Bucket List

Do you have a bucket list? I was never a "bucket list" person before. At least, not until 2019. After that, I decided all of things I kept putting off for "someday" I was going to get done now. So many of those things are coming to fruition in 2023, and it's exhilarating and scary all at the same time. My bucket list has been on my mind lately, and I wanted to share some of the reasons why.

Last year my husband and I went to Kansas City, MO and did a BBQ tour for our 5-year anniversary. Checking that off my bucket list was so much fun. Not only did we do the BBQ tour, but we checked "go to a Gordon Ramsay Steak House" off of our bucket lists, as well. Most of my bucket list is places I'd like to visit. I have a few other things I'd like to do on my bucket list, too, that aren't travel related. I thought I'd share these, and I'm starting with the items that I actually get to CHECK OFF this year! 

• Become a published author - ever since I was a child I have been writing stories, short and long. It's always been a dream, or a goal, to one day publish all of them. You have to start somewhere, though, and as of 3/1/23 I officially AM a published author! I submitted a story at the insistence of a friend who edited it for me, and Creative Wisconsin Magazine told me they would be "honored" to publish it! It's a short story, an autobiographical fiction. It's based on a true event that happened while I was sick, and I changed only a few details. It was published in their 3/1/23 edition. It's by subscription only, but I am happy to share the story with anyone interested.
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  Visit Nashville, TN - I am going in May with a great group of gals. I can't wait! Cowboy boots, country music, and a long weekend to relax. Perfection!
• Visit Texas - Evelyn and I are taking her "Mommy and Me" kindergarten trip in June, and she chose Texas. I took the boys on vacations of their choosing when they finished kindergarten, too, and I am so happy she chose somewhere on my bucket list. She wants to visit my aunt who lives in the Houston area, and we're also staying on Galveston Island right across from the Gulf of Mexico. The beach is my happy place.
• Finish my degree. I am officially done December 2023 - so, so, so close! I am doing it for me, not for an employer or anything else. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. After I was sick, I didn't want to wait anymore. I can't believe I am almost done! These last 2 years have just FLOWN! As much time as schoolwork takes up, I think I am going to miss it.

Some of the other items on my bucket list that I won't be achieving this year, but hope to soon, are mostly travel related. These are listed in no particular order.

• I would like to see Mount Rushmore.
• The French Quarter - New Orleans, LA
• The Grand Canyon - I share this one with my husband, so I am sure we'll be doing this one soon!
• Tampa Bay, FL (Surprise, Surprise). I'd really like to see Raymond James Stadium, even more so I'd like to see a Buccaneers game.
• Alaskan whale watching cruise - my husband also wants to do this, so hopefully this one will also happen soon!
• London, England. I want to see it all. Every last inch of London.
• Rome & Sicily - give me the food, give me the sea, give me all of it.
• Dublin, Ireland, although I'd love to see as much of Ireland as I can. 
• South Island, New Zealand. Pretty much any city, any mountain range, glaciers, I want to see as much as I can of it. I'd absolutely love to see North Island too, but my bucket list is South Island. Queenstown, Christchurch, Dunedin all look amazing, but really the big thing here is seeing the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers.
• Washington, DC. Because duh.
• New York City, NY. I was supposed to go years ago and it just didn't happen. Life happened. I still want to see it.
• Boston, MA - I love seafood and want the experience of eating at some of the best seafood places on the east coast, but also... Remember that show Fringe? It took place mostly in Boston, MA. Call me lame, but ever since watching that show, I've wanted to go!
• I would like to meet Gordon Ramsay. No explanation needed. If he actually cooks for me, double bonus.
• I would like to meet Michael Bolton... also no explanation needed. If you don't understand, nothing I say can help that. LOL!
• I would like to meet Taylor Swift. Yes, I am a Swifty... I am who I am. :)

Looking to the future can be difficult, especially when I still worry about recurrence. Just knowing I am checking things off of my list makes me so happy and gives me such a feeling of fulfillment. 

I would love to hear about other people's bucket lists. What is on yours?