101 in 1001

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

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 organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Start Date: May 31, 2010

End Date: February 25, 2013

#1: Keep a daily 5-minute journal for at least 500 days

I tried to start this as a New Year's resolution, but it didn't really stick. I want to do it- just to keep a a quick handful of sentences to summarize my day so I can flip through and see what I was up to way back when. Sort of like the concept of the five-year journal. Actually, that would be a pretty nice goal. Maybe I'll end up doing that...

#2: Redesign my blog
I am a frequent reformatter. Very frequent. But I want to get it looking clean and simple and nice and something that I can stick to for a while.

#3: Post at least 1,000 blog entries

I really want to blog frequently. I think 1,000 entries in 1,001 days shouldn't be that bad, right?

#4: Answer "The Fifty Questions That Will Free Your Mind"

This was one of the popular entries for the list, and I thought it would be worth a shot. Answering fifty questions isn't that arduous, and it seems like a good idea.

#5: Organize all computer files
My hard drive is in absolute chaos. Absolute. It's pretty awful. Plus I have a massive external hard drive that is also really disorganized, which makes it a pain to back up all my information. But I really ought to, right? Right.

#6: Organize iTunes

This goes along with #5. An organized iTunes makes for an organized iPod, and both of those make me happy.

#7: Legally change my name

I need to do it, now that I'm married!

#8: Get a DSLR camera

My camera is pretty awful. It was a present for my nineteenth birthday, and it's spent the past four years bouncing around in my bag without a case. Plus it wasn't really a top-of-the-line camera to start out with. But I think a good camera would be a great investment.

#9: Watch 50 new movies

I have a tendency to just rewatch my favorites all the time. I think I need to branch out a little more, watch some new things.

#10: Sell something on Etsy

I have an Etsy store. And I'd like someone to buy something from it. So...yeah. Plus, it would be nice if I could make some sort of income from things that I make.

#11: Fill up a yearly scheduling planner

Every single school year I would buy a planner...and then never use it. I think that needs to change. I'm a grown up now and I need to keep track of things like my work schedule in a better manner than scribbling it on a scrap of paper and putting it on the fridge.

#12: Get a library card

Well, technically I have a library card. But I haven't used it in probably two years, and I think there's still some fines sitting on it. But if I clean it up I can start using it again, which will help with a lot of my other goals.

#13: Read 1,000 books

Yes, you read that correctly. One thousand books in one thousand days. I'm a mega speed reader, so I can read several books in a day- especially if I travel at all in the next three years. But I've kind of gotten bored with reading, so I haven't done it much in a long time. I'm going to reread all of the books I already own, and I'm going to visit the library regularly. And I do mean regularly.

#14: Watch every Disney feature film in order

I'm a huge Disney fan, and I've seen just about every Disney feature, but I'd like to sit down and watch them in order, just for the fun of it.

#15: Watch every Miyazaki film

This is along the same lines as #14. I saw Spirited Away in high school and loved it, and I really want to see all of his movies.

#16: Make mixtapes for 10 people

I think this will be fun. Plus, I have a huge music collection, and I think there are some songs I have squirreled away that some of my friends would like.

#17: Finish the final edit of Beatrice and the Cat and send it out

I started writing my book in 2007 (after two years of development) and finished it during the summer of 2008. And it's been languishing since then, waiting for me to finish editing and send it off. I desperately want to see it in print, and even though it's a rather small goal, I know that having it on here will motivate me to finish it.

#18: Get published

Originally this goal was just to send out query letters, but I think I can do better. I think I can get published. I really, really, really think I can. A lot of people put "get published" on their list, but they never finish writing a book in the first place, or they settle for an article published on line or a poem in an anthology. I have a finished novel that I labored over for years and has been well-received by the handful of people that have read it, and I know it has something special because I keep coming back to it. I think I can see it published before three years is up.

