My Life List

I am a listmaker at heart. I just can’t seem to help myself.

I know that I’m not the only one out there that gets a sick sense of satisfaction out of making lists – and marking things off of them.

Please tell me I’m not alone….

I find them everywhere – in my purse and pockets and notebooks lying around the house.

Most are just things I’ve jotted down – what to buy at the grocery store or the things I need to accomplish the next day.

This one is more life-transforming.

I was reading a blog, Chookooloonks, and got the great idea to start a life list. You know, a list of all of the things that you would like to do in your lifetime?

It doesn’t have to be any specific number of things, but I would try to make it at least 100. And of course add to it as you think of more.  I’m constantly adding to mine.

Want to climb Mt. McKinley? (I don’t by the way!)

Go white-water rafting? (Not on my list either!)

Watch the sunset while taking a cruise? (That’s more my style.)

Add whatever you want to the list.

I’ve posted my list below. I’m at over 150 items and counting. Some are far-fetched. Some push me out of my comfort zone. Others may seem mundane, but are things that I haven’t done or mastered and would love to. I will add more as I think of things I have to do – and I’ll mark them off as I accomplish them.

Here is my list:

1. Learn to play Fur Elise on the piano. (I don’t play piano).
2. Ride a trolley car in San Francisco.
3. Make a salad with vegetables from my own garden.
4. Trace my family tree back at least 10 generations in all directions.
5. Learn to make a supremely delicious omelet.
6. Take the kids to Disney World. March 2011 and April 2011
   
7. Attend a national genealogy conference. May 2011
   
8. Walk the entire beach around Harstine Island.
9. Drive the Alcan from Alaska to the lower 48. May 2010
10. Learn how to take my camera out of “auto” mode and start shooting “manual”. July 2010
11. Learn to make yummy scones like Starbucks. July 2012
12. Take a tour of the White House.
13. Go peach picking at an orchard in Georgia.
14. Walk for a good cause. March 2012
    
15. Visit all of the Smithsonian Museums in D.C.
16. Open my eyes underwater. August 2010
17. Go to a Pow-wow.
18. Go to a wine tasting at a Napa Valley winery.
19. Put a coin in a slot machine in Vegas.
20. Use my Russian – in Russia.
21. Drive the entire Route 66.
22. Go on a whale-watching boat trip.
23. Have tea in a fancy tea room somewhere.December 2010
24. Visit Stonehenge.
25. Learn to make my own pasta from scratch.
26. Drive around the entire Olympic Peninsula in WA state. August 2012
27. Set foot on a submarine. May 2011
28. Take a carriage ride.
29. Watch the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. May 2011
    
30. Become a Certified Genealogist.
31. Watch an Olympic event – in person.
32. Write out the birth story of each of my children.
33. Watch a meteor shower with my kids.
34. Take a trip in a glass-bottomed boat.
35. Sit and relax in a hot springs.
36. Build something on my own.
37. Take a Mediterranean cruise.
38. Eat Italian food – in Italy.
39. Volunteer at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Thanksgiving 2011
40. Go on an archaeological dig.
41. Spend a week off the grid – no power, no water, no electronic devices.
42. Put on a great New Year’s Eve party.
43. Visit a historic plantation. September 2010
44. Read all of Jane Austen’s novels – again.
45. Take the kids to a baseball game – and eat peanuts and crackerjacks.
46. Interview my parents about their lives and record it for future generations.
47. Learn how to apply make-up – beyond mascara and chapstick.
48. Host a foreign exchange student.
49. Take a picture of 100 different “crossing” signs.
50. See the pyramids in Egypt.
51. Learn to make a paper airplane that really flies.
52. Eat an entire meal with chopsticks.
53. Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. June 2010
54. Plan and have a tea party with my girls.
55. Put my toes in the Atlantic Ocean. June 2010
56. Visit Arlington National Cemetery.
57. Watch the space shuttle take off.
58. Eat dinner at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle.
59. Tour the Tillamook Cheese Factory. August 2010
60. Watch the sunset at the Grand Canyon.
61. Learn to ballroom dance.
62. Meet Roza, the little girl we sponsor in Tanzania.
63. Put together a family reunion.
64. See the Mona Lisa in person.
65. Visit every state in the U.S.
66. Write a family history book to give to relatives and future generations.
67. Do research in the genealogy library in Salt Lake City.
68. Have my dream house built – complete with an octagonal tower and a wrap-around porch.
69. Visit the farm my ancestors lived on in Norway.
70. Drive from Key Largo to Key West. March 2011
    
