Another year complete and another set of items checked off the bucket list!
Once again some very special people contributed to the completion of some bucket list items, and others have been inspired to start their own lists, which I also count as a success!
As in the past, bold indicates items that have been completed previously, while blue bold indicates the items I completed this year. Nothing particularly strikes me as something I must add to the list this year, so I will keep it at 77 this time around.
So, here's the rundown!
#24 Played in the rain - Imagine wandering, lost, in a foreign country through fields of sheep with murky, swampy water up past your ankles post being drenched by a random downpour of rain. Steph and I laughed so hard we couldn't move, and my tears of laughter mixed with the rain water already covering my face. It was one of those moments with a dear friend that you just never forget.
#29 Gotten flowers for no reason - I've previously attempted to con random guy friends into checking this one off the list for me, but it never worked! So, when I received flowers at work from a guy I'd only spent one dinner with, I was surprised, excited, and let's face it, a little giddy! He was generous and thoughtful, and I'm honored to have received flowers for no reason from someone who thought so highly of me.
#48 Taken a risk with your job - My coworkers and management had more faith in me than I had in myself. With their encouragement, I chose to take the risk and do something I swore I would never do - get out from behind the design and development of training and stand before classes to facilitate. Even though the first few classes I encountered were rather hostile (through no fault of mine), I endured and even flourished. I'm also proud of the indoctrination of love for penguins I am passing along to each poor soul that sits in one of my classes!
#74 Read every novel written by an accomplished author - Many years ago my Mom, cousin, and aunt got me reading books by Karen Kingsbury. This year I can say I have read every one of the 50+ novels she has written, including the most recent book released.
I've made quite a bit of progress toward a few other items on the list, even completed another already since my 31st birthday, but it will have to wait to be reported until next year! For now, this is all I have to report! Don't forget to keep working toward your own goals! Merry Christmas!
01. Swam with dolphins
02. Climbed a mountain
03. Said “I love you” and meant it
04. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
05. Gone to a huge sports game
06. Slept under the stars
07. Changed a baby’s diaper
08. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
09. Watched a meteor shower
10. Given more than you can afford to charity
11. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
12. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
13. Had a snowball fight
14. Seen a total eclipse
15. Ridden a roller coaster
16. Watched whales
17. Taken a road-trip
18. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
19. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
20. Milked a cow
21. Alphabetized your CDs
22. Lounged around in bed all day
23. Kissed in the rain
24. Played in the rain
25. Gone to a drive-in theatre
26. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
27. Gone without food for a day
28. Made cookies from scratch
29. Gotten flowers for no reason
30. Been to Las Vegas
31. Done some type of construction work
32. Been on a cruise ship
33. Learned to speak more than one language fluently
34. Made a pointless modification to your house
35. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
36. Ridden a horse
37. Gone back to school
38. Hang glided
39. Attended at least one school reunion
40. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
41. Had a booth at a craft fair
42. Dyed your hair
43. Driven a wickedly cool car, even if you had to rent it
44. Dated against type
45. Traveled overseas
46 Taken a risk with your job
47. Taken your parents to dinner
48. Did volunteer work
49. Started a blog or website, with regular updates
50. Invented something
51. Held a themed dinner party
52. Gone to the cinema alone, and enjoyed it
53. Done punctuation and grammar guerilla attacks, (corrected posters, billboards, advertisements with a black marker) or corrected your boss
54. Earned a Masters Degree
55. Learned how to cook
56. Kept a plant alive for over a year
57. Bought an expensive piece of jewelry for myself
58. Bought a home
59. Published an article
60. Presented at a conference
61. Began (or steadily added to) a retirement savings
62. Done something nice for someone without their knowing it
63. Petted a penguin
64. Mastered one particular style of dance
65. Gone on a blind date
66. Taken a road trip across the U.S.
67. Ridden on a sailboat
68. Saw a Broadway show
69. Paid off student loans
70. Led a ministry team
71. Asked a guy out
72. Read the Bible from front to back
73. Got invited to a ‘cool’ work party
74. Read every novel written by an accomplished author
75. Taken a trip to visit a friend you haven’t seen since college
76. Zip lined
77. Visited all of the Columbus/Central Ohio Metro Parks
Monday, December 17, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Chapters in Honor
Current life events have put me in a reminiscent state of mind. Upon further reflection, I am fully convinced that life is divvied up into chapters, each of which has a prominent cast of characters that make the closing of that chapter difficult to swallow.
I currently stand in the midst of a transition from one chapter to the next, and feel the need to reminisce in hopes of possibly making that transition a little more bearable.
