My Bucket List

I was talking to my grandpa the other day, and he made a statement that got me thinking.... he said “Happiness is always having something to look forward to”. He also reads my blog regularly (Shout out to you Tata- I love you!). I believe that true JOY does not come from external things, but from an internal and eternal God. BUT, there are some external things that can make you happy, and I LOVE having something to plan and look forward to. It’s just my thing!

So I sat down and wrote out my Bucket List!  Everyone knows what a bucket list is, right? A list of things you would love to accomplish and cross off the list before you “kick the bucket”. So, I spent an evening mulling over what I have done, what I have not done, and what I would like to do!

I realized that I have been fortunate enough to have done many things that people put on their bucket lists, like: own a horse, visit Hawaii, learn to surf, learn to play the piano (not well), perform on a stage, go on a cruise, meet someone famous, find a street named “Aubrey”, birth a baby, have an out of body experience (labor!), fall in love, and start a blog! Just to name a few. But I was finally ready, after many times watching “The Bucket List” to make a serious list of what I wanted to do, see, or accomplish in my life. And I’m ready to start working towards doing these things NOW! Here’s my list...

-Visit Greece and possibly meet my relatives there

- Write a book and have it published

- Speak publicly to 500+ people

- Birth a baby unmedicated

- Learn to not be offended (over and over!)

- Visit Spain

- Record an album (as a backup singer, of course)

- Visit Niagara Falls

- Build a piece of furniture

- Witness a miracle

- Visit all 50 states (I’m at about 30)

- Read through every book in the bible

- Learn to say “no” without feeling guilty

- Break a world record

- Get my bachelor’s degree

- Meet my Compassion International Child

- Have a video featured on America’s Funniest Home Videos ( and win money!)

- Invent something (that hasn’t already been invented!)
- Visit Fenway Park

-Donate more money yearly than we live on

- Live in an RV (and travel!)

- See a Cirque Du Soleil show 
- Visit Amish Country

- Adopt a child

- be rendered speechless (I have a lot of words...)

- Help someone complete an item on THEIR bucket list

There are 24 items on this list, in case you were wondering. I like round numbers, so I would like to add at least 1 more to get to 25 (UPDATE: there are now 26 on the list). And 30 is also a nice, round number.  And who knows, as the time goes on, I may continue to add more as I check some off! I also really like when things are organized, but I decided to let this list be random. I would feel angry if I put them in order and then didn’t complete them in that order. So instead, I left it random because you never know what life is going to throw at you!

Here’s the cool thing- I think I may be able to check at least 2 of these off this year!!! I am so excited! Do you have a bucket list? It may be a good idea to start one- even if you never accomplish EVERYTHING on it, it gives you a good target and gets your mind going!

UPDATE: This fall I was able to check off 3 more things! Yessss!

What is one big item that is on YOUR bucket list?