bucket list

I really like the vodka commercial with Hugh Hefner that asks the question: “would you have a drink with yourself?” For me, when I think about what I would tell a complete stranger about myself, I draw a blank. I was the head cheerleader when our squad won the first ever back to back state championship for my high school, I have flipped a car and walked away with simply a scratched up elbow, I have been bungee jumping once at a fair, the doctor thought I had the “bird flu” when I was a sophomore in high school (he was wrong), I climbed a mountain in Wyoming and Mt. St. Helen in Washington, and last spring I stood a whole three feet from the one and only, Corona Cartel. Up until this point, my life has been pretty boring. Though I am proud of some of the things that I have done and thankful for all of the opportunities that I have been given, I’m pretty sure that anyone else would not think of my life as being anything out of the ordinary.

This puts me in a very troubled state of mind. I don’t want to be a boring person! I have always seen myself as a risk taker, an adventurer, someone who thinks outside the box and doesn’t follow the crowd– but I have absolutely nothing to show for it. I have all these big plans for what I want to do, but I have not taken any measures to accomplish any of those goals yet. I didn’t think I would ever say this, but I honestly think that a vodka commercial has changed me. I could sit and have a drink with the person that I see myself as thirty years from now, but my bucket list is long, and if I don’t get started on it soon, I’ll never finish it, leading me to believe that I will be a boring person from now on. I can hear Ms. Throop’s famous words echoing in the back of my head: “Just do it! When else are you gonna try it? When you’re thirty? Oh please.”

Ms. Throop was always a good motivationalist-(Yes, I’m pretty sure I just made that word up, but just go with it.) If you tell her your plans, you’d better believe that she’s going to be on you about it until you get them done. As she says, “you can’t wait until you’re thirty” to start crossing things off your list because by then your plans have changed and everything becomes a long lost dream. A “if only I would have…”

So I thought the best way to get started would be to materialize the bucket list that is currently building up in my head. That way I can begin to make plans and actually cross off the things that I have always dreamt of doing. Obviously it’s hard to do some things while I’m going to school, but it’s going to be even harder once I have a real job and eventually a family, which is why I plan to become a “gypsy.” In case you haven’t had the pleasure to hear about my idea to become a gypsy, here it is in a nutshell: After I graduate I want to take a year or two to simply travel the world and try new things that I have never done before. I can pick up odd jobs wherever I land to make enough money to get me to my next destination. It would give me a chance to chase my dreams before becoming a full time employee or wife. If the gypsy life interests you, please join me! First stop in the gypsy life: Ireland with Mamie. (It’s been a long time coming.)

In the mean time, I’m going to work on prioritizing so that I have enough time for all the endeavors on my list. Here’s to the future! (And having a drink with myself…as someone who I would actually want to listen to.)

Addie’s Bucket List  (I’m going to literally cross them off and write the date they were finished as they occur, so check back to see how it’s coming along!)

1. Skydiving
2. Mission trip to Africa
3. Hotdog eating contest
4. Scuba dive around the Great Barrier Reef
5. Swim with the turtles in the Galapagos Islands
6. Sit on a hill in Ireland and drink tea (with Mamie right after we graduate)
7. Amsterdam, though I don’t plan on staying long
8. Mardi Gras
9. Cowboy Downhill
10. Rome/Vatican (typical, but I want to see the paintings I studied in art last semester and all the references from the Da Vinci Code)
11. Watch the Running of the Bulls and participate in the La Tomatina in Spain
12. Surf
13. Dog Sled
14. Antartica (simply because, “who would want to go there?!”)
15. Learn to play REAL golf, not mini golf
16. Zorbing
17. Salsa Dance
18. Oktoberfest in Germany
19. Brazilian Carnival
20. Conquer Rt. 66
21. Ride a Gondola in Venice
22. Kentucky Derby (plans for 2011)
23. NFR (plans for 2010)
24. Wear a Cards shirt to a random Cubs game in Wriggley…thanks Chase for the idea
25. Send a message in a bottle
26. Visit Folsom Prison

Love always,

Addie

“If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” -Nickleback

feeling alive

First of all, let me make a shout out to Katie and Mamie: thank you for dragging me out of the house for a night of much needed craziness. I get into bad habits of getting off work and going home to do more work because I feel obligated. As stupid as this sounds, I actually told Mamie that I wouldn’t be able to go with them because I needed to mow the yard. Yes the yard needs a trimming, but since my parents have been gone on vacation, I have done nothing but clean house, wash dishes, keep up the laundry, water plants, and feed animals just because I felt like it. What is wrong with me? Obligations are ok until they begin to take over your life. Fortunately I got a “sign”: the mower was out of gas. So instead of falling into my newly developed routine, we loaded up in grannies car and hit the highway. I saw one of the worst movies ever made, ate disappointing custard thanks to the consistency of peanut butter (haha), found some stellar shades at Walgreens (of all places!), and laughed my a** off! Best night in a while.

I also learned some amazing secret agent moves from Cameron Diaz, as well as learning how to be a complete idiot and mess up everything that I possibly can. Thank goodness for Tom Cruise’s super sly self and everything falling into place just in the nick of time- saved the plot! Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to save the movie from being placed on my “never watch again” list.

Here’s another much needed shout out: I am not a Kentuckian and never will be, however, Murray KY will always be close to my heart. But that is not enough to mold me into a UK fan. Blue is not my color (neither is orange, but that’s beside the point), I think the fact that I lived in Wildcat nation during the UK2K absolutely did me in. By the end of last semester, if I had heard one more person talk about UK, I probably would have exploded. Kentucky people love their cats—props to them for that, but I’m not a fan. Nevertheless, I have friends that are die-hards, so this one is for you: congrats to the UK basketball team for making NBA history. That’s all I’m going to say. No need for overkill. Speaking of overkill, please no more John Wall dances for a while, ok? Thanks.

Back to last night. There’s just something about rolling the windows down and singing at the top of your lungs to a CD you found from high school. Even when the CD was over, the radio somehow knew exactly what to play. I was really “feeling” again. We get so caught up in the day to day routines that we forget to do things for ourselves. Sounds cliché but it’s true. Consistency is good to a point, but when you lose yourself, it’s not worth it. Good or bad, you have to feel things–raw emotion to stir your soul, and to remind you that you’re still alive. Bursting out a song that is so relative to your life at the moment while you breathe in the 80 mph summer wind, knowing that your hair will be a tangled mess in 2.5 seconds…complete joy.

And in case you didn’t know, there’s a difference in joy and happiness. Happiness comes from material things and can be taken away. Joy in an internal thing that can’t be taken or given, it must be found. Best part about it: it’s contagious. Last night wasn’t happiness, but joy. So thanks again for the contagiousness.

Well TGIF! I have been looking forward to this weekend since Sunday; it’s going to be a good one. Hope you all have a good weekend as well. Be careful, wear your seatbelts, and don’t drink and drive. And remember, only you can help prevent forest fires. Haha! Now, go out and find your joy, then spread the wealth.

Love always,

Addie

“When you’re young, your whole life is about the pursuit of fun. Then, you grow up and learn to be cautious. You could break a bone or a heart. You look before you leap and sometimes you don’t leap at all because there’s not always someone there to catch you. And in life, there’s no safety net. When did it stop being fun and start being scary?” –Sex and the City