I saw this phrase going around social media last week and immediately thought Yes, this is exactly how I feel. What was January? Where did it go? What happened? Is it still 2016? I’m so not prepared for this year, I haven’t even made my goals! What am I doing with my life? Amongst a stream of many other thoughts.
In January, I started and completed my 200hr Yoga Teacher Certification (that was 12 hours a day of intense work), helped my mother-in-law with her wedding (she was a stunning bride), and started working on my Private Pilot’s License. Cue exhaustion. So now that we are into February, I’ve finally had a minute to sit down and think about what I want out of this year. You can read my last post about the Lessons I Learned in 2015 to Take into 2016.
Some people love to make New Year’s Resolutions, and then some people think they are the dumbest thing. I personally love to make a list of goals I have for that year. It works for me. I’m very driven by goals and like to have big picture things in front of me to work towards. It gives me something to look forward to each year. I love to look back on each year and think Oh yes, that was the year I accomplished this. And it was awesome. I like to have markers in life to see how far I’ve come.
As I sat down and started looking at my goals from years past, I realized (without knowing it) that a lot of them came from my “Bucket List.” And it got me thinking about how just about everyone has a bucket list of some sort, whether formally written out or just some ideas in their mind of things they would like to do/see/be before they ‘kick the bucket.’ Then I thought, what’s the point of having a bucket list if you never do any of them. What if every year you made a point to check just one of them off your list.
In the spirit of bucket lists, I decided to go back through mine, and it was honestly so fun (and eye opening) to see on paper how much I’ve gotten to experience in my life. It’s so easy to get caught up in the ever day happenings of the world and loose yourself in the now, and forget where you came from and what you’ve already done. I think it’s important to continually remind yourself of how blessed you are.
So for fun, here is my bucket list, both accomplished and unaccomplished, in no particular order.
Angela’s Ever-Growing Bucket List
- Get my Bachelors Degree (2011)
- Get my Masters Degree (2012)
- Be a great elementary teacher (2011-2015)
- Live in a different state for a year (one day)
- Run a marathon (2008)
- Qualify for the Boston Marathon (2009)
- Run Boston
- Complete a full 140.6 mile Ironman Triathlon (2013)
- Run an Ultra Marathon (Bandera 50k 2009)
- Run a 50 miler (52 miles 2015)
- Run a 100 miler
- Start a blog (yay RLK!)
- Crash a wedding 😉
- Donate my hair (2011)
- See the world (this will never fully be finished)
- Sunbathe in Hawaii and go to a luau (2010 & 2014)
- Learn to Surf (2014)
- Hike a 14er
- White Water Rafting
- Camp in the mountains (2015)
- Go to a concert in the Red Rocks
- Hike the Appalachian trail
- Antelope Canyon
- Grand Canyon (2007)
- Moab Great Arches National Park (2015)
- Camp in a national park
- Go tubing down a river (2015)
- See the Redwood Forest and drive through a Redwood Tree
- Camp in Big Sur, California
- Take a road trip with a friend (2015)
- Visit New York City and run in Central Park
- Have ice cream at Serendipity
- Sand Boarding (2015)
- Snow Boarding (2015)
- Go snow skiing (2009)
- See the Aurora Borealis, Alaska
- Tour wineries in Napa Valley
- Ride a cable car in San Francisco
- Drive America coast to coast
- Disney World (2009)
- Go on a cruise (2012)
- Fly first class international (2015)
- Go to an active Volcano (2014)
- Shower in a waterfall
- Swim with Dolphins (2011)
- Mush a dog sled
- Visit Africa and travel on a Safari
- Get Baptized in the Jordan River (2008)
- Float in the dead sea (2008)
- Spend a month living in and traveling Spain (2015)
- Learn Spanish fluently
- Learn to Salsa Dance in Spain (2015)
- Eat the best Pintxos in San Sebastian (2015)
- Eat at Michelin award-winning restaurant
- Ride a train (2015)
- Visit Portugal (2015)
- Drink Guinness at a pub in Ireland (2015)
- See the Cliffs of Moher (2015)
- Try to make a guard laugh at Buckingham Palace
- Wine tasting in the south of France
- Kiss on top of the Eiffel Tower
- Walk the Castle Walls in Dubrovnik, Croatia
- Visit Croatia’s National Parks
- Island hop in Greece
- Go to a music festival out of the country (Bilbao 2015)
- Eat the best pasta and pizza in Italy
- Kayak in Positano, Italy
- Take a Cooking Class in Florence, Italy
- Zip-line for miles
- Go parasailing
- Jump into Jacob’s Well (2014)
- Yoga in Bali
- Stay in an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora
- Skydiving in Switzerland
- Visit the Colosseum in Rome
- Walk a length of the Great Wall of China
- Hike the Inca Trail (Machu Picchu)
- Get a meaningful tattoo (2015)
- Sail around the Mediterranean
- Go Scuba Diving
- Learn to sail and navigate a sail boat (happening 2016)
- Go zorbing
- Fly a plane (2016)
- Get my private pilot’s license (happening 2016)
- Hot Air Balloon ride (2005)
- Ride in a helicopter
- Swing from the Trapeze
- Write a book
- Learn to play piano
- Get my yoga teacher certification (2016)
- Finish my nutrition certification (happening 2016)
- Attend a TED Conference
- Take a cooking class
- Take a photography class
- Take a bartending/mixology class
- Write my name in wet cement
- Make a wish on a shooting star
- Ride a horse on the beach
- Rock climb outside on real rocks
- Make my own wine
This honestly isn’t even my whole list, I tried to keep it to just 100 so as not to overwhelm you. Maybe next year I’ll let you in on what my other 100 things are 😉
What are somethings on your bucket list?
And what are somethings you’ve gotten to check off?