I’m sad to say there’s been another loss. Now at 5 in 5 months. A 30 year old high school classmate passed away after battling brain cancer. She was this beautiful blend of smarts, sass, art, science, sports and a little bit of country love in her. To know her was to totally love her. I feel sad, mad, ashamed—I knew she was sick again but I had no idea how bad.
Kaitlin was the constant fierce pusher for me in high school. She was the kind of person that always challenged you to be better in all aspects of life because she was just. that. good. She cheered me on in little ways even after I lost touch asking about my wedding, a mutual friend’s baby, how ironman training was going and when I’d be in Madison for it. But I stayed distant so focused on work I couldn’t even bother responding to Facebook messages.
Damn it. Once again, I’m reminded that the person I’ve been the past 6-ish + years isn’t who I want to be anymore. So many friends that I lost touch with or that dropped me (for good reason) and all for a stupid job.
But she wouldn’t want any of us to stay in regret. So, in honor of this beautiful woman that accomplished more in 30 years than some of us will ever accomplish in a lifetime–
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What’s on your Bucket List? Let’s complete a Bucket List BLITZ this week in her honor. Each day, I’m going to post about what’s on the bucket list for a specific category of life. But more importantly…I’m going to challenge us all to ACT NOW! What ONE thing are you going to cross off this particular bucket list this week or schedule for cross off?
- Monday – Love, Friends & Family
- Tuesday – Creativity, Personal Growth & Learning
- Wednesday – Finances, Career/Serving Others
- Thursday – Travel
- Friday – Health & Wellness
- Saturday – Wrap it up! What did we learn about ourselves?
Please join me by commenting with what’s on your bucket list for that area. Let’s start a conversation and gain inspiration from each other on this!
Here’s my bucket list for the LOVE, FRIENDS & FAMILY Category
- Fall in love for real. Completed February 2006; Married October 2008. Yep. I am married to my one, my only love..Nate. The man of my dreams in every sense of the word. He’s my best friend, my partner in crime, my never ending well of happy. I don’t know how I could possibly love him more, but it grows deeper every day.
- Things I still want to do with Nate (there’s a billion…but some will fall in other categories)—
- Take a dance class
- Go on a real horseback ride
- Have a family (biological, adopt or foster).
- Pay for as many other children to go through college as we have biologically or adopt.
- Be kissed at the top of a ferris wheel. Completed 9/6/09 at the NY State Fair with Nate of course.
- Teach our children the difference between right and wrong and be a good example of this.
- Raise strong, self-confident children by setting an example of strength and confidence.
- Reinstate monthly date night/something special on the 24th of each month. We were married on October 24th and the Priest (Nate’s Uncle) at our wedding encouraged us to hold it sacred each month. We got out of this habit. Time to get back in it!
- Create a mission statement for our family with input from all members.
- Watch all the movies in the AFI Top 100. We make slow progress every year.
- Have a picnic in the park. Completed at Lake Harriet Bandshell August 2010 with Nate & our first dog, Suzie.
- Get our IronMan (Ironwoman) tattoos together for completing the Ironman triathlons back in 2013 for me and his in 2015.
- Try eating only at restaurants we can walk/bike to for an entire summer.
- Things I want to do with my beautiful, big family:
- Schedule a recurring game night beyond the cousins card party in the Spring.
- Schedule a card party date with Liz & Chad again. Haven’t done this in years.
- Organize an annual Schottler family field day outside of the 4th of July.
- Get to St. Louis at least 1x a year to visit with the Hasty family & St. Louis friends!
- Find and keep a larger circle of close friends. Like I said before, I’ve had trouble keeping friends from high school and college. You can’t go back and change what happened, but you can hang on to those you have now. Some new things I want to do with my work friends that became real friends–
- Start a supper club. Who’s in?
- Start a book club. Who’s in?
- Spend more time being active together—biking, walking, running, kayaking, etc.
- Go on a brewery tour. Who’s in?
- Keep recurring monthly phone dates with my best friends in other cities (Candice on the 12th, Ali—we need to pick a date, Emma…well, this girl doesn’t like hard & fast schedules and I love her for it).
