101 Things...

I was cleaning out one of my bookshelves recently and found a book called "101 Things to Do Before You Die." I had bought it 5 or 6 years ago in Lawrence in one of those cute, trendy shops that sells useless things such as this and started checking the adventures off my list. Some of them I had already done (ie. get a tattoo, travel to another country) and some of them I don't plan on ever doing (ie. join the mile high club....have these people EVER seen an airplane bathroom? GROSS!) Anyway, as I flipped through this book, I realized that hardly any of the things in this book where in my top 101 things I still wanted to do with my life, so I tossed it right into the trash. Then I decided to rewrite the checklist and fill it with things that really matter to me. As I was writing my checklist, I realized 101 things was a lot, so I decided to cut it down to 51. So here it is, my list of "51 Things to Do Before I Die" (OR) "My Rather Long Bucket List"depending on which pop culture reference you prefer. (*Disclaimer: All items are listed in no particular order, and ranking on list is unrelated to priority)

1. Go back to Europe, at least one more time
2. Go get a pedi or mani once a month for an entire year, just to keep reminding myself that just becuase I change poopy diapers all day doesn't mean I shouldn't have reasons to feel glamorous about myself.
3. See Times Square and a real Broadway performance (in person)
4. Write a book. Probably just a short children's book, maybe for my future grandkids. But I'll need someone else to do the illustrations, I'm awful at art.
5. Laugh so hard I pee my pants a little (It does not coun't if I'm pregnant at the time). Record what was so funny so I can look back on it and laugh for years to come.
6. Spend a Christmas or Thanksgiving volunteering at a soup kitchen
7. Go to Disney World with my family
8. Grow my hair long enough to donate to "Locks of Love"
9. Pay off every single penny of my debt. From student loans to our mortgage, it would feel wonderful to not owe anyone any money.
10. Make a quilt.
11. (Continue to) remind Benton every single day for the rest of my life that I love him
12. (Continue to) remind Chris every single day for the rest of my life that I love him
13. And do that for any future children as well
14. Have future children (preferably 3 more, with at least one of them being a girl)
15. Have a bigger house for my future family of 6 (things may get a little cramped in this 3 bedroom townhome...but if we had to we could make it work!)
16. Be back to my wedding size of 130 lbs. I won't say how far I have to go to get there...
17. Go skiing (I know, most people say "Go skydiving, but I really don't like heights that much, and skiing seems risky enough to me)
18. Teach Benton (and any future children) to always put God first, family second, the world third, and themselves last
19. Read a piece of classic literature and actually enjoy it
20. Go back to the top of the Eiffel Tower, this time with my sweetheart <3
21. Make a scrapbook (Karalie??? If you read this, you might have to help me out here!)
22. Be a manager. In any profession really, it could be working at McDonalds for all I care. Just knowing that someone saw that I was a hard worker and care enough about my job to promote me would be the greatest compliment (from an employer) I could ever recieve
23. Take a spontaneous road trip. Don't pre-book the hotels or preplan when we will stop to eat, just GO!
24. Go RV-ing. This one could quite possibly be combined with number 23.
25. Go to a concert of someone BIG! (Not fat, just famous)
26. Make a perfect creme brulee (Anyone wanna lend me a blow torch?)
27. Make an impact, cause a positive change in this world that maybe I will never see, but it will be there nonetheless.
28. Try sushi (Yeah, I really never have before)
29. Take cake decorating classes (I have called Hobby Lobby about 5 months in row and they always have them on a night I can't go, no fair!)
30. Decorate a cake (REALLY well!)
31. Take another cruise. To anywhere. Actually I hope to do this several more times before I die, so I'm actually going to make it number 32-34 as well :)
35. See Benton graduate from high school.
36. See Benton graduate from college.
37. See Benton get married.
38. Hold my grandchildren. (Dear Benton, it would behoove you to complete the above 4 in the order listed)
39. Take ballroom dancing lessons (Chris and I signed up for these before our wedding and then only took about 3 becuase we were so busy, this time I want to follow through)
40. Learn something from each of my parents I never knew before
41. Have a perfect day. One where I wake up and the house is already clean, the weather is perfect, and I don't have to work. Everyone is in a good mood so we go to the park and have a picnic and fly kites, then maybe stop and have ice cream before we come home and have a family game night. One of those days that only exists in movies. I think they are possible and I want one.
42. Go to the dentist and have them say "Your teeth look great, I can tell you've been flossing. You don't even really need this cleaning today but we'll do it anyway. On the house since we can tell you work so hard on keeping your teeth nice." *FAT CHANCE, they get so much pleasure out of scraping your gums til you bleed and then charging your hundereds of dollars for it*
43. Learn to not hate the dentist
44. Get a boob job. (Reduction and lift if you really want the details)
45. Stay in a penthouse sweet somewhere (even just for one night)
46. Visit the west coast
47. Always have at least one nice thing to say about someone
48. Love with every ounce of my being
49. Go to a piano bar (I've heard they are really fun...girls night out, anyone?)
50. Get Benton potty trained (This feels like such a big task right now, that it actually did make the list, barely)
51. Cut my hours to part time at work, so I can homeschool Benton when he's older.

So there's my list. I'll probably think of more things when I'm laying in bed tonight, but that's my list for today. What's on your list??