Thankfulness in November: Days 21 Through 30

Monday, November 21
-Getting to go to school this week

Tuesday, November 22
-Getting a good night's sleep

Wednesday, November 23
-Being able to rest when I am sick
-One of my brothers making cheesecake for me, for Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 24
-Being able to get over a sickness/illness
-Celebrating Thanksgiving with my family
-Cooking my first Thanksgiving meal myself

Friday, November 25
-Getting to volunteer at the library this week
-Getting a present from one of the people I deliver library materials to, who is moving and wanted to give me a thank you/appreciation gift for what I do for her
-Helping a children's librarian put out Christmas and Hannukah books, music and DVDs on showcase, for people to check out

Saturday, November 26
-Having books to read
-Having movies to watch
-Having music to listen to
-Having the items to listen, watch them on

Sunday, November 27
-Having a working washing machine, that can effectively wash laundry

Monday, November 28
-Getting to go to school this week

Tuesday, November 29
-Living close enough to a library that I can use any of the resources they offer anytime

Wednesday, November 30
-Having restaurants close enough that we can order from them anytime
-Being alive

My Life Bucket List: Health and Safety

Get certified in First Aid and CPR
Take self-defense classes
Get down to, maintain goal weight
Start, keep a regular essential oil routine
Participate in a Color Run
Be able to run a mile easily
Take up a regular exercise routine
Take up yoga
Be able to do a pull up
Become a Black Belt in Karate
Take a belly dancing class
Take a kickboxing class
Be able to do push ups properly
Eat twice as much healthy foods and half as much junk food
Increase my flexibility
Sit, stand up straight
Take up Zumba
Walk 4 to 5 days a week
Be able to hold a plank for a minute

15 Things I Would Like For Christmas

I heard someone do a 15 Things I Would Like For Christmas list, and decided to do my own. I do not expect to get all 15 things, and I am perfectly fine with not getting all of them.

Here is what I would like for Christmas:

1. A new jacket/coat
2. Slippers
3. Gift card(s) to Old Navy, Famous Footwear, Walgreens (yes, Walgreens)
4. A violin
5. A Turbie Twist
6. Elf on the Shelf
7. Portable DVD player
8. A watch
9. Harry Potter coloring books
10. That's Christmas to Me by Pentatonix
11. All the Star Wars movies
12. Believe by Jonathan Antoine
13. A bike helmet
14. Zootopia DVD
15. New bedding

What are you wishing for, for Christmas this year (or Hannukah, if you celebrate that)?

My Life Bucket List: Animals and Nature

Kiss a dolphin
Visit a pumpkin patch
Stay at Giraffe Manor
See a panda in person
Feed a giraffe
Plant a tree(s)
Go canoeing
See the Northern Lights
Go whale watching
Swim in an ocean
Hold a tarantula
Swim with turtles
Horseback ride on a beach
Go on a horse and carriage ride
Try snowboarding
Go whitewater rafting
Have my own garden (fruits, veggies, flowers)
Swim with dolphins
Visit Lincoln Park Zoo
Adopt at least one dog
Visit a farm
Hold a sloth
Hold a monkey
Feed a penguin
See a tiger up close
See a kangaroo up close
See elephants up close
Hold a koala
See the World Famous Lippizaner Stallion Tour
Raise at least one horse
Watch baby turtles hatch
Ride a camel
See a zebra up close
Plant trees
Lake Hillier in australia
Ruby Falls in Tennessee
Isle of Sky in Scotland
Swim with a manatee
See the Aurora Australis
Explore Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Washington
Oneonta Gorge, Oregon
Sit on a giant lily pad in the Amazon River
Gieranger, Norway
Plitvice waterfall in Croatia
Ebor Falls in Australia
Barossa Valley in South Australia

Happy Thanksgiving!!

To those who celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful, happy Thanksgiving!!

I got to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, and it came out well.

I was going to make cheesecake for today, but I got sick and didn't feel up to making it (I am feeling much better today, though). Fortunately, one of my brothers was kind enough to make it for me, so that was nice.

My oldest brother called us today, to wish us a happy Thanksgiving. I love hearing from him, as we don't get to see my brother very often (he lives half a country away from us, and is busy with work). But I was happy to hear that he and his wife are doing well.

There is much that I am thankful for, not just today, but every day. I hope those who celebrate have a lot to be thankful for as well.

My Life Bucket List: Entertainment/Fun

See The Book of Mormon in person
Attend a Chicago Bulls game
See Wicked in person
Go to a Chicago Blackhawks game
Go to a Chicago Wolves game
Write a song
Go paintballing
See a movie at a drive-in
Go to an opera
See Cirque du Soleil
Go on a mini golf date
Try archery
Try fencing
Go to a high school football game
Learn how to play tennis
See the Harlem Globetrotters play
Go to a paint night
Visit the Art Institute of Chicago
Ride on a motorcycle
Go to a festival
Play Jenga with a giant Jenga set
Go out and try line dancing
Slip-n-slide
Scavenger hunts
Water balloon fights
Play frisbee
Tie Dye
Bowling
Laser tag
Messy Twister
Relive my favorite childhood toy, and buy/use a new Easy Bake Oven
Buy/use a new Skip-It (if they are still around)
Have annual girls' night in/out events
Try out different science experiments
Learn to make a clay cup, bowl
Get to the end of my video games
Go snow tubing
Go inner tubing on water
Se Finding Neverland in person
See A Christmas Carol in person

Thankfulness in November: Days 11 through 20

So, I have decided to do these thankfulness posts in groups of 10 days, for the rest of November.

