1001 Revisited

Italicized items are in process

Red items are completed!

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
Beginning: January 20, 2009
End Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).
Why 1001 Days? Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year’s resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

1. Learn Conversational French
2. Learn Sign Language
3. Swim with a dolphin
4. Host a board game night
5. Visit all 50 states
     Alabama
     Alaska
     Arizona (April of 2011)
     Arkansas
     California
     Colorado
     Connecticut
     Delaware
     Florida
     Georgia
     Hawaii
     Idaho
     Illinois
     Indiana
     Iowa
     Kansas
     Kentucky
     Louisiana
     Maine
     Maryland
     Massachusetts
     Michigan
     Minnesota
     Mississippi
     Missouri
     Montana
     Nebraska
     Nevada
     New Hampshire
     New Jersey
     New Mexico
     New York
     North Carolina
     North Dakota
     Ohio
     Oklahoma
     Oregon
     Pennsylvania
     Rhode Island
     South Carolina
     South Dakota
     Tennessee
     Texas
     Utah
     Vermont
     Virginia
     Washington
     West Virginia
     Wisconsin
     Wyoming
6. Put my feet in the Pacific Ocean (I put my feet in the Gulf of Mexico!)
7. Don’t text message for an entire month (January 6, 2010-February 6, 2010)
8. Build something
9. Visit the Ben and Jerry’s Factory (In Waterbury, VT)
10. Go to Ireland
11. Watch Star Wars for the first time (just the first movie) Watched Episodes 4, 5, & 6 on 02/14/09, finish the whole series on 09/19/09.
12. Take daily vitamin every day straight for a month (Finished May 2009!)
13. Set and FOLLOW a month long workout routine.
14. Learn how to drive a manual.
15. Make a photography portfolio
16. Buy a bicycle
17. Go two weeks without cursing
18. Keep a piggy bank and put ALL excess change in said bank
19. Read the entire Harry Potter Series… again
     a. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
     b. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
     c. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
     d. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
     e. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
     f. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
     g. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
20. Read at least 4 books off of a greatest books ever written list
     a. Gone With the Wind
     b. Pride and Prejudice
     c. Schindler's List
     d. The Thorn Birds
21. See Dave Matthews in Concert... no matter how old he is and no matter how old I am. (http://www.davematthewsband.com/). July 23rd, 2010!
22. Decorate an entire room of my own by myself.
23. Go to the New Jersey Botanical Gardens
24. Straddle 5 state lines… Photographed. (2/5)
25. Finally organize all of the postcards I have collected.
26. Create and mail in a Post Secret postcard.
27. Don’t watch any television for a week.(Vowing not to watch TV on vacation in 2010!)
28. Don’t use any plastic bags for a month. (Thanks to the DC Bag Tax I haven’t used plastic bags!)
29. Don’t buy bottled water for a month.
30. Paint a room a crazy color
31. Run in a mini marathon (Ran a 5k in April of 2010!!)
(http://cherryblossom.org/results/2010/2010cucb5k-f.htm)
32. Dress up for Halloween (seriously, even though you hate Halloween)
33. Watch the end of the West Wing series
     Season 1
     Season 2

