My bucket runneth over

In January I set out to amend my "Bucket List" as one of my New Year "goals"... Somehow, collecting beads at Mardi Gras and participating in "boat races" at Oktoberfest no longer fits my lifestyle. In the process I found myself wondering, exactly what is a bucket list meant to accomplish? Is it supposed to encourage us to do the things we only dream about, or is it merely a list of things that we think sound cool but will never get around to doing or trying, because life gets in the way? 

My problem is that it would probably be easier for me to make a list of the things that I don't want to see, do, or improve before I die. Maybe that's why the idea of eternal progression is so appealing to me. I don't ever want to stop growing, changing, exploring, or learning. 

 So while the only thing that should probably be on my list is "run out of things to put on this list" I have below a modest selection of the things I want most... some silly, some more serious. All contribute to my philosophy that life is meant to be lived well, in all aspects. Though this might seem a little bit out of context, I'd like to quote one source of my carpe diem attitude, namely, President Monson.

 "The present is here, live it."

Learn to sew

Google myself (2009)

Ride a camel

Go on a blind date

Learn Italian

Get a tattoo (2007)

Read Homer’s works

See Cirque de Soleil

Throw an unforgettable house party (2006)

Dance… in a class

Learn to play an instrument

Learn to juggle (2003)

Take a picture with all the “Welcome to…” State signs in the U.S. (in progress)

Montana (2010)

Idaho (2009)

Utah (2009)

Visit a roadside attraction in every state

JAPAN!

Carnival in Quebec- stay in an ice hotel

Attend an Olympic event

Run fully clothed through the sprinklers on a hot summer day (2010)

Pull off a great prank

Fill out my family tree (in progress)

Successfully keep a journal for a whole year

Skydive

Swim with a dolphin (2000)

Snorkle on the Great Barrier Reef

Leave my heart in Africa

Read the U.S. Constitution (2010)

Great Wall of China

“Pilgrimage” to NYC

Attend a fringe theater festival to see your friend's production (2009)

Purchase cheap, oversized undergarments to throw on stage at said friend (2009)

Golden Gate Bridge

Pyramids in Egypt

Stonehenge

Art and architecture tour of Italy!!!

Taj Mahal (India)

Hagia Sophia (Turkey)

Christ the Redeemer (Brazil)

Machu Picchu (Peru)

Grand Canyon/Havasupai

Climb an active Volcano

Meet someone I met on the internet in real life (2009)

Visit Jerusalem

Ride America's scariest roller coaster

Send a message in a bottle (2009)

Be in the audience of a TV show

Ride a hot air balloon

See the Mona Lisa in person (2004)

Go white water rafting

Get married in the Temple

Put my feet in all five oceans (in progress)

Atlantic Ocean (2004)

Pacific Ocean (most of my life)

Learn how to drive standard (2007)

Find faith (2008)

Visit Greece- ride a donkey in Santorini

Own a horse

Go dancing in a gay club

Ride a mechanical bull

Become an expert rock band guitar player (almost there!)

Adopt a child

See the Northern Lights (2002)

Write a book

Take a cruise

Get published in a U.S. magazine

Go to a drive-in movie theater (2003)

Tour Southeast Asia

Found something important

Read the Bible all the way through

Study LDS history and the prophets of the church

Dress up and go to the opera

Participate in a triathlon

See Bon Jovi in concert  (2011)
Attend General Conference in Person (2010)

See Eric Clapton in concert

Get hypnotized

Rescue an animal from a shelter (2007)

Experience zero gravity

Have a passionate kiss in the rain (2006)

Participate in a French protest (2005)

See a Broadway musical

Finish my Bachelors Degree

Go to the airport and randomly select a weekend adventure

Own a home

Make homemade ice cream (2010)

Zipline

Kiss under the mistletoe

Watch a lunar eclipse in minus 30 degree weather (2010)
Attend a temple dedication in person

Participate in a Polar Bear Plunge (2000)

Climb a ziggurat in Iraq

Canada Day in Ottawa
Sing karaoke in an Asian bar

Eat local fare wherever I travel (in progress)

            Guinea Pig and alpaca in Peru (2009)

            Frog’s legs and snails in France (2005)

Carve my name into a tree

Name a star

Climb the Teotihuacan pyramids in Mexico (2009)

Try Prairie Oysters (2003)

Float in the Dead Sea

Bet on a horse race and win (2005)

Shoot a shot gun

Go to the Sundance film festival

Learn to speak Spanish

Camp in Yellowstone

Climb the Eiffel tower by foot (2004)

Kiss the Blarney Stone

Find a Geocache

Find a four-leaf clover

Write a letter to Juliet in Verona

Ride a tandem bicycle

Go to a masquerade ball (2008)

Drive a segway

Participate in the Indian Festival of Colors (2011)

Give blood

Go on a mission

Be part of a flash mob (2011)

Dress up and attend a midnight screening of a movie

Make and bury a time capsule

Watch an animal being born (2005)

See the Transsiberian orchestra perform live

Fly first class

Visit Moab, hike the Arches (2009)

Hike the Y

Hike Mt. Timp to see the sunrise

Celebrate the 4^th of July in America

Get a fake ID and use it (2006)

Watch an Avs game in Colorado

Attend the CMT Music Awards

1-month facebook fast

Be on a contestant on a game show

Try vegemite (2005)

Steal a tsunami warning sign

Swim with sharks

Attend a Stanley Cup final game

Climb a light house (Ile de Re- 2005)

Plan and Participate in Relay for Life

Raise $10,000 for Cancer Research

Visit all 7 continents (In Progress)

North America (my whole life)

South America (2009)

Europe (2004)

Deliver a speech in front of 10,000 people

Own a pair of obscenely expensive (but gorgeous) designer shoes

Watch a whole season of 24 in 24 hours (2009)

Do a bicycle tour somewhere in Europe

Take on some ridiculous American food challenge like the Texas King

Try to surf

Volunteer abroad

Reunite and catch up with an old friend

Have the ultimate Harry Potter movie marathon

Learn how to French braid

Complete the “10-year reading list” (In progress… I'm 9 for 151!)
Sing Karaoke in an Asian bar