A list

Anyone who knows me (especially my husband) will tell you that I can make a list for days. Unfortunately, my type A personality makes lists and itineraries sound exciting. Plus, it helps me keep things in order.

Having been married less than a year, I’m surprised how many times we’ve already been asked when we’re going to have kids. Granted I LOVE babies and enjoy spending time with all my little babies, after thinking about what we really want at this point in our life, we decided it’s time to be a little selfish. Sleeping in on a non work day… Going to the mall uninterrupted… Grocery shopping without a screaming 2-year-old… All things we want to enjoy for a little while.

So, it should come as no surprise that I decided to develop a list of things I’d like to try to do before we enter the next stage of our life. So, without further ado, my “bucket” list of things I want to do before we have children:

- learn to speak Italian, just because
- take dance lessons, not sure what kind… Maybe ballroom, maybe salsa?
- take financial peace university
- develop a plan to become debt free
- devise a baby budget
- save $x (to be determined)
- make a family mission statement
- go to San Francisco
- spend Christmas on the beach, because we all know once you have babies Christmas will never be the same!
- get my body into optimum shape and keep it until pregnancy.
- go to Vegas
- recreate family tree
- see a game at Turner Field
- kayak
- sky dive… I know once I have babies I’ll never do this!
- go on a cruise*
- spend the night in a historical hotel
- read 30 books
- spend all day in bed together, no plans just relaxing
- learn our medical history
- finish wedding guest book
- take a photography class, because I know you’ll want to see good pictures of those babies!
- go to Ireland*

*those are the two things I’d be willing to wait and do another time but it would be amazing to do them before.

I’ve been very lucky through the years and have been able to experience lots of different and wonderful experiences. As the saying goes- every man dies… not ever man lives. I’ve had a very wonderful life so far and I look forward to continuing to ‘check things off. There are also some things I’ve already done and places I’ve already been that I’m happy I can cross off “the list” including:
- go to Hawaii (and have caught a wave, swam with sting rays and saw whales in the wild)
- go to New Orleans (had a hurricane on Bourbon Street and bought a voodoo doll)
-go to Disneyworld & Disneyland
-graduate college
-be happy and confident with myself
-find someone I love more than anything
-get married
-buy a house
-have some really awesome friends I know I can count on
-learn how to cook & bake (which I quite actually enjoy)
-go to San Diego
-travel to many different states (to this day I’ve traveled to 26 states and look forward to crossing more off my list)
-get a puppy
-travel to New York (did a ton including- Times Square, Broadway play, off broadway, visited all the galleries and museums, saw the Today Show & Conan O’Brien, saw celebrities filing movies, had pizza and cheesecake, saw the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Ground Zero, shopped at Macy’s, rode the subway and took a taxi, and so much more!)
-saw the river being dyed green in Chicago for St. Patrick’s day including the parade
-sang a solo in front of hundreds of people
-spoke in front of hundreds of people
-danced in front of a sold out arena (to try to win a trip for my husband- didn’t quite work out)
-dutch danced in wooden shoes in Pella
-picked a tulip during Tulip Time
-visited Mexico & Canada
-influenced someone else’s life
-been to multiple MLB games/stadiums (Wrigley, Old Yankee, Old Busch, New Busch, Kauffman)