Oh the Places I'll Go: 2010

Ten on Tuesday

Since I haven't officially posted anything on my bucket list, I thought Ten on Tuesday would be a good venue to get 10 of them listed for you. So, in no particular order or with no particular theme in mind - here are ten things from my list.

1. Ride a horse - Mari offered to let me ride her pony on Sunday, but I declined since I probably weighed more than the horse and I hadn't had a chance to post it to my list!

2. Memorize Proverbs 31. I am reading a book right now on heart centered discipline and the first chapter talks about being a Proverbs 31 Mama. Proverbs 31 talks about the other roles for a woman - wife, worker, friend, etc. I want to be like her and I think memorizing the passage and internalizing it is a good way to start.

3. Have a 30th birthday party. I helped throw a semi 30th for Melissa this past year and I hope she enjoyed it. I want a party for my 30th too. It doesn't have to be extravagant - but it should be more than I did for 29.

4. Have a surprise party. Okay, I know these too look coincidentally juxtapositioned, but they aren't. Unless Doug wants them to be. I just need it to go on record, that some day, I want a surprise party for me.

5. Teach Katie to ride her bike. It doesn't necessarily have to be me that teaches her, but either me or Doug. The little girl across the street was learning to ride her bike yesterday and I got a little teary eyed thinking about that being Katie one day.

6. Run a 1/2 marathon. I was pretty gung-ho back in November after my 8k that I wanted to do a 1/2 marathon. I have done a 10k in the past and the 8k came much more easily than I thought after not being able to really train for it. But time slipped away and we moved into our new house and things got in the way and I literally haven't run one time since Thanksgiving. But a 1/2 marathon is still in my future!

7. Make grits from scratch. Now I think this probably isn't very complicated because grits are made of, well - grits. But I don't know how to make them. I know there are different kinds - like the crockpot variety or stovetop - so it doesn't matter to me. But the Southerner in me should know how to do this.

8. Go to NYC with Doug. Long weekend or a week, whatever. Just want to go with him and see the sights!

9. Volunteer for a local charity. I always say that I don't have much time on my hands, but I think it is important to do something meaningful with my life. And I am pretty sure I have volunteered somewhere in my lifetime. But I want it to be something that becomes regular and heartfelt. I want to teach Katie that it is important to give to others in ways other than with money.

10. I want to be in a choreographed dance scene for a television show or movie. I guess I would settle for community theater too, but I might need a solo in it to make it worth it. I love to dance although I am really no good. But every time I see a dance scene, I want to be in it! There was a scene in Superstar that I loved and partly memorized in case they ever made a sequel and I could audition. I am totally envious of the actors on GLEE who get to do this for a living. Does anyone have a connection in showbiz that could make this happen?

Thank You For Asking

I was just thinking today that I wished someone would ask about the phrase I coined. I guess "coined" might be taking it a bit far, but I am sure after this blog post is up, people everywhere will begin using it.

The phrase....Google-Pop. It's a verb and therefore can be conjugated into tenses.

This is what it means. Say you get into an argument of wits with someone and you know that you're right. Or someone throws out a piece of trivia that you know cannot be accurate or perhaps they question your knowledge about a piece of information you've contributed to a conversation. Obviously, we have all gone to the web before looking for the way to prove someone else wrong or ourselves right. The first place I search? Google. Then when I find the webpage that solves the argument of wits (in my favor of course), I email the webpage with the subject line, "You've been google-popped." To google-pop someone shows them that you're not one to let something go and that you will go to great lengths to prove yourself superior.

Obviously if Google is not your preferred way of searching on the web, you can use variations of the google-pop phrase. Two variations that I've come up with are Wiki-dis (when using Wikipedia) or Bing-ding (when using Bing).

I've got members of my family using this phrase so I consider it coined.

