Day 30: Crossing Something Off My Bucket List

52. Write down something I’m grateful for each day for a month

I know this was technically posted a day late, but I was away from my computer most of yesterday so we're counting it :)

30 days. 30 things I'm grateful for. I'm really proud of myself for sticking to this and posting something every day for a month. It was one of those things I wrote on my Bucket List that I thought wouldn't happen until I was much older because it's an easy one to put off. It's also, however, a fairly easy one to complete because it was completely in my control and was free to do.

It's been a little while since I was able to cross something off my Bucket List, and it feels so good. While in Italy, I was crossing things off left and right, but now that life has slowed down a bit and I'm back in the routine of 'real' school, not so many things get crossed off. Life slowing down, however, is exactly what helped me cross off #52. If I had been super busy, I wouldn't have had time to post each day. I love being busy, but I'm glad I was able to take advantage of this down time from traveling and what not to express what I appreciate each day with words.

Thinking about what I was thankful for each day this past month has really helped me slow down and appreciate both big and little things in my life. Some days I could have written about multiple things, and other days it was genuinely a struggle to think of something to write about. Some posts were heartfelt while others were just plain silly. Some were a few sentences sans photos while others seemed to go on forever and included as many photos as I felt were appropriate. They were all a bit different, but all mean something special to me and are special as a group.

I often scroll through the entries and reflect on what I've posted about, so here are a few reflections about my 30 days of gratefulness.

- My nails have been a lot of fun colors. Silver, pink, mint...
- I've read a lot of books!
- I am so much more in shape than I was a month ago.
- My mood is a lot different from when I started. I'm a lot happier, more reflective and peaceful, and most importantly, my bubbly personality is back.

I've really enjoyed posting each day what I'm grateful for and definitely want to continue doing that, but I also want to focus again on where I find beauty in every day life. I want to keep my camera more readily available the next few weeks so I'm able to randomly snap photos while walking around campus. Hopefully I'll have some fun photos to share and I'll be able to continue developing my writing skills in prep for that great American novel I'm going to write some day....

Until then, I'll continue working on other things on the Bucket List. Hopefully by the end of the semester I'll be able to cross off, 7. Run a half marathon, 61. Learn French, finally feel comfortable crossing off 14. Become fluent in Italian, 43. Graduate from college, and maybe even 53. Go on a blind date.