Hello gang and I hope you have a lovely New Years Eve! I was inspired by another blog to revisit my bucket list and to make a new one. I also want to share the best moments of 2012 for our family. Enjoy the pics!
This is the link to my 2012 Bucket List post.
https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/my-family-rockssunday-my-mini-bucketlistmedieval-times-the-ga-aquarium/
Here is the mini list. I didn’t cross anything off of the extreme list but I did cross a few off this list. #2 wasn’t quite fulfilled but I would not have gotten as far without NaNoWriMo. We got to visit Biblical Antiquities twice this year. Once for a dig and second for a Nativity show. I may keep a few of these on my new list but I’ve got more to add to the 2013 list.
1. Visit Helen Ga (Go tubing?)
2. Finish my book and publish it. Almost finished the book, at least the first draft. NaNoWriMo was a new experience.
3. Visit Cumberland Island (photograph a wild horse)
4.Visit Aspen, CO (stay in a cabin…see snow)
5. Visit New York City ( See Belvedere castle in Central park)
6. Visit Forks, WA
7. See the River Fires in Rhode Island
8. Atlanta~ Medieval times, Aquarium (sleep over in the aquarium), and the Varsity(again)
9. Biblical Antiquities
10. Treetop excursion (climb to the top. Sleep in a tree?)
I’m happy to have crossed off so many, considering how busy we are and our budget. Praise God!
My 2013 Bucket List/ Resolutions
These aren’t in order.
Visit my best friend Julie (Frodo) in TennesseeTake a road trip to Kentucky and visit the Creation Science Museum. Pick up some Ale 8 One soda, only made in KY.- Take a road trip with my grandparents up to New York to see family, maybe visit friends in Rhode Island, and take stops on the way, like seeing Washington D.C. and the White House. Praying Mema gets better so we can do this together & of course because I just want her to feel better. Actually see the Statue of Liberty when I pass through New York! Actually see the River Fires this year.
- Ride a plane again and see my sister in Texas. Maybe visit the Narrows?
- Publish my first book and write the second book in my trilogy.
Simplify our homeschool and enjoy God’s wonders.Go to a writing retreat or do an online writing camp.- Visit Cumberland Island (photograph a wild horse). Yep, still want to do this one.
Visit more museums & historical sites for hands on homeschooling.See several plays and attend a mystery dinner theater.Go to Disney World. Meet TinkerBelle?
A blog friend asked what she should add to her bucket list and it’s only fair that I use my own ideas…even if they aren’t necessarily “fun”. These next few are for perspective.
- Lose one of my senses for a day- go blind folded all day?
- Learn to paint with my mouth.
Here’s a challenging one.
- Enter a Color Me Rad 5K race- it may take me several hours to walk it and it may be painful but it’s for charity. Maybe if I started practicing I could do it. My hubby just said “We’ll see”. I know I’m the chick who about faints from standing several minutes in the pews at church. Still, I want to try… http://www.colormerad.com/
- Take an art class. Paint pictures and sketch like a pro.
Go on unique and crazy dates with my hubby. Become a more respectful wife.Go on more Mother-Son dates.Dig deeper into my Biblical studies & get better at apologetics.- Do more Geocaching
Go to a Hockey Game and to a Football game. Maybe pick a team for the heck of it?- Have an American Girl tea party with my BFF Hannah and her daughter Olivia and don’t care what people think. I have two American Girl dolls from my childhood and Olivia just got hers.
- Become a professional at making Machinima and use it to share the gospel and inspirational stories.
- Drink less soda, sleep better, and wake up earlier. Relax and stop stressing…
Stop trying to please man. Be myself. Love God more.- Go to Emory and
be tested for Ehlers Danlos
- Disney Cruise?- Meet TinkerBelle
- learn to shoot a bow
Be adventurous even if it’s painful. Don’t think of the pain. Don’t think of being sick…just do things.
So we had so many great moments this year. We did things that were not on my 2012 bucket list but are definitely bucket list worthy 🙂 like…..
Michael had his first Easter Egg Hunt (we never did egg hunts when he was little, for beliefs that we no longer have)
We planted a successful garden and actually enjoyed the food from it.
I went all out for Michael’s pirate themed birthday party.
This is sad but we finally honored our almost adopted twins that miscarried, by setting up a memorial. I finally grieved and let them go.
Michael and I started having Mother-Son dates.
I started geocaching.
I held a live starfish. We threw it back.
I got to pet a baby deer.
We saw a Century plant bloom. It’s supposed to bloom only once every 50 to 100 years…something like that.
I got to see a mischievous raccoon up close.
We had many food fights
and water fights…
I made several peg dolls 
I canoed for the first time since I was a kid.