#19: Write an original novel

And when I say "original," I mean not Beatrice. It's planned as a twelve-book series, but hey, I can have other ideas, right? Right? Yes. I think I'm going to write my Beauty and the Beast retelling first.

#20: Write another Beatrice novel

Time to write book #2, Beatrice and the Greenfinch Carnival. I wrote up to chapter seven and stopped, so it's time to start again.

#21: Complete NaNoWriMo

I've participated three times and never won, so I think it's time for a change.

#22: Complete fanfictions

I have a lot of unfinished fanfictions that have been languishing since my high school days (that's about seven years, yikes) and I'd like to get them done.

#23: Sort through my wardrobe once a year

I stopped growing as a sixth grader and never threw anything away. I did a massive wardrobe purge a few years ago, and let me tell you, it was bananas. I want to have a nice big sort every year...followed by a nice shopping trip.

#24: Dye my hair red- really red

My hair has been in various shades of red for about two years, but I'm not satisfied with the color anymore. It's kind of a darkish auburn, but I want it to be more of a glorious red-gold color. I picked out a Garnier color (hot tamale!) that I'm going to try this summer.

#25: Join Chictopia and Weardrobe

I love those sites, but I don't feel that my wardrobe is good enough quite yet. Once I get more comfortable with my wardrobe (and, to be quite honest, with my body) I want to join.

#26: Sew a hundred dresses

When I was a little girl, I read a novella called The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. It was about an immigrant girl named Wanda, who was quiet and kept to herself and wore the same dress every day but claimed she had a hundred dresses at home. Well, the other children teased her and she ended up leaving the school, but not before she entered a school contest for a drawing of a dress. Not only did she win, but she had entered one hundred unique sketches. That story stuck with me as an eight-year-old, as a bullied kid and a lover of fashion. I'd like to put my sewing skills to use by sewing one hundred unique dresses.

#27: Buy a grown-up perfume

I usually use body splash or little testers of grown up perfume, but I want to go into Sephora or something like that and pick out a grown-up perfume to be my signature scent.

#28: Buy a bathing suit I actually like

I have three bathing suits in my closet- an orange one-piece that I got as a high school sophomore that I use for whitewater rafting or washing cars, an aqua tankini that I wore twice and is now so large on me that it doesn't fit in the slightest, and a china blue bikini that I bought for the sole purpose of owning a bikini. I want a bathing suit that's flattering and doesn't make me want to run and hide when I need to wear it public.

#29: Buy a Betsey Johnson dress

This actually goes along with #18, actually. The day that I find out Beatrice is getting published, I am strolling into the Betsey Johnson store in Green Hills and picking out a dress.

#30: Buy five pieces from Modcloth

This goes along with developing a better wardrobe. I really love Modcloth, even if it can sometimes be pricey.

#31: Grow my hair to midback length

I'm really in the last stretch of having super long hair. Once I start having babies, I think having long hair will just get in my way and be completely unmanagable. So I'd like to have one last go with long, waving tresses.

#32: Stick to a nighttime routine for at least 500 nights

I'm really bad about not taking my makeup off before I go to sleep. I need to make it a habit.

#33: Take vitamins daily

I think that'll be good for me in the long run.

#34: Drink water every day

I am awful about not drinking enough water. Last summer I drank water incessantly because I was working in Disney and Orlando is unbearably hot, and I definitely felt much better. I'd like to get back to that.

#35: Go as long as possible with drinking soda

I'd like to go as long as humanly possible without drinking soda. I don't need the sugar and extra calories and caffeine.

#36: Have fruits and vegetables every day

Another one of those things that needs to change. I want to start with one serving a day and build up.

#37: Keep a food and exercise diary for at least 500 days

I'm going to use my Nintendo DS and the weight loss coach program I have to do this. It's a pretty useful tracker, plus it calculates exercise and tracks my weight changes.

#38: Walk more than 6,000 steps a day

My Nintendo DS game will track this too. I walked about 15,000 steps a day on average last summer, so I know it's more than possible.

