My Bucket List

There are so many things I’d like to see and do, so many people I hope to one day meet, but these are the ones that matter the most to me, the ones I don’t want to forget to go after (as trivial as some of them may sound):

1. travel around Tuscany
2. see a musical on Broadway
3. learn to start a fire with flint & steel (a real fire, like one you can roast marshmallows on, not just a wimpy little flame)
4. meet actor Robin Williams (sadly, no longer possible)
5. try fencing, including suiting up in all the garb – or maybe because of all the garb
6. take a tropical vacation
7. meet Ann Lamott
8. eat beignets in New Orleans, preferably at Cafe Du Monde
9. go horseback riding in the Smoky Mountains
10. take a cream pie in the face – just not shaving cream
11. go to the Bristol Renaissance Faire
12. meet Johnny Depp
13. travel to Russia
14. go to a midnight opening of a cool movie
15. spend a night in a sleeper car on a train, hopefully sleeping
16. write a novel (in a month)
17. learn to speak a foreign language – or two or three
18. study costume design (but not necessarily at a college)
19. get a book published by a traditional publisher
20. hear Diana Kroll perform live
21. open a creativity studio for crafts, sewing and writing
22. guest speak at a women’s retreat
23. own a home with a first-floor powder room
24. take a class in digital photography
25. hang out with Bob Goff
26. visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites in MO, MN, WI, IA, SD
27. meet author Ann Voskamp
28. volunteer as a turn-of-the-century costumed interpreter at a living history museum
29. have a candlelit, wine & cheese picnic under the stars while listening to Tony Bennett perform live
30. shake hands with Sean Connery
31. travel to speak across the country
32. fly a single-engine plane over the city of Chicago (and get some great skyline shots and photos of Wrigley Field)
33. be invited to lead a workshop at a conference
34. get a gym membership
35. go on a cruise
36. fly Business Class
37. fly First Class
38. fly First Class in something like the Singapore Suites or Etihad Residence
39. play whirlyball
40. memorize an entire book of the Bible
41. host a foreign exchange student
42. write Tributes to my parents
43. visit New York City
44. see Nickel Creek in concert
45. meet author Tosca Lee
46. tour Sonoma or Napa Valley wineries
47. see Mount Rushmore
48. be personal assistant/concierge to a well-known speaker at a big conference
49. give a TED talk
50. try stand up paddle boarding
51. complete at least a first level Italian language course
52. travel abroad with my daughters
53. hang out on the set of a movie being filmed
54. crew for a hot air balloonist
55. fly in a hot air balloon
56. go to the new Eataly concept store in Chicago
57. be interviewed on a national radio show
58. raise money to help preemies/fund a NICU or research related to premature birth
59. earn enough to pay for my girls’ college educations
60. be able to hire a cleaning lady to clean my house once a month
61. travel the U.S. in an RV
62. take my dad to visit the towns and regions of our Carpatho-Rusyn ancestors
63. visit Ireland and the counties where my mom’s forbears hail from
64. kiss the Blarney Stone
65. check out the Cliffs of Mohr
66. see Dublin’s famed Temple Bar area
67. create a Little Free Library
68. go to the Cirque du Soleil
69. tour Prince Edward Island – home of Anne of Green Gables
70. ride in a horse drawn carriage
71. go to a rodeo
72. eat ice cream on our roof
73. attend the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival
74. hike the trails of the Cinque Terre in Italy
75. write a memoir
76. take a cooking class with my husband
77. go to an Ed Sheeran concert
78. visit Singapore
79. eat at a Singapore Night Market
80. go to Hong Kong
81. see the Great Wall of China
82. shop at an Asian open air market
83. learn how to do hand lettering
84. go on an(other) overseas missions trip