Oh, Time is Up?

I can't say I forgot about this list, but #19 (get married) definitely became my priority not too many months after creating the list.  I decided today to look it up and see what I accomplished on it.  Before even looking at the list, I knew those 1,001 days changed my life (including Billy's graduation, his new job, getting Teacher of the Year, getting married, and buying our first home).

I looked up when the 1,001 days were up and it was September 28th which amazingly is quite possibly one of the most significant days of my life.  I lost someone the next day and the day was spent soaking up the bliss of having that person in my life for one last day.

I'll break the 101 things down one by one.

1. Read 60 fiction books.
I think I read at least 35...  I got my Kindle for Christmas at the end of the first year which helped.  Here is what didn't help: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared.  It took me forever to get through that book, but I just can't quit once I start.

2. Ride in a hot air balloon.
Not yet

3.Dip my feet in the Pacific Ocean.
Not yet

4. Visit 3 new states.
I don't care if this one wasn't perfectly met.  I only stayed in one new state, Lousiana, but we traveled to so many places in the 1,001 days.  We (or just me) went to Charleston, Cape Cod, New Orleans, Gatlinburg, Nashville, Disney, Boston, St. Simons Island, Hilton Head, Charlotte, Asheville, 
New Jersey, Sunset Beach, Tybee Island, Jamaica, Myrtle Beach, Clemson, Atlanta, and I'm probably forgetting about a few...

5. Visit another country.
We went to Jamaica!

6. Learn basic conversational Greek.
I would say that I know enough words and phrases to function thanks to Rosetta Stone and little two-year-old Zoe Theodore.

7. Send 1 card/letter in the mail per week.
I did a really good job at first...  Then, after addressing a million thank you notes and wedding invitations, I decide I could spread those out over 1,001 days.

8. Take 5 fitness classes.
I took so many Zumba, spinning, Body Combat, and hot yoga classes.  It took some bravery on my part to start each of these classes on my own.  I get very nervous in new situations, but this list helped me.

9. Run ten 5K races.
Ummm... I did a 5K mud run, but that is about it.

10. Make a weekly cleaning schedule and follow it for 3 months.
Yeah... nope.

11. Watch 75 movies on the AFI 100 Greatest Movies list.
I chose anything and everything having to do with serial killers and profiling instead...

12. Take a grad class.
I took ALIVE which was a great experience.  I made a rap video for my final presentation so I'd have to say that the class was a success.

13. Write thank you letters to past teachers.
Oh man, I should have done this.  I did write a thank you note to my elementary school principal for a wedding gift.  Can that count?

14. Drink 8 glasses of water a day for a month.
I am sure I did this at one point.

15. Buy a nice telephoto lens.
I changed this to a nice wide-angle lens. 

16. See another drive-in movie.
If I had remembered this was on here, I would have made this happen for sure.

17. Read 5 biographies.
I didn't remember I had this one here and I still read four biographies... My Story (Elizabeth Smart), Mrs. Kennedy and Me, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (David Sedaris), and Once Upon a Secret (one of JFK's mistresses).  

18. Get engaged.
Check!

19. Get married.
7/7/12

20. Do 2 pull-ups.
When I put this on the list, I had to know that I wouldn't do this.  Why, Rachie, why??

21. Go skeet shooting.
I did this a week before my wedding.  

22. Clean out my bedroom at my parents' house.
My mom did this.... so I'm going to count it.

23. Cook 10 recipes from our cookbooks.
I've made many recipes... 99% of which involved a crock pot.

24. Get baptized.
Check!

25. Send a secret to PostSecret.
I went to a PostSecret exhibit at a museum and I think I submitted one.

26. Go to 10 concerts.
I don't think I went to 10, but the ones I went to were great!

27. Get a passport.
Check!

28. Learn to knit.
No, not yet...

29. Drink only water for 2 weeks.
Yes

30. Learn to tie a tie.
Thanks, Mom!

31. Ride bikes 5 times on the Swamp Rabbit Trail and 2 times in Cape Cod.
I rode bikes once more at the Cape and a couple more times on the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

32. Write 20 new songs for teaching.
I wrote more, but not 20.  However, I created five zillion flipcharts, tests, center activites, etc.. so I'm giving myself a pass on this one.