#39: Relearn how to ride a bicycle

I have a simply killer pink Schwinn cruiser, but I stopped riding my bike when I was eleven when I flipped off. So I need to relearn it.

#40: Relearn how to rollerskate

I loved rollerskating as a kid, but stopped when I outgrew my skates. This needs to change!

#41: Regain my toe-touch

I cheered for several years in high school and loved it. I used to have a pretty killer toe touch, but with time and lethargy it's gone away. I'd like to get it back!

#42: Do the 200 situps plan

Basically it's a six-week plan to get you to be able to do 200 situps in one go. Better abs, here I come!

#43: Complete Couch to 5k

When I finish the situps plan, I'm going to the Couch to 5k plan. I'm a terrible runner (mostly due to a combination of apathy and asthma), but I think this can get me going.

#44: Complete the 30 Day Shred

And when I finish the situps and the Couch to 5k, I'm going to the 30-Day Shred. I've done the first level before, but never really progressed farther. I'm determined to finish it!

#45: Lose five pounds

I'm not at my heaviest weight, but I'm not at my thinnest either. And my thinnest isn't even as thin as I'd like to be. I want to lose a total of thirty pounds, but I divided it into chunks so it'll be easier to get to.

#46: Lose ten pounds

#47: Lose fifteen pounds

#48: Lose twenty pounds

#49: Lose twenty-five pounds

#50: Lose thirty pounds

#51: Get a tattoo

When I'm down to my target weight (in the 110s), I'm going to reward myself with a little tattoo, probably on my shoulderblades.

#52: Write a love letter

I think my husband would appreciate that.

#53: Renew my wedding vows

I know, I've only been married for two and a half months, but I still think it would be nice.

#54: Get a pet

I've never had one! My dream is to have a Yorkshire terrier or little yorkie mix, but I would also be happen with a kitten or a rabbit. Or just a small dog. Something like that.

#55: Go on a honeymoon

We didn't have the time or money to go on our honeymoon immediately after the wedding, but we're planning on going soon!

#56: Move to a larger apartment or house

We have a very nice little apartment, but it's teeny tiny. I'd like to move to something a little larger when our lease is up.

#57: Get a new job I love

I have a good job, and I like it, but it's not exactly deeply fulfilling. I'd like to work in theater, maybe as a teacher or a costumer. Or maybe I'll get to be a published author and I can do that full-time!

#58: Get pregnant

I definitely don't want to have a baby within the first year of marriage, and I'd really like it if we can get through a few anniversaries with just the two of us. I'd like to have my first baby after I'm twenty-five, which will be in 2012. So if I can at least get pregnant before the end of the 1,001 days, I'll be a happy camper.

#59: Go on an audition

I've got a theater degree. Might as well use it, right?

#60: Pay off credit card

After the wedding, my credit card balance is a bit...well, a bit higher than I want it to be. I'd like to get it completely paid off.

#61: Maintain a money ledger for 500 records

When my name is changed, P and I are going to combine our bank accounts, and I want to have a physical ledger where we can keep a record of all of our spending.

#62: Hold a garage sale

There's a lot of stuff we can get rid of. A lot.

#63: Regain fluency in French

I started learning French in third grade and studied it extensively; I was conversationally fluent in high school. Then I had to take exhaustive French classes to fulfill my requirements for my bachelor of arts degree, and I was so fed up with it that I dropped it. Now I still have a decent accent and a handful of vocabulary words, but no memory of grammar and an inability to speak it. I need to fix that.

#64: Listen to 100 different musical artists

I have a pretty exhaustive collection of music, and I'd like to amp it up. Some of them will be rediscovering old favs, and some of them will be ones.

#65: Learn to sight-read harmony lines

I taught myself to play the piano when I was ten, and while I can sight-read melody lines and fake an accompaniment, I want to play well.

#66: Write down ten of my recipes

I experiment when I cook...but I never write anything down. Some of them are keepers, though!

