Bucket List

A bucket list is a number of experiences or achievements a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime. It came from the term "kicked the bucket" referring to when someone has passed away. There are thousands of things that could be on one's bucket list and many times I do not realize when an experience is on mine until I am in the process of experiencing it or I plan to experience it. I have a pretty lengthy bucket list. I think my list is realistic and definitely achievable by the end of my lifetime (if I live for another 50 years give or take), I think that is a perk of being an occupational therapist. When writing goals for clients we make sure they are measurable and achievable. Why create a goal someone cannot reach? Instead create goals one can reach and then create new goals to push them further. I feel this way about my bucket list. As I accomplish tasks on my list, I add new ones. Below s my current list of things I wish to accomplish (in no particular order and I am sure as I get older or get to experience new things, I will realize it should have been added to this list a while ago) in the next 50 or so years.

• Visit all 50 states (over 1/2 way there)
• Travel Europe
• Go on a road trip with my best friend Courtney to Sheboygan, WI in a red convertible and a package of Depends
• Volunteer in a 3rd world country
• Adopt a child
• See the Northern Lights
• Visit Manitoba with dad and watch the polar bear migration
• Take my Grandma on a Caribbean cruise and see her swim with a dolphin
• Go on a Disney Cruise
• Throw a dart at a map and travel to wherever it lands or go on a road trip with no planned destination
• Put a lock on a love bridge
• Pay a stranger's tab at a restaurant
• Ride a gondola and eat gelato in Italy
• Go to the Olympics as a spectator
• Spend NYE in NYC
• Collect shot glasses from every continent (All I need is one more from Antarctica; if anyone knows anyone going!)
• Read every James Patterson book written (besides his Juvenile series)
• Attend the Kentucky Derby
• Go skydiving
• See a volcano 
• Go horseback riding
• Go to the World's Fair
• Stand in the 4 corners
• Go on a hot air balloon ride
• Go whale watching
• Visit an elephant sanctuary
• Visit with family in Luca, Italy
• Visit Ghiloni Cafe in Kirkintilloch Glasgow
• Attend Cherry Blossom Festival in DC
• Visit John Denver's Memorial in Aspen, CO
• See the Waterfire in Providence, RI
• Stay at Riverside Inn B&B in Warsaw, KY
• Visit Puget Sound in Washington
• Purchase every item on my Amazon wish list
• Attend a Seattle Seahawks game in Seattle
• Attend a New Orleans Saints game in NOLA
• Be debt free
• Watch the sunrise in one place and set in another
• Visit the Equator
• Stay at a resort in the Maldives
• Experience Christmas in NYC (done 2x!)
• Snorkel in the Caribbean ocean (found out it's one of my favorite things to do)
• Meet a dolphin
• Go on a cruise
• Be a Maid of Honor (2x completed)
• Graduate college
• Go to Disney World and visit all 4 kingdoms
• Go to NYC for World Autism Awareness Day and see the ESB lit blue
• Get a tattoo 

Saying Goodbye

Today was the second time in five years that I have had to bury a high school classmate. I went to school with this girl from kindergarten all the way to senior year of high school. She was amazing and even though we were not best friends and did not talk much to each other after graduation, it still was a tragic loss to me. Out of the 84 people that I graduated with just 5 years ago, my classmates and I have had to say good-bye to two of them. For me, that is two too many.

A week and a half ago she was involved in a car accident that left her with minimal brain function and thriving on life support. She gave her family a week to grieve and say good-bye then she took her final breath. Why did the accident occur or how, at this point it doesn't matter. She is gone and we are not.

Last night at the calling hours, the family held a prayer service. I was in utter astonishment when her mother walked up to speak. She spoke so gracefully about her baby girl, one she would never hug or hold again, and I couldn't keep back the tears. I honestly think her courage will always remind me in the times of despair that I can make it through anything.

I have a strong faith and while some of my classmates were praying for her healing in the real world, I was praying for both. For her to heal here physically on earth, but if it was her time that she would heal and go gracefully to the heaven's. I don't know why it was her time, but I do know she lived her life with purpose and fulfilled what God put her on the earth to do.

The past few days really has had me thinking that everything can be okay in one second and a complete 180 can happen the next.

Take time to tell ones you love, that you love them. Tell ones you don't see often that you are thinking of them, hold the ones close that you can, and be prepared for anything. Live your life with purpose and know that any decision made is one you wanted or needed.

God tells us in Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the plans I have for you"

The Lenten Season

So for starters I just want you to know that you will be proud of me :) I went out and bought the Clinique's Redness Solutions Mineral Powder and so far I like it. I have not been red enough to try it yet (when I was, I was so busy I could not stop to go put some on) but so far so good.

