#8 Go to a movie premier

Nothing was more exciting Saturday than anticipating going to my first movie premier! I’ve been doing a lot of research online checking out local events to complete things on my list. I came across an independent film screening party. How fun! I looked it up online and they even had a REALLY cool website for it. The whole movie was shot here in Tulsa. Like I said, I’m collecting celebrities in my pocket! (Don Corleone collected politicians in his pocket). I imagined a whole red carpet event, then immediately dismissed such a silly notion. On the website there was a link to purchase tickets to the showing. I went to do so at $7 per ticket only to find they were sold out! I was completely bummed but did not give up. The ad for the event I had seen was on craigslist so I decided to e-mail the person that posted the ad. Turned out to be the script supervisor. He was more than willing to help find me tickets. He knew someone who had bought four tickets and ended up only needing two. By the end of the day, I had FREE tickets! I think I was having the luckiest day ever with all these freebies. Kelly and I decided to get a little dressed up since we weren’t quite sure what to expect. The cast members ended up looking like they were going to the Oscars while everyone else was pretty much in jeans and t-shirts. The movie was a full length film and quite impressive. It was a Christian based film so a little preachy but overall pretty amazing. I give it 3 ½ stars. The only disappointment, no popcorn! Enjoy the trailer and spread the word. You can buy the movie online at http://www.findmethemovie.com/

#7 Go to an open house

Saturday morning Kelly and I got up and headed to a garage sale. We were out and about and ready to start the day. I’m not sure he realized what all I had planned! After the lame garage sale, we were cruising around listening to the radio and killing time before the book signing at 1 o’clock. I always hear on the weekend about local radio stations doing give-a-ways and what not and this weekend they were promoting a new neighborhood close to where I spent the first 20 years of my life. Go to an open house was on my list so I thought why not? We were already only a mile away from it so I headed that way curiously. We pulled up and I saw the KVOO radio van parked out front. There were quite a few people moseying around so we parked and got out. The radio station had a table setup in the driveway of one of the model homes. We signed up for a drawing and even got a free CD! I was thinking to myself, “why the heck do we not come get free stuff ALL the time?!?!?” We grabbed our free CD and headed into the first home where we were eagerly greeted by a realtor. That’s the reason I didn’t want to go to an open house. I hate being bothered by people like that and I feel bad at the same time leading them on to believe that we would be interested in buying one of their homes. Kelly’s like, “babe, we don’t buy new homes!” The houses were really quite nice considering new homes these days. They all have that cookie cutter look but the upgrades in these helped them to stand out. After looking around, they were begging us to eat free burgers. It just kept getting better and better! Free lunch too! Kelly grabbed what the guy said was “the best burger in town” and I settled for a hot dog. We ate up and continued on our Saturday journey. Anytime the radio says they are somewhere from now on, I’m there!

#6 Go to a book signing

I was so anxious to get started with my list that newfound opportunities seemed to be popping up everywhere! I managed to check three things off my list on Saturday alone. The first thing on my list wasn’t too exciting but I feel as if I probably made someone’s day while supporting my local community so that can’t be a bad thing! While scanning local events online, I ran across a book signing by a local author that was going to be held at a local bookstore. I’ve never been to a book signing before and I definitely have it on my list with us having recently starting a book club. Kelly and I showed up at Steve Sundry’s book store, one of the oldest family owned book stores in Tulsa, where there were maybe five people in the store. I saw the book I was looking for right when I walked in the door but didn’t see anything that appeared to be a book signing. I guess I imagined people waiting in line and that whole bit. I’ve seen too many movies! We walked around a bit and Kelly mentioned he actually had a book he wanted to see if they had. I was shocked because he doesn’t read! Anyway- he whispers in my ear a few minutes later that the author is in the back sitting at a table to sign books. I marched back there with my book and told him who I was and started chatting about the book. That alone is something list worthy! I usually get soooo nervous talking to people I don’t know. He told us his story about writing the book and I thanked and congratulated him and we purchased our books and headed on our merry way.

I was a little bummed because the original plan involved my sister coming with me. It would have been more appropriate because she’s actually in my book club and probably would have had more interest in it. Plus, we were going to eat some good ole fashioned food and shakes while we were there. Oh well, still turned out fine and let me tell you, I’m collecting local celebrities in my pocket! (And quotes from “The Godfather”!)

#5 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday!

Part of my list is to watch all those movies that have famous quotes that are often heard in new movies, books, etc. I hate being ignorant when someone says something from a classic movie and I’m clueless. I pulled up one of those lists online that have the best movies of all time. I didn’t necessarily agree to their list completely so I decided to pick and choose from the list. I pulled about five movies from their list to start and added them to the TOP of my Netflix queue (which was hard to do because I’ve been dying to see the move “He’s Just Not That into You” which was just released not long ago). At the top of the queue, “The Godfather.” It made a lot of those lists number one pick so I figured it would be a good start. Plus, I was dying to know what it meant to “go to the mattresses”! I was skeptical about watching it because 1. It’s 2:55 long and 2.my girlfriends that have seen it said it was soooo boring! I went in with an open mind though and I have to say I can see why people think it’s such a good movie. I thought it was pretty entertaining even though there were some slow parts. It was funny to watch though without all the modern day graphics used in film making. Some of the fight scenes were pretty unrealistic. Besides that, I was pretty disappointed in the lack of use of the famous quotes. There were probably three times in the whole movie that I counted common-to-me quotes. The most shocking part was that the “Monday, Tuesday, Thursday” quote was said by a chick in the movie! I thought that was pretty cool. I found out that going to the mattresses meant that they needed actual mattresses for everyone to sleep on at one location during a time of war with another powerful family. I was overall very satisfied. Below is Kelly’s favorite quote from the movie.

