Family Bucket List
Saturday morning, my family and I sat around the breakfast table. Rather than attack our “to-do” list that is the length of all of our arms combined (I’ll explain later why it is so long.) we ended up procrastinating enjoying each other’s company and making a family “bucket list”.
10 Things: Our Family Bucket List
(in no particular order)
1. Earn our black belts. – I wrote a family bucket list about 9 or 10 years ago. I lost my original list but this is one thing I remember being on it although at the time I had never taken a martial arts class. I think it just goes to show the power of speaking our intentions. Anyway we started taekwondo as a family two years ago. I told the kids that if we started we weren’t going to quit until we reached out black belt (barring injuries and serious financial hardship). We made a few small sacrifices in order to pay for taekwondo including canceling our gym membership, less expensive cell phone plans, and very seldomly eating out. Brent and I considered it an investment into, not only our health, but into our family. It has turned out to be that and much more. There has been some ups and downs over the last two years (7 years olds don’t always like to practice) but we’ve stuck together cheering on each other. Not only does it give us a common interest to share, we just love the camaraderie and friendship at our studio.. Anyway, we should be able to cross this off by the end of this year!
2. See all 50 States – We’ve only seen a handful but we are pretty confident this will happen.
3. Write, produce, and direct a film as a family – Brent does video work (and web and graphic design) for a living and we decided it would be fun (and usefel) to pass on some of those skills to the boys. A few years ago, Brent and I shot our own short film. We think it would be an amazing learning experiece for the boys and, honestly, aside from family stuff, making our film was the most satisfying experience ever. I’d love to do it again but with the entire family.
4. Play a song together – Brent is a drummer. Thing 1 plays piano. Thing 2 wants to learn guitar. My entire life I’ve always wanted play an instrument. If this doesn’t happen then I’ll pass out earplugs and sing. I love the symbolism of all of us playing in harmony together even if I’m a bit off key. 😉
5. Backpack through Europe – Umm…why not! I don’t mind hostels and missed showers. 😉
6. Visit a Third World Country – Brent and I have been to slums in India, townships in South Africa, and through shanty towns in Mexico. Life. Changing. It’s very important to us that we remember that much of the world does not live like us.
7. Go on a Mission Trip – We like to go somewhere with the sole intent to love on and help others in some way. Last year, we almost went to an orphanage in Mexico but there was an outbreak of swine flu. While that didn’t happen we’re thinking something along those lines. It’s very likely that this and #6 could go together.
8. Try Mountain Biking – The boys are still a little too young but when they are a bit older this could be something we all enjoy as a family (assuming my boys don’t pick the hardest trails). 
I have visions of us spending a perfect Saturday afternoon scraped up and complaining exploring the mountains of Southern California by bike.
9. Be a Puppy Raiser – I met a lady at Trader Joe’s the other day who had her “puppy in training” with her. We talked a bit about the requirments and responsibilites of being a puppy raiser and she encouraged me to look into it. All of us love animals so it seems like a great opportunity to love on animals, learn more about responsibility, perserverance, and helping others.
10. Hike the Skyline-to-Sea Trail – The Skyline-to-Sea trail runs almost 30 miles from the Santa Cruz mountain to the Pacific Ocean. It passes through Castle Rock State Park and Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Sounds like a perfect long weekend!
It seems doable and if not it doesn’t hurt to dream.
On that note, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes.
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” – Michelangelo
Have you ever written a personal or family a bucket list? Share something that’s on it!!!
Hope you have a good weekend. We have a taekwondo tournament and I’m sick. Ugh!!! I’ll let you know how it goes!
Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn
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This is my (almost) sane quest for insane health. Let's 
I LOVE the idea of a family bucket list, so I’m going to steal the idea!
Oh, and I’m adding #10 to mine right away. The trail is so close to where I’ve been living for the past 20 years, and I’ve always wanted to do it!
I’ve wanted to nike the Skyline to Sea trial since visiting Santa Cruz and hiking part of it. It is SO beautiful!
Can you adopt me? I play a mad tambourine!
That is very smart idea. I always thought of the concept of a bucket list being an individual thing. Making it “family time” is such a better idea. Not to say that you can’t have both.
I recently started making my own bucket list using the website: http://www.KickYourBucketList.com
It’s fun, free, and easy. I hope others enjoy it too. Good luck with the rest of the list!
This is incredible! I love that you are so intentional with your parenting and family time. And I love your list!
What a fun thing to do with your kids! My husband and I did something like this a couple of years ago and it was a lot of fun to help us dream together about our future.
You know, I never have written a bucket list! (I actually didn’t even know where the term “bucket list” came from until my friends explained it to me!) But I do like yours! I especially like the hiking and puppy ones! My husband and I backpacked Europe when we were first married and to this day it is one of the best memories of my life. We’re def. doing it again with our kids – but we’re waiting until everyone is old enough to carry their own backpack;)
I love this list!
My dad and I (sadly, thats all of my family!) always wanted to go to Nepal. My dad wants to climb everest, but Nepal is my compromise.
The family bucket list is a great idea. I have wishes, but I guess when you put pen to paper it is more likely to happen. I especially love the TaiKwanDo as a family!. And I’ve been wanting to do the Puppy Raising thing too. We have a school for dogs near us and Corneal Dystrophy runs in the family – which can lead to blindness if not treated correctly, which is actually harder than it sounds. So … that would mean something to me. Other than that, I want to take the boys to Atlantis.
So thats one for our bucket list.
I wrote a bucket list 10 years ago. I’ve achieved most of them so I’ve started a new one.
1. hang glide
2. drive a race car
3. See the earth/ go to space (most people laugh at this one… but I’m dead serious) it’ll be possible
sometime in my life
4. Utah’s National Parks. I’ve been lots of places, but just having a really hard time crossing this one off the list
There are few other things I’d like to do but haven’t made it onto the official bucket list. I’m afraid if I make them known I’d really have to accomplish them.
loved reading these!
This is AWESOME. Love the idea of a family bucket list instead of just a personal one. When ya’ll are in Oklahoma, holler at me.
OK, I may have played up the twang a bit just then.
You already know that running/walking/crawling a marathon in on mine and hopefully will be crossed off in May! Other then that, I haven’t really given much thought to anything else. Eeeeep!
Love this! These are great goals. And btw, your kids aren’t too young for mountainbiking. Our english friends plonked their young kids on the bikes and went off into the countryside- now they are fierce riders! But the problem is the cost of the bikes. Sycamore cyn is WONDERFUL riding- my fave in So Cal!
On our bucket list, Derek definitely wants to live in England for part of the year. And we would love to get a jet-stream and drive all over this country. I also would like to go to India as both you and Derek said it was completely life altering.
Impressed that Brent is a drummer- that’s the coolest instrument!