33. Donate blood 5 times.
I gave blood one more time, passed out in a CVS, and ended up in an ambulance.  I did however give blood to my doctors what seems like 50 times so I'm counting this one.

34. Memorize the state capitals.
Yes, but now I forget many of them... but there was a week where Katie and I had these mastered.

35. Get Tuesday folders ready BEFORE Tuesday 3 out of 4 weeks per month.
Yes, yes, yes!  Thank you, student teachers.

36. Complete 25 comment cards for businesses I love.
I try hard to write good reviews and complete online comment cards as much as possible.  Hard work should be recognized.

37. Take vitamins every day for 100 days without forgetting.
Yes, I dominated this one and continue to.

38. Send Billy a postcard for every day in February.
I did this one and had so much fun with it.  

39. Give a 100% tip.
I can't remember honestly.  I do know that I did this on NYE this year...

40. Attend the midnight viewing of a movie.
I did this one before I made the list so not sure why I put it on here.

41. Type up my mom's recipes.
Never did this one... 

42. Save $5 for every item completed on this list.
We saved (not because of this list) and bought a house!

43. Donate $5 for every item not completed.
With my United Way donations, I'm sure I successfully donated all the money plus more.

44. Put a ceiling light in my room.
Hahahaha, oh I love this one.  Yes, yes I did put one in my apartment in Walden Creek.  Now, in our new house, we don't have one in our room.  That is why I find this to be so ironic.

45. No caffeine for 30 days.
Yes, I didn't have caffeine for more than 30 days on more than one occasion.

46. Workout every morning at 5am for a week.
I think I did this one...

47. Fast with Billy for one fasting period.
Yes, I started fasting with Billy.

Okay, I'm getting worn out from typing and changing colors and you're probably getting bored.  Some of the items on the list below are weird and some I don't remember so I'm not going to cheat and highlight them.  Is it sad that #55 is the one I'm the saddest about not reaching?  I came very very close several times...

48. Surprise 10 friends when they need it the most.
49. Send 10 postcards through Postcrossing
50. Babysit 3 times for free.
51. Pay off my credit card.
52. Successfully bake brownies.
53. Host a dinner for my family.
54. Visit and spend the night in Asheville.
55. Bowl over 150.
56. Go ziplining.
57. Conquer my fear and hug a mascot.
58. Record what I eat every day for a month.
59. Keep my car clean for a month.
60. Make my bed every day for a month.
61. Go horseback riding.
62. Floss every night for a month.
63. Make a colorful quilt for photo shoots.
64. Buy every letter of the alphabet for photo shoots.
65. Send out a Christmas card.
66. Stay at the Westin Pointsett downtown with Billy.
67. Enter 50 "I Heart Faces" contests.
68. Enter "Bench Monday" pictures every Monday for a month.
69. Meet both of my teaching goals (Math and Reading).
70. Host a sleepover.
71. Reach 2,000 fans on Lime Green Room Photography's fan page.
72. Take a self-portrait every week for a 6 months.
73. Study and improve my night photography.
74. Get my 2-year anniversary ring sized.
75. Start using coupons.
76. Get to goal weight and stay within 3 pounds of it for 3 months.
77. Meet fitness goals every week for 3 months.
78. Do a walk for MS.
79. Do a 3-day Walk for the Cure.
80. Learn a song on the piano.
81. Learn how to french braid.
82. Fix a button on a shirt.
83. Make sangria.
84. Buy a pair of cowgirl boots that don't kill my feet.
85. Pay off my car.
86. Go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
87. Wake up one morning and take a spur of the moment trip to the beach.
88. Buy an Epiphanie camera bag.
89. Attend a Clemson basketball game.
90. Do not eat after 7pm during the week for a month.
91. Put change in someone's expired (or near expired) parking meter.
92. Help out a family in need each Christmas through Secret Santa.
93. Participate in a bar crawl.
94. Go skinny dipping.
95. Eat every meal at home for one week.
96. Try 3 new foods.
97. Volunteer at an event.
98. Start using face lotion every day.
99. Wear sunscreen at all beach and pool situations.
100. Go to a play at the Flat Rock Playhouse.
101. Blog about every item on this list.

March Update

#6- Learn basic conversational Greek.

