Dear Reader Letter

Dear Reader,

On my bucket list there are 112 items so far. Many of these I cannot complete until I am older and have more money. So, for this project, I decided to complete 3 small items, which include sleeping under the stars, going geocaching, and getting ordained. There is not any specific purpose for wanting to do these things, besides that they just seemed like fun things to me. The second part of the project was to help someone complete something off of their bucket list, so I chose to help my dad go ziplining.

Before my research began, I knew a bit of information about each topic, but not nearly enough to execute any of them. For sleeping under the stars, I knew that sleeping in parks at night was illegal, so I had to research places to sleep. I used an advice blog for homeless people to learn about the different places it would be illegal to sleep or park in. Also, my friend, Christopher, gave me the low-down on the cop hangouts and places he has slept outside before. I knew nothing about geocaching except what it was, like a treasure hunt, and that it seemed really cool. I spent quite a bit of time on geocaching.com trying to understand how to geocache, the different lingo, and tips to finding a cache. Yes, getting ordained is rather different, but I was told that you could get ordained online for free. For this, I needed to find a reliable site in which to get ordained. Finally, for ziplining, I knew a fair amount about it, but not where to go to do it, so I researched places around North Georgia and compared rates and prices.

After my research was completed, I was ready to begin with Phase One.

I've definitely enjoyed this project more than any other and am glad to have had this experience.

Sincerely,
Teri

Phase 4: Ziplining

The second aspect of this project was to help someone complete something off of their bucket list. I asked each of my parents what they wanted to do before they died and my dad had an unexpected response. He said that he had always wanted to go ziplining. During classtime, I looked up various ziplining places in North Georgia. I found one that looked promising and decided to surprise him over the Thanksgiving break. The original plan was to find a day he was free and tell him to get dressed in appropriate clothing, because we were going for a ride. I planned to drive us to the ziplining place then surprise him there. It turned out that we didn't have any time to go over the break. But I still plan on executing this plan in the spring, when it is warm. I have not yet told him anything about it, and it will remain secret for the time being.

Phase 3: Get Ordained (Completed 11/12/13)

Okay so this is kind of an odd item to have on a bucket list, but let me explain! One day, amidst various lunch conversations, my friend mentioned she was ordained and could perform a marriage. And at first we were like "Woah! What!? How?!" And she said that you could get ordained for free online in like 5 minutes. Then I started thinking that that would be a cool thing to do, but I didn't put it on my list yet. A few days later, I was talking to my dad about my parents' 30th wedding anniversary which is in approximately 2 years. I asked him what they were  going to do and I suggested renewing their vows. And then I told him that I could perform the ceremony if I got ordained. So then we made a plan and I put it on my bucket list. It takes less than 5 minutes to get ordained! Many celebrities have gotten ordained through the website I used, like Jason Segal and Kathy Griffin. All you have to do is enter a few bits of information, check that you are over 13 years old, and bam! you are ordained. You have to pay to get the official certificate, but technically I am now ordained. Wooo!

Phase 2: Go Geocaching (Attempted 11/9/13)

For those of you reading this (which is like no one, except for Neumann) who do not know what geocaching is, here's a basic description courtesy of geocaching.com, "Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location"(Groundspeak). I don't know, it just sounds like bundles of fun, so I put it on the list. WELL, geocaching is much more difficult than I thought it would be. After making an account on geocaching.com, I searched for an easy beginner cache. I found one called Streak Extender No.3 located at East Cobb Park, where many other geocaches were hidden. To go geocaching, you need to have some sort of portable GPS, so I downloaded an app designed for geocaching called c:geo. After picking Logan up, we headed straight for the park. Coordinates and trading items in tow, we began navigating around the park. We couldn't find Streak Extender No. 3, so we tried for a different one and began on the correct path. The GPS said we were right on top of it when we encountered a fallen tree (prime geocaching hiding place). We looked all around the tree and but alas, the cache was no where to be found! I had read previously, that this happens sometimes--caches are missing. Discouraged, but not ready to give up yet, we chose another geocache to search for in the park. During the hunt for this one, our GPS seemed to be having issues locating our current location. We decided to ditch the GPS and search with our own instincts, but soon became extremely frustrated and gave up (also it was getting dark). So we went on the playground instead! 
Although we did go geocaching, we were not able to find an actual geocache, so I do not feel comfortable crossing it off the list, yet.

Phase 1: Sleep Under the Stars (Completed 10/3/2013)

Item #77 has been crossed off the list! The most difficult part of formulating this plan was deciding a location. Ideally, I would have liked to sleep in an open park, like Leita Thompson Memorial Park, but that is very illegal. When cops are on patrol, they often meet up at these kinds of parks, and if they see an empty car, they will very likely get suspicious, and a bad series of events would ensue. Just things that I was not wanting to deal with. SO then I was thinking that our neighborhood tennis courts could be a good location, but when we went to scope out the deck above it (where we would be sleeping) there was a humungous spider in his web and numerous cockroaches. Immediately nixed that idea. After much deliberation, Logan, who agreed to accompany me, and I decided on our high school as prime sleeping property, still illegal, but less risky. We packed up a tarp, a couple of sleeping bags, and pillows, and set off for the school around midnight. First, we needed to scout out the ideal location. After deciding that we would be too exposed sleeping on the main football field, we settled on the practice field. We laid down the tarp, constructed a makeshift bed, and stared up at the stars. It was a very clear night with many stars and we fell asleep praying that we would not wake up to a cop shining a flashlight in our faces. Luckily, that nightmare did not come true, and we woke up to the sun rising instead.We packed up without leaving a trace. The plan went off flawlessly, and another bucket list task was completed! I would really like to thank Christopher for his insight on the local parks and prime sleeping areas. And especially Logan for agreeing to take part in these crazy shenanigans.