Do I Really Have a MILLION Dreams?

I may be prone to hyperbole at times. However, I DO have a lot of dreams. Given the name of my blog and the fact that I will probably be changing the course of discussions over time depending on which dream I am trying to fulfill, I thought it might be handy to start a list of my dreams and maintain updates on them as time progresses.

As I start this list, it occurs to me that it is important to differentiate between a dream and a goal. A dream would be something you want but aren't working towards fulfilling; something you're hoping will just fall into your lap. A goal, though, is something you write down, focus on, make an action plan for, and work to achieve. This list will be comprised of both dreams AND goals; that is to say, it is likely that most of these dreams will become an active goal at some point in my life. (Some of them are probably going to remain off-the-wall dreams! But if we stop dreaming, what do we have to reach for?)

So, in no particular order, let's start this thing.

1. Lose weight
2. Maintain a healthful weight for my body type / height / age
3. Eat primarily healthful foods
4. Waste less
5. Recycle more
6. Learn more about becoming 'green' and incorporate those things into our lives
7. Train my dogs
8. Declutter and organize my entire home, including the garage
9. Keep the house company-ready clean at all times
10. Set up a workable desk center for myself
11. Pay off all debts
12. Save enough to buy a new house and keep this one as a rental property
13. Write a semi-memoir about my first relationship
14. Write the first book in the fictional ghost series in my head
15. Write some of my short 'mother' stories; create an anthology with others
16. Plan meals each week
17. Shop frugally (use coupons, learn about sales cycles, etc)
18. Prepare most of our meals at home / eat out less
19. Become a better, more involved TOPS leader
20. Learn how to dance the Thriller dance
21. Participate in 'Thrill The World'
22. Create a truly awesome yard haunt for Halloween
23. Own and operate a haunted bed-and-breakfast
24. Own a roadside farmstand with petting zoo, pumpkin patch, etc.
25. Own a McMansion
26. Have a house in Chicago (for summering) and a house in New Orleans (for wintering)
27. Own rental properties
28. Flip houses
29. Plan a vacation in each of the 50 states
30. Visit our Florida family annually
31. Plan family reunions every other year for my dad's family AND my husband's family (semi-combined)
32. Start my 'Not House On The Rock' house.
33. Live in a roadside attraction. (Own and operate.)
34. Join a Coaster Enthusiasts' club.
35. Take regular trips to theme parks all around the world and RIDE THEIR ROLLER COASTERS.
36. Become foster parents once we have adequate space and financial resources to do so.
37. Have someone I don't know and have never spoken to, even on the 'net, comment on this blog.
38. Grow this blog to the point where it brings in revenue on its own.
39. Move this blog off blogger and host / design it myself.
40. Remodel some key areas of my house - backyard, kitchen floor, downstairs carpet, maybe bedrooms. (This wars with my desire to save money and just MOVE.)
41. Live in Key West.
42. Own my own island.
43. swim with dolphins
44. get over my phobia of spiders (just the thought terrifies me!)
45. get over my phobia of corpses
46. manage my diabetes with diet and exercise only (be able to get off all meds)
47. Own vacation cabins / homes in spots around the US (North Carolina, Florida, Tahoe, New Orleans, etc)
48. find and replicate the perfect recipe for fall-off-the-bone ribs at home (need to make both wet AND dry ribs for my family!)
49. Visit every major theme park in the US.
50. Ride all the roller coasters in the US (maybe even the world!!)
51. Ride the X2 coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
52. Spend at least one night (and a day, heh) at every hotel on the Vegas strip.
53. Take a leisurely drive down all of Route 66, visiting any interesting roadside attractions we come across along the way.
54. Visit Wall Drug.
55. Stay at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and see the ducks.
56. Visit Graceland.
57. Own a house in Key West.
58. Own a monster truck and occasionally cruise around town in it while blasting "Shout At The Devil!" and throwing horns at people.
59. Be physically prepared for Zombie Armageddon.
60. Have the home stocked for Zombie Armageddon.
61. Be well trained in gun use (so as to be prepared for Zombie Armageddon).
62. Train in swords for Zombie Armageddon.
63. Train in hand-to-hand combat for Zombie Armageddon.
64. Become proficient in a martial art.
65. Regularly post items in my etsy store (which means I also have to craft regularly).
66. Start all the other blogs I have in my head and contribute to them on a regular basis.
67. Win the HGTV dream home. ONE of these years. :)
68. Meet The Pioneer Woman.
69. Take the family on some road rallies in OJ's (1975 164E) Volvo.
70. Take OJ's (1975 164E) Volvo to some of the local cruise nights.
71. own a hearse
72. own a collection of old hearses
73. modify one of our car horns (one of the hearses would be good) to play the 'Tales From The Crypt' theme
74. build miniature working replica of the Tales From The Crypt mansion
75. build miniature working replica of Bag End
76. build miniature working replicas of other fantastical dwellings that strike my fancy (to be displayed in my "Not House On The Rock" house)
77. Learn how to dance
78. Perform a burlesque-type act. In public.
79. strength train and get to a point where I'm roughly as buff as Sarah Connor in T2. When I can cock my gun with one arm, I will be ready to kick some zombie ass.
80. from OJ: Have a three car garage with one bay having a garage door opening into the yard instead of the street, and put a band practice space there with amps and electronic drum-kit. Then, the family learns to play (Oksana on the Drums, Drake on keys, you on Guitar and me on Bass) and we do cover songs! (I personally am not married to it being a three car garage, but I like this idea conceptually. FAMILY BAND! I also think we should all learn more than one instrument.)
81. Learn how to play piano (again).
82. Learn how to play guitar.
83. Learn how to play harmonica.
84. Learn how to play accordian.
85. Learn how to play saxophone.
86. Learn how to scuba dive.
87. Dive down to see some of the underwater sculptures of Jason de caires Taylor. I especially want to see Vicissitudes in the West Indies.
88. Participate in (and finish!) Warrior Dash.
89. Participate in (and finish!) the Great Urban Race.
90. (After I have GOBS of money) take all my friends to David Copperfield's island, Musha Cay, just for the hell of it.
91. Learn magic!
92. Become a member of the Magic Castle.
93. Visit the Magic Castle.
94. Start my own Magic Castle-type place as part of the Not House.
95. See more live theater, especially in Chicago.
96. Really and truly live more simply, at least for now; go through things and SELL THEM OFF, make it hurt, make a real concerted effort to pay off debt and get in a better position. don't incur debt like this again. make lists of things you'd like to purchase WHEN YOU ARE OUT OF DEBT AND HAVE THE MONEY. Prioritize it. You can always get the 'stuff' later. And 'stuff' is just for fun, it's not that important anyway.
97. Take some photography courses and learn how to take better digital photos.
98. Learn more about DSLRs and take courses and get one and take even awesomer photos.
99. Learn a photo editing software and make my awesome pictures even awesomer.
100. Get a good sewing machine.
101. Take some sewing classes.
102. Make my own awesome clothes (costumes and general fun stuff to wear)
103. SELL some of the awesome costumes / clothes items I've made
104. see the Northern Lights
105. Visit and stay in the Stanley Hotel
106. Participate in more serious paranormal investigations
107. Tour Lapland
108. Stay in the Ice Hotel (Lapland)
109. Visit Santa's Village (Lapland)
110. Open Spirits Haunted Pub
111. Live credit-card free



This list will remain a work-in-progress over the course of my life. I will be coming back here often to add dreams and to update the status of listed dreams.