101 in 1001

So I've seen friends and fellow bloggers post and share 101 things/goals they'd like to accomplish in 1001 days.

Instead of making New Year's Resolutions this year, I've decided I'm going to start my 101 in 1001 tomorrow - January 1, 2011. By my calculations (and a date calculator I found online), I have until September 27, 2013 to make these 101 things happen.

I'll be blogging about my progress and of course when I finish a task as well.

Below the jump (for those of you not reading my blog in a Reader) is my list, with details, and I'll be making a page on the blog here too so you can follow along at any time without having to look for this post.



Fun   
1 - Play a board or card game once a month with hubby/family
2 - Play through Lego Wii games once
3 - Finish 6 TV series in our Netflix queue
4 - Watch at least 2 Netflix DVDs and 2 Instant Queue movies a month
5 - Attend C2E2
C2E2 stands for Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, kinda like the Chicago version of ComicCon. I first heard about it 2 years ago and really wanted to go last year but yeah... hopefully I can make this happen
6 - Go to a concert once a year
7 - Go to Magic Waters once a season
Magic Waters is our local area waterpark - I've been meaning to go last summer but it never happened.
   
Experiences   
8 - Be a bridesmaid
9 - Try Thai food
10 - Go to 10 restaurants we haven't eaten at before
11 - Take a relaxing bubble bath with candles, wine and a book
12 - Make a pizza
13 - Go paintballing
14 - See a drive-in movie
It's been years since I've gone to one (we had one in town by they tore it down to build the main 16 screen theater we currently have now) and there's a drive-in movie not too far from us, just across the Illinois/Wisconsin border
15 - Make croissant rolls
16 - Consider having a 2nd child
Jay will be almost 3 by the time this project comes to an end, so by then at least talking and considering having a 2nd child I think is acceptable, especially since we'd like to be done having kids by our mid-30s and would ideally like to have 2-3 total.
17 - Plan/throw a bash for me and hubby's golden birthdays
In 2013, I'll be turning 29 on August 29 and hubby will be turning 30 on October 30 - we already talked about it and would like have a joint birthday bash with friends and family to celebrate both our golden birthdays... probably near the end of September.
   
Personal Growth   
18 - Read 15 (non-children) fiction books
19 - Take a fun community class
20 - Blog consistently
21 - Do something productive regularly with my design skills
22 - Find a part-time job that works me at least twice a week
Right now, even though I technically have 2 jobs, I'm not really working at all, which sucks, and while hubby understands, I feel bad as he works a lot and I'd like to at least contribute a little bit to our income. He's mentioned me looking to find something part-time a few days a week after a few months after Jay is born and I don't think I'd mind too much, especially if it's something only 2 or 3 days a week.
23 - Update my portfolio online and make it look professional
24 - Complete the 365 day photo challenge
I've tried this before and it didn't last longer than a few days... I'd like to make it happen!
25 - Draft an official will
We're having a kid, so I guess something like this needs to be done eventually in the off-chance something tragically happens to me and/or hubby.
26 - Get my bass guitar back
My sis asked me last summer if a friend of hers (whose family I know from years ago) could borrow my bass for a few weeks for some performance he was doing with one of his brothers. They said it would be about 4 weeks, so I said that was fine. Again, this was LAST summer. I've asked her several times on the status of it and was assured I'd be getting it back "soon". It's not that big a deal as I don't play it much, but I would like to get it back before we move, as it was a Christmas gift and I'd hate to lose it.
27 - Visit Sharestuff once a season
Sharestuff is an "upscale" thrift store that partners with the nearby mega church. They have 2 stores - one with mostly clothes and another with furniture. A good friend of mine is always going there for her kid's clothes and other neat finds. I figure it's worth checking out and maybe even shopping at regularly as she always gets a lot for a little money!
   