- Go back to Columbus at least 1x a year. We LOVE all of Nate’s (now our) Columbus friends!
What’s on your list for love, friends & family…relationships in general?
ACT NOW: What ONE thing are you going to cross off this particular bucket list this week or schedule for cross off? Me?
- Forcing Ali to tell me when I can come to Chicago to visit her.
- Going to an informational session to learn more about foster parenting November 16th.
- Scheduled a family cookie bake + card party in December.
Life is so short. Take advantage of every moment. Don’t put anything off. Just go for it.
“Just go for it!” Yes yes and yes!! She would want it that way! This week, my list is as follows:
Yesterday I crossed off my big one, opening my Private Gym
Today- I reached out to a Personal Training client who fell off the wagon and needed some encouragement
Tomorrow is early out for the kiddos so we r having a mommy kiddos date at the park followed by ice cream of course.
Thursday- I want to meet with my gf for a much needed and overdue walk n talk
Friday fun day will b movie night and popcorn with my loves
Saturday morning is Bootcamp with some of fav peeps followed by an evening with family at my sister’s for a bonfire.
Spend Sunday morning snuggled in bed with my Amazing husband and beautiful babies!
So blessed!
Your own GYM!!! That is HUGE, Allison!!! CONGRATULATIONS! What amazing hard work and determination to open up your own business. So inspired by YOU! Love the weekend plan especially snuggling and encouraging your client that fell off. You are so kind!
MEASUREABLE GOALS, I LOVE IT.
Your “fall in love for real” bucket list item literally gave me goosebumps. Oh and the clubs – Super club, book club, brewery club ALL THE CLUBS. count me in.
Here are a couple of my bucket list items for the love/family/friends category:
1.) Be a supportive wife (holy moly that word though).
Brandon always puts me first. There are so many instances where I put me first, too. As you know, B is living in Apple Valley and it’s really tough on him. In the next 6 months before the big W day, I’m going to start making a weekly trip to AV to cook for him and do his laundry. He literally doesn’t have time but I DO. So I’m doing it.
2.) Be more patient with my Dad.
It’s never been more important for me to do this but somehow I keep forgetting. We’ve talked about reading the Gospel together before but we’ve never done it. So we’re doing it now.
Thanks for making me think – you always do 😉
Mer! I LOVE your goals. I could also do better at being a supportive wife. Thank you for that reminder. I am LOVING the opportunity to practice this a bit more these days. And of course I love the one about your Dad. I went to this great event about the Jeremiah Program last night. He shared the bible verse that inspired the name “Jeremiah Program” and it made me want to read Jeremiah! 🙂
Another great post and I will keep Kaitlin and her family in my thoughts and prayers. She sounds like a truly amazing women.
This past week was a HUGE one for me as far as bucket lists go. After YEARS of contemplating, I have finally taken in my first foster dog. We lost our rescue dog, Wolfie, to cancer after 9 short months we him, and my fiancé and I agreed no dogs until after the wedding. Well I found a loophole! Fostering doesn’t cost a dime (unless you want it to), therefore our wedding fund is not impacted, and it is temporary, thus we don’t have to worry about what to do with her for the wedding, mini moon, and honeymoon.
We welcomed Sissy, a pitbull/american bulldog into our home on Friday. Not knowing much about either breed, it has been a learning experience. There are so many states and cities that have breed specific legislation that prevent people from legally being able to have these types of dogs as pets. Luckily, we live in a state that no such rules exist. I have quickly learned what LOVERS bully breeds are, and can already sense another bucket list item coming on. The more advocates there are for these breeds, the more that can be saved from euthanasia, abuse, and thus find a great home with a warm bed to sleep on.
It feels so amazing to give this sweet sweet girl a place to live until she finds her forever home. It isn’t easy, but it is rewarding. It is going to be hard to give her up when she does find the the perfect family, but I know we made a difference for her and ultimately gave her life.
Sissy is such a sweetheart and is so lucky to have a loving, supportive foster momma in you! Your passion for dogs is beautiful. You know I’m going to hold you to making this passion a priority in your life. 😉 You’re a natural with dogs and in educating others about the injustice against animals. I’ve really enjoyed learning more from you in this area…and getting dog training advice as well!