My Bucket List - Doing My Best To Live Big!

I recently came across a blog called LivingBig. To give you a little back story, I had recently been surfing around the web looking for helpful advice for our up-and-coming trip. I randomly came across LivingBig one day on Pinterest read a few posts, thought "Wow! That was sure helpful!" and moved on not thing much about it. A bit later a friend of mine from high school linked the very same blog to her Facebook page. It wasn't until then that I put 2 and 2 together and came to the conclusion that "You know what? I know her!". Both Mary, the author of LivingBig, and I were in the same graduating class in High School. After that light bulb moment I went back and reread all her whole blog. Currently she is in the midst of a 5 month adventure through Europe herself. I would highly recommend reading along with her adventures if you have the chance. The post on losing the map was one of my favorites.

But It was a post entitled Bucket list that got me thinking the most though. It made me happy to see someone else from my Good Ol' Class of  '04 out there traveling the world, making things happen, and living their dreams. Even though we didn't talk much in High School I recently emailed Mary and told her how her adventures and stories on LivingBig inspired me to write my own bucket list. 

Life is too precious and too short to let your dreams pass you by. So, by writing them down and sharing them with all of you I am holding myself accountable to make the very best of the greatest gift God could ever give me. Remember, a Bucket List is an ever growing and changing document. As you cross things off, new things get added. It changes and grows with you!

So here it goes! Here is My Bucket List!

1. Watch one of my documentaries at Sundance
2. Win an Emmy
3. Help someone for the better by telling their story
4. Travel somewhere new to make a documentary
5. Produce for OPB
6. Own my own business
7. See my children excel in something they love
8. See my grandchildren's smiles
9. Own my own home
10. Have a traditional Japanese room in my own home
11. Have a mule and name him Wallace
12. Have a pig and name him Chicharon
13. Have my own ceramics studio
14. Submit a piece of my art to the Oregon State fair and win an award
15. Sell my art at a farmers market/street fair/bazaar
16. Watch the sunset over the great pyramids
17. See penguins in Antarctica  
18. Walk on the Great Wall of China
19. Backpack the Oregon section of the Pacific Crest Trail
20. Complete a triathlon
21. Swim with whales
22. Learn to sing (ie take singing lessons)
23. Learn to play the guitar
24. Play flute in a symphony
25. Learn to fly
26. Be part of a Church
27. Inspire change
28. Teach a college class
29. Cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner all by myself
30. Go on a cruise someplace tropical
31. Be happy with my own self-image
32. Volunteer for Al-Anon and help someone with a love one struggling with an addiction
33. Take more dancing lessons (west coast swing to be specific)
34. Have dinner in one city and fly to another for dessert
35. Read the Three Musketeer all the way through (I think I've started it 3 time)
36. Restore a vintage car and take it on rallies
37. Skydive
38. Windsurf in the Gorge
39. Ski Whistler Blackcomb
40. Go to the Olympics
41. Go elk hunting with my dad and learn the value of killing and preparing my own meat
42. See the Aurora Borealis
43. Paint a Mural
44. Make a digital record/library of all our families pictures and slides
45. Trace my family heritage as far back as I can
46. Watch all of the documentaries on IMDB: 100 best Best Documentary Films of All-Time (http://www.imdb.com/list/CfHXhW5C4fo/)
47. Watch all the Academy Award Best Picture winners
48. Drink a Guinness in Ireland Read all about the experience here!
49. Ride in a gondola in Venice Read all about the experience here!
50. Speak Spanish in Spain Will post story soon!
51. Watch the night lights under the Eiffel Tower Read all about the experience here!
52. Put a lock on the lock bridge in Paris Read all about the experience here!
53. Go on a chocolate tour in Belgium Read all about the experience here!
54. Go to the Salisbury Cathedral and see the Magna Carta in England (in place of Climbing up Salisbury Hill)  Read all about the experience here!
55. Get lost in the Louvre Read all about the experience here!
56. Say a prayer at the Vatican Read all about the experience here!
57. See the wonders of Machu Picchu in Peru
58. Tour the Eastern Mediterranean ( ie Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Israel, Egypt)
59. Experience Mardi Gras in New Orleans
60. Go to the Oregon Shakespeare festival and dress the part
61. See the ball drop in New York City
62. Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in person
63. Visit all the National Parks in the US
64. Watch Old Faithful go off in Yellowstone National Park
65. Ride a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
66. Hike the Narrows in Zion National Park
67. Teach my dog how to run an agility course and then compete
68. See a Cirque du Soleil performance in Vegas
69. See the Hope Diamond in the Smithsonian
70. Go vegetarian for a month
71. Crochet an afghan
72. Ride in a sidecar

Things I've Crossed off already:

• Finish High School
• Get a College Degree
• Travel Abroad
• Swim with sharks
• Throw clay in Japan
• See the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
• Go to Disneyland at Christmas
• Move somewhere new
• Find my soul-mate
• Get Married
• Be baptized
• Witness someone change for the better (I love you Mom!)
• See the Gonzaga Bulldogs play at the NCAA Tournament and have courtside seats
• Produce and edit for PBS
• Have a brother/sister (in my book a brother-in-law counts)

Curious about something on My Bucket List or want to know the story behind the things I've crossed off already? Let me know! Or as Mary put it, maybe we have a bucket list goal in common? If so please get in touch and let’s scratch it off together!

Thank you Mary for helping me to continue to Live Big!