My 45 x 45 Carpe Diem List (My Birthday Bucket List)

Something about turning 39 over the weekend confirmed it was time to put pen to paper and get my working “Carpe Diem” list down so I could start seeing my birthday bucket list ideas become a reality. These bucket list ideas have been in the making for several years, ever since Amanda over at Dixie Delights shared her 40×40 Adventure Bucket List. I have been adding to the notes in my phone as I think of things that I would like to accomplish over the coming years.  

I truly believe that putting these out there will result in more accountability and action on my part. Acknowledging things that I want to do is the first step in executing. Now that I have shared them with you, I feel like it will motivate me even more to take action. 

One common theme in my list below is that I see lots of desire to travel! However, with only 363 days until my 40th birthday, I don’t see how it would be possible to fit all of these trips in. Plus, since the boys are only 7 and 4 – many of these trips are ones I am looking forward to take when they are just a little older.

Because of this- I have given myself until 45 to get through this list! I’m sure this list will change a little over the years but I am excited about the adventures to come in the next 6 years! I am not crazy about the “bucket list” term so I have decided to call it my “Carpe Diem” list- to remind myself to seize each of the next 2,188 days to the fullest. 

My 45 x 45 CARPE DIEM LIST (Birthday Bucket List Ideas)

1. Learn to whistle loud with my fingers (You know the kind of whistle that can quiet a crowd? Pretty sure this should be a #boymom requirement)
2. Travel to Europe with Hubby (I went for 3 weeks out of college with girlfriends to wander and explore. He has never been. We are due!)
3. Teach myself to play “Take Five” on the piano (This was my Grandpa’s favorite song. I took lessons for years when I was little and my parents recently gave me the family piano. I can still play Fur Elise from my 4th grade recital but it has been a very long time since I’ve learned a new song!)
4. COMPLETE –  Summer 2018: Take Surf Lessons (My parents treated my sister and I to surf lessons and we had a blast. The instructor had me up on the first wave! )
      
5. Read a minimum of 8 books a year- I have always loved to read, and now that the boys are a little older, I have been able to sneak more reading in! I hope to exceed this number. 
   2019- DONE! 
6. Reread Gone with the Wind- Read this in 2009, would like to read again.
7. Go on a Missions Trip
8. Serve at a Food Kitchen in Atlanta
9. COMPLETE– Christmas 2019: Visit NYC with family (The boys are dying to see the Statue of Liberty and I am dying to take them!)
   
10. Learn to Golf good enough to play a full round (When your husband is obsessed with golf and you have two boys and you are the missing ingredient to a perfect foursome!)
11. Visit California (San Francisco, Pebble Beach, Wine Country)
12. Make Annual Family Photo Album (This is something that truly gives me anxiety. All of our pictures are up in a “cloud”! I have not been consistent in putting these annual photo albums together.)
13. Visit Cumberland Island (This is a small island off the coast of Georgia that you can only access by ferry. Wild horses- need I say more?)
14. Take Boys Camping (in tents. and be happy about it)
15. Visit USS Alabama Battleship in Mobile, AL (battleship my Grandfather served on in World War II)
16. Do a National Parks Road Trip with family (Basically reenact the trip my parents took us on back in the day-but add a few new-to-me stops)
17. Host a Dinner Party with 8 People (and actually prepare the food and use china)
18. Perfect a single dish (Have a dish I am known for)
19. Read the Bible cover to cover
20. Plant a Garden (I have been threatening this for years, but since we travel so much in the summer it makes it hard!)
21. Take the boys to Disney (I mean, the boys need to go at least once, right?)
22. Take Boys Snorkeling (I grew up snorkeling and can’t wait to share this experience with the boys!)
23. COMPLETE– September 2019: Drink the bottle of Don Perignon gifted to us for a special occasion (When we bought our home 2 years ago, our friend gave us a bottle of this champagne. We still haven’t popped the bubbly! What are we waiting for?!)
    
24. COMPLETE– February 2019: Learn to Watercolor paint (I am so intrigued with watercolor paints, I just need to see for myself how it works! My friend and I took a Saturday morning workshop- loved it!)
       
25. COMPLETE- August 2019: Shoot the Hooch with the boys (Rent rafts, float down the Chattahoochee River. Basically a rite of passage for anyone living in Atlanta)
    
26. Celebrate 20 years of marriage (December 18, 2024!)
27. Give 100% to supporting husbands business
28. COMPLETE- Spring Break 2020 Family Ski Trip (Must get the boys on skis!)
    
29. Host another Kentucky Derby Party and attend a horse race in Kentucky (I have my hat on stand-by!)
30.  Visit Blackberry Farms (This would make a perfect 40th birthday getaway weekend. #hinthint)
31. Family trip to somewhere tropical
32. Visit Chapel Hill (Lived here from 2004-2006 when hubby was in Grad School- also the first two years of our marriage. Holds such a special place in my heart!)
33. Run the Peachtree Road Race 10k (run it again, haven’t ran it since before kids)
34. COMPLETE– May 2019: Officially become members at our church 
35.  See a Cirque de Soleil with the boys
36. COMPLETE- June 2019: Visit the Imax Theater at Fernbank Museum (Atlanta Bucket List item)
37. Have a girls weekend with my sister
38. Own a piece of real art that makes my heart stop (Still waiting for the one, but I am pretty sure when I see it I will know)
39. Learn Mom’s Carrot Cake Recipe (It’s truly the best thing you can eat)
40. COMPLETE– Thanksgiving 2019: Make a full German meal once using my Grandparents Recipes (My Dad was born in Germany and my Grandparents owned a German restaurant and were amazing chefs. I have literally never tried any of their recipes.)
    
41. Swim with Dolphins 
42. Have a 1980’s themed birthday party (yep, I was born in 80!)
43. Watch a sea turtle mama lay her eggs (I have this thing with Sea Turtles)
44. Visit Glacier National Park and Stay on a Dude Ranch 
45. COMPLETE– October 2018: Fly on Private Plane – Hey, you only live once, right? 
       

So what do you think? What bucket list ideas are on your list? 

Alright gotta run- I have a few things to take care of. 🙂

xoxo-

Heather