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I posted my "end of the year Bucket List" on August 29th; now here I am, almost at my deadline. While I realize I will not finish this challenge with 10 full check marks, I know that I have accomplished something. I have 3 completed checks so far, one that is half way there and two more that are almost done. There are 3 that I know I will not complete in the next 3 weeks and one that I will but not as soon as I had hoped.
I am officially 18 weeks (out of 21) into this challenge and I really have learned a lot ... Lists are really fantastic! You don't always reach ALL of your goals, and that's okay ... Not everything is as easy as it seems ... and most importantly; don't give up. I could have very well have said half way into this "I'm done. I know I am not going to finish this list and I give up." But I didn't do that. I took a breath and kept going with it. I still achieved more than I would have if I never wrote it all down and I am happy with that.
With only 3 more weeks to go, this will be my final update. I will post the final results after my deadline and I have already started working on my 2017 goals! Just because I didn't finish this one does not mean that I will not do this again. I love having something to look forward to; something to refer back to and see progress right there in black and white.
1. Completely unpack my house - This is a check! While I still have some totes in my closet, everything that needed to be unpacked is. The totes I have left are some old high school things or old concert t-shirts and things that I do no want to get rid of but I don't exactly need them out and accessible either.
2. Donate/Sell clothes - This is another check! I have donated everything from clothes to shoes, scarves, wallets and other things to a local church in town. It's a good thing I did too because during my trip to Tennessee for Thanksgiving I came home with bags and bags of clothes and shoes that my Nana has been saving up for me. All my clothes are officially "gone through" and everything I do not wear anymore is out.
3. Learn to cook - This was probably my favorite one. This is also being marked down as a check! While I will not be applying for any chef positions, I can feed my family. That was pretty much the point of this one; be able to cook meals for my family. I started out making some cold food like macaroni salad and deviled eggs and I finished off with some peppered steak and meatloaf. I NEVER cooked, it was always a deal with my boyfriend that he was on kitchen duty every night. Now, I do most of the cooking and I actually love it. We even hosted dinner last weekend where he deep fried the turkey and I took care of all the sides. We ended up with a pretty nice meal for everyone.
4. Book Challenge -This one is going to come down to the wire. I am ALMOST done! (I have read 22 out of 25) I have my next few lined up so I am going to need to set aside a little more couch time the next few weeks but I should have no problem checking this one off by Christmas.
5. Lose 10 pounds - I didn't think I would be able to say this (because I have been eating like a fat shit with all this cooking I've been doing!) but I am officially down 8 pounds! 2 more to go, just in time for Christmas cookies! Another one 80% done and probably will come down to the wire.
6&7. Try Yoga and get a Brazilian wax - These I added in because I have just always wanted to but never had the guts. I thought if I put them on here that I would finally just do it, but unfortunately, it doesn't look like it will work out that way.
8. Hike in 10 different parks - Quite frankly, this one is the one that is pissing me off the most! I thought this would be a sure thing. In fact, I figured I would surpass the 10 I wanted. My boyfriend and I LOVE going to parks and walking the trails, we just haven't been going recently. Last time I updated on this one I had only one park to mark down. This time around I have added two more to the list but that still only puts me at 30% done. We took my brother and his daughter to a local trail at Natco Lake and then we took a walk through a Tennessee park! We ended up getting to Bays Mountain shortly before it was about to close but at least we were able to experience some of the wildlife they had there. (Even though I left crying like a baby after I watched a pack of wolves devouring a deer head and then the "low man on the totem pole" get chased away crying because it wasn't his turn to eat!)
9. Pay 50% of my Credit Cards - I wanted to pay half the balance off each of my two credit cards, but I am still at about the same balance I was back in August. Every time I get some paid off, I spend a little bit. You know how it goes. After Christmas, I am cracking down on this one, for sure!
10. Start and finish Christmas Shopping early - So this one will eventually get done, but not early like I originally wanted. I have a few more gifts to buy (mostly gift cards) and then I will be done, but definitely not as early as I hoped. That's okay, though, as long as it's done by the 25th, right?
Well, there you have it! My "not so complete" bucket list! Stay tuned for my complete update in a few weeks and see if I can get any more checks on there!