First 100 Days...

Yesterday was my milestone 100th day with this list. Well, that's assuming I've counted correctly. And if I didn't, it's pretty darn close to 100 days. I figure that if the President of the United States can be rated on the job he did in his first 100 days, then so can I. So here is a summary of what I've accomplished and what I've failed to accomplish so far.

I might as well get my failures over with. Yes, I have failed at a couple so far. I went into this thinking that I was going to try my best and if I didn't get some done, that I'd be ok with it. There are a lot of items here and I only have so much time in my day. I am sorry to say though that I have failed at accomplishing #1: Read the Bible with Josh once a week. Josh and I read parts of the Bible every week anyway for our 20-Somethings small group at church. But we usually do it separately when we have our own time during the week. I put this one on my list to encourage Josh and me to read together and spend more time together. Well, that worked for the first few weeks, and then we went off our own separate ways again. Now, I'm back to doing a lot of the reading during my lunch breaks at work. Oh well. We still talk about the particular weeks' subject together, but we have failed to actual read them together. According to #81, that's $5 to a charity when I'm doing with this list!

After much thought, I've decided that I have also already failed at #20: Take a small weekend trip for every anniversary. While we are going to Washington, DC in August, and Josh and I decided together that that's going to be our anniversary trip since the one we were thinking of taking over our actual anniversary didn't work out; I do not want to count that as an anniversary trip for this list. We didn't actually go over our actual anniversary a few weeks ago, therefore, it doesn't count. That's another $5 to charity!

Now, let's move onto happier times. Things I have accomplished so far. I'm not going to go into too much detail about most of them, but after counting them up, I have completely finished 12 items on my list! (That's $36 to charity!) And that's 11.88% for you math people. And, I am currently up to date on 10 of the on-going items. So I am happy with my progress so far. Yes, it has been painful trying to keep up on my flossing. I hate flossing. And it has been hard to eat one fruit a week (yeah, don't make fun of me), I have managed to do it thus far. And my body thanks me.

And finally, if you're not tired of reading quite yet--here are a few items that I plan on accomplishing very soon!
#5: Go camping with Josh (we already have reservations made at Governor Dodge State park with some friends of ours to go camping in June!)
#21: See the Brewers play in 2 other stadiums (one of those will be accomplished August 22nd in Washington, DC!)
#25: Go on a hike somewhere! (I'm hoping to hike a littttle bit while camping in June)
#54: Get a fire extinguisher (I'm expecting this from Josh for my birthday, yay! This also makes me realize how boring I am by asking for this for my birthday)
#57: Plant flowers on the porch (it's flower-planting time right now, isn't it??)
And finally, #96: Do not watch TV for one day straight (I mean, I can't watch t.v. while I'm camping, can I?) That may be taking the easy way out for that one, but it counts! :-)

I've decided to take on the challenge..

I've read about these blogs for a while. 101 things in 1001 days. They all looked very fascinating, but thought it was something else I'd start that I'd never finish. Well, I am here to prove myself wrong.

I'm a list person. I always have lists in my head of things to do, goals to accomplish, places I want to go; but I never write them down or talk about such things, so when I don't accomplish them, I won't feel as bad.

So here is my list. It took me about a week to come up with. It's a lot harder than you think to come up with 101 different things you want to do! I've gone over it many times. Took some items off. Added some I thought I'd never add. I am now motivated to accomplish what I want to in life. Or at least in the next 2.75 years.

My start date is Sunday, February 1st, 2009. The end date is October 29th, 2011. Keep up with me. Motivate me when I don't think I can finish all 101 items. And feel free to laugh at some of the items on here that seem so easy to accomplish (i.e. eating a fruit once a week, or reading 5 books/year). =)

Here's what you've been waiting for!

All You Need Is Love

1. Read the Bible with Josh once a week.
2. Dress up and go out to a nice dinner once.
3. Go to a museum with Josh.
4. Finish and order the scrapbook of our Trash the Dress pictures.
5. Go camping with Josh! (DONE)
6. Go for a picnic at a park.
7. Get a massage with Josh.
8. Give Josh a massage 3x per week. (85/429) (updated 7/14/09)
9. Keep a present a surprise from Josh, until the day it’s supposed to be given to him!
10. Have Josh teach me a song on his guitar.
11. Go to a drive-in movie theater.

We Are Family (and Friends!)