Hubby   
28 - “Take care” of hubby at least once a week
Being preggo, I've had little to no sex drive which sucks for hubby! I feel bad and me not "taking care" of him often enough has caused some problems for us in the past, so I figure making sure he's "taken care of" at least once a week (unless illness arises) would be good!
29 - Have a date with hubby at least once a month
30 - Take an overnight with hubby once a year
31 - Stay at Sybaris for a night with hubby
Sybaris is a couple's getaway where you can elect to have a private hot tub or an actual pool in your hotel room (pending how much you want to pay!). A good friend and her husband have gone a few times and she said it was a really neat, intimate experience. I'd love to go there sometime with hubby - they have several locations in the Southern Wisconsin, Northern Illinois and Western Indiana area.
32 - Go on a double date
33 - Obtain our wedding video(s)
We got married in fall 2008 and I have yet to see or obtain our wedding videos. Granted, we didn't get them done professionally and I believe my mom has the tapes/footage but yeah... it would be nice to finally get them and watch them.
34 - Encourage hubby to finish his book revision and send it off to publishers
Hubby is a writer at heart and has been writing sci-fi for as long as I've known him. He mostly writes about military space operations (some of it reminds me of Starship Troopers) and marines in space - that kind of thing. He's got a book he's been working on for awhile but he's spent the last year going back, revising and adding to it, etc but he gets in funks where he's on it for awhile and then stops working on it for months at a time. I'd like to see him finally finish the thing (he's put a lot of work into it already) and send it out to publishers (something he's done in the past).
   
Jay   
35 - Get Jay a racecar bed
You know, the red plastic racecar beds - I always thought they were neat and would LOVE to get one for Jay when he grows into a "big kid" bed.
36 - Potty train Jay
37 - Make a snowman with Jay
38 - Take Jay to a movie at the movie theater
39 - Take Jay to see Sesame Street Live
   
Home-owning   
40 - Buy a House
41 - Make said house “homey”
42 - Mario-ize Jay's room
As mentioned previously, I want to do a Mario Bros theme for his room, but since we won't be moving until after he's born at this point, this something I'm going to have to make a real effort to do after we move.
43 - Own a dishwasher
44 - Do “light” cleaning once a week
45 - Clean floors and bathtub at least once, if not twice a month
46 - Buy a piano
I used to play back in grade school through high school, but since I moved out I haven't had much access to a piano - I would love to own one when we have a house so I can play some
47 - Move rest of belongings out of my parent's house
I still have a bunch of stuff in my old bedroom as well as old toys and stuff that are boxed up in the basement somewhere. I figured I'd get all that stuff once we got a house rather than move and store it all while living in an apartment.
48 - Frame movie posters
Having worked at and managed a movie theater for a few years, I got a lot of movie posters. Hubby and I picked out which ones we'd like to hang up in a rec room, but I just haven't gotten around to getting them framed as the right sized frames need to be ordered online.
49 - Create a rec/play room
50 - Obtain remaining VHS movies on DVD
I still have a handful of VHS tapes that I would really like to get on DVD since VHS is a dead technology now and keeping a VHS player we never use is kind of dumb.
51 - Host a PartyLite party once a year
52 - Get a dog
   
Relationships   
53 - Visit in person with a friend once a month
54 - Hang out with Jeny at least once each time she's visiting from Texas
55 - Have a movie night with mom or sis once a month
56 - Help Jeny plan her wedding best I can from out of state
57 - Have family over for dinner once a year
58 - Have friends over for dinner once a year
   
Religious   
59 - Join a Bible study group
60 - Go to church at least once a month
61 - Do a regular devotional
62 - Make an effort to tithe
   
Charity   
63 - Donate clothes to charity twice a year
I donated several bags of clothes and shoes I hadn't worn in years recently to the Salvation Army. We should really do that more often!
64 - Participate in the Angel Tree program at church each Christmas
Angel Tree is a program that my family used to do when I lived at home that our church participated in doing. Basically, you take a kid's name off the tree they have there and listed is the age of the kid and gift ideas of what they want for Christmas - some are toy specific, others just want clothes. These are kids who have a parent in a jail and basically you're buying the gift for the jailed parent so the kid gets a gift from them at Christmas. It's a pretty neat outreach and I've loved the idea!
65 - Make at least a $15 donate to Salvation Army for toys at Christmas each year
I got a thing in the mail from them this year asking for a Christmas donation. The minimum was $15 towards toys for children. I really wanted to do it, but we just didn't have the extra money laying around for it. I hope to be able to do this in future years though!
   
