101 Things in 1001 Days

As 2014 looms (and with it, graduation..!), instead of making a traditional list of New Year’s resolutions, I’m doing something a little bit different, putting it here both for public accountability and to make it easier for me to keep track of everything, and hopefully to share my experiences as I go.  I've seen this idea on a whole bunch of other blogs: 101 things in 1001 days.  Inspired, I made a list of 101 things I want to accomplish in the next 1001 days.  This seems like a really good mix between a to-do list and a bucket list, and I think I can do all of these in a little under 3 years (fingers crossed!).  I’m leaving this here to keep track of things as I go.  I’ll cross them off as I do them, and bold the things I’m working on.  Here goes nothing!

Start Date:   January 1, 2014 || End Date: September 28, 2016

 

Education/School/Career

1. Work on my resume Did it!
2. Take the GRE
3. Graduate from OWU!
4. Reach out to at least 5 different people whose career paths I admire to talk about grad school
5. Narrow down grad school options
6. Get into grad school
7. Apply to 3 jobs that I don’t think I’ll get (just in case!)
8. Get hired on a 2016 Presidential campaign
9. Create 5, 10, and 15-year career plans (even if they’re rough or change!)
10. Brush up on my French
11. Re-read 3 classics
12. Re-read Leaves of Grass all the way through
13. Listen to 5 TED talks I’ve been meaning to see
14. Send a thank-you note to each of my mentors once I graduate/leave the area
15. Read 5 non-fiction books I’ve been meaning to read (looking at you, Michael Pollan) I'm working on Double Down, about the 2012 Election, right now!

Health & Fitness

1. Complete the Couch to 5k program once and for all!
2. Run an organized race
3. Try a workout class that scares me
4. Do yoga every day for a month
5. Pick one yoga pose to focus on every month
6. Finish the 30 Day Yoga Challenge
7. Be able to do a headstand in yoga Even in the library! Proof here.
8. Get a massage
9. Do some kind of quit sugar thing…
10. Go 1 month without alcohol
11. Do the Whole 30  for a week
12. Do the Whole 30 challenge (the whole 30 days)
13. Be in bed by 11 for a week

Beauty, Fashion & Style

1. Rock a pixie cut  Chopped it in January 2014!!
2. Take more selfies!
3. Get a pedicure
4. Inspire someone to join the HPC
5. Use homemade shampoo/apple cider vinegar for 2 weeks
6. Take a makeup hiatus for a week (a normal week!)
7. Invest in a good pair of black heels and black flats

Get That Cash (Finances) 

1. Start to pay off my student loans
2. Do a Spending Diet for 1 month
3. Do a Spending Fast for 1 month
4. Put money in the stock market
5. Buy a car
6. Micro-finance a female-owned business through Kiva

Travel

1. Travel to 10 new places
2. Visit Washington D.C.
3. Go on a trip with a friend
4. Visit the West Coast: see the Pacific
5. Go skiing someplace new
6. Go hiking
7. Go to a local park/wildlife area/nature spot etc.
8. Visit a new art museum Finally made it to the one in Columbus!

Make/See/Do

1. Buy a DSLR
2. Make 2 new paintings and 2 new drawings
3. Send in a secret to PostSecret
4. Keep a list of books I read: Started this list here.
5. See a really great concert
6. Take a wine tasting class
7. Take a dance class—swing or salsa
8. Try 5 new foods
9. Learn to make Irish brown bread
10. Get really good at making one Indian dish (looking at you, channa masala…)
11. Throw a dinner party
12. Learn to crochet
13. Go to a drive-in movie
14. Go to a movie alone
15. Take a picture with every member of my nuclear+extended family (just the 2 of us)
16. Do a 30-day photo challenge
17. Go to a big, community event once I’m settled in a new place

Personal & Just for Fun

1. Make a list of 101 things I’ve already accomplished Here is that list
2. Attend a UU service
3. Keep a “3 things I’m grateful for” journal for a month straight
4. Attend a debate
5. Do Social-media free Sunday for a month (unplugging completely when possible—breaks, I’m looking at you)
6. Learn more about Grandma while I still have time
7. Get a tattoo of one of Grandpa’s drawings
8. Move into my own apartment
9. Go skinny dipping
10. Actually stop with the negative self-talk
11. Buy a bottle of nice (okay, nice-ish) champagne and keep it in the fridge, just in case
12. Finally finish watching The Office

Give

1. Give a sincere compliment every day for a week
2. Call mom & dad/sister once a month for a year
3. Get lunch to catch up with an old friend
4. Send far-away close friends birthday cards (or make dessert for the not-far ones)
5. Send out one handwritten card/note per month for a year
6. Volunteer regularly (once a month) for a cause I care about for a year
7. Leave a 100% tip
8. Pay for a suspended coffee/U.S. equivalent
9. Send my sister a care package
10. Do something alone with dad
11. Send flowers to mom for no reason
12. Spend a whole day with my sister
13. DD my sister for her 21^st
14. Do a big favor for mom (likely something technological…)
15. Donate at least once to EMILY’s List
16. Give to OWU
17. Volunteer with a local DZ Chapter

101 Things

1. Document this list (including pictures!)
2. Inspire someone to start their own list
3. Put $10 in my mutual fund for every item completed
4. Write a letter to myself to open at the end of the 1001 days
5. Look over this list about once a month
6. Make a new list for the next 1001 days!

And a few things that might not happen in 1001 days, but I still want to put them out there...maybe the start of the next list?

1. Go back to Listowel Writer’s Week
2. Visit Paris
3. Visit Scotland
4. Live in another country
5. Live somewhere with great public transportation and rarely use a car (could probably go hand in hand with #4…)
6. Adopt a dog
7. Get my teaching certificate in yoga