71. Learn to make an apple pie.
72. Get a manicure and a pedicure.
73. Visit the San Juan Islands.
74. Go fishing with Andy.
75. Build a Lego City with my kids using every single Lego block we own. (and we have a TON!)
76. Watch Old Faithful blow with my kids. May 2010
77. Sew Christmas stockings for my family.
78. Go on a honeymoon with my husband.
79. Visit Manassas and Appomattox – the beginning and end of the Civil War. June 2010
80. Eat at the Wall Drug Store in South Dakota. August 2010
81. Homeschool all of my children through high school.
82. Learn to say “I love you” in 20 different languages.
83. Milk a cow.May 2011
84. Take the kids to a real circus.
85. Visit the world’s largest aquarium – The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.
86. Cross over the Mississippi River. May 2010
87. Read the Bible from start to finish in one year.
88. Buy a quilt in Amish country. May 2010
89. Learn to make a daisy chain.
90. Watch a Cirque de Soleil show.
91. Walk completely around Devil’s Tower, Wyoming. May 2010
92. Read all of Charles Dickens’ books.
93. Visit the space center in Houston.
94. Go to mass at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Sioux City, IA – where my relatives and ancestors attended.
95. Learn all of the countries and capitals of the world.
96. Visit St. Augustine, the first permanent settlement in North America. September 2010
97. Tour Carlsbad Caverns. Summer 2011
98. Have coffee at the first Starbucks.
99. Take a tour of Independence Hall in Philadelphia and see the Liberty Bell.
100. Go ice skating on an outdoor rink.
101. Shop at the largest mall in North America. May 2010
102. Take my entire family camping – tents, s’mores, fishing and all.
103. Take the kids to a water park.
104. Go innertubing down a slow river.
105. Take a nap in a hammock in my own backyard.
106. Volunteer somewhere for an extended period of time.
107. Ride on the back of a motorcycle – slowly.
108. See the ruins in Athens and other parts of Greece.
109. Take the kids to Fort Flaggler – where I went to camp in middle school,.
110. Drive the Santa Fe Trail.
111. Learn to dive.
112. Become debt-free!
113. Learn to can my own food.
114. Take my daughter to a fashion show.
115. Ride a roller coaster with my kids – and maybe even my husband (who doesn’t do roller coasters.) April 2011
     
116. Make my own Sangria for a grown-ups only party.
117. Learn to identify the plants and animals in my local area.
118. Win a photo contest of some sort.
119. Press flowers from my own garden.
120. Take a picture of a full rainbow.
121. Drive the Going-the-Sun road through Glacier National Park.
122. Take a Caribbean cruise.
123. Make silhouettes of my children and hang them on the wall.
124. Get my picture taken in front of the “General Sherman” tree in Sequoia National Park.
125. Eat at Paula Deen’s restaurant, Lady and Sons. September 2010
126. Drive over the Erie Canal. May 2010
127. Take the kids to a rodeo. September 2012
128. Visit Prince Edward Island, Canada.
129. Go to the top of the Washington Monument.
130. See Niagara Falls in all of it’s glory – from the U.S. and Canadian sides. May 2010
131. Visit every National Park and Monument in the United States (at least the 48 contiguous states)
132. Sew a quilt.
133. Do research in the National Archives.
134. Knit something that I could actually wear.
135. See the Statue of Liberty in person.
136. Participate in a living history day.
137. Watch a glassblowing demonstration.
138. Go on a dolphin-watching boat trip.
139. Paint something that I could hang on my wall.
140. Bake fresh bread in the oven – not the bread machine.
141. Teach someone to speak English.
142. Go up in a hot air balloon.
143. Visit the Greenbrier at White Sulphur Springs, WV. My great-great-great grandmother’s brother was resident physician there for years.
144. Take pictures of 500 different types of animals.
145. Spend a weekend boating on the Puget Sound with my wonderful husband.
146. Find my great-great-great grandparents gravestones in Woolwine, VA and take a picture of them. (they aren’t in a cemetery). May 2011
147. Walk through Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia.
148. Go on a safari in the Serengeti.
149. Visit New Orleans during Mardi Gras.
150. Take a trip into the woods before Christmas to cut down our own tree.
151. Go on a sleigh ride – with bells.
152. Take a train across Europe.
153. Visit the town of Herencia, Spain – where my Sanchez-Tereso ancestors lived for centuries.
154. Get all dressed up and go to the opera. I want to use a pair of opera glasses too.
155. Drive completely around Crater Lake in Oregon. August 2010
156. Take my kids to the drive-in movies. August 2010
157. Put my feet in the Great Salt Lake. August 2010
158. Climb to the top of a lighthouse. September 2010
159. Ride on a tandem bike.
160. Become a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution).
161. Do some underwater photography.
162. Eat Key Lime Pie while in the Florida Keys. March 2011
163. Attend a St. Lucia Day ceremony.
164. Publish a book.
165. Visit a Polish Pottery studio in Poland and watch it being made.
166. Go cross-country skiing.  (should have done this one while we lived in Alaska!)
167. Start my own business. February 2013
     
168. Go to a hot air balloon show.  May 2012
169. Take a picture of lightning. August 2012
170. Finish a marathon. March 2012 and March 2013
     
171. Finish a mud run.
172. Finish a 365 Project.
173. Go to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

I’d love to read other people’s lists.  I’m curious like that.  If you have a list on your blog, just mention it in the comments section so I can read it!