On June first, I mentioned that Dennis and I have been working on our bucket lists. Today, I thought it would be fun to share mine. It's a work in progress, of course. This has been such an enlightening experience. Things that I thought would make the list did not, and a few ventures I had never given much thought turned out to be pretty important to me.
In order to see if an item is worthy of making the list, I ask one simple question: "At the end of my life, will I regret not having done this thing?"
If the answer is yes, on the list it goes. I really recommend taking a few minutes to start a bucket list today, it has helped me focus and set some goals for myself in the coming years.
Ok, so, anyway. Here it is:
Bucket list
Have dreadlocks
Try vegetarianism
Adopt children
Do a pull up (Yes, just one. I have zero upper body strength)
Visit The Simple Way
Visit Portland
Visit Ethiopia
Visit The Dancing Rabbit
Buy an old house and fix it up
Write a thriving blog, or a book
Go on a food tour of Italy
Learn Chinese
Publish a children's book (I wrote one years ago, and I want to get my brother to illustrate it so I can have a copy to read to my kids)
Climb a mountain (I do love hiking and camping, but to be honest, I felt obligated to add some sort of physical feat besides "do one pull up" because that would be sad and lame. Also, I do not want to turn into a fat blob of lazy.)
.....uh, what kind of hippie freak am I?.....
Like I said, I'm writing more now to keep my, uh, chops sharpened or whatever. You know, to stay in practice. So that will help if I ever get lucky enough to write for a living.
We're also flirting around with being vegetarian around here. I feel great so far! I haven't had meat since...supper last night. Oh, and one bite of bacon this morning. Ahem.
I'm going to start studying Chinese for 15 minutes a day, kind of like this whole "write for 15 minutes a day" thing. Maybe I'll alternate days or something. Those sound like some seriously low expectations, but anyone who has 3 kids age three and under will understand - I'm just trying to be realistic.
We're toying around with planning our next trip for early next year, but I don't know which location we'll tackle this time...
There you have it. I wonder how many years it will take to accomplish all of this....
Oh, I won't share Dennis' whole list, but it involved music instruments and some sports and learning to make sushi, I think. I can't wait to hear him playing music again.
Showing posts with label dreaming big. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dreaming big. Show all posts
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
An adventure awaits
Today, I haven't done much in the way of thinking. Not too much is on my mind except what's right in front of me, like the laundry and the messes.
Evie and I did have a nice long visit while Izzy and Korban were away at VBS this morning, though. It is so much fun to watch an 8 month old explore her world. Especially one like Evie. She is so good natured and grins up at me every few minutes with a face that seems to say "isn't this great? Aren't you and I so great?" She is a pure joy. Watching her explore the water and her toys in the bathtub, splashing and grinning, is, like I said two days ago, pure therapy for a stressed out over-rushed mama.
I also find myself daydreaming a good bit today. I'm planning a great road trip in my mind. It's a lot of fun to do these things when they are purely theoretical. No one makes messes or screams for an hour in the back seat when it's all happening in my imagination. There are also no mosquitoes.
Anyway, we have a tent/camper and at least a couple of months. Maybe six months, maybe a year. We are going to visit different people and places and sleep out under the stars sometimes. We'll learn to appreciate the little things like a hot meal and a soft bed, and we'll experience nature the way God intended it to be. I think we'll go across the country.
There are details to figure out, of course. We'll need a bigger tent and have to plan a route with some cities along the way. There will be a lot of beans and rice and noodles, since it will be hard to make money on the road.
Of course, this is all a big daydream, as it would be endlessly complicated to travel the country aimlessly with 3 small children. I'm pretty sure I'm up for that challenge - I think I would benefit from getting jostled around a little, and it would definitely help the kids develop a healthy worldview, to get to see so much. At least Izzy would. Korban and Evie are too young to understand or remember much.
The main thing that makes this seem impossible, though, is the money. I keep telling Dennis that he needs to become famous and write a book or become a traveling speaker so we can live on the road. I suppose I could do that, too. We could both write from the road, taking turn using coffee shops as our "offices".
Oh, it all sounds so...lovely.
One of my favorite authors, Donald Miller, says that it's important to ask yourself "what if" once in a while. If we only dwell on what we think is possible, it's entirely possible that our dreams could go ignored and our greatest potential could never be realized.
Maybe it's ridiculous for a woman like me to imagine life on the road with three kids, but maybe it's just as ridiculous for our family to sell itself short because we think our dreams are out of reach, when really they are just out of the norm.
Times up! Today's rambling was inspired by Donald Miller and I just finished rereading his second book, Through Painted Deserts. I hadn't picked that one up since the summer I turned nineteen and I spent the summer teaching English in China. I'm telling you, this girl has got traveling in her bones.
Evie and I did have a nice long visit while Izzy and Korban were away at VBS this morning, though. It is so much fun to watch an 8 month old explore her world. Especially one like Evie. She is so good natured and grins up at me every few minutes with a face that seems to say "isn't this great? Aren't you and I so great?" She is a pure joy. Watching her explore the water and her toys in the bathtub, splashing and grinning, is, like I said two days ago, pure therapy for a stressed out over-rushed mama.
I also find myself daydreaming a good bit today. I'm planning a great road trip in my mind. It's a lot of fun to do these things when they are purely theoretical. No one makes messes or screams for an hour in the back seat when it's all happening in my imagination. There are also no mosquitoes.
Anyway, we have a tent/camper and at least a couple of months. Maybe six months, maybe a year. We are going to visit different people and places and sleep out under the stars sometimes. We'll learn to appreciate the little things like a hot meal and a soft bed, and we'll experience nature the way God intended it to be. I think we'll go across the country.
There are details to figure out, of course. We'll need a bigger tent and have to plan a route with some cities along the way. There will be a lot of beans and rice and noodles, since it will be hard to make money on the road.
Of course, this is all a big daydream, as it would be endlessly complicated to travel the country aimlessly with 3 small children. I'm pretty sure I'm up for that challenge - I think I would benefit from getting jostled around a little, and it would definitely help the kids develop a healthy worldview, to get to see so much. At least Izzy would. Korban and Evie are too young to understand or remember much.
The main thing that makes this seem impossible, though, is the money. I keep telling Dennis that he needs to become famous and write a book or become a traveling speaker so we can live on the road. I suppose I could do that, too. We could both write from the road, taking turn using coffee shops as our "offices".
Oh, it all sounds so...lovely.
One of my favorite authors, Donald Miller, says that it's important to ask yourself "what if" once in a while. If we only dwell on what we think is possible, it's entirely possible that our dreams could go ignored and our greatest potential could never be realized.
Maybe it's ridiculous for a woman like me to imagine life on the road with three kids, but maybe it's just as ridiculous for our family to sell itself short because we think our dreams are out of reach, when really they are just out of the norm.
Times up! Today's rambling was inspired by Donald Miller and I just finished rereading his second book, Through Painted Deserts. I hadn't picked that one up since the summer I turned nineteen and I spent the summer teaching English in China. I'm telling you, this girl has got traveling in her bones.
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