for and I can't wait to get started.