#67: Learn to play the ukulele

Particularly "Soul Sister" by Train. I think it would be awesome.

#68: Complete the 365 photo challenge

I want to do this once I get a nice camera. It would be a great way to learn photography skills.

#69: Complete a coloring book

This is just pure fun.

#70: Have a tea party

Basically this is an excuse to put on a ball gown and be a princess for a day.

#71: Buy something from Etsy

I've oohed and aahed over Etsy for years, but I've never gotten the courage to buy anything. That should be remedied.

#72: Go to a concert

The last time I went to a concert was ninth grade, when I went to the Ichthus festival in Kentucky. I'd like to go to a legit concert, though-Regina Spektor, Kate Nash, Florence + the Machine, White Tie Affair, Cobra Starship...something awesome like that. Unfortunately most of my favorite bands are British...

#73: Start a garden

I've always wanted a garden, ever since I was six and read The Secret Garden. It's too late to really plant anything at the moment, so I'll just wait until next spring.

#74: Have a picnic

P and I sometimes go on spur-of-the-moment picnics, but I want this to be a fancy, well-planned picnic.

#75: Host a dinner party

I want to something outlandishly fancy.

#76: Have a spa day

I've never had a manicure or pedicure, or a massage, or anything. I think I'll splurge on some nice products and spoil myself for a day.

#77: Buy an iPad

This is completely selfish, but I really want one. I'm debating between the iPad or an iPhone, but I really kind of want one.

#78: Complete a Sudoku book

It shall make me feel smart.

#79: Go on a road trip

I have the perfect car for a road trip, now I just need to get a posse and go somewhere.

#80: Go to a non-Disney theme park

I love theme parks. Love, love, love. It's been a while since I've been to one, and I think that needs to change.

#81: Visit a historic house in Nashville

I'm surrounded by beautiful historical locations. Have I visited one in the past six years I've lived here? No.

#82: Go to five plays

I love plays. I need to go see them more often.

#83: Go back to Disney World

Disney is my drug. Seriously. I need to return to my home.

#84: Take pictures in my wedding dress

I never took any bridal portraits, so I'm thinking about putting on my dress and romping through a park.

#85: Go to dinner and a movie by myself

I love my husband and I love my friends, but I need to have time to myself.

#86: Spend the day at the zoo

I haven't been to a zoo in years!

#87: Go to the midnight showing of a movie

I love midnight showings, but I haven't been to one in ages. And with two Harry Potter movies and the Last Airbender, I think this will be easy to achieve.

#88: Sing in public

I took voice lessons for years, but I've been too self-conscious to actually sing in public.

#89: Have a birthday party

I haven't had one in a while.

#90: Throw someone else a birthday party

I've never thrown a birthday party for someone else. And it's a great excuse to bake a cake!

#91: Thoroughly clean the apartment every Sunday

Sunday used to be my cleaning night in my dorm room. I'd like to keep that going.

#92: Clean out bedroom at parents' house

I moved out as much as I could, but my bedroom at home is still stuffed with old things. I think it would be nice to fix that.

#93: Go to a state fair
I went to the Dutchess County state fair in New York when I was in the fourth grade, but I've never been to the Tennessee one.

#94: Complete three sh1ft.org projects
More chances to improve my photography skills!

#95: Have parents over for dinner

My mom still hasn't seen the apartment. Plus, I like cooking.

#96: Finish writing post-wedding thank you notes

I'm terrible about thank you notes. Terrible.

#97: Go to a Predators game

I went to a Preds game a few weeks ago, but I was very out of my element and confused. I'd like to go back and see another one.

#98: Have a killer Halloween costume every year

Usually I wait till the last minute. But not this year! I fully intend to plan, design, and construct my costumes in August or September. Or at least the week before.

#99: Beat Mario Kart

I've never beaten a video game, but I think I can handle this one.

#100: Save a dollar for each completed task

That's $1,001, man. I could do a lot with $1,001.

#101: Write another list
My goals for the following 1,001 days.