Bucket List Check Up Check In

If you're here looking for the Hodgepodge questions you'll find them one post back. 

Just before my mid-September birthday I made a fall-ish bucket list. I gave myself an end date of November 21st so it's time to check in and see what I did and didn't do. 

1. I was a teensy bit ambitious thinking I'd host an actual party in the new space. I forgot we didn't have furniture, but oh well. I did host some of my family for a BBQ-regular burgers as opposed to smashburgers, but there was some Cornhole played so calling it a win. We set up a folding table and made do, and that's fun too. 

2. Decorate for fall. I didn't go all out but there were pumpkins on the porch, fall colors on the mantles, and autumn spice candles burned throughout so yes. Done.

3. Vote. Yep. 

4. Visit a state new to me. We spent a long weekend in Minnesota for a friend's daughter's wedding, which was my first time in the North Star State. We were in Minneapolis and had a great time. Check. 

5. Attend a football game. Sadly no. We wanted to go to a big game and were invited to two different Clemson games by some neighbors, but neither date worked with our travel schedule. We like to get to at least one VOL game each season, but that didn't happen this year either. We watched and sweated and paced and wrung our hands and cheered a lot via the TV, but no in person games this fall. 

6. Make a new fall recipe from a cookbook I own. Question-what constitutes a fall recipe? I'm going to put a checkmark beside this one because I did pull out several cookbooks and ended up making. a recipe I hadn't tried before. 

It's from Amy Hannon's Love, Welcome, Serve: Recipes That Gather And Give cookbook, and I made her chili and brown sugar pork chops with pan gravy. I don't have a picture because it wasn't exactly picture worthy, but hubs and I both agreed it was delicious. This kind of comfort food says fall to me. 

7. Pay for a soldier or veterans meal. I didn't get to do this, but am still on the lookout for the opportunity. I did thank several veterans we encountered as we waited in line to vote, and I try to always do that when I see the hat or jacket on someone. 

8. Shop for outdoor furniture. Yes times ten. We shopped and we bought and we're excited to see it all in place, probably sometime in February. 

9. Leaf peep and lunch in the nearby mountain town. Hubs and I drove up to the nearby mountain town of Highlands NC in late October on a beautiful Friday afternoon. We enjoyed the autumn colors, browsing the shops, and lunch at Wild Thyme Gourmet.  

10. Make a Christmas list and buy at least four gifts. Check. Actually check check because I managed to purchase more than four. 

11. Hike a trail new to me. Hmmm...we did quite a few 'walks' that were new to us when we were in the UK. I wouldn't call them hikes, but we were out in the countryside so I guess it might count? 

We haven't hiked any new to us trails at home. Helene made hiking a bit of a challenge in our area this fall, with many trails blocked or deemed unsafe due to fallen/falling trees and water hazards. We'll get back to it though. 

12. Attend a fall fair. Does Oktoberfest count? I'm going to say yes, because it was a fair, it was fall, and vendors were present. 

13. Memorize a Bible Verse- "The Lord Almighty has sworn, "Surely as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen." Isaiah 14:24 

I wanted a verse to remind me during the contentious election cycle that God knows the end from the beginning. 

14. Sort out the guest room windows. I found what I want but haven't pulled the trigger yet. We've been consumed by the outdoor project this fall and this little project won't be super cheap so it's on hold until the new year. My response whenever hubs says he wants to buy something...anything...could be a new toothbrush or could be a new car is 'we got a waterfall'. 

15. Book a summer beach house. Not yet. My daughter asked me about it recently and we agreed to chat about dates when we're together for Thanksgiving. 

16. S'mores in the firepit. Nope. We intended to do this one weekend then got busy doing other things. We might still make this happen sometime before year's end. 

17. Write ten gratitude cards to people I'm grateful for. Check. I bought a package of Thanksgiving cards and sent them with a handwritten note to ten different friends/family members. It felt good to put into words what they mean to me. 

18. Visit a pumpkin patch. I bought pumpkins from the big bin at the grocery store but we never made it to an actual pumpkin patch. There's always next year. 

This was fun. I managed to complete 11/18 tasks and I'm okay with that. I probably should have revisited the list more often than I did to refresh my memory about what I'd written, and will do that next time. I'm going to make some sort of winter list to start after the calendar flips to the new year. Who's with me? 

linking this post today with Talking About It Tuesdays