I painted alot
We got to go camping with our best friends for Sukkot.
I attended my Granny’s 80th birthday party.
I did NaNoWriMo for the first time and came close to finishing my first draft. I put in a lot of hours and hard work. I found the best writing spots.
We adopted someone new into our family, our guinea pig Snowball!
We actually took a Christmas photo with all our pets and it turned out nice!
I don’t have a picture of this one but I stayed in a hotel completely by myself for the first time in my life. It was my birthday present. I enjoyed dinner & cake with my family at the hotel and then they left so I could have peace & quiet after. I was surprisingly upgraded to a room with a jacuzzi. I got a lot of writing done and felt like a princess.
I watched several Korean dramas and feel like I know Korean even though I don’t…..
I experimented with cooking more than usual. I plan meals better.
I really started blogging and people actually started reading what I wrote.
We did a ton of fun projects in homeschool and learned many neat subjects. Below is pics from our bug studies in May.
I’m not going to post pics from every month but I will list what we studied. You can check these out on the right panel of my blog under Crafty Mondays. I have subcategories.
January– we hung bird seed stars in the trees, made ice sun catchers, & Borax snow flakes.
February– We learned about Medieval times and also Black History Month. We did several Civil Rights crafts.
March– Dinosaurs, Purim, & St. Patrick’s Day. We made fossils, presented a project on ancient Persia (Iran), and had a crazy leprechaun maze with many crafts for each occasion.
April- We learned about the death and resurrection of Jesus. We had tons of crafts and egg hunts. I really liked our Resurrection Garden. Check out the great Easter crafts. We read about Pirates and geared up for Michael’s Pirate birthday party and his girl pal’s mermaid party. We learned about the Weather and did a lapbook & crafts. We also had a neat experiment.
May- bugs bugs bugs! We did the Danielle’s Place bug Bible study with lapbooks. We painted our front door with bugs and flowers and had many tasty themed treats and fun crafts. We also briefly learned about the Holocaust while studying butterflies. Then Pentecost crafts.
June- The ocean and it’s creatures. We had some hands on learning at St. Simons and Jekyll Island. We made star fish cookies and ocean crafts. We drew on the trampoline with chalk.
July- Independence Day and outer space. I painted Michael’s face and we did a patriotic lapbook with several crafts. We had water fights and a three legged race. We had fire works. Then we studied the planets, stars, and the phases of the moon. We visited the Space center and ate Oreo moons. We made a jar of stars and a jet pack. We saw lightening bugs at night. We had fun with our Summer bucket list and played many outdoor games.
August- Self awareness, Health and safety, and Community Helpers. We spent a week figuring out Michael’s favorites. Then we learned about fire & stranger safety. We learned about dental hygiene and good manners. Michael learned how to set a table. Michael learned how to say no to drugs and why drugs are so bad. We learned about different jobs and community helpers like policemen and nurses. Michael pretended to work at Krispy Kreme.
September- The Human Body. We learned about the different body systems and made several crafts and fun experiments. We did a project on Canada for our homeschool group. We also celebrated the Feast of Trumpets. We had a week all about apples (food and crafts). We made homemade apple sauce. We put an apple tree on our school door.
October- Sukkot, & Fall crafts. Leaves, Pumpkins, bats, acorns, scarecrows, candy corn, crows, spiders, and lots of owls. We made homemade rootbeer. We read so many books and played many math games. We celebrated World Pasta Day with our group. We began our Bob Jones Devotional and started doing more Bible crafts. Our door tree lost it’s leaves.
November- Thanksgiving, Pilgrims, & Native Americans. We made candles, wrote with a quill, made a medicine pouch and arrows. Michael dressed as a Native American. We put on a Thanksgiving play. We made a thankful turkey and studied fractions with pizza. We learned division with candy. We learned place value with marshmallows and fruit loops.
December- Advent and Christmas crafts.We learned about Christ’ birth and studied his different names (characteristics) during Advent. Our door tree became an advent Christmas tree. Each day Michael read a joke and an activity that was in the pockets. Our crafts were full of nativities, ornaments, lights, candy canes, wreathes, angels, gingerbread men, & Christmas trees. We learned about the different traditions. We had a Christmas party with our group.
Whew! That was a lot! We really had a full and blessed year. I should stop worrying about my health holding me back because seriously I did a lot not just for a sick person but even a healthy person. It is all by God’s grace. I am so thankful! Thank you Jesus for this abundant life and a lovely year. There were definitely moments of pain and hardship but that all fades away in light of the good.
I pray you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR! I for one am ready to chunk my Christmas tree!
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
amberdover 