a partial bucket list...

these are certainly not in a specific order and they are definitely random. some are long term. some are short term. some are easy to accomplish. some are absolutely impossible. some you may not understand. some are on your own list. but having dreams often keeps us motivated! so here is my list:

ride in a hot air balloon.

fall in love with the right person in God’s time.

have back-up singers echo me every time i say something important.

learn to speak another language.

spend a vacation lying on the beach reading all the books i've been saving up.

acknowledge my weaknesses and grow.

stand on the shore and roar back at the ocean as loud as i can.

compose a perfect haiku.

visit a new museum each month.

run my own coffeeshop/bookstore.

learn and use a new word each day.

ride bareback along the beach at sunset.

climb the great pyramid at giza.

see the statue of edgar allen poe in new york.

learn something new every day.

live independently and magnanimously.

lie on the ground in a grove of giant sequoias and just look up.

write a sonnet.

walk on the dark side of the moon.

finish everything i start out to do.

tell those i love how much i appreciate them.

spend five days focusing entirely on my senses-one day per sense.

raise a barn.

walk across the golden gate bridge.

ride an elephant in india.
set a world record.

set aside time each day to simply be alone with God.

summer in a villa in tuscany.

determine what it is in life i want most.

celebrate my birthday on a yacht on the mediterranean.

observe an avalanche (from a safe distance).

get a second degree.

learn to repair my own car.

visit a castle.

write a letter to my descendants.

cruise the greek islands.

spend a day watching the sun move across the sky.

create a secret code.

spend a stormy night in a lighthouse on a rocky coast.

visit antarctica to see the emperor penguins.

own and read the complete works of c.s. lewis.

learn to draw.

travel with no particular destination.

learn to rock-climb.

write a book that changes someone's life for the better.

receive two dozen roses from a secret admirer.

use my time wisely.

tour the great sites of ancient greece.

learn sign language.

reread all the original nancy drew mysteries.

see the gigantic carved heads of easter island.

learn three jokes that get laughs every time.

spend a month in another country.

obtain every dr. seuss book.

milk a cow.

design, build, and decorate my dream house. (there will be a library with a spiral staircase)

what are some of your own to-do's?

freedom isn't free

This was written by one of my students for her history class. She is a talented young lady, and I am proud to post this piece on my blog. Enjoy!

Freedom

In many areas of the world there are unimaginable, unspeakable, incredibly blood-boiling things going on. Not everyone understands just how incredibly magnificent the United States of America is. People are giving their lives for strangers they don’t even know. We exercise trust and faith every day, whether it is in man or God. In man, we place trust in man-made things. You set an alarm clock, trusting it will go off at the right time. You sit in a seat, trusting will hold you. You get food from a drive-thru trusting no one is trying to murder you by poisoning your food. We all do it, every day. We are a country beyond blessed by the incredible mercy of God; and yet, in God, we place our faith in unseen, unknown things. We place our freedom in God, we place our love for our nation in God, and we place our faith in God to guide us through even the darkest of times. 

Freedom is not a right. Freedom is not deserved. Freedom is earned. Our nation has been blessed with the many freedoms that many other countries don’t have, because many other nations are not built on godly principles. Freedom in and of itself is a wonderful gift, however, the fact that we are able to have freedom is a gift from God. Men give their lives for this nation, and we give our trust and respect to those men, but every single right, every single blessing of this nation is from God. We have the freedom of speech, which is the reason there are a million television ads supporting either Mitt Romney or Barrack Obama... but, I digress. We have the freedom of religion which is the reason I can write this paper and turn it into my Christian school. We have the right to vote. We have the right to bear arms. We have the right of privacy in our homes. We have the right to be tried in a courtroom, and are considered innocent until proven guilty. Freedom is not just in our nation as a whole. 

Freedom surrounds us everywhere we look, we have the ability to leave the country and spread the gospel. We have the blessing of having many people making the decisions for our country, instead of one tyrant, or dictator. We have so many rights and freedoms that we often take them for granted. We selfishly save and spend to make our lives more comfortable. Our nation is slowly losing the freedoms it once had; it is up to us to take it back. 

Freedom is more important than fame, fortune, or other worldly things. We take for granted things that are given to us freely – but nothing is free. Someone has to pay the price for everything everyone has. We have rights in this country, and freedom is not a right. We have fought for so long to have what we have, and the fact that we are wasting all of the past generations' hard work and sacrifice is detestable. Our nation is the greatest on earth, but if no one is willing to step up and continue to fight for our freedom what else will there be? Freedom is a precious, irreplaceable thing. Freedom is all around the world, but not near as abundant as in the United States of America. We are a nation blessed by God, but God certainly has the ability to remove His hand from this nation if we cannot protect what He has given us. The most amazing, precious, glorious thing in the world is freedom. Fight for it.

best. poem. ever.

if - rudyard kipling

if you can keep your head when all about you

are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

but make allowance for their doubting too;

if you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

and yet don't look too good nor talk too wise;

if you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

if you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

if you can meet with triumph and disaster

and treat those two imposters just the same;

if you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

and stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

if you can make one heap of all your winnings

and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

and lose, and start again at your beginnings

and never breathe a word about your loss; 

if you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

to serve your turn long after they are gone,

and so hold on when there is nothing in you

except the will which says to them: "hold on";

if you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

or walk with kings - nor lose the common touvh;

if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

if all men count with you, but none too much;

if you can fill the unforgiving minute

with sixty seconds; worth of distance run - 

yours is the earth and everything that's in it,

and - which is more - you'll be a man my son!

my anthem.

i believe i am nothing.

i believe God is everything.

i believe in every life-altering word of the KJV Bible.

i believe life is change.

i believe you should listen more than talk.

i believe nearness is likeness.

i believe something can be learned from every one you meet.

i believe in the influence of music.

i believe in the power of words.

i believe we should live, love, laugh, and learn.

i believe the end will justify the pain it takes to get us there.

i believe "popularity" is overrated.

i believe shadows only prove the sun shines.

i believe i will be different.

i believe you only get one chance at life on earth, make the best of it.

i believe i will make every day the best day of my life.

i believe in forgiveness, for i am ultimately forgiven.

i believe a spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down.

i believe you should never take for granted the simple pleasures in life.

i believe trust is no small thing.

i believe in being yourself.

i believe if you choose to love, love unconditionally.

i believe when you say "i love you" you should mean it.

i believe in the "golden rule"

i believe that when you stop growing, you stop living.