Top 40. Or maybe a Bucket List?

Disclaimer: I started writing this last month, after reading my friend Rhonda's post on the same subject. I figured I'd better actually publish it, since I'm already starting to cross things off!

The following are my 40 before 40 list. Or maybe it's actually a bucket list (here's praying that 40 comes first!). Or more realistically, it's an "I wish" list. I think some are do-able. We shall see!! When I turn 40, I will have been married 20 years/half my life, have a 16 year old and a 12 year old. How exciting will THAT be?!

In random order...

1. Go on a real vacation with my husband. We didn't have a honeymoon, and we spent our 10th anniversary in the hospital with our son. Our 20th anniversary and my 40th birthday fall in the same year...that sounds like a good time. (UPDATE: We just booked a long weekend in Vegas - NEXT MONTH!)
2. Run a 5K. I might be able to cross this off in September, stay tuned!
3. Maintain my workout regimen. I've been going strong, 3-4 days a week or more and I can feel and see the results.
4. Become a certified kickboxing instructor. (UPDATE: I complete my training Aug. 15!)
5. Learn to Tango. Or Waltz. Or some other ballroom routine. (UPDATE: We're enrolling in a Tango/Swing class starting Sept. 13!)
6. Go camping with my family. It might be backyard camping, but still, I owe my children the experience.
7. Spend LOTS of time in the word. Especially the Psalms. Nurture my children in it, too.
8. Puchase, install and USE a hot tub. Probably daily.
9. Take my family to a beach. Hubby nor kids have ever seen one.
10. Visit the pacific northwest.
11. Visit New England during fall foliage.
12. Visit Washington DC during the cherry blossoms.
13. Go sailing.
14. Perfect my sugar cookie baking. It gets me every year. One day, I'll take them out at just the right time for a perfect texture.
15. Go to a Cubs game. At Wrigley.
16. Grow some food in a garden. Veggies, maybe? And actually eat them.
17. Remove every last bit of wallpaper from my house. Two rooms still sport it, two rooms still have border. It must die.
18. Paint my grandma's dining room, and my folks' front room. Think high ceilings.
    
19. Do volunteer projects with my children.
20. Go on a mission trip, preferably a Family one, somewhere my son can go.
21. Play my clarinet in a community theater production, or with the municipal band or in some other "public" venue.
22. Take a girls weekend with my besties, somewhere further than Wichita.
23. Finish my novel, and send it to a publisher.
24. Take our son to a Cardinals game. Baseball or football, doesn't matter.
    
25. Have a spa day with my daughter.
26. Have professional photos taken of hubby and me. Fun ones.
27. Do something drastic and fun with my hair (with the help of a pro).
28. Win an award for doing something philanthropic. Not that I want to do it just for the award, but being recognized for something I've accomplished would be amazing.
29. Start my Master's. I won't say "Get my masters" because I don't even know yet what I want it in. But by then, I should.
30. Learn to play golf, so that I can play with my son, who is a rising star.
31. Hike in mountains - my kids have never seen the mountains.
32. Build a pergola over my deck for shade - it will extend over the hot tub of course.
33. Create a family wall of photos and heirlooms from my and my husband's ancestors.
34. Play an amazing piece on the piano in church.
35. Write down as many memories as my grandma can muster about her life.
36. Dig into both sides of my family's genealogy.
37. Re-Learn to speak Spanish. Or start learning a new language. It's a skill every brain needs.
38. Sky dive. This will probably be FAR in the future. But I just have to. It calls to me.
39. Water and snow ski. I've done both once. I want to try again.
40. Consider each and every day a wonderful gift - a blessing to cherish.