I don’t recall when I first heard the term bucket list, but I’ve been writing out annotated lists of my personal goals and dreams for as long as I can remember. These days, my lists are of a more practical nature: age and life responsibilities have weakened my dreamer muscles, and while I don’t think that there’s anything inherently wrong with focusing more on the here and now, I sometimes miss the “dreamer” part of me that was not afraid to imagine I COULD and WOULD get to every aspiration on my lists.

This month’s 28 things are a call back to my dreaming days. Most of the items on this bucket list are things I would LOVE to do, but few are things that I am pursuing in any purposeful way. (In other words, great if they happen, but I won’t be crushed if they don’t.) Some of these items I AM a little more committed to achieving, but I’ll leave it to you to guess which items are which.

I haven’t included every one of my personal bucket list items here (in fact, most of the truer, heartfelt ones I’ve chosen to keep to myself), but I had fun thinking through challenges and adventures I would enjoy checking off in the years I have left until Jesus decides to take me home.

TRAVEL & ADVENTURE

1| Travel to seven continents. (I just have Australia and Antarctica to go!)

2| Visit all 50 states.

3| Do some long-term travel/trailer living with the kids.

4| Ride in a hot air balloon.

5| Go hang gliding.

6| Sleep in a treehouse, an over-water bungalow, an underwater hotel, an igloo, or really any one of these.

7| Go on a world cruise.

8| Take the kids to Disney World and/or on a Disney cruise.

LEARNING & CREATIVITY

9| Memorize a full book of the Bible.

10| Learn how to do my own hair, nails, and makeup (well).

11| Become fluent in Spanish.

12| Study the art of flower arrangement.

13| Be able to accurately draw a world map and label every country, capitol, and large body of water.

14| Become proficient in playing piano.

15| Learn how to dance (ballroom, swing, ballet).

16| Learn how to knit and/or crochet.

PROJECTS & BIG AMBITIONS

17| Work in a library or bookstore.

18| Obtain my Masters or PhD (in ???)—just for fun!

19| Attend seminary (with the goal of becoming a spiritual director).

20| Become a certified Enneagram or Myers-Briggs coach.

21| Journal through a complete Bible for each of my kids.

22| Do some Bible teaching or other public speaking for a large group (women’s conference?).

23| Scan/digitize all of my photos, journals, scrapbooks, and memories.

24| Design/build our own home.

25| Write and publish a book.

26| Homeschool all three kids through 12th grade.

27| Fully unplug (no technology) for a month.

28| Write a family mission statement, and a personal rule of life.

Do you keep a running bucket list? What items are on it? Or, if you were to start a bucket list, what is the first thing you would add?