"Now listen: I want somebody good -- and I mean very good -- to plant that gun. I don't want my brother coming out of that toilet with just his dick in his hands, alright?"

#4 Plan a weekend trip for my friends

Memorial Day weekend was coming up and I decided I didn’t want to sit around and do nothing all weekend even though that’s exactly what I wanted to do! I thought about all those people though that would be having a ton of fun and decided I would be one of them. First, we thought about taking a road trip with two of our close couple friends but that just seemed too pricey. After a little bit of thinking, I came up with the idea to rent a house down at the lake and invite as many of our friends as I could think of. I spent the whole week before trying to find a place and calling people and making plans. I was so worried and all uncomfortable thinking how the weekend would turn out but I was proven pretty wrong. We ended up only getting 7 people together but it turned out to be a blast. Everyone pitched in and it was a very memorable weekend. Plus, we spent it exactly with and around the people we should when remembering the person we want to remember the most. He may not have served our country, but he definitely made a huge impact on our lives and remembering him on this day will probably become an annual tradition.

#3 Go for a lovebird walk

Kelly and I’s councilor Maria gave us a list of things to do to bring more intimacy into our relationship. One of the things on the list was to go for a walk holding hands. She refers to it as a “lovebird walk.” It seemed easy enough and I figured I could please her and cross one off my own list at the same time. We ventured out one gorgeous evening and just strolled the neighborhood. I brought my camera along so we could take pictures of yards in the neighborhood that we liked since our yard is pretty much a blank slate. It was pretty nice and peaceful. We’ve already gone once more since then and I have to say our level of intimacy is definitely increasing! Especially since we get to go home and wash off after the walk ;)

#2 Paint my fingernails and leave the polish on!

Not all things on my list are life-changing. This one for instance is something I have been trying to achieve for a longtime. Very trivial, yet I knew I needed to accomplish it. It was Friday afternoon for Memorial Day Weekend and we were heading out to the lake in a couple of hours. I had like always, put things off until the last minute always squeezing in too much stuff in too little time. I rushed from work over to my nail place. Unfortunately for me, everyone else had the same idea. It was packed! I waited about ten minutes and knew that making us late for the lake was too selfish. I told Mary I had to go and would come back later. They hate it when you get up and leave because they always need the business. I got home and pulled out a bottle of polish I got for "free" from purchasing a bunch of clothes from Forever 21. It was a pretty pink and would have to do. Knowing I would screw up, I grabbed the bottle of nail polish remover too. I don't even know what the deal is. How hard can it possibly be to paint fingernails? For some reason every time I have tried before, they never look good enough to me and after twenty minutes of working on them, I remove the polish and give up. I think working on my need to be “perfect” will also find its way onto this list! This time I knew if I wanted pretty girly nails, I would have to succeed. I think just putting my mind to it and promising myself success actually made it happen! My nails turned out quite great! I managed to only barely mess up one nail. As nails go though, they only looked great for one day which is probably why I shouldn’t be wasting money getting them done anyway!

#1 Start a Book Club

I've always had a short list of things I wanted to accomplish. I'm just as cliche as everyone else so yes, skydiving was on my list. Along with go to a big parade and the circus. That list was fine but now I'm ready to get serious. We all know life is too short and too boring most of the time. Starting a book club wasn't even my idea but it definitely became list worthy. It started when I realized I only had one lame selfish hobby, bunco group. My husband and I were constantly getting into arguments about how his hobby, golf, was taking up too much time. Instead of complaining, I decided to work on finding my own hobbies. Thus, book club was born. Yes, it's kinda nerdy but I'm into reading. I love the escape. I found 7 other girls to join and we have already held our first meeting. I had to push myself into a level of discomfort by having to host the first meeting. I'm not real big into public speaking even if there were only 7 women present. I managed though. Now I'm just hoping everyone shows up for the next meeting! We are currently reading the inspiring book, "The Next Thing on My List."

My Life List

After being inspired by a current book I'm reading, I've decided to start my life list. It's not going to be as daring as the authors, but it's a start. She says you have to put your list down on paper but I'm just not ready to do that. I know that putting the list down on paper makes it real but I'm too worried it will scare me away. She completed something off her list almost every day for an entire year. I'm going to start a little slower and just see where it goes. I've already completed several things off my list before starting this blog. The whole purpose of the blog will be to document my list. Wish me luck!