Bucket List: Two Easter Bunnies

When I think about my "list," that is, the certain things I want to accomplish in my lifetime, I realize that there are some pretty random, silly things that I have put on there: milking a cow, for example. But when I think about it, those random, silly things are the ones that I've accomplished already, so they must be pretty important to me, no matter how weird they seem to be to everyone else.

Aside from milking a cow, the second most random accomplished item on my list was to be the Easter bunny at the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt, which occurs every year on Palm Sunday. We attended the Easter Egg hunt as kids, moving up the age divisions as we got older and then graduating to wearing the bunny costume as a high schooler. (Well, only my sister followed me there, but you get the idea. So here is Easter Bunny Whitney, and I'm grateful that the costume is not as creepy as it could be, being an Easter Bunny and all.

This year, we had another bunny come visit us. The Shelbunny.

After coveting ears at the pet store and deciding NOT to buy them because Nathan would hate them, I made Shelby some yesterday and forced her to wear them, though Nathan gave her lots of treats for "putting up with mommy's crap." She really didn't mind them, though she HATED the basket. I'm not quite sure why she was so scared of it. It was filled with chocolate deliciousness, after all.

Making A Difference

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do / With your one wild and precious life.”
-Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day”

I’ve talked before about my list of things I want to do before I die, and you’ve gotten a brief preview of what is on it and what I’ve  been able to check off in the six-ish years since I made it. So far, as you've learned, I’ve milked a cow, visited one of the homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder (so that one is only partly done, really), and donated my hair to Locks of Love. But today, I want to talk about what I think is the most important goal on the list, which is make a difference.

I like to think that it’s easy to make a difference to someone, somehow in everyday life, and that it’s the small gestures that really matter, so I’ve hopefully accomplished this goal sometime in my adult life. But I find that some goals on my list actually become bigger goals, that I’m not satisfied when I technically accomplish them.

Take, for example, my goal of having something I’ve written published. Technically, I’ve done this—I wrote an article for my college newspaper plus a letter to the editor, had articles published in magazines I’ve interned with as well as the one I currently edit for, and maybe even this blog counts as being “published,” depending on your definition. But this is something I keep on the list, because I find I want to aim for something bigger.

My “make a difference” goal is like this—even if I feel like I’ve done it already, I want it to be bigger. And I want it to be something I do and feel in my everyday life. Before I started my full-time grown up job, I worked in the nonprofit industry as a communications intern. And I loved it. I loved learning about people and writing about their reasons for creating scholarships and donating money to specific causes. I felt like I became a part of their journey of making a difference, even if I was only writing a press release.

 

And that is why I’m excited to announce that 2011 will bring big changes for me, as I’ve accepted a new job in development, and I will be working on workplace campaigns to raise money for health-related charities. While I am sad to leave my friends at my current job, I am really thankful that I found an opportunity to get back into nonprofit.

Bucket List: Donate To Locks Of Love

I’ve always been a list keeper, and I have a list of things I want to do before I die. The No. 1 thing on that list was milk a cow, which I did at the Colorado State Fair my junior year of high school.

I’ve also always wanted to visit the homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and last year, Nathan took me to De Smet, South Dakota, where Laura was married and was the final stop for the Ingalls family.

I’ve also always wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love, but never wanted to have it long enough to make it happen. I really do not do well with long hair, and my hair hasn’t been long really since freshman year of college when I didn’t have a hair stylist. After I did, it was gone quickly.

But after I got engaged, I started growing my hair out for the wedding. After the wedding, I waited to cut it until it was long enough. This meant that I wore a lot of ponytails, because if it was down, I played with it all of the time, much to the annoyance of my family and friends.

And this weekend, I got it cut. It was 10 inches, and I really didn’t feel sad about it. Even when the braid was sitting on the counter, I just felt glad to have it gone. And here is the end result.

My hair dresser is amazing, and she is also growing her hair out for Locks of Love. She really does work magic on my hair, which is generally uncooperative when it comes to anything other than just being straight. I was worried that Shelby wouldn't recognize me, but she did. And Nathan really likes it a lot, too.

For more information on Locks of Love, visit their Web site here.

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