bucket list for 2011

The year 2010 had been a great year, and 2011 will be so much better! This bucket list will help me rock 2011. Yes, things don't always go exactly how you planned them to be, as plans may be malleable, but it is always good to have one than none at all. If by chance you lose your way, your plans would help you get back on track. So here are the things I wish to get, fulfill, and achieve in 2011.

1. Travel - locally and internationally. This year I am setting my eyes on Singapore (of which i already have tickets to. Yay!) and Hong Kong. And of course, I have a longer list of places to go to in the Philippines. After all, it would be such a shame to travel a lot abroad without even seeing and tasting what my own precious Pilipinas has to offer. So this year, my local trips should include: Bantayan, Cagayan de Oro, Siargao, Davao and Siquijor. Of course, the thrills like white-water rafting, bungee jumping, and zip-lining, that are found in the places I want to go to are included in my list. 
2. Skills. Improving oneself should never be off anyone's bucket list. This year, I have to be physically, cognitively and emotionally prepared to do the following: blogging (whoa, I guess this should be off my list now), surfing, and ballroom dancing!
3. Languages. One of the things that is vital to our survival is communication, and knowing more than necessary has never been so bad. To enhance my English speaking skills, I'm planning to join Toastmasters club with a co-teacher. I am hopeful that I will have the time and money to join their regular meetings to improve and polish my English. This year, to enrich my new passion for Special Education, I have decided to master at least the basics in Braille and the American Sign Language. I've already sort of started learning late last year with a classmate in grad school. Hopefully this year we would be more serious and dedicated about this and learn a lot more than we did last year.
4. Grad school apps. Right now, I am sort of side-tracking from my original field of interest which is Psychology. I am taking up another major for my Master's degree. I had a lot of things in mind when I applied for this program and so now that I am almost done with it, I would have to go back to my first choice. I would need to look into my options here and abroad for Psych MA degrees. In line with this, I was supposed to take the TOEFL & GRE last year but because of the many surprises last year, I had to postpone it indefinitely and hopefully this year I would really have the time to prepare and take them.
5. Fitness. I will go back to jogging twice a week and lifting not-so-heavy weights, not even to lose weight but just so I would have not be so sedentary and develop all these lifestyle illnesses, which can be avoided with just a little sweating. In addition, I also aim of participating in at least three running events...even though what I do is mostly just jog and walk. :)
6. Volunteer work. A former college batch mate of mine who studied Political Science now works in an NGO and late last year, he asked me if I wanted to do some volunteer work with the kids and the women. I never really heard from him. I will make sure that I will bugger him for details so that before the end of the first quarter of this year, I could start serving and giving back to the community that helped shape me into the person I am today.
7. Life's little pleasures. Ever since I graduated, I had always dreamed of getting a class ring but two years after switching my sablay in the opposite direction, that still has not happened. And so, despite all my travel plans, I hope to still spare extra moolah to get my class ring at the end of the year.
8. Extra job & save. My list looks very ambitious, even to me. One way it can be realistic is if I have the funding I need to make all these possible. I am already very blessed with my job now...but it would not hurt to moonlight (maybe home-based/part time) to help in paying the bills. :)

With a bucket list full of ideas and hopes, a sound mind and a relatively able body, I shall conquer 2011 with a smile in my face!:)