Bucket

The Bucket List…

My friend Ryan is amazing. We’ve been hanging out for a couple of years. His passion for life is contagious. The “Live Your List” project has inspired me to reach through the spiderwebs of my brain and pull out all those old items that I’ve always dreamed of doing and write them down. This page will grow, of that I have no doubt. Keep coming back to see what gets checked off!

Section One: Travel

1. Machu Piccu. Or Better.
2. Great Wall of China.
3. The Moon.
4. Cuba.
5. Scotland (June, 2015)
6. Mount Hua, China – known as “the most dangerous trail on the planet.” Incredible views and a hike that will bring you closer to your creator. Or introduce you to him face to face.
7. Grand Canyon (August, 2014).
8. Israel.
9. Brazil (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015,2016).
10. Niagara Falls.
11. African Safari (no killing necessary).
12. Antarctica.
13. Mount Rushmore.
14. Vegas with my honey (August 2013, happy anniversary!).
15. Stonehenge. (Sunrise on the 2015 Summer Solstice. Wow!)
16. Pyramids in Egypt.
17. Amazon River.
18. Nile River.
19. Glacier Bay Alaska (July, 2000. Also saw Ketchikan and Skagway…beautiful towns).
20. San Francisco with my honey.
21. Ride a gondola in Venice.
22. Follow Paul’s missionary path.
23. Capilano Suspension Bridge (July, 2000).
24. See the Northern lights.
25. Christ the Redeemer in Rio (#soon?).
26. New Zealand.
27. Australia.
28. Easter Island.
29. Mt. McKinley.
30. Banff National Park.

Section Two: Photography

1. Take a picture of an albatross.
2. Photograph a Penguin in its natural habitat.
3. Long exposure picture of the Milky Way.
4. Capture an image that tells a story of a life well lived.
5. Have a photograph published – Team Picture from the Mayor’s Cup (6/6/14) published in the 6/12/14 Sand Springs Leader.
6. Bald Eagle catching a fish.
7. Sell a picture (2/7/14 – Sold as a fundraiser for a mission trip).
8. An unexpected sunset. (Greenwich 2015)
9. Sunrise on the beach. (Aracaju, Brazil, 2015)
10. Make a calendar (that people actually want to buy). (made an sold as a fundraiser in 2015 for our Brazil mission trip in 2016).
11. Route 66.

Section Three: Achievements and Events

1. Ride in a WWII warbird.
2. Drive a zamboni.
3. Hold a bird of prey. (Note: The Eurasian Eagle Owl has razor-sharp talons that can close with more pounds of pressure than the jaws of a jaguar. In the wild, they have been known to take out deer. This was October 25, 2014)
4. Convince an awesome person to move to Tulsa (I’m counting my buddy Dewayne Havens! Welcome to T-Town, buddy! 2014).
5. Skydive.
6. Design a 5K – Designed the LaunchOut5k, an out and back route beginning at the Pedestrian Bridge in Downtown Tulsa. Designed to provide great views of the sunrise over downtown and the Arkansas River.
7. Earn an “A” in a graduate level class. (I’ve now earned an A in Old Testament 1 and 2, as well as Apologetics while working toward my Masters of Theological Studies at Midwestern.)
8. Survive a close encounter with a hungry hawk. (Harris’s Hawk. This is a big, powerful bird. Notice how the video shakes when it looks like he hits my head.)
9. Attend a hockey game in Montreal.
10. Play guitar in a band on stage in a foreign country. (Aracaju, Brazil, 2015)
11. Sit on the front row at a hockey game.
12. See a rocket launch into space.
13. Take Joe on a “Rite of Passage” father/son trip. (England in 2015)!
14. Take Will on a “Rite of Passage” father/son trip. (tentatively Finland in 2018).
15. Attend the Black Hat security conference (completed in Vegas, July/August 2013 and again in 2014).
16. Write a book.
17. Publish a book – Published “Stronger Than Coffee: The Power of Community” a collaborative book by the Tulsa 5 Club.
18. Live overseas.
19. Get a Master’s degree.
20. Finish a half marathon.
21. Reconcile a personal relationship.
22. Break the sound barrier.
23. Ride in a hot air balloon.
24. Receive a license to ministry. (1/18/2015 by Olivet Baptist Church)
25. Officiate a wedding. (9/17/2015)
26. Minister to an inmate.
27. Give a $100 bill to a street musician.
28. Ride a cable car in San Francisco (completed on a business trip in 2001).
29. Share the gospel in Portuguese.
30. Visit the site where my Grandpa’s B-24 bomber went down in France on June 4, 1944. (May 2013, Villers St. Paul, France. This serendipitously falls into the “or better” category).
31. Play catch with the world’s greatest catch player, Ethan Bryan. (completed November 23, 2013 on a cold night in Tulsa, OK. Repeated on 11/29/13 in Ethan’s neighborhood park).
32. Float in the Dead Sea.
33. Write a children’s book.
34. Be interviewed on a podcast. (Right where you are, 1/30/15)
35. Believe in someone else’s dream. (this is sort of an ongoing thing…I’ll check it off when it feels right).
36. Drive an exotic car. Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Bugatti, high-end Porsche. You get the idea.
37. Touch the Stanley Cup (Dallas, May, 1999. The year the Stars won the cup).
38. Bang on the glass at a playoff hockey game.
39. Have someone ask me for an autograph on a book I wrote.
40. Play in a band. (completed. Strummed and sang as part of the Worship team at the OBC Celebrate Recovery ministry from 2009-2011).
41. Kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower (May 2013).
42. Kiss in front of Rodin’s “The Kiss” (May 2013, Paris)
43. Learn to spot the Southern Cross (2012, Queluz, Brazil).
44. Teach one of my children to spot the Southern Cross. (June, 2016 in Franca, Brazil. Both of my children were there, which makes this an “or better” checkmark!)
45. Own a truck again. (July 4, 2015)
46. ID a body. (August, 2015)
47. Drive in a foreign country. (June 2016, drove a restored ’69 VW Beetle (Fusca) in Franca!)
48. Give Ryan Eller a huge hug and let him know how much he has influenced my life for the better.