12. Hang out with Marisa at least once a month. (6/33) (updated 7/3/09)
13. Visit Dad’s grave once a month. (6/33) (updated July 2009)
14. Visit Paula in Fond du Lac a few times each year. (1/9) (Updated 3/28/09)
15. Give someone a gift, just because.
16. Get a calendar, and write down all birthday’s and anniversary’s of family and friends.
17. Go to the Melting Pot for ladies night with Marisa and Lindsey.
18. Go to Sheboygan to hang out with Sarah and Scott. (DONE)

Oh, The Places You’ll Go

19. Go to a Milwaukee Admirals game.
20. Take a small weekend trip for each wedding anniversary. (0/2)
21. See the Brewers play in 2 other stadiums. (0/2)
22. Drive to Asheville again.
23. Go skiing.
24. Go to Door County.
25. Go on a hike somewhere.
26. Get a passport with my new name.
27. Go to Chicago.

Money, Money, Money, MONEY

28. Pay off all credit cards.
29. Pay off Josh’s car loan.
30. Be able to go back to school full-time without having to use credit cards for anything.
31. Set up online bank account and begin saving money for Europe trip. (DONE)
32. Keep track of ALL spending for one month.
33. Fill up piggy bank and cash it out.
34. Play the lottery once. (DONE)
35. Start a Roth IRA. (DONE)
36. Apply for financial aid for school.
37. Build up to $10,000 in emergency fund.

Fooooood

38. Make a new recipe once a month (6/33) (updated 6/25/09)
39. Eat sushi again.
40. Eat at least one fruit a week. (29/143) (updated 7/13/09)
41. Make a recipe binder.
42. Bake something from scratch. (DONE)
43. Make chili.
44. Eat nothing but protein for one whole day.
45. Have another couple over for dinner. (DONE)

Home Improvement

46. Completely finish renovating the bathroom.
47. Put down white trim in all rooms.
48. Buy a new door for our bedroom.
49. Get another key made for our condo.
50. Organize the closet.
51. Caulk under our window in the living room.
52. Paint the kitchen.
53. Get new curtains for the bedroom.
54. Get a fire extinguisher. (DONE)
55. Put carpeting in the closet.
56. Caulk the bathtub. (DONE)
57. Plant flowers in pots on porch. (DONE)

Knowledge is Power

58. Finish 5 new books a year. (2/15)
59. Get into the Respiratory Therapy program. (DONE)
60. Finish Respiratory Therapy school with at least 3.5 GPA.
61. Research and understand at least 3 current international issues.
62. Pay attention through one whole class period—start to finish.
63. Memorize all the books of the Bible in order.
64. Memorize all 50 states and locate them on a map.

I Want to Be Strong!

65. Beat someone other than Paula in arm wrestling.
66. Run a 5k in less than 24 minutes. (DONE)
67. Work out at least 3x per week. (90/429) (updated7/14/09)
68. Run at least 3 5k’s per year. (2/9)
69. Be able to do 40 push-ups at one time.
70. Try one of the group classes at the gym. (DONE)
71. Ride our bikes again.
72. Do 10 unassisted pull-ups, the right way.
73. Get new running shoes. (DONE)
74. Go running down at the lakefront.

It’s All About Me!

75. Grow my hair long without cutting it when it gets to the “annoying stage”.
76. Take my multi-vitamin every. single. day. (165/1001) (updated 7/15/09)
77. Get my hair highlighted once a year. (0/3)
78. Go to the eye doctor for a check-up
79. Floss at least twice a week. (30/286) (updated 6/18/09)
80. Whiten my teeth again.

Charity

81. Donate $5 to charity for every item on this list not completed by the due date.
82. Donate $3 to charity for every item on this list that is completed by the due date.
83. Donate my wedding dress.
84. Buy a Christmas present for someone in need, from the tree at our gym.
85. Go through the closet and donate clothes to charity.
86. Donate to church on a consistent basis.
87. Volunteer for something with Josh. (DONE)

Misc.

88. Get new tires for my car. (DONE)
89. Rent a movie on Apple TV that I think I would never watch, 4 times a year. (0/11)
90. See Matchbox 20 in concert again.
91. Blog actively about this list.
92. Take pictures of as many items on this list as I can.
93. Clean out car and keep it clean for one month. (DONE)
94. Give reviews online of products I bought. (DONE)
95. Get a new right mirror for my car.
96. Do not watch t.v. for one full day straight. (DONE)
97. Complete our dishes set. (DONE)
98. Complete our silverware set.
99. Go one week without hitting the snooze button.

And last, but not least..
100. Make a list of a new 101 things, by the time this 101 is done.
101. Encourage someone else to do a list of 101 things. (DONE)

I'll be back on February 1st!!