Our soldier is headed off on a “European Rotation” for 9 months. So, I decided to make another Deployment Bucket List to help the girls and I stay busy while he’s gone.
**Note: I’m fully aware that a Europe rotation is not technically a deployment, but the ‘European Rotation Bucket List’ is confusing because it sounds like we’re making a list of things to do in Europe. We’ll just use the term ‘deployment’ instead.**
The last time my husband left for a long stretch was in 2016. He was on a hardship tour in Central America for 15 long months.
Our first deployment bucket list gave us lots of things to look forward to and helped us to stay positive. I’m hoping that Round 2 will be just as helpful and fun.
We’ll only have 9 months to complete this one, so I’m only adding 75 items to this list instead of 100.
Also, many of the list items will be repeats from last time, but that just means they’re worth doing again!
Deployment Bucket List: Round 2
make a deployment emergency kitsee some Christmas lightssend Heff care packagescelebrate New Year’s Eveplant some flowersspend the day in Austincelebrate Lainey’s 11th birthdaymake a deployment wallcelebrate Valentine’s Day- finally finish the DuoLingo Spanish lesson
go to the beach- save money for a vacation fund
- hike the Dana Peak Park trail
- get involved at church
- read 1 classic piece of literature
visit a state park that we’ve never been to- walk 250 miles
make a deployment countdownwatch some fireworks on the 4th of Julyfind a show to binge-watchwatch Lainey’s dance recitalfind a new swimming hole- go geocaching
- do a Bible study
- have a ‘spa night’ at home
- lose 50 pounds
go to the movies- make open-when letters for Heff
visit a town we’ve never been to before- plan a vacation for when Heff comes home
adopt a ‘Christmas angel’make a welcome home signcelebrate my 33rd birthdayvisit a museumget a tantake a road trip (to somewhere other than Florida)spend time with Nanacolor Easter eggs- do 9 random acts of kindness
find a mural to take a picture withlearn 3 new songs on the pianotake a trip to see Angelcelebrate Lyvi’s 10th birthdaymake a gingerbread house- try 9 new recipes
drop Lainey off at her first day of middle school- grow blog page views by 20%
do a craft at the Apache arts centerlet the girls have a sleepoverspend the day in Wacotake bluebonnet picturesvisit a cavedo some spring cleaningorganize the kitchentake girls to get their nails donehave a themed movie nightsuccessfully operate the weed-eatergo swimming at the springs- get my Florida real-estate license
- refurbish mom’s buffet
watch Lainey play softball- send a hand-written letter to Heff
finish a projectmake a new wreathspend time with Granny- go on 9 hikes
cultivate 3 new habitstake a picture of the world’s largest fire hydrantedit & update old blog posts- organize the hall closets
- plan a welcome home dinner for Heff
see a movie at the Cove Theaterdo a puzzledo an escape roomsee a new waterfall
This is a pretty big list to take on in only 9 months, but I think we can do it!
And even if we don’t finish everything on the list, we’re going to have fun trying.
For me, the point of a deployment bucket list is not to finish it, but to have something to work towards and to find joy in ordinary things while he’s gone.
