#6 - Get a family picture of me and the 3 boys

As a kid, I was always the one who wanted to do the opposite of what my parents wanted. Yep, I was the rebel of the family, shocking huh? This seems like such a simple goal - to take a professional family picture with all 3 of my boys. It wasn't easy for me though. Much like many other people, I was always waiting for the perfect time. Excuse after excuse: I was too fat, I didn't look good, I had no time - all of it. This summer was my last opportunity to have all 3 boys together before my oldest headed off to college.

So I went to the person I knew would hold me accountable - my dad. If you didn't know, my family are in the events industry. They have tons of connections. I told my dad for my birthday I wanted a picture with all 3 boys and his jaw hit the floor. It really was now or never. I am so grateful I will be able to treasure this for the rest of my life. Check out the final product done by our family friend and photographer Djamel Ramoul.

What did I learn? There is never a great time. The time is now. Don't wait as long as I did. Time is gone before you know it.

#21 Go on a cruise to Alaska

It took 3 times booking this trip to actually go on the cruise but everything happens for a reason. Life just kept getting in the way but this ended up being my 50th state from #23 on the list which is "Visit all 50 states in America". Alaska was a great one to end on! So how was it? Fantastic! The highlights

#142 - Segway Tour

It’s been WAY too long since I actually posted but I’ve checked so much off my bucket list in the past few years! I’ll have to do a recap of what has been happening. For now, I wanted to start with getting back in the habit and share #142.

This week I was fortunate enough to attend a conference for work in Washington DC. Brian flew up to meet me at the end of the conference and surprised me with booking a segway tour of DC. I was pretty nervous when we started but once I got the whole balance thing down, it was a blast!

Can’t wait to update this thing with all of the amazing progress over the past few years. It’s been so much fun reading this blog again and seeing how far I’ve come. Enjoy!

#136 - Sail on a boat on one of the Great Lakes

Behind me is the Chicago skyline while we sailed on Lake Michigan - July! What a fun and relaxing experience with one of my longest and most amazing friends, Rebecca. We traveled to Chicago for a work related conference and the night before it started, we decided to take a sunset sailing trip to get this one off my bucket list!

The Navy Pier was right next to this breathtaking view of the city!

Bucket list #136 - complete!

#70 - Take a painting class

Something I have now had to learn the hard way...post my blog immediately after completing a bucket list item for a few reasons. First of all, if you lose your phone...the pictures are gone :(  My painting class photo is gone forever BUT the final product is fine and hanging on my wall.

The painting class was very interesting. Our teacher was drinking the entire class time! Justin and I were confused and frustrated with the guy who kept telling us to do a smidgen of this and a dash of that.  At the end of the day, it was a good memory! I definitely want to try out another class at a different place with a painting I really want to paint. 

#152 - Conquer my fear of frogs by holding one!

Frogs are awful. They were when I added this one to the list and they still are. Holding one didn't do the trick BUT I did happen to complete it so I guess that's a win on its own.

One one of my trips to Pennsylvania, Justin took me to check this off my list.  We pulled up to a pet store and I was completely confused. It wouldn't have helped for me to be prepared but being caught off guard I immediately freaked out.

#152 - Held the frog but it didn't cure my fear!

#144 - Have an old school sleepover as an adult!

I didn't even realize this one was on the list OR done but what a nice surprise! A group of my closest friends from our small group had a legit sleepover night complete with Spin the Bottle (which actually was a spin the bottle nail painting game since we are all married), girly movies which of course included "The Notebook" and so much more.

We bonded, we laughed and guess who feel asleep first? Whoops! Granted I had been up for 24 hours when I passed out.

#144 - DONE!

Sleepovers are always fun no matter how old you are! Girls, we need to do this again soon!