On a mission

A while ago I stumbled onto a friend's "43 things" list. I can't remember for the life of me what was on it, but it planted the list seed in my head. 43things.com is, I think, some sort of social networking site where users can create a list of their hopes/dreams/goals they want or plan to accomplish in their near or not-so-near future. Now, the last thing I need is another account on another so-called "social networking" site, so I decided to just make my own list in a no-password-required word document and post it here as a public declaration of my aspirations.

I did mine slightly differently. I made my goals Iowa-specific. And I'm giving myself 10 years to do it all. Ten years from this day, I will have done every one of these 43 things. I promise.

43 things

1. Win a contest at the Iowa State Fair
2. Ride on a tractor in a parade
3. Drive a combine
4. Sleep under the stars
5. Step foot in all 99 counties
6. See the field of dreams
7. Have my picture taken at the covered bridges of Madison county
8. Eat an apple right off the tree
9. Catch a fish
10. Go on a hike looking for mushrooms
11. Ride the double-decker Ferris wheel at the Iowa State Fair
12. Watch the sunrise over rural Iowa
13. See a prairie chicken
14. See a bald eagle
15. Buy a house
16. Take a random road trip
17. Go to six different farmers markets
18. Go to the top of the Principal building
19. Meet Chet Culver
20. Go to Pella for Tulip Time
21. Visit the Iowa Arboretum
22. See a wild turtle
23. Go see the I-Cubs
24. Stand in a corn field when the corn is taller than me
25. Ride the heritage carousel
26. Ride in a hot air balloon in Indianola
27. Go to the sweet corn festival in Adel and eat some sweet corn
28. Eat an aebleskiver
29. Visit Riverside, Iowa—future birthplace of Captain Kirk
30. Have a photo published in an Iowa magazine
31. Go to the kaleidoscope factory in Pomeroy
32. Go to the Coca-Cola Celebration in Atlantic
33. Touch the Mississippi River
34. See the Dallas County Courthouse
35. Plant (or help plant) a butterfly garden
36. Go to Reiman Gardens
37. Visit the Big Treehouse in Marshalltown
38. Go to a dairy farm and milk a cow
39. Be an extra in a film shot in Iowa
40. Fly a kite at Clear Lake (or, really, just go to Clear Lake)
41. See Mannheim Steamroller in concert
42. Play mini-golf in the skywalks
43. Sing Karaoke sober, but tell people I was drunk so I have an excuse for my terrible singing