The first key cast of characters I can recall was built through both school and church while growing up. Where would I have been throughout elementary school and jr. high without Mandy and Heather? Sleepovers, birthday parties, summers by the pool, and crushes galore. When life was simple, we made the most of it and had as much fun as three childhood friends ever could. Their parents made their houses like second homes to me, and, when classes started getting harder, and it was time to traverse the beginning of the world of dating, we fumbled through it together. But, eventually life happened, focuses changed, and high school took its toll on those relationships. Eventually I found myself heading off to college and losing touch with the friends I thought would be there forever. My first taste of the closing of a meaningful chapter.
On the way to the next chapter, there was no need for much thought or effort because it came swiftly. It was just part of the natural flow of life. It was time for college – Cedarville. A happy bubble with challenging learning experiences, from roommate arguments to difficult professors. Those roommates, suitemates, hallmates, and ministrymates are some of the most amazing women of God I have ever met, and I felt privileged that they would choose to invest time and love into friendships that would change me forever as I headed into adulthood. Some graduated the year before me, some in the years after, but it wasn’t until I had graduated and moved out on my own that it became crystal clear how painfully lonely it could be when you can no longer wander next door to talk to one of your best friends. There were too many of them to count, let alone to name here, but I vividly recall missing them deeply, and with the missing came great hurt and sadness. Over time, the missing lost its hurting feeling, and as I look back now at that chapter, I feel sentimentally blessed at the bucket full of lessons and joyful memories it created in my heart. A few still stay loosely in touch, for which I am profoundly grateful.
The transition to the next chapter of life took great effort and initiative. After a couple of years of floundering, it became clear that being a single adult at 25 and beyond would be no piece of cake. Many, many weddings later, it was time to seek out a community of single adults that I could call home. So, I left the church I’d grown up in and moved to the north end of the city knowing full well the risks I was taking and trusting an unknown future to a very capable God. Enter Genoa and Nationwide friendships. I forgot when to sleep I spent so much time on sand volleyball courts. I negotiated through harrowing reorgs and management changes, completed a master’s degree, fell in love, and learned how to depend on true friends when Ohio State got hard and love went all wrong.
Now, for the first time, it’s not me that’s ushering in the next chapter. It’s the closest friends around me. Steph moved to Scotland. Crystal’s on her way to Georgia. Meina will go home to Indonesia. Danny’s moved on to a new relationship, and Bethany is busy raising a beautiful little boy and a farm. Almost every person that has meant anything to me over the last 4-5 years has or is moving on to the next chapter of their lives, and the investments of time and love I made in the friendships that have meant the world to me are reduced to random sightings, phone calls, skype sessions, and quarterly visits. The missing them hurts as only the closing of a chapter can. Yet, I find hope in knowing I’ve been here before, and eventually the hurt becomes a missing of beautiful memories and reminders of how the ones you love help to change you from the inside out. I will do what I can to hold on to these precious friendships as long as God will allow even as we embark on our separate paths, and I find joy in knowing that the exciting unknown that lays before these dear friends as they move forward in their journeys will be nothing short of amazing. But, it leads me to let go of the Genoa chapter of life.
As I make this next transition, I do so with great apprehension, care, and prayer. I’m not sure what the next chapter looks like yet or who the major cast of characters will be. I’m convinced someone from a past chapter may find his or her way into the new chapter ahead, and I’m thankful for my family and for friends like Amy and Neetu who will be there through the transition to the other side.
God’s not finished with me yet, and the chapters to come will continue to show that as He moves me forward, He will never leave me behind…
I currently stand in the midst of a transition from one chapter to the next, and feel the need to reminisce in hopes of possibly making that transition a little more bearable.
The first key cast of characters I can recall was built through both school and church while growing up. Where would I have been throughout elementary school and jr. high without Mandy and Heather? Sleepovers, birthday parties, summers by the pool, and crushes galore. When life was simple, we made the most of it and had as much fun as three childhood friends ever could. Their parents made their houses like second homes to me, and, when classes started getting harder, and it was time to traverse the beginning of the world of dating, we fumbled through it together. But, eventually life happened, focuses changed, and high school took its toll on those relationships. Eventually I found myself heading off to college and losing touch with the friends I thought would be there forever. My first taste of the closing of a meaningful chapter.
On the way to the next chapter, there was no need for much thought or effort because it came swiftly. It was just part of the natural flow of life. It was time for college – Cedarville. A happy bubble with challenging learning experiences, from roommate arguments to difficult professors. Those roommates, suitemates, hallmates, and ministrymates are some of the most amazing women of God I have ever met, and I felt privileged that they would choose to invest time and love into friendships that would change me forever as I headed into adulthood. Some graduated the year before me, some in the years after, but it wasn’t until I had graduated and moved out on my own that it became crystal clear how painfully lonely it could be when you can no longer wander next door to talk to one of your best friends. There were too many of them to count, let alone to name here, but I vividly recall missing them deeply, and with the missing came great hurt and sadness. Over time, the missing lost its hurting feeling, and as I look back now at that chapter, I feel sentimentally blessed at the bucket full of lessons and joyful memories it created in my heart. A few still stay loosely in touch, for which I am profoundly grateful.