An old friend of mine hooked me up with Rosetta Stone and I spent my time with the flu starting my Greek lessons.  What have I learned?  I can say that people are swimming, eating, drinking, reading, and cooking.  I can identify about 6 colors.  Need your food identified?  I can tell you what it is as long as it's bread, an apple, milk, water, and rice.  Billy pointed out that he rarely has the need to say "the girl is swimming" or " the boy is running."  Hey, you've got to start somewhere....

#15- Buy a nice telephoto lens.

A telephoto lens would have been great, but I decided I need a wide angle lens more.  I'm still checking this item off of my list because I basically just wanted a lens for my upcoming weddings that would make me feel better about capturing shots.  The lens is huge.  The bigger the lens, the more of a BA I feel...

This pic was taken with the lens.  Blogger will probably ruin the quality when I post though...



#54- Visit and spend the night in Asheville.

A-m-a-z-i-n-g weekend :)  We hit up Salsas and French Broad Chocolate Lounge on Friday.  Saturday we visited Biltmore and toured the house, toured the winery, and did a wine tasting.  At night, we dined on pizza and garlic knots at Asheville Pizza and Brewing.  Then, we headed to the Grove Park Inn for drinks and Elaine's Dueling Piano Bar.  The entertainment was sooo much fun.  On Sunday, we ate at Tupelo Honey... yummmm!

#30- Learn to tie a tie.

It took me about 5 minutes to learn... easiest item on the list!

#38- Send Billy a postcard for every day in February... done!

Week 2 Progress

#34- Memorize the state capitals..... D-O-N-E!!!  Katie and I spent the drive home from Tybee Island practicing and now I have them all completely embedded in my brain.  Thank goodness weird memory tricks work for me.  Examples: Jefferson was a miserable president (Jefferson, Missouri) and I went gambling with Carson (Carson City, Nevada).  Jackson went swimming in the Mississippi River (Jackson, Mississippi).  My favorite has to be "You, you got what I "N-D" (instead of 'need')... (Bismark, ND).  Do you get it?  Bizmarki (sp?) sings that song... get it?

#1- Read 60 fiction books.  I finished my first book and have started my second.  Both are about serial killers... Am I sick? 

#23- Cook 10 recipes from our cookbook.  Well, it wasn't from our cookbook, but we cooked Piper's Chicken Dip.  I had a moment of digust over the uncooked chicken and a mild case of paranoia that we weren't going to fully cook every piece of shredded chicken... I am pretty ridiculous because cooked the chicken AND then baked the dip so there was no way that a piece was not perfectly cooked.  The finished product was soooo good.  Thank you, Piper the Dip-Master!  My next recipe is going to probably be Delaney's Sausage Dip.  Yes, they are both dips.  I'll eventually graduate to real meals.

Week 1 Progress

#55- Bowl over a 150.
We went bowling Friday night and I was on f-i-r-e... I was getting strikes and spares left and right.  Did I bowl over 150? No, 145.  5 stinkin' points away... so we went again on Sunday.  My arm was surprisingly so ridiculously sore from Friday that I was bowling my first gutter balls since I was like 7 and we stopped bowling with bumpers.  Who gets super sore from bowling???  Now you can understand why I am only shooting for 2 pull-ups in my list of goals.  Oh well, it gives me another excuse to go bowling again. 

#7
I sent my first card in the mail this week.  I'm very excited for this person to get the card in the mail and hope it brightens her day :)  I am suddenly becoming a greeting card junkie.  I see them in the stores and can't stop purchasing them.  If you give me your address, maybe you will recieve one in the mail (and help fuel my addiction).

I entered the I Heart Faces contest today (#67).  The contest this week was "Smile.  Here is my picture below and check out the other entries at I Heart Faces.

And So It Begins...

Today is the first day of my challenge.  I'm staring at this list really excited, but also wondering how in the world I committed to some of these items.

So I had to make some sort of effort today to make it feel like I was starting.  I went to the post office to buy stamps for #7, 13, 24, 38, AND 49.   I'm prettty sure this is one of my first times buying stamps because I got all nervous asking for a book of stamps and expected them to come in a little book... no such luck.

I've offered baby-sitting to some friends, went to the gym (and only got myself to keep running because Criminal Minds was on), and started to read another Alex Cross novel.

I'm going on Blockbuster.com and adding AFI 100 Greatest movies to the queue.  I chose to only watch 75 mainly because there is no chance in hell that I'm watching Fantasia again... two hours of watching a mop and bucket dance around is two hours of my life I wish I could get back.

