To make myself feel better, I decided to read over my Life List (I'm going to stop calling it a Bucket List since I want to think of my life when I read it, rather than thinking of...kicking the bucket) and remind myself of all the awesome things I'm going to do in my life. Because, God knows my life is definitely more than this job that I don't even like.
But after reading it, I realized that it's totally time for an update. After all, there are new things I want to do, new experiences I want to have, and new memories I want to fill my years with. This list should reflect all of this each step of the way.
The Life List
Graduate from a 4-year college[University of Washington, '05]Travel to Ireland['03, '08]- Have a rustic, vintage, outdoor, handmade wedding
Fall in love[with Nate]Live outside of Hawaii for an extended period of time['02-present]- Retire on the Big Island, HI
- Build an incredibly stylish and versatile wardrobe
- Take a backpacking trip around the world
Adopt an animal that needs a home[Mija the cat, Finn the dog]- Hike regularly
- Sky dive at sunset in the Bay of Islands, NZ
Bungy jump[Kawarau Bridge, NZ, '05]- Cage dive with great white sharks
- Zip-line in Whistler, BC
- Volunteer with an international humanitarian organization
- See U2 live [Soon! June '11]
- Take a vacation abroad with my mom and sisters
- Learn to speak Spanish fluently
- Get my PhD
- Go ATVing on Mauna Road on the Big Island, HI
- Stand under the Eiffel Tower when it's lit up at night
- Walk through Old City, Jerusalem
- Take a trip to Alaska and see the Northern Lights, grizzly bears, and go dog sledding
Pet a tiger[Thailand, '06]- Write a YA novel
- Own a hybrid car
- Cultivate a personal relationship with God
- Keep a journal and try to write in it as much as possible
Have my writing published[academic publications, '09]- Vacation in Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard
- Meet someone famous
- Overcome my fear of public speaking
- Watch a sunset in Positano, Italy
Study abroad[Northern Ireland '02, New Zealand '05]- Learn to snowboard
- Go on an African safari
- Take annual vacations somewhere I've never been
- Work or intern for a travel/lifestyle magazine or publisher (i.e. Sunset, Lonely Planet)
Go white water rafting[Wenatchee River, '04]Play in the falling snow[first time: Seattle, '04]- Open a bookstore (and possibly a cafe)
- Visit all the National Parks
- Go on an archaeological dig
Get backstage at a concert and meet the band[Band of Horses, '10]- Work/volunteer on a ranch or wildlife preserve
- Give birth to a child
- Adopt a child
- Practice yoga and pilates at least 2x a week for a year
- Spend a few days in Santorini, Greece
- Get certified and go diving on the Great Barrier Reef
- Own a home in Hawaii
- Lose 40lbs in a healthy way
Get a tattoo[Got 2, so far]- Take a week-long rafting trip in the Grand Canyon
Visit Crater Lake, OR[Northwest Roadtrip, '09]- Camp in Yosemite National Park
- Visit the Great Pyramids of Giza
- Have a marathon LotR extended version movie night (b/c I'm a nerd)
Go horseback riding[with Nate, '08]- Work to increase/protect the rights of indigenous peoples
- Run another 10k
- Get out of credit card debt
- Take a cross-country roadtrip
- Learn to drive comfortably on freeways
- Have a career where I can work from home
- Get Lasik eye surgery
- Visit the fjords and Alesund, Norway
- Ring in the New Year in NZ (it's the first place to experience it!)
Go to the Olympics[Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC, '10]- Own a house with views of the great outdoors
- Restore a fixer-upper
- See New England in the Fall
- Drink beer at Oktoberfest in Munich
- Go ghost hunting
- Learn to sew and reupholster
- Be on the winning team at my family's Annual Cook-Off
- Earn a stable and comfortable income doing something I love
- Own a horribly expensive, but utterly fabulous, pair of shoes
- Grow a garden
- Start and maintain a savings and retirement fund
- Move back to Seattle for a period of time
- Get my mother's secret recipe for her Energy Bars
- Go hot-air ballooning
- Meditate 5x a week for a year
Trace my genealogy['10]Go to a Renaissance Fair['07]Crowd surf at a rock concert[No Doubt, '98]- See the ruins of a lost civilization
- Buy (and wear) some amazingly sexy La Perla lingerie
- Raft +5 rapids
Stop drinking Diet Coke[January '11]- Take a Girls Trip out of the country
- Hire a personal shopper/stylist for a day
Visit a place I've read about in a novel[Monterey, CA and Ireland]- Participate in La Tomatina in Spain
- Take a photography class
- Travel to Bali, Indonesia
- Learn to cook one fabulous go-to "company" dinner
- Relearn to play the violin
- Call home weekly
