101 in 1001

You may remember this list I created in November of 2009 with a little inspiration from Melisa Jill,  Unlike Melissa, I gave myself no time frame or boundaries. It turns out that even without the pressure of a time frame, I'm not so great at checking off a list.  Of the 25 items on my list, I was able to check off  seven and a half.  A measly seven and a half!

2. Get a massage & pedicure without feeling guilty or changing my mind at the last minute.( This one only counts as half, but my feet did thank me!)

4. Cook something French.  (Easily one of my most favorite food adventures this summer!)

5. Start working out at least 4 times a week. ( I started and stopped then started and stopped again! I think see a pattern here.)

9. Have sushi in Pittsburgh (Cranberry Township is close enough to Pittsburgh!  The sushi was great and spending time with my dear friend Jen, was even better.)

10. Test out my newly repaired heart with a nice jog. (My heart did a fantastic job of pumping oxygenated blood through my body.  No burning lungs, no gasping for air.)

22. Hang my photos (I really need to take a photo of the photos.)

23. Make homemade pasta ( Grandma and I made her noodles for Christmas. It was quite an adventure!)

25. Take David & Erin for a sunset drive on the back roads.(One night after working our booties off in the garden we took the back road home and were treated to a magnificent display of God's handy-work.

I did accomplish a variety of other things that I didn't even think to add to the list. I started nursing school, visited Atlantic City, rode the Rocket,  gardened with grandma, made tamales and chococaramallows,  all the while managing to keep my sanity while raising a fourteen-year-old girl and two-year-old boy.

All in all it's been a good year and  I don't feel too guilty for the 17.5 items remaining on my list.  I do feel inspired to try again with a few modifications.  This time I'm going big, really big.  I'm attempting the 101 in 1001.I'm giving myself enough variety and enough time to really dig in and accomplish some of the big and little things in life.

The target date of completion is  Saturday, September 28, 2013.

1. Finish nursing school.
2. Workout four times a week even if I don't feel like it.
3. Visit Jen and Hershey Park!
4.  Maintain a 3.7 gpa.
5.  Work on communicating with Erin in a way that doesn't involve sarcasm.
6.  Enjoy winter with a trip to the slopes for tubing.
7.  Paint the kitchen.
8.  Organize my crafting/scrapbooking supplies.
9.  Make date night a priority by setting aside one night every two weeks just for us.
10.  Plant a memorial tree for grandma and grandpa.
11. Visit the wild horses at Assateague Island
12. Get a stylish new cut from my  friend Laurie.
13. Get a job as an LPN
14. Remodel  both bathrooms.
15. Have a Harry Potter party and watch all the movies back to back.
16. Visit Becky and Washington D.C.
17. Focus on a more heart healthy diet.
18. finish three more flowers for the quilt my great-grandmother started.
19. Go to Disney World.
20. Learn to speak Italian
21. Visit Italy
22. Volunteer with Erin.
23. Make a turducken for Thanksgiving.
24. Plant a garden full of Peonies.
25. Take David to the movies on a regular basis.
26. Bungee jump.
27. Take Erin to Cedar Point.
28. Make a plan to begin saving for the house we want to build.
29. take an LPN to RN course.
30. take Jen to a crazy club. :)
31. own a Canon EOS 5D Mark II.
32.  send 5 people just because gifts
33. Have dinner with grandma and aunt Susie at least once a month.
34. light up a summer night with hundreds of lights
35. stay at a cabin in Cook Forest
36. Teach Hayden how to catch fireflies.
37.  Make apple butter with grandma.
38. Finish this list.  1/1/11
39.  Take Jen to Oklahoma.
40. Have a catfish fry.
41. create a better business plan for my photography business.
42. photograph an outdoor wedding.
43.  Visit friends and family in California
44.  give my body the food and exercise it needs to be strong and healthy.
45.  make a super hero cape for Hayden (and Erin if she wants one)
46.  buy a Wii for Paxton and Amira
47.  Go to Hawaii for the honeymoon we never had.
48.  Get David to take me swing dancing (we shouldn't let good lessons go to waste.)
49.  Re-read Sacred Romance
50.  lower my blood pressure
51.  load music onto my ipod.
52.  built a blanket fort with Hayden and Erin.
53.  re-finish the table, chairs, and buffet my dad gave me.
54.  commit to some sort of spiritual practice every day be it meditation, reading the bible, or saying a prayer.
55.  call Nicki and chat about girl stuff.
56.  stop trying and just do
57.  Find a wine that I actually like.
58.  Spend a day in Pittsburgh
59.  Visit my grandfathers side of the family
60.  start taking a multivitamin with calcium and 5htp and chromium every day.
61.  buy a memory foam mattress or at least a memory foam mattress topper.
62.  help David build the jeep bed for Hayden
63.  go camping
64.  weekly bike rides in the summer
65.  build a puppet theater for Hayden.
66.  accept compliments when David gives them without a self-defeating reply.
67.  finish my wedding album.
68.  find a group of friends to play Texas Hold'em with.
69.  Attend an MJ Two day.
70.  Donate to Blood:Water Mission
71.  Take Erin to the spa for a girls day.
72.  go Geocaching with Jaime and Blake
73.  get involved with community day
74.  spend an entire day on the beach with a book.
75.  be a part of a Hope revolution  http://www.hoperevo.com/
76.  have an in door s'mores party while watching The Sand Lot
77.  learn to fly fish
78   spend a day with dad fishing.
79.  use the apron pattern I bought to actually make an apron.
80.  take a shopping trip to Trader Joe's and stock up on all the things I miss.
81.  sing karaoke
82.  attend the Autumn Leaf Parade
83.  have a murder mystery dinner party for Halloween
84.  write and submit a "This I Believe" essay.
85.  visit Alaska
86.  have another baby or at least start the process.
87.  watch Mary Poppins with Hayden
88.  participate in the Polar Plunge
89.  have a chick flick day/night
90.  canoe down Allegheny river again
91.  focus on advertising my photography business
92.  be less afraid about promoting my photography business.
93.  blog twice a week
94.  pay off the car.
95.  Light the Night http://www.lightthenight.org/
96.  take a road trip in the fall
97.  finish the floor in the hallway and kitchen
98.  paint the wall going up stairs
99.  finish scanning family photos
100. help plan and successfully carry out the 2011 McConnell Family Reunion
101. Convince Erin to go to summer camp.


And with that I can successfully cross off number 38 on the list.  There should be enough in there to keep me busy.  I think I've added enough variety that I'll be able to accomplish many of the items on the list.  Of course there are a few things that are just pipe dreams, but I thought I'd throw them in just for the heck of it. If there is anything I know about life, it's that it is completely unpredictable.  I'm ready for whatever it has to over in the next 1001 days.