2011 Bucket List

I'm pretty excited about this new year.  I have a lot planned for myself, as well as a lot coming up for K and I.  I've never been one for New Year's resolutions, but I felt like I should set some goals for the year.  So instead of resolutions, I will share with you my 2011 Bucket List (which is kind of like making resolutions, but more fun).  Here it goes:

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2011 Bucket List

-  Visit my dear friend Amanda in Portland.  She's been living there for years and I still haven't made it up there to visit her.  I want to, I promised her I would, and I already have a ticket.  I just have to go.

-  Try one new restaurant every 3 months.  And I'm not talking about some new Chili's/Applebee's type of restaurant, I'm talking about some actual GOOD food.  The amount of options we have here in Vegas is ridiculous and just about every famous chef you can name has a restaurant (or two) here, so why not take advantage of that?  Obviously this can get a little expensive, hence the every 3 months rule.

-  Go to a concert.  I can count on 8 fingers the number of concerts I've been to in my lifetime.  Pathetic, I know.  I love live music and I don't know what my issue is, but I'll do something about it at least once this year.  And if you're wondering about those 8 concerts, they were Britney Spears, The Calling, Tina Turner, N Sync, Rancid, Vonda Shepard (from "Ally McBeal"), Sixpence None the Richer, and Julio Iglesias.  (Wow, you might think I was a little bit schizophrenic based on my concert history.)

-  This is sort of a resolution, but I really, really, REALLY, want to clear out our storage unit.  Most of it is K's stuff he had put away before he was supposed to deploy in 2009 and it's just been sitting in storage.  I want to go through it, get rid of stuff, and most importantly, stop forking over money every month.

-  Go 4-wheeling in the desert.  There's a bunch of tour groups out here that take day trips to places like Red Rock and the NV/CA border.  K and I tried to go last year, but they booked our reservation for the wrong day, so when we showed up they didn't have a spot for us.  We're going to try again once it warms up.

-  Take a photography class.  This one is already in the works!  I am signed up for a class at the College of Southern Nevada, paid my tuition this morning, and class starts January 24th!  We have a lot going on this year, so I want to be ready to take lots of pictures.

-  This is the big one: take our belated honeymoon in the fall.  We've been talking, dreaming, planning, talking some more, researching, and saving, but we have to make sure we actually DO it.  We've saved all the money we received from our wedding and put it into a separate savings so that we wouldn't be tempted.  The plan is to spend a few weeks backpacking through a few countries in Europe.  We could go sit on a beach somewhere for a week, but we want adventure and this is something we won't be able to do once we decide to start a family (which won't be for awhile, don't get your hopes up).

-And, of course, continue to pursue my happiness.

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And I know I said I'm not big on resolutions, but I do have one real, important one for this year:

Make my plan for going back to school full-time.  I want so badly to go back to school, but the majority of the problem is the fact that the foundation of our life here, the Air Force, is very shaky.  It's provided a great opportunity for us to get on our feet as a couple without having to worry very much about money... but it is an incredibly unstable foundation.  We can count on K having a steady job and paycheck, but the problem is that we can't think long-term.  I can take a class or two here and there, but I can't bring myself to sign up for a full schedule when our life could be flipped upside down at the drop of some orders.  Especially if K gets deployed this year, which is looking like a very real possibility.  I also can't bring myself to live here in Vegas by myself for 6-8 months, so moving back home would throw a major wrench in my studies.  After some major discussion, we've decided that no matter what, I will go back to school full-time next January when K will only have a year and half on his contract, and it is highly unlikely that he will be sent anywhere.  Which means I have to start planning: getting my GI Bill and VA assistance in order, deciding what I will study and where, and making sure we will be financially set to live off of one paycheck.