Crafts   
66 - Finish a latch-hook project each year
67 - Make fun magnets
   
Finances   
68 - Pay down credit card
69 - Pay off both laptops
70 - Pay off Aveo (my car)
71 - Build our savings account back up
72 - Get a newer mid-size car with A/C, power windows and power locks
I hate that my car has none of these features - especially the A/C since it can hit 100 in the summer... not fun! You would think on a 2004 that A/C would be a "standard" feature but apparently it isn't... I didn't think to check when I bought it as we had a snowstorm earlier that day and A/C was the last thing on my mind!
   
Health & Fitness   
73 - Get back to pre-pregnancy weight (164lbs)
74 - Hit 150lbs
75 - Try the 30 Day Shred
76 - Obtain a pair of Shape-Up shoes
77 - Fit into size 8 pants again
78 - Go for a walk at least once a week when weather is nice
79 - Exercise at least once a week
80 - Go to the dentist once a year
81 - Go to the eye doctor once a year
82 - Try a new brand of contacts
I haven't worn my contacts much in over 2 years because they get this cloudy film on them within hours of popping them in and it's really annoying. I got new contacts last time I went to the eye doctor but same thing happened with a brand new pair. I think it's just something with the brand and I think maybe trying a different brand might do the trick!
83 - Look into getting mole on side of my head removed
I have this mole on my scalp just above my right ear, in my hairline. You can't see it, but I can feel it and it just feels weird. It's a bigger one too. I first noticed it in Jr. High (thought it was a zit and would try to pop it!) and I've never been comfortable with it being on the side of my head there and would like to someday maybe get it removed.
84 - Take a daily vitamin
85 - Look into LASIK if hubby gets promoted to fulltime during this time
I'm not fond of wearing glasses and the contacts have been a pain lately... I wouldn't mind getting LASIK done in the future, now that it's been around for years and years and seems pretty safe at this point. Hubby said once he makes full-time at UPS then it's something we can consider since we'll be afford it.
   
Fashion & Beauty   
86 - Get tattoo touched up
I don't mention it much and it may come as a surprise to some (especially certain family members) but yes, I have a tattoo and I've had it for a little over 2 years now (it was my 24th birthday present from hubby and we got it in October 2008, shortly after the wedding, as that was hubby's 1 stipulation about me getting it). It's a blue butterfly with a black outline on the back of my right shoulder. The colors were really vibrant when I first got it but it's since faded and I'd like to get it touched up. I met this one girl who had a vibrant tat on her chest that looked almost brand new although she had it for years - I asked how she kept the color so nice and she said she rubs Vaseline on it, so I plan on doing that after I get it touched up.
87 - Add to said tattoo
For each kid we have, I'd like to add a smaller "baby" butterfly of a different color to represent each kid to match my blue "mama" butterfly. I'm thinking Jay's is going to be an orange-ish yellow.
88 - Get a pedicure 3 times a year
89 - Get a new pair of glasses
90 - Buy and look good in a pair of skinny jeans
91 - Obtain a new leather jacket
92 - Host a Mary Kay party once a year
93 - Host a Lia Sophia party once a year
   
Sports   
94 - Go to a hockey game once a year
We went to an Icehogs game (our city's local team which is basically a farm-team for the Chicago Blackhawks) last year and I really enjoyed it. I'd like to go to one a year, especially since the tickets are pretty cheap too.
95 - Attend a Cubs vs Sox game with hubby
I'm a Cubs fan, hubby is a Sox fan and I've always thought the cross-town classic games they do twice a season would be really fun to go to! I'd like to experience it once.
96 - Go see the Cowboys play the Bears if they come to Chicago
This should be happening in the next few years and we plan on going when it does. Hopefully Jay will be old enough to go too so we can take him to his first NFL game with us!
   
Trips   
97 - Spend a day in downtown Chicago at least once a year
98 - Go on vacation somewhere once a year
99 - Visit Museum of Science & Industry at least once during this
It's one of the several museums in Chicago (and the most fun if I recall correctly) and I haven't gone in YEARS - I would love to go again sometime in the near future.
100 - Go shopping at Woodfield Mall once a year
Woodfield is a big shopping mall located in Schaumburg which is a suburb of Chicago.
101 - Go to 6 Flags at least once during this time