The transition to the next chapter of life took great effort and initiative. After a couple of years of floundering, it became clear that being a single adult at 25 and beyond would be no piece of cake. Many, many weddings later, it was time to seek out a community of single adults that I could call home. So, I left the church I’d grown up in and moved to the north end of the city knowing full well the risks I was taking and trusting an unknown future to a very capable God. Enter Genoa and Nationwide friendships. I forgot when to sleep I spent so much time on sand volleyball courts. I negotiated through harrowing reorgs and management changes, completed a master’s degree, fell in love, and learned how to depend on true friends when Ohio State got hard and love went all wrong.
Now, for the first time, it’s not me that’s ushering in the next chapter. It’s the closest friends around me. Steph moved to Scotland. Crystal’s on her way to Georgia. Meina will go home to Indonesia. Danny’s moved on to a new relationship, and Bethany is busy raising a beautiful little boy and a farm. Almost every person that has meant anything to me over the last 4-5 years has or is moving on to the next chapter of their lives, and the investments of time and love I made in the friendships that have meant the world to me are reduced to random sightings, phone calls, skype sessions, and quarterly visits. The missing them hurts as only the closing of a chapter can. Yet, I find hope in knowing I’ve been here before, and eventually the hurt becomes a missing of beautiful memories and reminders of how the ones you love help to change you from the inside out. I will do what I can to hold on to these precious friendships as long as God will allow even as we embark on our separate paths, and I find joy in knowing that the exciting unknown that lays before these dear friends as they move forward in their journeys will be nothing short of amazing. But, it leads me to let go of the Genoa chapter of life.
As I make this next transition, I do so with great apprehension, care, and prayer. I’m not sure what the next chapter looks like yet or who the major cast of characters will be. I’m convinced someone from a past chapter may find his or her way into the new chapter ahead, and I’m thankful for my family and for friends like Amy and Neetu who will be there through the transition to the other side.
God’s not finished with me yet, and the chapters to come will continue to show that as He moves me forward, He will never leave me behind…
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Into 2012
Time to give an update on this list I set for myself shortly after I turned 29. Just as a reminder, the black bolded items I had completed before my 29th birthday. The items in bold blue I completed this year, and I’m pretty pleased with the accomplishments! I put quite a bit of effort toward a few other items on the list, but haven’t reached those goals quite yet.
Thank you sooo much to the awesome friends who helped me complete items on the list this year!
Meina Moo, thank you for your cooking expertise! Your help with the dinner party was sooo appreciated and a ton of fun!
Dom, thank you for taking me to Cinci and enduring my penguin fetish to pet a penguin!
Meli, thank you for flying thousands of feet in the air so that I wouldn’t have to face hang gliding alone!
Kevin, thank you for taking me to the ‘conservatory’ to see the moon, Jupiter, and many more nightsky wonders through telescopes!
Experiencing crazy new things with good friends is one of the greatest blessings in the world! For this and many other reasons, I’ve found this goal setting experience to be a positive and fulfilling one. Thus, I plan to keep it going!
I’ve added a couple more items to the bottom of the list that stuck out to me as good goals during my journey from 29 to 30. If you see an item on the list that you would like to help with, or experience too, let me know! It’s fun, I promise!
So, here’s to the next year and to crossing more items off the list before I turn 31!
01. Swam with dolphins
02. Climbed a mountain
03. Said “I love you” and meant it
04. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
05. Gone to a huge sports game
06. Slept under the stars
07. Changed a baby’s diaper
08. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
09. Watched a meteor shower
10. Given more than you can afford to charity
11. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
12. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
13. Had a snowball fight
14. Seen a total eclipse
15. Ridden a roller coaster
16. Watched whales
17. Taken a road-trip
18. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
19. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
20. Milked a cow
21. Alphabetized your CDs
22. Lounged around in bed all day
23. Kissed in the rain
24. Played in the rain
25. Gone to a drive-in theatre
26. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
27. Gone without food for a day
28. Made cookies from scratch
29. Gotten flowers for no reason
30. Been to Las Vegas
31. Done some type of construction work
32. Been on a cruise ship
33. Learned to speak more than one language fluently
34. Made a pointless modification to your house
35. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
36. Ridden a horse
37. Gone back to school
38. Hang glided
39. Attended at least one school reunion
40. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
41. Had a booth at a craft fair
42. Dyed your hair
43. Driven a wickedly cool car, even if you had to rent it
44. Dated against type
45. Traveled overseas
46 Taken a risk with your job
47. Taken your parents to dinner
48. Did volunteer work
49. Started a blog or website, with regular updates
50. Invented something
51. Held a themed dinner party
52. Gone to the cinema alone, and enjoyed it
53. Done punctuation and grammar guerilla attacks, (corrected posters, billboards, advertisements with a black marker) or corrected your boss