Friday, November 11
-Volunteering with the library this week

Saturday, November 12
-Going to a Harry Potter party at the library
-Seeing two friends today, whom I haven't seen in a very long time
-Seeing a rabbit outside of church

Sunday, November 13
-Having heat in cooler weather, and cooling in warmer weather (we have a central air system that was installed several years ago)
-Getting a package of items that I bought from a family, which they were selling to help them out with financial matters

Monday, November 14
-Being able to go to school this week
-My teacher saying hi to me, and asking me if I was feeling better (I missed school last week because I wasn't feeling well)

Tuesday, November 15
-Seeing the movie Trolls in theaters

Wednesday, November 16
-Getting my flu shot

Thursday, Novenmber 17
-Being able to relax at home

Friday, November 18
-Volunteering with the library this week

Saturday, November 19
-Going to a thrift store and finding some good items there

Sunday, November 20
-Seeing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in theaters

My Life Bucket List: Family and Friends

Get married
Have biological children (I would love to have two girls and two boys, or 1 girl and 1 boy at least)
Adopt children
Live on a farm and raise (mainly) horses
Host a Friendsgiving at least once
Get a tattoo in memory of my mom
Go on a road trip with friends at least once
Go on family bike rides
Go on family picnics
Go bowling
Visit the zoo
Visit a farm
Fly a kite
Play mini golf
Go ice skating
Start a family recipe that will last through the generations
Bake holiday cookies (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.)
Go camping
Write letters to my children, and give them the letters when they are older
Cook/roast food around a camp fire
Go on weekly/monthly dates with my significant other
Do arts and crafts often with my children
Have game nights once a month
Go to local carnivals/festivals
Get manicures with friends
Have barbecue parties
Make homemade ice cream
Play on a slip-n-slide
Volunteer
Get family photos taken every year
Photo shoots
Shopping trips
Go on annual hikes
Visit a water park or amusement park every year
Host a fondue party
Give each of my children their own email, then send them pictures, letters, stories, etc., and give them the passwords on their 18th birthdays (saw this idea on Pinterest)
Take pictures at a photobooth together
Take at least one big trip a year
Go to a midnight movie premiere
Have a weekly family movie night
Have a weekly family game night
Do a color run
Go on a girls vaction with friends
Take handprints and footprints of my kids as they grow, as mementos
Have a girls' spa day
Go on a road trip with friends
Dance with my dad at my wedding
Be fully present in my childrens' lives
Be able to see my children get married

My To Be List

I saw this on Instagram and loved it.

As well as those listed above, I want to be:
Confident
Outgoing (or, at least, more outgoing than I am now)
More active
The best me I can be

My Life Bucket List: Dating and Relationships

Find, and be in a relationship with, someone who will love me for who I am
Have my first kiss
Go on an ice cream date
Go on an ice skating date
Go on a picnic date
Go on a dinner and movie date
Take at least one cooking class together
Go on a date to the zoo
Dance in the rain
Kiss in the rain
Have a baking date
Have a water gun fight
Go on a road trip together
Go on a mini golf date
Ride in a horse drawn carriage together
Go camping together
Go swimming at night together
Cook meals together
Take photos in a photo booth
Play board, card, video games together
Get frozen yogurt together
Go on a bowling date
Go on a museum date
Go on a go-carting date
Go to a baseball game together
Go on a carnival date
Have a silly string fight
Bike ride together
Take dance lessons
Go to a football game together
Volunteer together
Go on walks together
Write each other letters
Build snowmen together
Go sledding together
Make a gingerbread house together
Put puzzles together
Go to Medieval Times
Play laser tag
Go horseback riding
Go to a pumpkin patch
Have a breakfast date
Spend a day at a waterpark
Spend a day in the city
Go on a beach date
Take a painting class
Spend the day at an amusement park
Go to the local farmer's market
Build something at Build-a-Bear
Go on a Disney date
Have date night q and a's
Decorate mugs for each other
Make marshmallow guns and have a marshmallow war
Breakfast in bed
Go berry picking
Take a pottery class
Participate in Operation Christmas Child
Drive in movie date
Learn to argue with each other without it getting out of hand
Learn to speak up for myself if something in the relationship makes me uncomfortable
Fix our favorite dishes/desserts
Create a "love jar" and write notes every day to each other
Become comfortable holding hands in public
365 Note Jar (Pink: reasons why I love you; Blue: we're doing this; Green: quotes and lyrics; Yellow: memories), one note read each day
Write Open When... letters to each other
Write love letters to each other