We made it to the shortest day of the year. Things can only get brighter from here… until June.

Having a seasonal bucket list seems weird since I have no intention on “kicking the bucket” this season, but a to-do list sounds weird too. I’m calling them goals this time around and we will see how that feels once we get to the next one of these.

We did pretty good with our Autumn wish list. We bought bicycles, went to a few breweries, scheduled some grandparent time, saw a Vikings game at US Bank Stadium and had a reunion with half our sweatpant squad (we are heading to visit the rest next weekend.) Here are some goals for this winter:

Visit the Winter Carnival in St. Paul. They are building an Ice Castle this year and I can’t wait. Plus, we will need to search for the medallion. I feel like this really is our year to find it and win the big prize. If you’ve big around here for a while, you might remember the rants about this grown up treasure hunt years ago.

Host our first east coast guests (and hopefully not our last.) We are determined to show off the Twin Cities in all their glory.

Party like it’s 1999 when the Super Bowl is here. There are Prince tribute concerts, tons of amazing ice sculptures and events going on, plus there’s a big old football game which means all the cheese dip and great commercials. Game on.

Ski the Rockies. This is kind of cheating because we already have the trips booked, but I want to make sure I give myself credit. If you’ve ever skied in the Denver area, let me know what your favorite resort is. We are staying with friends about 30 minutes west of Denver and are hoping to get in at least one ski day.

Get chairs for our desks. It is the only area that is not finished and because we don’t have those, we don’t use our desks so mine is just collecting things. It’s a disaster area.

Come up with new recipes to eat like a Minnesotan. I read this article from Mpls/St. Paul Magazine and decided I’m going to make some recipes of my own that fit into each category. I’ll work on sharing them here – probably every other week or so. If you have any ideas of vegetarian options for these, send them my way.

Visit a new State Park. We got our year long pass and I want to have an excuse to get outside this winter and explore a new park.

Another sugar break. We did a reset early last year (you can read my thoughts here) and while I don’t think we’ll do the exact same detox, we will be trying something to reset for the new year. We got a couple new cookbooks that have some new veggie recipes.

All the fun in the snow. I want to go sledding, snow shoeing and ice skating. I’m determined to have fun outside even in the frigid temps. I’m hoping I get some new long underwear to survive this winter. There are so many fun places on our Minnesota Bucket List that I’m sure we will be able to come up with some ideas.

Hope you’re enjoying a cozy night with good pajamas and a book or movie. We are watching Santa Clause and testing our homemade Irish Creme. Days get longer starting tomorrow and it’s Christmas.