54. Earned a Masters Degree
55. Learned how to cook
56. Kept a plant alive for over a year
57. Bought an expensive piece of jewlery for myself
58. Bought a home
59. Published an article
60. Presented at a conference
61. Began (or steadily added to) a retirement savings.
62. Done something nice for someone without their knowing it
63. Petted a penguin
64. Mastered one particular style of dance
65. Gone on a blind date
66. Taken a road trip across the U.S.
67. Ridden on a sailboat
68. Saw a Broadway show
69. Paid off student loans
70. Led a ministry team
71. Asked a guy out
72. Read the Bible from front to back
73. Got invited to a ‘cool’ work party
74. Read every novel written by an accomplished author
75. Taken a trip to visit a friend you haven’t seen since college
76. Zip lined
77. Visited all of the Columbus/Central Ohio Metro Parks
Thank you sooo much to the awesome friends who helped me complete items on the list this year!
Meina Moo, thank you for your cooking expertise! Your help with the dinner party was sooo appreciated and a ton of fun!
Dom, thank you for taking me to Cinci and enduring my penguin fetish to pet a penguin!
Meli, thank you for flying thousands of feet in the air so that I wouldn’t have to face hang gliding alone!
Kevin, thank you for taking me to the ‘conservatory’ to see the moon, Jupiter, and many more nightsky wonders through telescopes!
Experiencing crazy new things with good friends is one of the greatest blessings in the world! For this and many other reasons, I’ve found this goal setting experience to be a positive and fulfilling one. Thus, I plan to keep it going!
I’ve added a couple more items to the bottom of the list that stuck out to me as good goals during my journey from 29 to 30. If you see an item on the list that you would like to help with, or experience too, let me know! It’s fun, I promise!
So, here’s to the next year and to crossing more items off the list before I turn 31!
01. Swam with dolphins
02. Climbed a mountain
03. Said “I love you” and meant it
04. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
05. Gone to a huge sports game
06. Slept under the stars
07. Changed a baby’s diaper
08. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
09. Watched a meteor shower
10. Given more than you can afford to charity
11. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
12. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
13. Had a snowball fight
14. Seen a total eclipse
15. Ridden a roller coaster
16. Watched whales
17. Taken a road-trip
18. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
19. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
20. Milked a cow
21. Alphabetized your CDs
22. Lounged around in bed all day
23. Kissed in the rain
24. Played in the rain
25. Gone to a drive-in theatre
26. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
27. Gone without food for a day
28. Made cookies from scratch
29. Gotten flowers for no reason
30. Been to Las Vegas
31. Done some type of construction work
32. Been on a cruise ship
33. Learned to speak more than one language fluently
34. Made a pointless modification to your house
35. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
36. Ridden a horse
37. Gone back to school
38. Hang glided
39. Attended at least one school reunion
40. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
41. Had a booth at a craft fair
42. Dyed your hair
43. Driven a wickedly cool car, even if you had to rent it
44. Dated against type
45. Traveled overseas
46 Taken a risk with your job
47. Taken your parents to dinner
48. Did volunteer work
49. Started a blog or website, with regular updates
50. Invented something
51. Held a themed dinner party
52. Gone to the cinema alone, and enjoyed it
53. Done punctuation and grammar guerilla attacks, (corrected posters, billboards, advertisements with a black marker) or corrected your boss
54. Earned a Masters Degree
55. Learned how to cook
56. Kept a plant alive for over a year
57. Bought an expensive piece of jewlery for myself
58. Bought a home
59. Published an article
60. Presented at a conference
61. Began (or steadily added to) a retirement savings.
62. Done something nice for someone without their knowing it
63. Petted a penguin
64. Mastered one particular style of dance
65. Gone on a blind date
66. Taken a road trip across the U.S.
67. Ridden on a sailboat
68. Saw a Broadway show
69. Paid off student loans
70. Led a ministry team
71. Asked a guy out
72. Read the Bible from front to back
73. Got invited to a ‘cool’ work party
74. Read every novel written by an accomplished author
75. Taken a trip to visit a friend you haven’t seen since college
76. Zip lined
77. Visited all of the Columbus/Central Ohio Metro Parks
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