     Season 3

     Season 4

     Season 5

     Season 6

     Season 7

34. Watch the end of the O.C. series

35. Learn how to surf
36. Learn how to play guitar
37. Go to a wine tasting (Silver Decoy in NJ, Feb 13, 2010)
38. Go to a drive in movie
39. Go to a planetarium
40. Listen to all of the music on my iPod (5535 items, 49.7 days worth of music)
41. Skip dessert for a month
42. Stop biting my nails for an entire month (Would you believe I did this? No me either.)
43. Make something from blown glass
44. Learn how to make pottery
45. Color an entire coloring book
46. Send 101 cards (115/101)
47. Read Gone With the Wind
48. Don’t use Facebook for two weeks
49. Pay Dad back for the accident ($500)
50. See 50 of IMDB’s top 250 movies (http://www.imdb.com/chart/top)
51. Do Photo Project 365 (http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/)
52. Go to a Salsa Club
53. Buy nothing for a week.
54. See the sunrise (01/20/09, Inauguration morning, the day I started 1001!)
55. See the sunset.
56. Do the 26 Things project (http://sh1ft.org/projects/) Planning to do it December of 2010!
57. Reread Childhood books
58. Attend a film festival
59. Go to Atlantic City (Post 05/05/09) and gamble with only $40. Whatever happens, happens, no continuing with winnings.
60. Keep a journal everyday.
61. Go to church every Sunday for three months straight
62. Organize iTunes
63. Organize all of my crap/memorabilia
64. Don’t eat out for an entire month
65. Ride in a hot air balloon
66. Graduate
67. Make my own website (buy the web space... don’t cop out)
68. Keep a dream glass
69. Get over it.
70. Sing in front of people
71. Read five banned books
72. Dress up for an entire week for no reason.
73. Go crabbing
74. Donate to Locks of Love (1/1-2)
75. Buy fruit from local farmers for an entire month
76. See Penguins in their natural habitat (Saw penguins LIVE at the Florida Aquarium 03/14/09 and the Lowry Park Zoo 03/08/10).
77. Travel to a Spanish speaking country and use as much Spanish as possible
78. Seriously consider backpacking across Europe in 07/2010. Do everything humanly possible to go.
79. Read more books per year than the previous year (32 in 06, 33 in 07…)
80. Donate to a charity every year (1/3)
     YEAR 1: Doctors Without Borders for relief in Haiti $35
     YEAR 2:
     YEAR 3:
81. Go to the beach without getting sun burned (Achieved in Tampa!)
82. Finish and frame a puzzle with over 5,000 pieces in it.
83. Attempt (legitimately) a NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/)
84. Write a message in a bottle and let it go at my favorite spot by the beach.
85. Go through an entire semester without missing class.
86. Go sky diving.
87. Conquer my fear of horses and ride one (vacation 2010!).
88. Send someone I love flowers anonymously.
89. Keep five plants/flowers/trees, and keep them alive. (I have 4 and they are doing well!)
90. Fill someone’s expired meter.
91. Go to high school reunion. (November of 2011)
92. Give up all caffeine (including chocolate) for two months. (Gave it up for lent! 40 days!)
93. Go to ten new restaurants on the list of Washingtonians Cheap Eats 2009 list.
(http://www.washingtonian.com/packages/cheapeats)
     1. A & J in Rockville
     2. Four Sisters in Vienna
     3. Joe’s Noodle House in Rockville
     4. Guajillo in Arlington
     5. Comet Ping Pong on Nebraska Avenue
     6. Surfside on Wisconsin Avenue
     7. Amma Vegetarian Kitchen in Vienna
     8. Kotobuki in the Palisaides
     9.
     10.
94. Shadow a journalist, designer, or Mr. Zink for a day.
95. Write your life story in a day.
96. Edit it later, make a memoir?
97. Identify 100 things that make you happy.
98. Start a blog and keep up with it. (And I started a Photo Blog!)
99. Finish all shopping for the year by Halloween (Birthdays, Christmas, Etc.)
100. Donate $10 to charity for every item I do not achieve by 10/18/2011
101. Create another list.

I certainly have a lot of work to do, but I have a plan of attack to make the majority of these things happen! I'm also working on my next list. Suggestions?

1001 Progress

Here are some more additions to the things on my 101 things to do in 1001 days list that I've completed!

#46. Send 101 cards (101/101)

#64. Don’t eat out for an entire month
I did not eat out for an entire month and saved over $400 by doing so. I'm shocked.

#50. See 50 of IMDB’s top 250 movies (http://www.imdb.com/chart/top)

These are the 50 (and some)

1. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

2. The Dark Knight (2008)

3. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

4. Casablanca (1942)

5. Fight Club (1999)

6. The Usual Suspects (1995

7. The Matrix (1999)

8. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

9. Forrest Gump (1994)

10. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

11. WALL·E (2008)

12. The Departed (2006)

13. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

14. Back to the Future (1985)

15. Some Like It Hot (1959)

16. Singin' in the Rain (1952)

17. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

18. Up (2009)

19. The Sting (1973)

20. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

21. Die Hard (1988)

22. Batman Begins (2005)

23. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

24. Fargo (1996)

25. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

26. Avatar (2009)

27. The Sixth Sense (1999)

28. Donnie Darko (2001)

29. The Lion King (1994)

30. Toy Story (1995)

31. Million Dollar Baby (2004)

32. Finding Nemo (2003)

33. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

34. Groundhog Day (1993)

35. Ratatouille (2007)

36. V for Vendetta (2006)

37. Star Trek (2009)

38. The Social Network (2010)

39. The Princess Bride (1987)

40. The Incredibles (2004)

41. Children of Men (2006)

42. Good Will Hunting (1997)

43. Big Fish (2003)

44. Rocky (1976)

45. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

46. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

47. Toy Story 2 (1999)

48. Crash (2004/I)

49. Monsters, Inc. (2001)

50. Rain Man (1988)

51. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

52. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

How many have you seen?!

