Bucket List: √ and √

Since I last looked at my “Bucket List” in June 2015, I have accomplished two items from it! √√!

One item is from my Places to Go list. I finally made it to Portugal. It was awesome. One of my favorite memories is a great night out in Lisbon, and I enjoyed the beauty of the Algarve region, which was amazing. I may be going back next year with a friend of mine, and I have mentioned adding in Morocco to the trip to her, which would satisfy another place from the list.

The other item was from my Things to Do list. I have always wanted to take a photography class, and I did so on Saturday. It was a four-hour class that had three hours of lecture with practice and then one hour in the studio taking pictures. There is so much to learn! The instructor strongly encouraged keeping the camera on manual and adjusting the camera to whatever setting needed. I need to play with my camera more when I have time. This spring and summer, I hope to spend some Saturdays in parks just practicing.

I want to get really good at photography for when I travel. I don’t want to miss moments fidgeting with the camera, so I will have to use the best of both worlds. I can do manual when I have the time to dedicate to it (smile). I also wouldn’t mind taking a class at a community college if times allows.

Taking the class also satisfied a goal I have for 2016. I want to make it about learning. I am learning Instagram and Twitter. I also would like to take a class or have an experience each month. So it would be a good year to try to tackle the remainder of the list. I need to keep my eyes on Groupon.

And I am planning on working on the second anthology this year. The Call for Submission went out, and submissions are due to me on April 1, which reminds me, I need to write some new material myself!

Updated Bucket List:

Places to Go:

Egypt

Israel

Morocco

Turkey (Technically I have been to there but a very short time period during a cruise)

Things to Do:

Go horseback riding

Write a Book (I need to start/finish the second anthology)

Go on a helicopter ride

Go on a hot air balloon ride

Bucket List

I was able to remove one thing off of my bucket list!
Bucket List
Updated Bucket List:

Places to Go:
Egypt
Israel
Portugal
Morocco
Turkey (Technically I have been to there but a very short time period)

Things to Do:
Go horseback riding
Write a Book (I need to start/finish the second anthology)
Take a photography class
Go on a helicopter ride
Go on a hot air balloon ride

Seaplane

One more activity has been checked off of my bucket list!

I was able to go on a seaplane ride! I was so excited! My friend Linda and I flew round trip between Seattle and Friday Harbor. It was the perfect day as the weather was extremely nice. Between walking, shopping, eating, and chatting the day flew by.

Here are some pictures:

My partner in crime.

Our plane on the way down.

View from the plane: Another plane taking off.

View from the plane: Boats moored on Lake Union.

View from the Plane: Seattle

View from the plane: Mount Baker makes an appearance. With Mount Rainier in prominence, I often forget about Mount Baker.

Arriving at Friday Harbor.

Beautiful Friday Harbor.

Washington State Ferry docking in Friday Harbor.

View from the Plane: Seattle Skyline with Mount Rainier in the background.

View from the plane: The iconic Space Needle.

Bucket List as of 8/31/13

Bucket List
Updated Bucket List:

Places to Go:
Egypt
Israel
Portugal
Morocco
Turkey (Technically I have been to there but a very short time period)
Australia
Argentina

Things to Do:
Go horseback riding
Write a Book
Take a photography class
Go on a helicopter
Go on a hot air balloon
Walk half marathon

Maybe:
See Das Rheingold

Bucket List Check Off

So one thing I crossed off from my bucket list was taking a horse and buggy ride. I was leaving Poland the next day, and I didn’t want to have any cash left so it worked out. So here I am in Krakow, Poland. The only thing missing is my hot cocoa ;).

Random

Today is Halloween.

I will add taking piano lessons and learning a language (maybe Spanish or French) to my bucket list.

Tomorrow we leave for Prague.

I come home Saturday, and I realize I am not ready to come back. The three days I took off to be local now seem like a waste, as I could be doing something but alas I feel like that the down time was needed.

I also learned more about Roma gypsies. I had always thought they came from  Romania, but they come from the area around India and Pakistan and migrated years ago. The name Roma is from an area of I want to say Turkey they lived in for years before becoming wanderers. The gypsy part comes because people thought they were from Egypt.

