making a life list

I know I've made reference to her here on my blog before, but Jenny Myerson is one of those women that I just know I would love in real life as much as I do through her blog. She is courageous and determined and creative.....and for me, reading her blog has been uplifting and inspiring, and I've walked away every time feeling determined to dream big, and to work at making those dreams a reality in my own life.

A large part of Jenny's blog is her journey through life as she checks off items on her "Life List".....things big and small that she wants to learn, achieve, see, do accomplish while she is here on earth. I'm a list girl myself, so a Life List is totally appealing to me ;-)

Taking some tips from Jenny, I've started compiling my own list by first taking a look at What I Value, What Excites Me, and What Inspires Me. Here's a peak into my process:

WHAT I VALUE
* documenting our family's journey
* learning and education
* having a personal relationship with God
* practicing faith and prayer
* art & creativity
* modeling tolerance & love
* remaining open, honest & transparent so that others will feel free to be the same
* cultivating healthy relationships with family & friends
* celebrating moments big & small
* creating a peaceful & comforting home environment

WHAT EXCITES ME
* being outside with my family
* puttering/organizing around the house
* reading great books (alone & with my kids)
* planning little surprises for my kids/seeing excitement on their faces
* taking pictures
* being on vacation
* singing in the car
* putting scrapbook albums together
* service projects
* going to church
* planning celebrations
* shopping at Anthropologie
* dinner with friends/date nights with my husband
* going to the movies with my kids

WHAT INSPIRES ME
* Momastery blog
* browsing the aisles at Barnes and Noble
* Pinterest
* Mary Ann's Project Life albums
* Heidi Swapp's creativity
* Tori Spelling's party planning skills
* 71 toes blog - everything about Shauni is inspiring to me
* this book by Alexandra Stoddard

I really enjoyed this exercise, and even though I'm always scared when making lists like this that I will leave something significant out, I think the process itself is revealing.....it helped me to think about what's really important to me (and not what I think should be important to me), so that when I finally make my big life list, I'll have a better feeling for what I want to include (and what I want to leave out).

Let me know if you decide to make a Life List of your own. I would love to see what makes it onto your list..........