A Reason 2 Live

5. Go tent camping.

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Something I haven't done since my early 20's, sleeping under the stars, and nestling in the warmth of a tent just enough to shield the wind. The stars bright, planet in orbit, what a beautiful sight it will be. Returning to the planet, nature, my God. Getting away from the City lights, the busy streets, the odor of drunkards, the chaos called life.

4. Visit my Birthplace in Rantoul, Illinois at the U.S. Air Force Base.

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Visiting my birthplace will be an incredible life experience. Sort of a life flash before my eyes sort of experience. Walking the area I was born, while reflecting on my life. What I've accomplished, who I've helped, wrong I can right, the list is endless. My plan is 3 years from now, but we'll have to see when I return to my nesting grounds and how it affects my state of mind at that moment and the rest of my days.

3. Research my family history and make a website, sharing with my family and friends.

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What an integral part of life and understanding in researching your family history. I’ve recently been thinking about this more and more with my Grandmother passing away 4 years ago and my Grandpa on his deathbed with terminal cancer. Not to mention, my dad having a pacemaker put in and telling me the other day he had TIA’s (basically minor blood clots leading to dizziness) after I told him I was getting dizzy. This makes me really want to research, particularly to do with health. It would also be exciting to see where they all were raised, what they did and really get in touch with my ancestry. I have an aunt who has already started this, so my first task will be to contact her and see what she’s already done.

2. Visit my childhood homes, taking pictures and contrasting the differences between them, from what I recall growing up to now.

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I guess this is all about reliving childhood, looking back at good times and really just reflecting on life as a whole. We moved numerous times growing up and I’d really like to see what they look like and share it with other people in hopes that they can gain inspiration and either do the same or at least reflect on their own lives all the same, I will update this as soon as I get to it.

1. Spend a day going through my collectibles (sports memorabilia) and other memories of my life, hanging them on the wall, or others places!

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Boxes, boxes, and boxes of collectibles value yes, sentimental value extreme. Why is it then that I never take them out of their nicely packed boxes and look at them ever? In my case it’s never getting situated in a home, moving several times since I got out of high school, so many that I’ve only been notified of jury duty twice in the last eleven years. I remember as a child from age 6 through about 11 I would ask for baseball cards as a main gift. I’d love to read the stats, memorize them and have hours of conversation with my Grandpa, Uncles, and Great Uncles and oh how they were amazed since I was probably 9 or 10 at the time. As my great uncles have passed away, my Grandpa is nearing death, and I’ve been too busy with life to look back on these memories, there’s no time like now to pursue this. It’s going to be one thing just to look at them and another huge task to have the important ones out nice and neat either putting them on a shelf, clear plastic, making a collage or a new system that works great for keeping them easily accessible.

I would love to start this task sometime this week and complete it within two months. I will have to look at what I have to situate them nicely, spend a few hours reflecting on my childhood, make my room look great, and hey I may even sell a few and use the money for frames, paint, or maybe even a piece of new furniture. This sounds like a huge task, but I know once I start I’ll enjoy it.

139 Things 2 Do B4 I Die

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This is my preliminary list of life goals. If I reach even one person with my writing, this whole blogging and writing will be well worth it, we can reach our goals together!

Roots

1. Spend a day going through my collectibles (sports memorabilia), and
other memories of my life, hanging them on the wall, or places them in other places throughout my room.

2. Visit my childhood homes, taking pictures and contrasting the differences

between them, from what I recall growing up to now.

3. Research my family history and make a website, sharing with my family and friends.

4. Visit my Birthplace in Rantoul, Illinois at the U.S. Air Force Base.

5. Go tent camping.

6. Go fishing with my mom and dad.

7. Take my mom for a weekend trip.

8. Build a model.

9. Build a fort in my bedroom

10. Go roller skating

11. Play Football (turkey bowl)

12. Overcome my fear of snakes

13. Thank Mrs. Thumb (3^rd grade teacher) and Mr. Raheb (Choir Teacher in h.s.),

Dr. Rao for being such great inspirations in my life educationally and truly caring.

