THE 10 ITEMS ON MY SPRING 2017 BUCKET LIST

I think that I got way ahead of myself with my Winter 2016 Bucket List.  Usually I am pretty excited about setting goals and working towards crossing them off, but we have a lot going on and I think that I need to take a little bit of a breather.  Bucket Lists are great (obviously I love them), but at some stages in your life, it just won't be possible to cross much off without overspending your budget and stressing out your calendar.  In light of that fact, my Spring 2017 Bucket List is going to be a little shorter and more focused.

In our church small group, we have been reading His Needs Her Needs and watching the online video series.  I have really enjoyed it and learned a lot in just a few short weeks!  One thing I decided is that I want to spend a lot more time with Ironman doing fun activities together.  I know that we have a great marriage, but I want it to always continue to improve.  We love to travel and go on some great trips, but when we are at home, we aren't all that exciting.  I love being at home and can spend hours alone.  Then, Ironman comes home and is tired from the day, so we don't do much other than watch Netflix most nights.  Just last week we decided we are going to kick that habit.  One movie every now and then is fun and we love it, but watching TV Shows on Netflix is just taking up too much of our time together because there's always "just one more".  Without Netflix we will have so many hours freed up to do things together like take a walk, ride our bikes, talk, sit on the front porch, cook together, have friends over and more!

So, with all that to say, here are the 10 items on my Spring Bucket List:

1.  Go camping.  We love camping together and both want to do it more often.  There's just something about getting away from it all and being alone, away from the world.  I always enjoy it and usually try to convince Ironman that we should pack up and do the Appalachian Trail so that we can enjoy the peace and quiet for 6 months straight.  I don't love hiking, but Ironman does, so maybe we can include something short and easy on our trip that will give him some adventure and not kill me in the process.

2.  Bike the Swamp Rabbit Trail.  I had this on my Winter Bucket List, but there were no warm weekends that worked for us.  So, if at first we don't succeed, try try again!  We could even do this on the same weekend as camping, if we find an opening at the Travelers Rest Campground or another campground that has a biking trail nearby.

3.  Plant something.  Ironman wants to do a garden and some trees.  I'd be happy with just one tree to get us started.  As I type this, the weather is absolutely perfect so being outside sounds wonderful!

4.  Exercise.  When he is working out, Ironman likes to be alone.  But, we really enjoy going on bike rides and walks together and Ironman even enjoys gym classes like Barre and Yoga!  For years, we tried to jog/run together but it never worked out because I am too slow.  We figured out how to make it work last summer, though!  Ironman runs and I ride my bike beside him...we are both happy (win win).

5.  Play games.  Right now, we are in the middle of a really hard, 1, 000 piece puzzle that I clearly underestimated when I bought it to surprise Ironman a few weeks back.  Since we have a huge, farmhouse table, we thought it would be fun to always have a puzzle going on one end.  So far, it has been!  Monopoly is another game we love to play together when we are in the mood, but I'd love to get into Checkers and see how we like playing against each other.

6.  Go to a concert.  When we were first married, Ironman and I went to one concert to see one of his brothers play in the Dirty Guv'nahs!  It's been years and we have gone through so many different artists and albums that we love.  Jack Johnson reminds us of our college days.  Norah Jones and Eva Cassidy in the first year or so of marriage.  Ray Lamantagne after that.  Now, we love Band of Horses.  Although it might not be this Spring, we would love to plan to go to a concert together somewhere out of town.

7.  Visit a museum.  We both love history and really enjoy museums.  For years, we've talked about wanting to visit the Creation Museum, but would be willing to settle for something else until we can go another time.  I think it's always good to see how other people lived and to hear their stories...it puts a lot into perspective for me each time I go learn.

8.  Walk through some unique shops.  We love The Peddler and Thieves Market in town.  Plus, there is Scarlet's just outside of Florence.  Although we don't usually buy anything, we both like looking at old, second hand items and imaging giving them a second life in our fixer upper.  I love to buy used items as much as possible because I believe they have so much character and help a home have that lived in feel.  Once our renovations are done, I'm sure we will begin to buy items here and there to fill our home with things that we love.

9.  Go site seeing.  South Carolina has so many adorable little towns that I would love to get to know better and Camden is one of them.  I would love to go for the day and walk around down town, look in the little shops, eat somewhere good and discover what makes Camden special.  Talking about site-seeing...our 10 year wedding anniversary is at the end of this year and we want to make it special.  We have been looking around and talking about it for years and have finally decided on what we want to do!  So, before Summer, I'd really like to get all the plans set in place and the resort and airline tickets reserved.

10.  Cook dinner.  Sounds so easy right?  I have never really enjoyed cooking, but know that it means a lot to Ironman to come home to a nice dinner.  Although I am doing much better than in the past, I want to continue to improve in this area.  I love my crockpot and do best when I use it because it seems so much simpler to me...throw it in and done.  So, I have been using Pinterest to my advantage and looking for crock pot ideas to keep Ironman fat and happy.  Just kidding, I don't know if he can really even get fat.  I'll do a post soon with a week's menu and I'd love any ideas and inspiration that you'd love to share!

Please share what you plan to do this Spring in the comments below!