Show and Tell Tuesday: Reverse Bucket List

Today I'm linking up with Andrea at Momfessionals for Show and Tell Tuesday. Today, we're telling about things that were on our bucket list that we've already crossed off.

I grew up with my mom always telling stories of her experiences going to college at Utah State University, doing a BYU study abroad in London, and living away from home in Chicago when my parents were newlyweds while my dad was in grad school. I always loved her stories and could tell how much she loved her own experiences so I always wanted to do the same - I wanted to go to Utah State, do a study abroad, and live far away from home after I got married. It ended up playing out a little different than my mom's experience, but I got to experience all three of those things!

• UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY When I graduated from high school, I went to Utah State on an Ambassador recruiting scholarship. I got my degree in Elementary Education. I loved my experience at Utah State and loved the other Ambassadors that I worked with. Plus I met and married Spencer there :) I am a hard core Aggie and Logan will always have a special place in my heart :)

• STUDY/LIVING ABROAD I saved for a long time for a specific study abroad but the program got canceled right when I was about to apply. I was devastated, but it ended up being such a blessing because I was able to do a 6 week USU study abroad in Europe and also teach English for 6 months in China for the same price as the one study abroad that I had saved for. 

On my study abroad, I visited Bath, London, Paris, Rome, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Naples, and Pompei. It was amazing! My top three favorite experiences were hiking the 5 coastal villages in Cinque Terre, Italy, going to a West End musical or play every night for almost two weeks while we were in London for my theater class, and riding bikes in Versailles, France over a weekend with my dad (who by chance was on a business trip in London the same week that I was in London! He hasn't traveled abroad very much in his career so it was a crazy coincidence!)

Cinque Terre
 
 Rome
 
Bath

Paris

Versailles

I loved teaching English in China. We lived in Zhongshan, China which is a city in southern China and I loved the primary school that I worked at. It wasn't a touristy city, but we were given 4 day weekends to travel every month we were there. While I was there, I got to visit Shenzhen, Sanya, Chengdu, Beijing, Xian, Yangshou, and Hong Kong.

Yangshou is still the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I know Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Xian are the more popular cities to visit, but Yangshou is by far my favorite!
 


One of my favorite memories of all time with my dad is riding bikes with him in Versailles, France and one of my favorite memories of all time with my mom is riding scooters in the pouring rain with her in Yangshou, China. (I am one lucky girl!) My mom came to visit before I went home and we toured Yangshou, Xian, Beijing, and Hong Kong together.

• GRAD SCHOOL IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA and first job out of grad school in Davenport, Iowa. I was hoping that grad school would take us to a big city or somewhere back east, but that didn't play out. I never had a desire to live in the South or the Midwest, but I'm so grateful that we got experience both :) It was exactly what we needed.

•  MARATHON While I was in China in 2009, I signed up for the Top of Utah marathon because I thought all of my bucket list dreams should be realized before turning 20 ;) I skipped over the 5ks, 10ks and half marathons that usually take place before the full 26.2 miles because my goal was just to finish without walking and to just check that darn thing off my list! I trained in the sticky summer humidity of Southern China, the sweltering August furnace of Arizona, and the brisk canyons of Utah. I hated my marathon. I finished the race and I ran the whole time, but it was the longest and most physically painful 4 hours and twenty minutes of my entire life. If I ever do another marathon, I want to have a stronger base and be able to run it a lot faster. I can't even find a picture to prove that I actually ran that dang race! haha

• WIFE AND MOM I know it's cliche, but the thing I wanted more than anything was to be a wife and mother.  I am so grateful for Spencer and our little family, and I'm so grateful that I'm able to stay home with my babies while they are little.  Ever since moving to Arizona, I jokingly keep telling Spencer, "We've made it! I have my dream family, driving my dream car (a minivan! haha), living in my dream location!" But seriously, this simple life I'm living is a dream come true :)

Engagement picture
 

 

• DISNEY WORLD After surviving the first year of David's life (he was a really hard baby for me and was a horrible sleeper and he scared me of wanting to have another baby for a while ;) I decided that Disney World needed to be checked off of our bucket list before having another baby ;) I wanted our boys to experience Disney while they were small enough to believe in the magic and I really wanted to go to Disney World! (I wasn't sure how long we would be living somewhere where it was easier to get to Disney World than Disneyland since we wanted to eventually move back west.) We saved for over a year and got to go in May of 2016. My entire family decided to join us too which made the vacation even better. Disney World vacation post ------> here.

That's all of the things that I can think of right now. I have been a dreamer and a planner my entire life, and this post was fun for me to write :)