Inspiration from Mimi

My grandmother died the day before Easter in 2007. She had a long battle with lung cancer and was such a fighter but the last month of her life was terrible. She was in such pain and discomfort and couldn't hide it which tore us all up. She finally let us admit her to the hospital for better pain management where she later died. She had not wanted to die in a hospital, but as someone who dedicated her life to caring for others (she was a nurse), I thought it was somewhat fitting and would've felt like home to her.

As we tried to plan her funeral and think about what to say about her, her children and other relatives and loved ones gathered to talk about her. What ensued was a sweet time of talking about her legacy and what she instilled in her children and grandchildren and many others. Mimi loved everyone unconditionally. She welcomed all into her home as was evidenced at Christmas and Easter and any other Sunday meal at her house - she invited neighbors, coworkers, soldiers from Ft. Jackson who were strangers to us, friends with no family, etc. She left a mark on everyone around her and I will forever feel a sense of loss that my own daughter never got to meet her.

But as we planned more details for her funeral, I flipped through her bible and her hymnal looking for things she may have flagged as important to her. There were many scriptures she loved and hymns as well. Each one still reminds me of her for different reasons and each one made an impact on her life. The one thing I found that seemed to be written specifically for her life, wasn't a scripture or a hymn. I found a card in her bible with the following Ralph Waldo Emerson quote on it:

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Man - what an idea about success! Many of the things on my bucket list won't have a thing to do with the way Emerson described success here, but I hope the majority of them and my reasoning for wanting to do them can be traced back to this idea of success. And I hope with all that I do, I can make my Mimi proud!

You Asked - I Tell

I had a few quick inquiries about some of the things on my list of things that I've done. Here's a rundown of the answers...

1. I met George Stephanoupolus in Columbia in February 2000 during the Republican primary. I worked a call in number for voter precincts to give their results. Because this was a pretty big political event, George was there with ABC news as a political correspondent. In some of my down time before the precincts closed, I chatted him up for a moment and got him some water. He signed one of my voter tally pages that I lost that same evening...I must've used it as a realy tally page and probably for something like Clarendon district 7!

2. Bebo Norman is a Christian singer/songwriter. He did a concert at my church back in college. But he also sang at the camp where I worked one summer in Missouri. The day he sang happened to be his birthday and as was tradition at our camp, you got the same amount of kisses as you were old. I don't remember how old he was turning, but I do remember I was the 4th person to kiss him (on the cheek of course) in the birthday line! I have pictures to prove it, but thought that was a bit much since I am now a married woman!

3. My tattoo? It is a cross outline with an icthus (Christian fish) through the bottom of it. I got it when I was in college with my best friend Lauren. We got the same ones. I didn't tell my parents about it until after the fact. Tattoos parlors were illegal in SC, so we had to cross the state lines into NC (Charlotte) to actually get one! It didn't hurt a bit. It only took about 20 minutes. I imagine if I had something more ornate or more detailed, there would have been some pain!

Oh The Places I've Been

This is me. And I've been trying to write a bucket list for a little over a year now. I think about it a lot and have mainly written it in my head and have only just recently started writing it down. I got sort of discouraged at first because I couldn't think of much to write down. I was bothered that I didn't have many grandiose things I wanted to accomplish in life. But then I decided that my list is definitely a work in progress. One that was actually started years ago as I began to accomplish things or do things or see things that are now part of my life's memories.

So this is where the blog comes in. I'm going to start posting items from my bucket list on a regular basis with some commentary on why I want to do the item or how I think I will do it or when or how much it will cost, etc. I will start adding each item to the list on the right of the blog to compile my bucket list. If I happen to accomplish something, I will post about that too. But for now, it's all about generating the list with the impetus behind the items.

But before I start with my list of things of things to do before I die, I want to remind myself of the things I've already done that would've made great fodder for my list. If you want any commentary on any of these, just leave me a comment and I will write the story behind the item!

