A few months ago, I mentioned the Fifty for Fifty bucket list type thing I decided to do this year in honor of my fiftieth birthday.  Have to say it is probably one of the best things I have ever done.  It has helped keep me focused on the things I want to accomplish – some are small things and some aren’t.  Some will be accomplished and some likely won’t.  It’s all good.

I won’t share the list here because you would likely be bored by reading it.  Much like any “bucket list” everyone has their own list of things they want to accomplish.  There is no right or wrong, well, for the most part.  I suppose you could have an evil list of things to do but we won’t go there.

I will say that I have managed to finally cross two home repair things off the list and finally took the time to visit a local state park that I have been wanting to go to for a few years.  Even took the dog with me on that adventure and he was thrilled to do something new.   In other words, it’s just the beginning of March and few things have already been accomplished.  Love that!

Anyway, one of the other things on the list was to buy a piece of jewelry to somehow celebrate this year and something else to was to be a little extravagant and treat myself to “something”.  A couple of years ago, I looked into getting a Pandora bracelet with all the lovely charms.  It doesn’t take long until it all adds up to way more than I would usually spend on much of anything.

This year will also mark five years since my parents passed away.   After my dad passed away, I decided to treat myself to a necklace with a cross pendant that had five birthstones – and you could choose the stones.  I chose the stone representing my birth month (June) and the birth and death months of my parents (it sounds morbid, I know, but it really isn’t).   It wasn’t expensive but it meant something to me….and then the chain broke and I lost the pendant.  Forever.

Getting to the point now.  I decided to look into a Pandora bracelet as part of the jewelry / extravagant thing and shopped around on Amazon.  I never realized there are thousands and thousands of Pandora type beads and charms to choose from.  The bracelet didn’t work so I switched to a necklace.

I found blingy birthstone beads – from left to right you will see April, May, June, August and November birthstones with other personal beads mixed in (Florida, music, dog paws, a cupcake, flip-flops on a beach, and chocolate flowers).

So I finally have the birthstone thing back again and it is incredibly personal to wear it.  To everyone else, it’s just a bunch of blingy stones on a chain but to me it represents who I am – where I came from and what makes me happy. And that is exactly what Fifty for Fifty is supposed to be all about.