Bucket List

My Bucket List...

• Graduate college
• Get married
• Live debt free (home, car, education, etc.)
• Be certified as a "Safe House" (Feb 2021)
• Host a foster child/ foreign exchange student (since Feb 2021)
• Grow my hair out to donate it for making wigs
• Have a family with my loving husband and be God centered parents. (Working on being a God centered parent regularly)
• Have a career that makes a difference in the lives of others who are less fortunate than I am
• Go skydiving
• See Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
• Go backpacking on the Appalachia trail
• Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband, Ben
• Visit all 50 states & US Territories
• States to visit: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, & Wyoming
• States I've visited: Alabama,  Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, & Virginia
• Territories to visit: Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, & U.S. Virgin Islands
• Territories I've visited:
• Travel the world: 
• Germany - August 2015 - Rheinböllen, Rhineland-Palatinate
• Great Barrier Reef in Australia (to go swimming over the reef)
• Washington D.C. - 4th of July 2013
• Gettysburg, PA - April 2023 for Spring break with our 3 foster children before Baby Heather joined us in May
• The Golden Gate Bridge, CA
• The Redwood forest, CA
• Falling Waters (Frank Lloyd Wright), Ohio Pyle, PA - 21 Birthday/ belated H.S. graduation celebration/ College graduation celebration - Made life time memories with my mom & grandma!
• Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC - Dec 2016, Ben surprised me for our 5th anniversary with some extra tours. I highly recommend the tours that take to the basements (there's multiple levels), as well as the roof tops, and winery.
• Colonial Williamsburg, VA
• The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri - August 21, 2017, We visited our great friends the Loreaux's and traveled to also witness my 1st solar eclipse. We went to Carbondale, IL to be in the totality and fully experience a total solar eclipse.
• Monticello, VA
• The National Mall, Washington, D.C.- 4th of July 2013 --> we watched the Fireworks from the Capital Building's steps, enjoyed the orchestral concert & was on PBS (we looked like ants, but we were on TV!)
• Arlington National Cemetery- 4th of July 2013 
• Thomas Jefferson's University
• Costal Maine (Similar to Sarah, Plain, & Tall movie)
• Lancaster County/ Amish Country in PA
• Nova Scotia, Canada
• Prince Edward Island (Anne of Green Gables), Canada
• Niagara Falls (Canada side) - we tried for my 25th birthday, but our van had other ideas that day!
• Grand Canyon, AZ
• Petrified Forest in Phoenix, AZ
• Alcatraz, San Francisco, CA
• Disney World, Orlando, FL
• Animal Kingdom
• Epcot - I've been as a child, but I'm not counting those, that was before being old enough to "care" or be interested in other cultures
• Key West, FL
• Seven Mile Bridge
• Daytona Beach, FL
• Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO
• Mt. Rushmore, Keystone, SD
• Japan - 2009 - Stayed in Iidabashi, Chiyoda, Tokyo for 3 weeks for a college exchange program. So many memories & lessons learned during this trip!

Updated: 7/7/2023

Previously updated: 4/20/2016