Will run spell check as soon as possible.

Updated Bucket List

Bucket List

Updated Bucket List:

Places to Go:
Egypt
Israel
Spain
Morocco
Turkey (Technically I have been to there but a very short time period)
Australia
Argentina

Things to Do:
Go horseback riding
Ride in an aqua plane
Write a Book
Take a photography class
Go on a horse and buggy ride during the winter with some hot chocolate
Been on a helicopter
Been in a hot air balloon
Watch the sunrise with someone

Bucket List

Updated Bucket List:

Places to Go:
Egypt
Israel
Spain
Morocco
Turkey (Technically I have been to there but a very short time period)
Australia
Argentina
Ever growing list

It would be cool to visit all seven continents by age 50 and to visit 101 countries in my lifetime. For me it’s important to go and spend time in a county. I spent a day in China so it counts toward my progress, but a day in a country so vast is nothing. So I want quality time in each country. Three nights (per city) is actually my preferred stay but some places are doable in two. I’m not one of the seven countries in seven days travelers. Like when I first went to Europe, I spent a month between three countries and I felt like I was able to see the places. I think three countries in two weeks is also fine. Like this trip coming up in four countries in two weeks. Actually five, because I am doing a day trip to Slovakia.

Things to Do:

Go horseback riding
Ride in an aqua plane
Write a Book
Take a photography class
Go on a horse and buggy ride during the winter with some hot chocolate

I figure I will try to do a few things on my bucket list each year. Some are simple and some are complex. I will just keep adding to it as time goes.

While the goal is heaven, I think God wants us to enjoy the journey. I know that I need to make progress towards the kingdom, but I have to think God wants me to smell the roses during the journey. There are just so many awesome places to go and things to see. And I don’t consider them a distraction. I consider them to be part of my journey.

Bucket List Progress

Well, I have crossed two items off of my Bucket List!

I rode the Duck and I went whale watching!

The Duck was really fun. I went with Des for her birthday. See photo. We had a good driver, and I learned some awesome facts, though sometimes I couldn’t tell if the driver was kidding or if it was actually true. One thing I did learn was where Christian Grey lives! LOL! Part of the trip is the duck going in the water in Lake Union. Saw some really nice house boats

Whale watching was so awesome. It’s one of the things where I felt a little silly earnestly praying to God to see a whale when I probably should have been praying against poverty or domestic violence or some other major social issue. But I realized as I was praying that God does cover the small things that may be insignificant and silly to others but are so very important to me. We saw a Minke whale. Maybe whales. I am not sure if it was the same whale or different whales. It was so magical and special to me.

I used to dream about whales all of the time, and I was always so disappointed when I woke up to discover it was not true. If you are my friend on Facebook, I posted a video. You can hear me gasp when the whale appeared. I was trying to count the number of times it appeared but lost track. It was awesome. We also saw an eagle and three types of seals. One time we were downwind from the larger male seals, and the stench was nasty! See photo.

I will say I feel like I have been to Friday Harbor. See photo. It would be a great place to do a weekend gateway one of the years.

Progress has been made!

Friday Harbor

Des and I on the Duck

Seals Sunbathing

The Bucket List

I created a Bucket List in September 2010, which is not quite two years ago. How have I done?

So my buck list was:

Places to Go:
Egypt
Israel
Spain
Morocco
Greece
Turkey
Australia
Argentina
Who Am I Kidding? I want to go everywhere.

Things to Do:
Write a Book
Take a photography class
Go whale watching
Ride the Duck
Go on a horse and buggy ride during the winter with some hot chocolate
Find a place to volunteer

Under places to go, I have been to Greece and Turkey. Albeit Turkey was a day trip. Maybe I should focus this year’s vacation on places on my list, but the list is ever growing! I also want to go to Germany, Portugal, and Vietnam.

Under things to do, I am doing the book this year. And, I have been doing some volunteer work – some through my job and some through my church.

It’s crazy how quickly time moves. But, I have made some progress. The travel will take years to do. The things to do I could actually do in a year if I tried. I have missed this year’s whale watching season in my area, but it resumes in March.