14. Buy a really nice metal detector, so I can explore areas as I wanted to do as a child

15. Sing in a choir, group, or solo, was so much fun in high school and gave it up

to pursue my education and career

16. Know more about the depression area

17. Know more about Grandparents families coming from Europe (Germany, Denmark)

Explore

18. Explore rock taverns, collecting and taking pictures of unique rocks

19. Witness an active volcano

20. Scuba dive/Snorkel Coral Reefs

21. Sleep on a beach

22. Take a painting class (oils)

23. Go to Mardi Gras

24. Visit all 50 States of America, take pictures, contrast them

25. Buy a camera and take pictures of big things (sky scrapers),

small things (ant hills),

pictures of odd things, such as graffiti

26. Eat sushi in Tokyo

27. Sail through the Greek Islands

28. Go on a safari

29. See the pyramids of Egypt

30. Get a passport

31. Go to the Long Beach Pride Parade

Experimenting

32. Make a Halloween Costume

33. Decorate my room, take a picture from beginning to end

34. Grow a full beard

35. Buy a painting

36. Have my own place

37. Live on a boat

38. Go skinny dipping in a public place

39. Go to the mall dressed freakish purely for the reaction of others

40. Give up games for a month

41. Build models as a hobby

42. Learn to draw and paint

43. Investigate world religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam)

44. Examine items through a microscope

45. Grow my own vegetables

46. Write a journal about the day every night

47. Try martial arts (Jujitsu)

48. Dress up for a pride parade

Challenges

49. Ride a horse

50. Survive in the wilderness for a week

51. Take a yoga class

52. Run with the bulls

53. Water-ski

54. Sail across an ocean

55. Do twenty pushups every morning

56. Stop biting my nails

57. Stop smoking

58. Give up coffee for a month

59. Bungee jump from a bridge

60. Take a rock climbing class for at least a year

61. Climb a steep mountain with no trails

62. Walk on fire

63. Hold a snake

64. Play cricket

65. Play lawn bowling

Giving

66. Get an environmentally friendly car

67. Feed the homeless

68. Build a home for someone without

69. Sponsor someone in the AA Program

70. Donate clothes and other unneeded things to a thrift store/homeless shelter

71. Collect donations for a charity

72. Learn sign language

73. Teach a class

74. Recycle my plastics, glass, paper

Learning

75. Learn to drive a boat

76. Learn Spanish/Mexican

77. Take up astronomy

78. Experience weightlessness

79. Design a website

80. Learn how to make sushi

81. Look at the starts through a telescope

82. Study the stock market

83. Start an investing group

84. Learn AutoCAD/Rivet Proficiently

85. Learn to sew

86. Learn to sail

87. Learn astronomy

88. Learn about health (lactose intolerance, prostate cancer)

89. Learn about the great depression

90. Learn about WWI,II

91. Learn how to do a complete Land Development Project

Expression

92. Have a phone exhibition

93. Write a newspaper article

94. Write a magazine article

95. Audition for a play

96. Give a lecture

97. Make a movie

98. Paint a self-portrait, the way I see myself

99. Design a T-shirt

100. Keep an online Blog

101. Write poetry again and post them online

102. Sing in a band/group

103. Have the best Engineering message board

104. Do interviews with people and compile them (Financial, History, Business, etc.)

105. Announce at a sporting event

Love

106. Have my boyfriend meet my parents

107. Throw a surprise party for a friend

108. Help my brothers kids get into college and make it through

109. Have sex in a sauna

110. Post the family photos, articles, and history online

Work

111. Pass the EIT

112. Pass the PE

113. Brainstorm ideas for businesses

114. Write a business plan

115. Patent an invention

116. Get a promotion to an Associate Engineer

117. Become a Senior Engineer

118. Pay off my credit card debt

119. Pay off all my debt

120. Be my own boss

121. Have a flourishing business

122. Walk to work

123. Drive different ways to work

124. Build a money making website

125. Be a consultant for a government agency

126. Do project design on my own and sign the plans

127. Quit a job, no long being an “E”

128. Buy an investment property(ies)

129. Have a total net worth of $5,000,000

130. Buy a piece of raw land

131. Have a career where I’m helping people in some way

132. Make $15,000 in a month

133. Buy a stock

134. Have a stock portfolio equal to 2 years of my salary

Legacy

135. Fund a scholarship

136. Visit the family graves and take pictures

137. Keep an ongoing family website

138. Be an organ donor

139. Provide water and sewer to a 3^rd world country

Inspiration 4 this blog

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The inspiration for this blog comes from a variety of sources and thinking throughout my life. Most recently I picked up the book “2 DO Before I Die” by Michael Ogden drawing the organization needed to list my inspirations and begin writing about each one according to: Roots (Personal History), Exploring, Experimenting, Challenges, Giving, Learning, Expression, Love, Work, and last but definitely not least, leaving a legacy. Other inspirations come from Alcoholics Anonymous, which I draw strength from daily in readings and other alcoholics. A huge inspiration has come from personal friendships and family, as well as many others and past experiences, but I’ll leave it at that.