I owe this blog entry to Morgan Freeman.

Today is the day I let you all in on my deepest. darkest. secret.

BAM! How's that for an intro to today's blog??! But seriously, it's not my deepest darkest secret (sorry to disappoint folks, maybe next time :) but it is some serious insight into who I am and what I find important out of life. Yes, be surprised, this is a somewhat serious blog topic..and I say serious very lightly because it will without a doubt be littered with snide and witty comments, possibly poking fun at my own "attempts" at seriousness haha. The topic at hand is a look at what most people call a "bucket list." We can all thank Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson for making that term what it is today in their delightful portrayal of a man facing the end of his life, vowing to live it to the fullest. (that was my best attempt at a Siskel and Ebert movie review..I'll remember to never quit my day job...very lame)

For all you bucket list virgins out there, let me explain. Essentially, the list is a record of all the things you would like to accomplish before you meet your maker, whoever that may be. The list can be composed of any dang thing you feel that you MUST do before you kick the proverbial "bucket." (AHA! So that's where the name originates!) The items can range from the very small and easy to accomplish like...make an origami turtle out of gum wrappers...OR something big like own a home, or be the first human to watch every Star Wars movie...WHILE IN SPACE! Now that's irony for you.

Now to some people, simply having a working list stored up in their head that is ever changing from time to time is more than enough. Not for this extremely Type A gal. If you know me, there's nothing I love more in this world than a good list. And not just the making of the list, but the extreme and almost abnormal satisfaction I derive from taking a thick, black marker and just crossing the heck out of whatever task, item, etc. it is that I've completed. ERGO, I have made a real bucket LIST, and now folks, I am going to share it with you. Please brace yourselves.

One of the things that I find of real personal importance is travel. The experience of surrounding yourself with unfamiliar terrain, culture, and language is something deeply

rewarding and fulfilling in my humble opinion. There is something about different people from different backgrounds exchanging information and teaching one another, whether its purposely or inadvertently that just makes me appreciate the world we live in so much more. It is because of these feelings, that the first part of my list is devoted to all of the places I would love to go before I die, both stateside and abroad.

1. Greece (Athens and the islands)
2. Ireland and Scotland
3. Paris (the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and so much more!)
4. Italy (Rome and the surrounding areas)
5. Egypt and the Holy Land (the Great Pyramids, and Jerusalem would be amazing)
6. The Great Wall
7. The Aurora Borealis
8. Australia/New Zealand
9. Easter Island/Stonehenge
10. Spain
11. Africa
12. Brazil
13. Hawaii
14. California (wine country and the Giant Redwoods)
15. the Pacific Northwest (Oregon/Washington)
16. New York City! (get a rope! Pace..picante..anyone...?)
17. Grand Canyon
18. Las Vegas (stay up for 24 hrs--which I've never done!)
19. Disney World (don't judge, it was a childhood dream that never happened)
20. Alaska
21. Maine

Now, the remainder of my list is a random free flow of ideas that I had one night when I was having what I like to call a semi-mid life crisis. I was approaching a tough birthday, and pondering what in the crap I had done with my life (all 27 years of it), and decided that I needed more of a plan..I needed to feel like I had done something, ANYTHING worthwhile with my life...So the rest of these items are things that I think I will find deeply satisfying when I look back at my life at the age of 100 (yes, I WILL live to be 100, just you watch). Some of these items I've completed already, (quick pat on the back to myself), which I've highlighted in red for easy understanding :)

1. Swim with dolphins
2. Swim with sharks (yes, i know, two very different experiences, lol)
3. go skydiving
4. RUN A MOTHERFREAKIN MARATHON
5. become fluent in Spanish
6. become fluent in sign language
7. take a cross country road trip
8. go scuba diving
9. see the ball drop in NYC
10. white water raft in Colorado
11. watch all of AFI's Top 100 movies
12. Drive down Lombard St. in San Francisco
13. Live/work in a foreign country at some point
14. attend a World Cup
15. own a home
16. throw a fantastically fancy and fun dinner party
17. take up the practice of yoga
18. Have a white christmas
19. give $1000 to a charity I believe in
20. be a vegetarian for at least one month
21. jump from a cliff into deep water
22. ride on a motorcycle
23. spend one christmas helping others
24. ride in a hot air balloon
25. read the entire Bible
26. cook Julia Child's most difficult recipe!
27. spend Mardi Gras in New Orleans
28. stay in a haunted hotel
29. START A SONOFABISCUITEATIN BLOG!
30. complete a mission trip
31. pay for a stranger in line
32. GIVE A HOMELESS PERSON FOOD
33. drive the Pacific Coast highway in a convertible

So there's my personal list! Whew! It's quite ambitious I know, but there's no time like the present to get started chipping away at my mountain until its just a tinnnnny molehill, and all I'll have left to do is jump off a cliff. (which I know will be my last thing because I'm DEATHLY afraid of heights...more than the average bear) My question to you folks out there in cyber land is, what now?? Which items do you think I should tackle this year on my list?? The ones I have highlighted in green are those that I'm contemplating trying to complete this year, so send me your votes on which ones you like best. Because right now, cozied up under a mountain of blankets, with my fuzzy socks to keep me warm, anything seems possible.