On my list – part 2.

A while back, I wrote about “my list” – a list of places I wanted to go, adventures I wanted to have, goals I wanted to achieve, and things I wanted to accomplish in my lifetime.

Since then, my husband and I have taken to discussing this nearly every time we open a bottle of wine together (so much so that we’ve started calling it “the wine list”). It is fun to share our individual dreams with each other (he, after all, will be my companion and encouragement as I chase mine, and vice-versa) and to come up with new ones together. Already, there are items I’ve been able to add that I never would have thought of, and items I’ve been able to check off that would have never been possible, without his influence.

As we near the completion of our third decade of life, we’ve honed our respective lists – and since a lifetime is a long time, we’ve settled on 30 items to complete by our 30th birthdays. So this January, instead of settling on resolutions for the New Year, I’m looking at my wine list and deciding what to check off next.

Jenna’s Wine List – 30 Before 30 (Deadline: August 16, 2014):

1. Go skydiving *Completed*
2. Complete a marathon *Completed*
   
4. Become fluent in Spanish *Completed*
6. Live in a Spanish-speaking location for at least a year *Completed*
   
7. Go snorkeling *Completed*
8. Learn to SCUBA dive *Completed*
9. Shoot a buck (or other big game) and prepare a meal with it *Completed*
   
10. Catch a trout on a fly rod *Completed*
11. Hike in Alaska *Completed*
    
12. Own a dog *Completed*
13. Go to South America *Completed*
14. Get an advanced degree *Completed*
    
15. Learn to ski *Completed*
16. Go lobster diving & eat the tail for dinner *Completed*
17. Obtain a full-time job in global health *Completed*
    
18. Attend Miami pro sporting events: Marlins (baseball), Dolphins (football), and Heat (basketball) games
19. Attend the Calle 8 Festival in Miami
20. Go sailing (to count, must spend the night on the sailboat!)
21. Hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
22. “Read the world” – complete a book by an author from or about every country in the world
23. Learn to play guitar
24. Complete a triathlon
25. Publish an academic article in a peer-reviewed journal *Completed – in press for February 2013*
26. Swim with manatees
27. Home brew our own beer
28. Return to Glacier National Park
29. Explore the Everglades National Park via airboat and/or kayak
30. Ski in Patagonia (during North America’s summer!)
31. Sip a Malbec in Argentinian wine country
32. Watch Notre Dame play in the National Championship *This just got bumped up from the long term list! To be completed: Miami FL January 2013*

Jenna’s Wine List – Longer term:

• Summit a serious mountain
• Complete the “camino francés” of the Camino de Santiago
• Visit all 50 states (left: VT, AR, MS, AL, OK, NM, HI)
• Road trip from coast to coast
• Learn a third language
• Visit Greece
• Become a mother
• Earn a Doctoral degree (?)
• Qualify for the Boston marathon
• Work in sub-Saharan Africa (not necessarily long-term)
• Own a chicken coop (and chickens!)
• Visit Scandanavia
• Visit southeast Asia
• Live in the Pacific Northwest
• Attend all four BCS bowl games (completed: Orange & Sugar, left: Fiesta & Rose)
• Buy and renovate an old house

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Note – the new “Wine List” tab at the top is where this list will permanently live – and be updated over time. In the mean time, tell me – what’s missing? what’s on your list?

On my list – part 1.

When I was in college, I made a list of things I wanted to do before I died. Some items were personal goals, others were adventures I wanted to have, and many were simply places I wanted to go. It wasn’t comprehensive – it was just a smattering of things that came out of day dreams and conversations with friends, and eventually got scratched on the back of a napkin one night (probably after $2 pitcher Tuesdays at Corby’s.) Still, it captured a time in my life when I was itching for adventure and figuring out who I was and what was important to me.

I stumbled on my list recently and was really happy to see how many I could check off after just 5 years:

Jenna’s List:

-Complete the Camino de Santiago

√ Run a marathon

Completed: NYC 11/1/2009.

√ Become fluent in Spanish

Meh. Fluent is as fluent does. I’m counting it.

√ Live in a Spanish-speaking country for at least a year

Completed: Puerto Rico 2007-2008. Not really another country. Still counting it.

√ Go snorkeling

Completed: Rincon, PR, 9/2007.

√ Go SCUBA diving

Completed: PADI certified in 2/2008.

-Visit all 50 states – Not done but making progress – only 8 to go! (AL, AR, HI, KS, MS, NM, OK, VT)

√ Go hiking in Alaska

Completed: Hatcher Pass, AK 6/21/2011.

-Shoot a deer or other big game and prepare a meal with it (Please believe me when I say that where I’m from, its less weird to say this.)

-Do service in Africa

√ Own a dog

Completed 8/25/2009. Gotta, wanna, need-a, get-a, have-a Bojangles.

-Go to South America – climb mountains in Chile, see ruins in Peru, go to the amazon in Brazil, ride horses and eat steak in Argentina…etc.

-Summit a serious mountain

-Go to Greece

-Road trip coast to coast

-Go backpacking in Glacier National Park

-Learn a third language

-Get an advanced degree (Hopefully this will get checked off in 5/2012…)

Although its fun to reflect on the things that have been checked off the list, its even better think about the checkmarks that I’ve made on items that never got written down because I didn’t even know that I wanted them 5 years ago. Life has brought some surprises that literally surpassed what not too long ago were my wildest dreams. I’m also struck by how much I’ve grown up…and how much more imagination I have in my late 20’s (yikes) than I did in my early 20’s – it was a great list, but I think I could write one now that is way, way better.

To that end, I think its about time this list got updated.

So – what should I add? What’s on your list?