1. I got married.
2. I had a child.
3. I went sky diving.
4. I went to Australia.
5. I went to Argentina.
6. I've been on the curviest street in the world (Lombard in San Francisco) and the widest street in the world (Nueve de Julio in Buenos Aires)
7. I've eaten a whole pizza by myself.
8. I went to an NKOTB concert.
9. I went to a Jimmy Buffet concert.
10. I went to a DMB concert.
11. I went to a PETRA concert.
12. I was a cast member for a live comedy show at USC.
13. I graduated college.
14. I graduated college again with an MBA.
15. I've had my heart broken.
16. I have been saved by grace and live in Christ.
17. I worked as a kamp kounselor.
18. I waited tables.
19. I made my own Halloween costume.
20. I walked on the Golden Gate Bridge.
21. I won an essay contest.
22. I completed a 10K.
23. I completed the USMC Mud Run.
24. I rode a moped.
25. I wrecked a moped.
26. I memorized 2 of Shakespeare's sonnets.
27. I played indoor soccer.
28. I played outdoor soccer.
29. I recovered from 3 knee surgeries.
30. I learned to read Latin.
31. I went to an Olympic event.
32. I have been on a mission trip.
33. I learned sign language (albeit very little).
34. I went to Biltmore House in Asheville.
35. I climbed a waterfall.
36. I stayed up all night.
37. I planted tulips.
38. I went to Colorado with my grandmother.
39. I've been to a Broadway play.
40. I've been to Space Camp.
41. I've camped outdoors.
42. I was on a basketball team.
43. I attended an NBA game.
44. I attended an MLB game, dressed as batman.
45. I sang on the field at a baseball game.
46. I lost 15 pounds.
47. I gained 73 pounds.
48. I was a cheerleader.
49. I was a mascot.
50. I made a stuffed animal.
51. I threw a baby shower.
52. I threw a wedding shower.
53. I have sewn a quilt with my grandmother.
54. I learned how to knit.
55. I benchpressed the equivalent of my weight.
56. I was in a beauty pageant.
57. I have been rock climbing.
58. I taught archery.
59. I taught English.
60. I gave my testimony in church.
61. I have led a discipleship group.
62. I designed a tshirt.
63. I was given a super nice camera.
64. I was given a balance beam.
65. I ate SPAM.
66. I caught a fish.
67. I got a promotion.
68. I survived an assault/mugging.
69. I was a campaign manager.
70. I won an election.
71. I met George Stephanopoulos.
72. I babysat 11 kids at once.
73. I met Bebo Norman.
74. I kissed Bebo Norman.
75. I have been on a road trip.
76. I have been called for jury duty.
77. I have created a blog.
78. I have written a poem.
79. I have written a short story.
80. I have invented something.
81. I laughed so hard I peed in my pants.
82. I coined a phrase.
83. I survived having a house built.
84. I have jaywalked.
85. I have gotten a speeding ticket.
86. I have gotten a speeding ticket on the way back from traffic court about a previous speeding ticket.
87. I was in a wedding.
88. I built a bridge.
89. I won a hula hoop contest.
90. I won a sand castle contest.
91. I planned a one year birthday party for my daughter.
92. I breastfed my daughter for one year.
93. I hosted Easter dinner at my house.
94. I stood up for myself.
95. I know how to "coupon."
96. I got a tatoo.
97. I once knew all the presidents & could sing them in a song in order.
98. I can sing all of the books of the Bible in order.
99. I went bridge jumping.
100. I have held a python.

I am sure I have done more things and I may occasionally add to this list...But it was therapeutic to make this list and feel some sort of pride at having done these things. Well, pride may not be the right word for all of them, but a sense of excitement to think about the stories behind each of these things.

I hope to inspire some of you to make bucket lists of your own and please, share them with me! Maybe we can help each other accomplish something! I picked a quote from Dr. Suess as my inspiration for the blog to try to remember to make every day count and remember that the mountains are waiting! I'm on my way!