West Virginia

This weekend Terence and I took a day trip to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. My first time to West Virginia! This knocks a couple things off of my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days.

#5. Visit all 50 states
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin
Wyoming

I have now been to 14 of the 50 states. Not a whole lot, I know--but I'm working on it!

Also made some progress on #24. 

#24. Straddle 5 state lines… Photographed. (2/5)

Here I am standing on the line between Virginia and West Virginia. Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia all came to a point right in the middle of the Shenandoah river--not so easily accessible.

1001 Progress

Here are some things right off the 1001 list that are close to being completed!

#46. Send 101 cards (98/101)
I only have one more non-holiday specific note card! A month before I moved I had almost unused 40 note cards. Then I move onto cards for every holiday including two for the Christmas season.

 
#62. Organize iTunes
As I'm sure you can tell from your RSS feed updates (ha) that I'm rooting through the good, the bad, and the ugly of my ipod. I'm in the C's! Here's to progress!


#64. Don’t eat out for an entire month
I'm on day 23 of 30 of not eating out! It will be interesting to see how much money I save--or how much money I spend in the grocery store instead of out at the restaurants! Terence and I are going to go someplace new on the 22nd to celebrate!

#75. Buy fruit and veggies from local farmers for an entire month

Done! I'm going to continue to go through October. Then the farmer's market in Crystal City closes :(.

 

I still have about 55 more things to knock off my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days and only a little over a year to do them! Time to light a fire under my tush.

Farmer's Markets

I'm a week in and doing very well with my next 101 Things To Do in 1001 Days (Day Zero) Project endeavor. 

#75. Buy fruit and veggies from local farmers for an entire month

Crystal City has a farmer's market every Tuesday and I went to Eastern Market this past weekend as well. Crystal City had some amazing peaches and red tomatoes which I will definitely have to go back for tomorrow. I did find it necessary to go to Eastern Market to get eggplants, yellow tomatoes, corn, and cucumbers though. Terence found me this "Farmer's Market Finder" at WashingtonPost.com which I think will prove to be immensely helpful this month:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/foodanddining/features/2010/farmers-markets/index.html

I'll let you know when I've crossed it off the list! Anyone know of any absolutely spectacular farmer's markets in the area I should check out?

iPod Challenge

I'm attempting to tackle #40 on my 1001 list:
"Listen to all of the music on my iPod (5535 items, 49.7 days worth of music)."

I listen to it in the car, at work, and in the apartment. I put it on shuffle and have been making a list of amazing songs and ones that deserve to be deleted from my pod. I posted the Hellogoodbye song "Here (In Your Arms)" last night that I fell in love with. I have currently listened to 577 songs of 5074 still on my iPod (apparently deleted some from when I made my list). After that, I'll plug her in, update all my music and maybe transfer the music to my iTouch or a newer device so I don't lose all of it on my 6 year old pod.

[[COURTESY OF SXC.HU]]

What music are you listening to? Any suggestions for additions once I'm done?

Bicycle

Here's a little video that describes my week. "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike."
I bought a bike!

She's a baby blue Schwinn mountain bike! This means . . .
#16. Buy a bicycle.
Done! Now it's time to hit the trails. Hello weekend!

Knocking Out the List

Alright, kids. Here it is.

#21. See Dave Matthews in Concert... no matter how old he is and no matter how old I am.

 

DONE! 

Brad, Alexis, Terence, Hayley and I had an amazing time. It was over 90 degrees even after the sun went down so we were all big sweaty messes, but it was glorious. I got concert fever. I even bought tickets to go see the Barenaked Ladies and Kris Allen this weekend. Too bad DMB is taking next summer off. I'll be back when/if they start touring again. It was an experience unlike any other. Definitely one of the cooler concerts I've been to.

TERENCE AND HAYLEY ALL SMILES AT THE CONCERT

Thanks for coming guys! I had a great time!

 

Run, Run, Run.

I once heard a comedian say they would never run for exercise. "Have you ever seen people running? They look miserable!" I wish I could remember the comedian.

Well, that being said, I finished the Cherry Blossom 5K this morning!

It's not a flattering picture, but like the comedian I can't remember said, no one looks nice while running.

On my Day Zero Project (1001 things to do) I can cross off #31. Run in a mini marathon (Run a 5k in April of 2010!!)

I ran the 5K in 32:02 which I'm happy with for my first race! Here are the results from the 2010 5K:
http://cherryblossom.org/results/2010/2010cucb5k-f.htm

Brad said he'd run one with me. Maybe this 5K thing will become a trend of mine? We'll see!