Bucket List

So technically a “bucket list” is a list of things you want to accomplish before you kick the bucket and die, but we definitely don’t equate marriage with death.  Rather, this is more of a list of things we would like to do before we hit our mid-late 20s (which is around the age we always wanted to get married anyway).  This list started when we were still in college, and we completely forgot about it until this blog was started.  Realistically, we might not be able to accomplish all of these things before we want and feel ready to get married and that’s fine, but some of these things seem so simple yet some couples don’t accomplish them!  Some we’ve done so many times together, we couldn’t pin-point the first time.  Others are probably once in a lifetime experiences.  Some of these we thought of together and some we stole from other couples’ bucket lists (glad to know we’re not the only ones).   There are also a lot of “pre-kids bucket lists”  too, but we won’t have to worry about that one for now.

Charmander & Wonton’s Bucket List before tying the knot (must be done together)

1.) Go camping (Does Bonnaroo, June 2013 count?)
2.) Go on a road trip (June, 2012)
3.) Go to Disneyland  (First trip, July 2004)
4.) Go to Universal Studios (Orlando, January 2014)
5.) Visit an aquarium (Dallas World Aquarium, May 2011)
6.) Go to a Zoo
7.) Go to Knott’s Berry Farm (October, 2005)
8.) Go to Europe (Netherlands & Belgium, December 2009)
9.) Go to Las Vegas (First trip, July 2009)
10.) Go to Mexico (Cabo San Lucas, March 2010)
11.) Attend a concert (First concert together Jay-Z/Kanye Watch the Throne Tour, December 2011)
12.) Ride on a ferris wheel (OC Fair August, 2006)
13.) Go snorkeling  (Cabo San Lucas, March 2010)
14.) Swim with dolphins
15.) Go Snowboarding
16.) See a Cirque du Soleil show (Mystere, July 2009)
17.) Attend an Improv show
18.) Gamble and win  money together (Las Vegas, July 2009)
19.) Wave runner
20.) Skydive (San Diego, July 2012)
21.) Paint
22.) Hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
23.) Go to Six Flags (Dallas, May 2011)
24.) Watch the sun rise and set in the same day (Grand Canyon, June 2012)
25.) Go to Sea World
26.) Attend a major film festival
27.) Hike an active volcano (Nicaragua, March 2012)
28.) Fix something house related together, I call it “having a Cory and Topanga rat-hole apartment moment”
29.) Go Parasailing (Cabo San Lucas, March 2010)
30.) Eat something neither of us has tried for the first time
31.) Be lazy, drink, and relax at a resort (Bahamas, Atlantis July 2011)
32.) Send a message in a bottle
33.) Plant a tree
34.) Brew our own beer
35.) Make our own pottery (Houston, March 2011)
36.) Build a snowman
37.) Photograph an endangered species in the wild
38.) Take a photograph with someone famous
39.) Attend a taping of the Price is Right
40.) Attend a taping of a late night talk show
41.) Run a half-marathon (Houston Aramco Half Marathon, January 2011)
42.) Take Latin ballroom classes
43.) Have a couples massage
44.) Visit the Caribbean (Bahamas, July 2011)
45.) Bake a pizza together
46.) Attend a music festival (Electric Daisy Carnival, 2009)
47.) Watch a meteor shower
48.) Ride in a hot air balloon
49.) Ride an ATV bike (Cabo San Lucas, 2010)
50.) Host a party
51.) Write our names over a star on the walk of fame in chalk
52.) Play miniature golf
53.) Watch a movie at a midnight premiere showing (Inception, July 2010)
54.) Attend a wedding (July 2012)
55.) Zipline (Nicaragua, March 2012)
56.) Go to church
57.) Bet on a winning horse
58.) Work out together
59.) Go to a Drive-in theatre
60.) Bake something from scratch
61.) Couchsurf with strangers (Rotterdam, December 2009)
62.) Hold a snake
63.) Visit a coffee shop in the Netherlands (December 2009)
64.) Fly a kite
65.) Sleep under the stars in Death Valley
66.) See the Grand Canyon (Grand Canyon, June 2012)
67.) Go white water rafting  (Panama, December 2012)
68.) Take a bike ride
69.) Visit a museum (Van Gogh Museum & Anne Frank, Amsterdam, December 2009)
70.) Attend a Broadway show (Wicked, Rent, The Lion King, Avenue Q)
71.) Play Pool (8 ball)
72.) Take a cooking class abroad
73.) Have “the future” talk
74.) Play at an arcade
75.) Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge
76.) Go to a national park (Parque Nacional Volcan Masaya, March 2012)
77.) Go Bowling
78.) Play laser tag (Circus Circus, Las Vegas)
79.) Go to a shooting range
80.) Go to a Lakers game  (Los Angeles Staples Center, October 2013)
81.) Cook Dinner Together
82.) Play Basketball
83.) Play Badminton
84.) Have a board game night
85.) Go on a picnic
86.) Take a nap and have a completely lazy day
87.) Babysit together
88.) Go on a cruise (Carnival Cruise, March 2010)
89.) Have a caricature drawn
90.) Play videogames
91.) Dress up for Halloween
92.) Throw a dart at a map and go there
93.) Get lost, explore and wander aimlessly for fun (Many times, but Antwerp, December 2009 comes to mind)
94.) Go beer / wine tasting (hipster bars in LA)
95.) Cross something off the list from tourist thrill seekers’ most dangerous attractions in the world (Volcano Boarding Cerro Negro Volcano, Nicaragua)
96.) See the Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis
97.) Learn / teach 10 phrases of the other’s native language
98.) Go on a helicopter ride
99.) Dress up for a fancy dinner
100.) Learn a magic trick
101.) Build a sand castle
102.) Visit at least 7 countries together (Netherlands, Belgium, Nicaragua, Bahamas, Panama, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica April 2014)
103.) See an eclipse
104.) Say “yes” to everything for 24 hours
105.) Start a blog
106.) Go sailing
107.) Look through a giant telescope
108.) Rock climb
109.) Spend Christmas with the others’ family
110.) Go kayaking
111.) Kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve
112.) Have dinner with the others’ family
113.) Go on a trip with the others’ family
114.) Go fishing
115.) Get our master’s degrees in individual disciplines (Tracy – UST: M.A. Education 2012; Richard – CSULB: MBA 2013)
116.) Move in together (Houston, July 2010)
117.) Visit one of the Natural Wonders(Grand Canyon, June 2012)
118.) Save up $20,000 for our wedding
119.) Save up for our honeymoon + future and all that good stuff
120.) Start a savings/account together and joint credit card (for joint expenses)
121.) Volunteer abroad
122.) Volunteer locally
123.) Turn 25  Richard likes to joke that he is dating an older woman since Tracy is 1 month older. They both turned 25 in the summer of 2013.
124.) Get engaged
125.) Do something nice for our parents and siblings, something really, really nice.