My RAD52in52 Bucket List for 2017
The last few years, I've created a bucket list for the calendar year as a way to encourage myself to step out of my comfort zones, try new things, and keep life interesting. I don't make resolutions, I just craft a whole list of fun things I want to try to accomplish in the upcoming 365 days, and it's awesome how motivated it keeps me all year long!
This year, for the first time, I carried over 10 things from 2016's list that I didn't quite get to, so I'm excited to have an additional year to knock those out.
These lists have 52 things because there are 52 weeks in the year, but I don't have any sort of roadmap for how or when I'll cross these off. It's all just part of the fun! FYI: I'll bold them when they're done and italicize them when they're in progress!
(Here's my list from 2016, and here's my list from 2015.)
Here's to a whole lot of fun, growth, and adventure in 2017!
- Be on a podcast. (orig. on my 2016 list!)
- I was on Chasing Creative here!
- We also started a podcast at work-- Inside the Editors' Room
- I'm also on this Your Daily Prayer podcast at work!
- Visit NYC. (orig. on my 2016 list!)
- Take a solo road trip somewhere fun. (orig. on my 2016 list!)
- Go to a hot air balloon festival or ride a hot air balloon. (orig. on my 2016 list!)
- Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway in autumn. (orig. on my 2016 list!)
- Make something out of wood. (orig. on my 2016 list!)
- Visit a new national/state park. (orig. on my 2016 list!)
- See a play on Broadway in NYC. (major bonus points if it's SOMEHOW Hamilton!)
- Be part of un/defined gathering again!
- Read through the entire Bible again throughout the year.
- (I use this one and love it!)
- Attend a TED event of some kind.
- TEDxRVA Salon: Updating the Menu on 1/23
- Go to (at least) 5 concerts.
- Johnnyswim on 3/23
- COIN with ARIZONA on 5/8
- OneRepublic with James Arthur on 7/10
- Ed Sheeran with James Blunt on 9/2
- John Mark McMillan with The Brilliance on 9/14
- NEEDTOBREATHE on 10/3
- Hear an author I love speak.
- Barbara Brown Taylor on 2/9
- Krista Tippett on 10/2
- Plant my own garden.
- Try 10 new restaurants (anywhere!)
- Kitchen on Cary
- Ginger Red
- City Beach
- Xtra's
- Julep's
- K-Town Kitchen and Bar
- Don Taco (in Old Town Alexandria)
- Pasture
- Fat Dragon
- Bartaco (in Reston)
- Tupelo Honey Cafe (in Johnson City)
- Pharmacy (in Nashville)
- Pfunky Griddle (in Nashville)
- Burger Up (in Nashville)
- Lilly's Pizza (in Raleigh)
- The Remedy Diner (in Raleigh)
- Go to a movie by myself.
- Saw La La Land on 2/18
- Go on an adventure with my camera simply to play with taking pictures.
- Write to my Compassion child at least 4 times.
- Visit (at least) one state I haven't ever been to.
- Go to at least one Caps game.
- DONE! 1/1/17 with Ben! We won!
- 12/2 with Austin! We won again!
- Send Thanksgiving cards to loved ones.
- Host a dinner party.
- Complete #The100DayProject.
- bandoned this one. Oops. Here's what I DID do, though!
- Send a surprise gift to a friend.
- Try a new kind of art or craft project.
- Read Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.
- Go kayaking again.
- Tithe monthly to church.
- Pay back outstanding family loans.
- Go through She Reads Truth's Lent study.
- Go through an Advent study.
- Complete Modern Mrs. Darcy's 2017 Reading Challenge.
- Read 150 books total.
- See everything I'm reading here!
- I upped my goal to 200 books! -- DONE
- Read 5 classics.
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
- The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
- Read 10 books by authors of other ethnicities.
- You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain by Phoebe Robinson
- The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
- Swing Time by Zadie Smith
- The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
- March: Book One by John Lewis
- March: Book Two by John Lewis
- March: Book Three by John Lewis
- Home by Toni Morrison
- Selected Poems of Langston Hughes
- The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right by Lisa Sharon Harper
- I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- The Mothers by Brit Bennett
- Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
- Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
- Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
- When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
- Write for a new publication or website of some kind.
- DONE! Became a contributor for #createlounge.
- Also joined the Everyday Exiles team!
- Go on a new hike.
- Travel to a new country.
- Watch at least 5 highly recommended movies (either by friends or critics).
- Minimalism
- La La Land
- Moonlight
- Try hot yoga.
- Cook a gluten-free and vegan meal for somebody who is neither gluten-free or vegan.
- DONE! I made this chili for my family + Ben. Everyone gave it rave reviews!
- Complete a 5k.
- Complete the Ukrop's Monument Ave 10k.
- Give a gift to a homeless person.
- Make some kind of art for a friend.
- DONE! Made wedding invitations for my cousin.
- Stay in a fun AirBnB somewhere new.
- Pay off my credit card.
- Get new headshots taken by a photographer for my website.
- See my favorite former-babysitting family (they now live in Baltimore).
- Finish my 1,000 gifts journal.
- Get tattoo #4.
- Celebrate my 25th birthday well with family and friends!
What's something you want to accomplish in 2017?!
One year ago on the blog: Five Finds Friday // January 8
Two years ago on the blog: SELAH: My #OneWord365
past bucket lists
Every year, I create a RAD52in52 bucket list full of fun things I want to challenge myself to accomplish in the year ahead. They range from simple to silly to serious, and the list helps keep me motivated throughout the year!