The second thing I wanted to write about today was the season of Lent. With my faith, I believe that during the Lenten season it is important to either give up something or work hard at doing something. This reason is to remind us of the sacrifice that our God and his son made for us. So with that said, I had a hard time of thinking of something that I could either give up or do that would be a constant reminder to me of the Lenten season so I decided to the do the simple giving up of pop and candy. I did not think it would be hard and the forty days would go by in a flash. Well, reality hit me in the face last night when I was working for my parent's at the Bingo they run every Tuesday night. I was helping them and I saw this guy walk in to the room with a Dr. Pepper, my favorite type of pop. I thought 'mmm, I want a Dr. Pepper.' Halfway down the aisle, I stopped dead in my tracks realizing that I cannot have a pop or the candy in the candy jar that sits on my mom's desk until Easter. I also realize this is going to be harder than I thought.

Today is also the anniversary of the passing of my Uncle. He died in 1998 of brain cancer and was only 29 years old. I still think a lot about him since he passed and this is why: 

Before he passed away, he was talking to my grandma, his mom, and told her that whenever we were in need he would be there through the sign of a penny. 

There have been multiple occasions of me finding pennies throughout these past eleven years and I keep almost everyone of them in a jar dubbed the pennies from heaven jar. And to be honest with you, he also always come when I needed him or I would find a penny right before something would happen to me. I am not the superstitious fool that assumes every time I find a penny something bad is about to happen, but typically when I find one I pick it up and say thanks for being here and then I go about my day. 

I will also pick these pennies up anywhere an everywhere. For example, my hair is naturally curly so I straighten it often. When it rains outside if I get my hair wet, it does when hair does and curls so I am typically the girl sprinting from the store to the car or vice versa. However, if I see a penny on the ground I don't care how soaked I am, until I get the penny. 

Recently my sister and I were talking about my uncle and an interesting fact came up in our conversation. My sisters have sometimes forgotten the anniversary date until my mom reminded them of a way to remember it. My uncle passed away on the only day of the year that is a command. Do you see? If not here: March 4th= March forth. Being a catholic family and having a strong faith, isn't it interesting to say the least?

Never Again

Today along with my classmates and my friend's family we buried my friend that passed away earlier in the week. After a very nice ceremony that was full of tears and laughter (just what he wanted), my classmates and I gathered at the opening of the church for a tunnel and a final farewell. In high school, when a team goes to the playoffs, all the students and teachers gather together in our long hallway and make a tunnel to cheer them on. Devin wanted just that for his funeral and that is what we gave him. My close friends and I have decided that we do not want to bury another classmate for a long time and who know what lies ahead of us, but we will get through it. 

Another Angel

Today I found out that one of my classmates from High School passed away. He was diagnosed our senior year with a very rare childhood cancer and was whisked away to NYC and Sloan-Kettering Hospital where he underwent multiple chemo treatments. After 6 months in remission he found out that he had beaten the rare cancer, but that he had developed leukemia. Two to three months ago the doctors told him that there was not much more they could do and that he should go home and enjoy his time there. He did just that by doing everything that he loved and over the weekend was taken to the hospital due to an infection. He passed away today in the afternoon. If you could please keep his family in your prayers, I could not imagine the grief that comes with burying a child. 

How many will be affected?

So today I found out that a former teacher of mine passed away from breast cancer. She had been battling for the past couple of years now and the battle if finally over. With the death of my teacher and a couple of things that have happened to me this past week, I have realized how many people are affected by death. Since it is the summer time and I am not at school I go and do one of my favorite things, watch baseball. A really good friend of mine is an Athletic Trainer for the summer team and when I am on my way to the game or I am heading home after the game she always tells me to be careful. I don't know how many times my family, relatives, or friends tell me to be careful, but I never really take it to heart.One night on my drive home (about a half hour from the ballpark), I was thinking about this and if I were to pass away or anyone pass away how many people would be affected. Not just immediate family, but people who's lives I or anyone else have touched. My teacher was a great person and she touched my life immensely. She was never my homeroom teacher but she was the women who taught me everything about English and she also taught me how be confident in myself when talking to people in higher power then me. I will forever miss her, but when thinking about the upcoming funeral and calling hours I wonder how many people will pay respects. However, after getting through calling my friends and telling them of the sad news, I received a text from one discussing how she will be missed, loved, and never forgotten. It just goes to show 1. how quickly word gets around these days and 2. how she affected people. Below is a quote that I found on the Internet that holds true to my teacher and how everyone should remember her.

“You can shed tears that she is gone,

Or you can smile because she has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back,

Or you can open your eyes and see all she’s left.

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her,

Or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,

Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her only that she is gone,

Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind,Be empty and turn your back,

Or you can do what she’d want:

Smile, open your eyes, love, and go on.”