By the way, the capital of Deleware is Dover... in your face, #34.

The List

1. Read 60 fiction books.

2. Ride in a hot air balloon.

3.Dip my feet in the Pacific Ocean.

4. Visit 3 new states.

5. Visit another country.

6. Learn basic conversational Greek.

7. Send 1 card/letter in the mail per week.

8. Take 5 fitness classes.

9. Run ten 5K races.

10. Make a weekly cleaning schedule and follow it for 3 months.

11. Watch 75 movies on the AFI 100 Greatest Movies list.

12. Take a grad class.

13. Write thank you letters to past teachers.

14. Drink 8 glasses of water a day for a month.

15. Buy a nice telephoto lens.

16. See another drive-in movie.

17. Read 5 biographies.

18. Get engaged.

19. Get married.

20. Do 2 pull-ups.

21. Go skeet shooting.

22. Clean out my bedroom at my parents' house.

23. Cook 10 recipes from our cookbooks.

24. Get baptized.

25. Send a secret to PostSecret.

26. Go to 10 concerts.

27. Get a passport.

28. Learn to knit.

29. Drink only water for 2 weeks.

30. Learn to tie a tie.

31. Ride bikes 5 times on the Swamp Rabbit Trail and 2 times in Cape Cod.

32. Write 20 new songs for teaching.

33. Donate blood 5 times.

34. Memorize the state capitals.

35. Get Tuesday folders ready BEFORE Tuesday 3 out of 4 weeks per month.

36. Complete 25 comment cards for businesses I love.

37. Take vitamins every day for 100 days without forgetting.

38. Send Billy a postcard for every day in February.

39. Give a 100% tip.

40. Attend the midnight viewing of a movie.

41. Type up my mom's recipes.

42. Save $5 for every item completed on this list.

43. Donate $5 for every item not completed.

44. Put a ceiling light in my room.

45. No caffiene for 30 days.

46. Workout every morning at 5am for a week.

47. Fast with Billy for one fasting period.

48. Surprise 10 friends when they need it the most.

49. Send 10 postcards through Postcrossing

50. Babysit 3 times for free.

51. Pay off my credit card.

52. Successfully bake brownies.

53. Host a dinner for my family.

54. Visit and spend the night in Asheville.

55. Bowl over 150.

56. Go ziplining.

57. Conquer my fear and hug a mascot.

58. Record what I eat every day for a month.

59. Keep my car clean for a month.

60. Make my bed every day for a month.

61. Go horseback riding.

62. Floss every night for a month.

63. Make a colorful quilt for photo shoots.

64. Buy every letter of the alphabet for photo shoots.

65. Send out a Christmas card.

66. Stay at the Westin Pointsett downtown with Billy.

67. Enter 50 "I Heart Faces" contests.

68. Enter "Bench Monday" pictures every Monday for a month.

69. Meet both of my teaching goals (Math and Reading).

70. Host a sleepover.

71. Reach 2,000 fans on Lime Green Room Photography's fan page.

72. Take a self-portrait every week for a 6 months.

73. Study and improve my night photography.

74. Get my 2-year anniversary ring sized.

75. Start using coupons.

76. Get to goal weight and stay within 3 pounds of it for 3 months.

77. Meet fitness goals every week for 3 months.

78. Do a walk for MS.

79. Do a 3-day Walk for the Cure.

80. Learn a song on the piano.

81. Learn how to french braid.

82. Fix a button on a shirt.

83. Make sangria.

84. Buy a pair of cowgirl boots that don't kill my feet.

85. Pay off my car.

86. Go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

87. Wake up one morning and take a spur of the moment trip to the beach.

88. Buy an Epiphanie camera bag.

89. Attend a Clemson basketball game.

90. Do not eat after 7pm during the week for a month.

91. Put change in someone's expired (or near expired) parking meter.

92. Help out a family in need each Christmas through Secret Santa.

93. Participate in a bar crawl.

94. Go skinny dipping.

95. Eat every meal at home for one week.

96. Try 3 new foods.

97. Volunteer at an event.

98. Start using face lotion every day.

99. Wear sunscreen at all beach and pool situations.

100. Go to a play at the Flat Rock Playhouse.

101. Blog about every item on this list.