Cause EVERYBODY Seems to Have a Bucket List...

My life is like a bucket list. I do things most people only dream about...or things people think are impossible to actually do. I hear people in their 20s say, "We'll do that when we retire..." or "When I have enough time/money/energy/etc. I'll do..." or "When the kids are old enough to appreciate it...like when they're teens."

I stopped living my life in regrets. When I was 22 years old, I wanted to try out for a professional softball team in San Antonio, Texas. My mom's doubts about my readiness to try out dissuaded me. I've always wondered. What if? So, when a bright lime green flyer sat innocently on my table at a mountain retreat, inviting me to go to China, I remembered that big regret. Even though Asia wasn't something I had on my "bucket list" then, I knew I'd regret NOT joining the team. So I did. It was the best decision ever. Since then, I've been to 13 other countries (5 when I studied abroad in Wales) and have lived my life saying, "WHY NOT?" instead of "Why/How/When should/could/would I do that?" Try it. It's addicting.


Bucket List. It's become a common theme. Even President Clinton created a bucket list. It sounds more like a campaign tactic, but maybe it's actually heartfelt.


So, in the spirit of togetherness, following the crowd, and (unintended) peer pressure. And, here's some of my bucket list. Call me when you want to join in.


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sail from Greece to Italy with my husband. Heck, maybe we'll just sail the entire Mediterranean.

Live on a ranch with at least 2 horses.

Own a farmette with 2 horses from the ranch, 15 kittens, 1 good 'ol farm dog, 5 sweet lop-eared/Dutch/Satin bunnies, and 27 chickens who lay brown eggs

Have a huge garden with thousands of flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees.

Learn how to can previously mentioned thousands of vegetables and fruits.

Live in a charming old Victorian house. On Wood Avenue. In Colorado Springs.

Go on 20 more medical mission trips and serve thousands of people in need of hope.

Find a charming old building and turn it into a swankified restaurant.

Find a charming building in a charming downtown and turn it into "Damn Good Desserts." Yes, I just said "Damn". Yes, I am a Christian. No, you don't have to say it outloud.

Stay at the Clayquot Resort for a week. You know, if money weren't an object.

Have a line of cards, stationary, and other creatively designed STUFF that makes so much money, I can travel around the world to serve developing nations.

Have lunch with Wess Stafford.

Have Wess Stafford offer me his job.

Have Wess Stafford then say he only wants me to take over his job every 6 weeks.

Learn to speak 5 languages fluently. French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch. You know, cause I AM the Blonde Dutch Girl.

Own a Burmese Mountain Dog, a Collie, a Border Collie (black and white, pretty please), and a Golden Retriever. That's all.

Get married to a man who can't imagine life without me.

Get married to my best friend.

Have a marriage that God smiles on and says, "Yes, now THAT is how I intended marriage to be..."

Get married to a man who tangibly shows his love...someone who knows my love languages and can speak them fluently. Or at least tries to...

Have some of the cutest babies ever created in the history of the world.

Adopt children.

Finally get one of my inventions actually created, patented, and sold.

Get the lead in a musical. Preferably "Wicked".

Hear the audible voice of God. Again.

Sing with Taylor Swift on stage. Or someone like her.

Learn to be a great swing and ballroom dancer. Or at least tolerable...

Camp under the stars with no tent...and no bears or mosquitoes or ticks.

Kayak the Boundary Waters.

Participate in a triathlon and actually be competitive.

Get 5 children's books published.

Write books that people actually WANT to read.

Love people so well that they will see my gravestone and miss the love I showered on them.

Ride a horse across Montana.

Explore Banff.

See a moose...or two.

Own a Buckskin horse--you know--like the one in "Dances with Wolves."